Tag Archives: USA

Winter’s Bone (2010)

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This film has been on my list to watch for quite a while. The reviews were good and the Oscar-nominated lead role by a young Jennifer Lawrence had me intrigued.  It is a bleached and gritty movie about the harsh realities of poverty and there is a realness to it that pulls you right into the world of Ree, a 17 year old eking out an existence in the Ozark Mountains in Missouri. You could perhaps dub this one ‘The Real Hunger Games’. Continue reading →

Rear Window (1954)

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There’s something special about Hitchcock films, they can be enjoyable and make you uneasy at the same time. This is my favourite and I was lucky enough to catch a screening last week at ACMI for the Melbourne Festival. It has all the elements of a good Hitchcock – tricky, stylish camerawork, dry humour, an interesting subtext and a bit of moral ambiguity. It also has Grace Kelly at her best in some very stylish outfits. Continue reading →

Back to the Future Part II (1989)

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The only movie to watch on 21st October 2015. Half of the film is set in the ‘future’ of 1985 when Marty and the Doc go forward to, yes, you guessed it, Wednesday 21st October 2015 at around 4.30pm. That would have been the exact time I was borrowing the DVD, I reckon. The film was made in 1989 and, regardless of whether that was a good idea or not, it’s interesting to look at a 1989 view of what the world would be like today. It looks pretty much like the 80s. Continue reading →

The Martian (2015)

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Or MacGyver in Space, as Ron dubbed it as the lights went up. Benn asked me to review this one so the whole family trekked to the nearest town with a cinema for the experience. I will tell you from the outset that this review will have spoilers. Not that I will reveal anything that’s not patently obvious as soon as the movie starts, no, actually, as soon as you see the movie poster. This is a Hollywood film through and through and that means it’s predictable, patriotic and full of heroic blokes. Continue reading →

The Intern (2015)

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Should I blog about films that I really don’t recommend? I seem to see quite a few of these and there’s often not much to say other than, “it’s a dog, don’t bother.” I went to see The Intern last night at a proper cinema. I don’t often get to see movies at the cinema when they are first released and I wouldn’t really have picked that particular film but we were near the Kino and The Martian had only front row seats left (and at the Kino that would have meant sitting half way up Matt Damon’s nose) so the only other session about to start was The Intern. Continue reading →

Grey Gardens (1975)

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This US documentary by the Maysles was made in 1975 and it shows that, if you have remarkable people, you only need to point a camera at them for long enough to get a story. We are flies on the wall of the crumbling East Hampton mansion, Grey Gardens, owned by Edith Bouvier Beale and her daughter, ‘Little Edie’. Edith is Jackie Kennedy’s aunt and we can see that she has come from old money and the American aristocracy. That is all in the past though, as the mansion is a squalid place, full of cats and raccoons and rubbish and Edith and Little Edie live an insular and co-dependent life within its walls. Continue reading →

Tales of the Grim Sleeper (2014)

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Should you blog angry? Probably not. I hated this film. When I read the synopsis, I saw that it was directed by the same guy who made Aileen Wuornos: The Selling of a Serial Killer in 1992. In fact that screened at MIFF in 1992 and that’s probably where I saw it. I remember being fascinated with Aileen Wuornos and having arguments in the uni cafe about her with fellow students. What I had unfortunately forgotten was that I really disliked the filmmaker and his approach to documentary and his subject. It was only as the lights dimmed in the Comedy Theatre and he appeared on screen that I thought, “Shut the front door, it’s Nick Broomfield, I can’t stand Nick Broomfield.” Continue reading →

Trainwreck (2015)

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Trainwreck screening at MIFF? Surely not. Doesn’t it feature that loud, gauche comedienne Amy Schumer? Isn’t it true that the hardest thing in Hollywood is to find a beautiful, funny women (so said former Disney CEO Michael Eisner)? The fun fact to learn from this, gentle readers, is that Michael Eisner, other than being a bit of an idiot, obviously doesn’t get out much. There are mainstream movies at MIFF, with well-known, funny, beautiful bankable stars, some with vaginas, and destined to be appearing at a cinema near you (well, not near me but I live in the country). I just haven’t booked many of them. Sleeping with Other People is mainstream. I saw that. Results is mainstream, it stars Guy Pearce after all, and that is the very movie that I blew off in order to go see Trainwreck with my dear friend Jo. Continue reading →

The Witch (2015)

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I didn’t really like this film but I was with some people who did so it has made me ruminate on horror films and why this one didn’t work for me. I don’t mind a horror film every now and then. I prefer them to be suspenseful, to imply rather than to show, to build tension and have me hiding my head behind a pillow when it gets really scary. There still needs to be a believable story and good characters that you care about. And when the violence comes, ideally it shouldn’t make you laugh. Continue reading →