BEASTS

If you have not seen BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD, please do so.

It is one of the most affecting, beautiful films I have seen in a very long time.  It is like a visual poem that touches you in the rawest way and stays with you long after you have left the cinema.  The performances by amateur actors are amazing and you will fall in love with Hush Puppy without even realising it has happened so quickly. It is so hard to use words to describe this film, so just go and see it for yourself and feel it instead.........



In a forgotten but defiant bayou community cut off from the rest of the world by a sprawling levee, a six-year-old girl exists on the brink of orphanhood. Buoyed by her childish optimism and extraordinary imagination, she believes that the natural world is in balance with the universe until a fierce storm changes her reality. Desperate to repair the structure of her world in order to save her ailing father and sinking home, this tiny hero must learn to survive unstoppable catastrophes of epic proportions

SHAME - REVIEW

SHAME.......hard to watch, hard to talk about, hard to admit that you sat in a dark cinema watching by yourself, yet harder to watch with someone you are intimate with!

This is a film about a man, who lives with a sex addiction. I admit, that I don't think I knew much about sex addictions. I kind of thought i did. It made me giggle when celebrities were admitted to rehab for sex addiction, I thought they had just been sprung by their partner sleeping around but this film shows a dark side, living with sex addiction is clearly not a good time.

From the early moments of this film we are intimately acquainted with Michael Fassbender and his special endowments, which is fairly confronting, no one is really hiding anything. Brandon (Fassbender) is a character that is hard to sympathise with, there is clearly a very painful road that has brought him to this point and when we meet his sister Sissy, played by the most excellent Carey Mulligan, we know that somewhere in their past, there is tragedy. Sissy needs to feel loved, and sadly for her, when she rocks up at Brandon's, this is never going to happen. He is suffocated by having to share his space and hide his other life.

Fassbender and Mulligan both give amazingly haunting and powerful performances. You will walk out of this film ready to discuss the controversial sex scenes, and yet you will never forget the hauntingly beautiful rendition of New York New York by Carey Mulligan. It is totally mesmerising. I'm still deciding whether it makes it more or less painful, knowing what Sissy is capable of.

I will be completely honest here and say that this is the most sex I have ever seen onscreen, and it did kind of shock me, and yet, the film was so absorbing that there was no time that I wanted to leave. Although there was one scene involving a threesome which did actually feel gratuitously too long. I did wish for it to stop long before it did!

This is a beautifully directed character study of humans trying to dull their pain. It is raw, haunting and harrowing at times. I would have like a little more detail to the two main characters backgrounds, so much is alluded to, yet nothing said, confirmed or given away. I found this a little frustrating.

Michael Fassbender is a definite talent. He gives a physically emotional performance. He is lovely and I can see what the fuss is about. He reminds me of Viggo Mortensen, both his features and intenseness (is that a word?) I will be most interested to watch any film he is in, and yet, he won't be moving into my top 5 anytime soon. I already have a Viggo, so no room currently!

Would I recommend this film? Yes, but not to everyone. This is not a love story, it is not a happy story, the sadness almost drips off the screen, and yet, it is absorbing and most definitely watchable. A warning, don't take your mum or your nanna or a first date!

LIKE CRAZY

LIKE CRAZY opens today in Aust in selected cinemas. I loved this film and reviewed it in November, here is a little reminder for you. If you love love, you'll love LIKE CRAZY!

Have you ever been in love? Then the love has been taken from you, through no fault of your own, and you felt as though your heart would break in two, and every waking thought somehow involves your love, and time helps ease the pain, but you never forget........that love.........that person.........the one you loved like crazy..........

LIKE CRAZY is a film. It is romantic and heartbreaking and it feels very real, especially for anyone who has struggled with a long distance relationship. It starts with the falling. The delight of a new romance. The tenderness, the touches, the excitement. Jacob and Anna are students together at college, Jacob is from America and Anna is from England, so when visa issues arise and Anna must leave for London, they are separated. So essentially the film is about them being together, and trying to be apart.

