I have mixed feelings about this movie, a visceral and epic story of survival in the frigid wilds of 19th century South Dakota. Hollywood and ‘inspired by a true story’ make me wary. Usually it means notions of heroism have been cranked up to 11 and drama has been fabricated to keep us 21st century viewers engaged. Add Leonardo DiCaprio and, at nearly three hours long, you know this has Academy Award intentions. But. This is directed by Alejandro Iñárritu, the Mexican director of Babel, 21 Grams, Amores Perros and Birdman, so it will never be ordinary. Continue reading
Tag Archives: USA
All is Lost (2013)
StandardAll is Lost is the Robert Redford film where he is the only cast member and there is no dialogue. This is all I knew about this film and it was enough to make me want to watch it. Peripheral anecdotes had seemed positive, along the lines of surprise at how watchable the film was, even without dialogue. Redford plays a sailor who seems to be in his sixties or seventies (Redford is 77 but not surprisingly has fewer lines and grey hairs than you would expect) who is sailing alone on a rather nice yacht. An unexpected accident happens that damages his yacht and from then, we see him struggle from one mishap to another as his situation becomes more serious. Continue reading
Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015)
Standard“Let me pitch you this idea. We’ll take a movie that was made 20, 30, 40 years ago and we’ll remake it, using pretty much the same story, but with a modern twist. We’ll make the token female role much tougher, although, don’t worry, she’ll still need saving by a guy lots of times. And we’ll bring back some of the original actors so the old fans feel included and we’ll make a joke of the fact that they’re really old. We’ll show everyone how much better CGI is nowadays and we’ll make the story line much more complicated with lots of ‘science’ to explain all the things that don’t make sense. And we’ll fill it with white guys.” Terminator Genisys or Star Wars: The Force Awakens? Continue reading
Spectre (2015)
StandardBond films don’t just fail the Bechdel test, they rip it up, stuff it into a sack and bury it in your back garden. The key to enjoying a James Bond film, I think, is to have very low expectations, take delight in the complete lack of logic and hope that the misogyny has been dialed down to negligible. Continue reading
It’s a Wonderful Life (1946)
StandardHow have I managed to get through 50 years without seeing this classic Christmas film? I don’t know. The Deniliquin Film Society screened it this month and so, with mince pies clutched in our hands, my whole family and several friends reclined on the sofas at the front of the venue and submitted to a good dose of Frank Capra wit and sentimentality. It’s a cracker of a film and much less saccharine than I was expecting. Continue reading
Mockingjay Part 2 (2015)
StandardI will admit right from the start that I think the recent fashion of splitting the final book of a series into two films is a good thing. Harry Potter was my first experience of the final-book-into-2-films trend. The cynical part of me knows that the purpose is to maximise revenue – from film-goers, through merch and DVD sales and ‘tie-ins’ – but I don’t really care as finally you can see a book brought to life mostly intact. And when it’s a great book, or at least a really good one, there is much jubilation and filmic enjoyment. So yes to The Deathly Hallows and Mockingjay, a ‘meh’ to The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn and an ‘oh my goodness what on earth were they thinking’ to The Hobbit. In fact that’s a great example of where it can all go wrong. If you have to pad a book out with misappropriated and invented characters then maybe you’ve gone too far. Continue reading
Shortbus (2006)
StandardIf you like Hedwig and the Angry Inch, you’re probably going to like this film. If you don’t know what Hedwig and the Angry Inch is, go and watch it as soon as you can. It won’t be everyone’s cup of tea but it is delightfully irreverent and full of pathos and catchy tunes. Shortbus shares the same director, John Cameron Mitchell who also stars in Hedwig but takes a back seat, so to speak, in this one. Other than the credentials of Mitchell, all I knew about Shortbus was that it contained unsimulated sex! Yowza! That was a reason to watch it when the kids were safely in bed. Continue reading
Winter’s Bone (2010)
StandardThis 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)
StandardThere’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)
StandardThe 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
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