I posted a trailer a few months ago describing the film as 'achingly gorgeous', and it is. The two stars of this film are so perfect in these roles. Anton Yelchin, whom i recognised as the little boy in 'Hearts of Atlantis', plays Jacob, and Felicity Jones is gorgeous as Anna. This girl will be a star. She is so beautiful, amazing lips, gorgeous onscreen presence, and very believable. And you may recognise her most recently from Chalet Girl! The film also stars Jennifer Lawrence who will be seen next in THE HUNGER GAMES.

This film takes you to a place, a past romance, a lost love, a moment....it reminded me a little of watching BEFORE SUNRISE, so if you liked that, then you will love this. Be wary of watching it with males, none in the screening I was at, were nearly as enamoured with this film as I, or any of the other females in the room. The film feels so real, with even the tiny details giving away the fact that is loosely based on the director's own romantic past.

The film was voted audience favourite at Sundance Film Festival. It's a sweet intimate piece that will keep you thinking and remembering..........the torture of being in love.

Young Adult - film review

You know that warm fuzzy feeling you got after watching Juno, the previous film from writer Diablo Cody and director Jason Reitman, well, don't expect that when you watch YOUNG ADULT.

This film is not pretending to be a Disney happy ending, feelgood film, and in fact, Charlize Theron's self absorbed Mavis is barely likable throughout the film. However, the story does deliver in a darkly comedic way. Mavis, although mostly despicable, is absolutely absorbing. Viewers will recognise traits in her character in others they have known through their lives. Her character, a writer of teen literature, returns to her small hometown to relive her glory days and attempts to reclaim her happily married high school sweetheart.

My concerns were mainly selfish also, would I relate too well with the Mavis character and her attempts at prolonging adolescence? Similar age group, loves young adult fiction (wannabe writer of it right here!), can't let go of the past (remember I was the one that went to see Vengaboys last week!!), still have a crush on my high school boyfriend etc and then while I was watching the film there were another couple of alarming similarities, like her love of diet coke and the golf she drove in the 90's (same as me!) Anyway, don't think I will spend too much time dwelling on all of that........

Patton Oswalt, who plays Matt, a character also stuck in a not so happy life dwelling on his high school days but for very different reasons, was great in this role. He is a character that deserves our sympathy and we wish more for him than we know he will end up receiving.

And special mention to Patrick Wilson, who mostly always plays the nice guy, does it well and is a bit of a spunk. (check out his new tv series on Ch 10 'A Gifted Man' it's not too bad)

so, will you like this film? It's bleak but there are laugh out loud moments and it is a great study of human behaviour. So, if you don't need to be uplifted, and you like your films a little dark, then I think this could be for you.

LITTLE WHITE LIES - review

It's been awhile between reviews, not only have I not seen many films lately, but I've been lazy with reviewing the ones I have seen!

Saying that, this is one film I am so glad I caught. LITTLE WHITE LIES is a gorgeous French Film whose story revolves around a group of friends who spend summers together at a lovely beach house owned by one of the couples. This year, however, is a little different, as one of their group is seriously injured in a motorbike accident just prior to them leaving, but having been reassured that they could be of no use to the injured Ludo, they decide to take the holiday anyway. Their time is spent drinking wine, smoking, talking, sleeping etc. It's not an exciting film, but one which engrosses you in the everyday lives of fairly 'normal' folks. It is a modern, slowish, French 'Big Chill' kinda vibe!

One of the main reasons I enjoyed this film so much is Marion Cotillard. Man, is she beautiful. she spends most of this film, in daggy clothes and no makeup and is still one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen. In fact, the cast is so beautiful, and not all in the traditional sense, but so interesting and beautiful to watch and listen to, that the overlongish 2 1/2 hours, slips by rather easily!

The soundtrack is amazing and I will definitely be purchasing. Including Ben harper, Damien Rice and even Jet, it's a ripper!

This film made me laugh out loud and cry out loud......yes, in the cinema! I'm not someone that has to rush out to French films, but so glad i did for this one. So off you hop and be engrossed by someone else's problems for a couple of hours, albeit, gorgeous, wine drinking, smoking, sexy French people!!!

Lincoln Lawyer - Review

I've been warning you that this would be good, and it is! If you love a thriller, a courtroom drama, films like A TIME TO KILL, then this is for you. And if you have a soft spot for Matthew McConaghy at all, then you really should go and see this.

The story is based on Mick Haller(Matthew McConaghy) a defense attorney that works out of the back of a Lincoln town car defending garden variety criminals who then takes on a high profile client(Ryan phillippe)and begins what he thinks will be a straightforward case but as it happens turns out to be a survival for his life.

It's a ripping yarn, with some twists and plot turns and a pretty cool cast. As I have said, Matthew is great in this, back to his best! No bongo drums in sight people!! Marisa Tomei, plays his estranged wife/prosecutor and is a very cool cat. (although I am often left wondering who the hell is looking after their child - if you see the film then you will know what I mean). Supporting cast also includes William H Macy, Ryan Phillippe as the spoilt brat defendant, (I don't rate him as an actor but he pulls this role off nicely), Mr blue eyes himself the gorgeous Josh lucas, and the answer to last week's little quiz Michael pare, (who in the mid 80's was in a film called EDDIE AND THE CRUISERS, that rocked my world!!)

Did you love THE FIRM? then please go and see this. And don't forget the popcorn!

BARNEY'S VERSION Review

What a great little film this turned out to be. It's the story of Barney Panofsky, a hard drinking, hard smoking, outspoken, passionate man, we follow over about 30 years of his life, mostly dictated by his marriages. There are three!!! It is based on a book written by Mordecai Richler.

The film jumps back and forth in time, but once you work out who everyone is, and which hairstyle fits which era, it is easy to follow. Although Barney is not the most likeable of characters, his charms win you over, and you become a friend!!! Paul Giamatti, best known for SIDEWAYS, plays BArney superbly. And it is truly a superbly cast film and the reason why I ended up loving it so much. The best moments are the ones shared by Barney and his father, played by Dustin Hoffman. These are great scenes and a treat for the viewer. Rosamund Pike is truly beautiful as his true love, but it is Minnie Driver that steals scenes as barney's 2nd wife(she remains nameless in the film!), the jewish princess. She was born for this role!!

'Felicity' fans are in for a treat. Scott Speedman plays Barney's best friend Boogy, a drug addicted writer. well hello dishevelled Scott!! He is great in this, and kinda hot!!!!

Paul Giamatti won a Golden Globe for his role in this film, best actor in a comedy/musical, and deservedly so. It's funny, heartwarming, interesting and a great story. Tears and laughter, brilliant performances and a great story. Go see it!!!

TRUE GRIT - REVIEW

This is above all, a great adventure story, set in the western style! The 'western' is not necessarily a genre I search for, and indeed, I have never seen the 1969 version of TRUE GRIT starring John Wayne, but The Coen brothers have gone back to the original novel, not the screenplay, and started afresh. They have created a brilliant character driven, adventurous, humourous western.

"Following the murder of her father by hired hand Tom Chaney, 14-year-old farm girl Mattie Ross sets out to capture the killer. To aid her, she hires the toughest U.S. marshal she can find, a man with "true grit," Reuben J. "Rooster" Cogburn. Mattie insists on accompanying Cogburn, whose drinking, sloth, and generally reprobate character do not augment her faith in him. Against his wishes, she joins him in his trek into the Indian Nations in search of Chaney. They are joined by Texas Ranger LaBoeuf, who wants Chaney for his own purposes. The unlikely trio find danger and surprises on the journey, and each has his or her "grit" tested." from IMDB

The acting is sublime, with Hailee Steinfield an absolute standout and most deserving of her supporting actress Oscar nomination. She shares the screen with Jeff Bridges, who plays Rooster Cogburn, the 'tough' US Marshall, and although, his drunken, western drawl is often hard to understand, he plays the role to perfection. He and the Coens have not worked together since 'The Big Lebowski'. My lovely Matt plays the Texas Ranger who joins the search for the criminal, and he also ends up with a difficulty speaking,(a technique he achieved by tying his daughter's hairband around his tongue) but is as always, amazing (biased, moi???) The supporting cast is led by Josh Brolin, who seems to be a Coen brothers favourite these days, Barry Pepper, who is barely recognisable, and Dakin Matthews, whom we know so well from The Gilmore Girls where he played Rory's principal!

It's definitely deserving of its 10 Oscar nominations. You may not necessarily think that this would be the sort of film you would like, or normally go to, but you should. It's a ripper yarn, not in the usual quirky Coen way, but in a really great entertaining way! Go see it!!

BURLESQUE - the review

This film is no GLITTER, but it is cliched and campy but in a good way!

The story goes, poor little orphaned Ali from the middle of nowhere mid america, finds her way to LA where she hopes to make it as a singer. She stumbles across the burlesque club, where she parts with $20 to get in( if I was that poor and in her shoes, I doubt I would have paid $20 bucks to get into a club) and by the end of the night has a job as a waitress in the club. She falls in love the the place, makes some friends and some enemies, and eventually finds her way onto the stage where her amazing voice is dicscovered and lots of people come to see her and she saves the club from being torn down!!! (trust me this is no spoiler, no shocks or surprises in this one!)

Ali is of course played quite annoyingly by Christina Aguilera, probably the main downfall of the film! She can sing, but she can't act, and at all times, I have no sympathy for her character. The rest of the cast are quite fun. Kristen Bell, playing the miffed has been dancer, Julianne Hough as the friendly dancer, a very 'hot' Cam Gigandet as the love interest, Dianna Agron for about 2 minutes onscreen, Stanley Tucci, who is always brilliant, Eric Dane, Peter Gallagher (our fave Sandy Cohen) and Cher who you can't not look at everytime she is onscreen. Not because she is so good, just because she is Cher!

Funnily, Cher has 2 solos in the film, and neither is really appropriate to the storyline, almost as though she insisted that they be there, so they just poked them in where they could!!! Although one of these songs did win a golden globe for best original song!

The dancing is fun and lively, the story is just ok. Cam Gigandet standing in a doorway with just his pyjama pants on, worth the ticket price!!!

We were always going to check this one out!! It was lots of fun, except for Christina Aguliera. How could one person be so annoying? We knew what to expect and weren't disappointed! So if campy, cliched musical is your thing, go see it!!!

THE FIGHTER Review

The FIGHTER is a good film! I had gone in with fairly high expectations, as people all around me were claiming amazing things about it, 89% on rotten tomatoes. I liked it, without loving it!

It's a boxing film, based on a true story. Not my favourite sport or film genre, but the film is of course not just about the boxing. It's essentially a family drama set in the working class suburb of Lowell Massachusetts, not far from Wahlberg's own upbringing, about the 'against all odds' chances of an ordinary bloke. Mickey Ward (Mark Wahlberg) is a boxer, trained by his ex boxer, crack addicted, criminal brother Dickie (Christian Bale) and managed by his overbearing, outspoken bogan mother Alice (Melissa Leo). He is loyal to them when in fact they are not managing his career at all well, setting him up in fights where he is destined to lose. Until he meets Charlene, played by Amy Adams. she sees his potential and right through his selfish loserish family and convinces him to move in other directions, putting her at odds with the family. You can guess how it all ends, I'm sure, no real surprises!

Christian Bale is currently getting much of the accolades for his performance of Dickie, but for me, and to his credit Christian Bale did mention this in his acceptance speech at the Golden Globes, that it is the strength of Mark's quieter performance that lets his shine. And again, Melissa Leo is the one winning awards for her transformation into the scary Alice, it is Amy Adams performance that I preferred.

Christian's performance as Dickie is kinda creepy, although no doubt spot on, when you get a glimpse of the real Dickie at the end of the film. He is a method actor, and I'm betting that his 'dickie' act would have become quite annoying by the end of the shoot! The most uncomfortable I felt whilst watching the film , and the bit that probably detracted from my loving this film, was the sisters. There were 7 sisters, all of whom had the roughest, ugliest, most bogan heads I've ever seen onscreen. They moved in a pack and seemed to do nothing except bitch and moan. Their presence freaked me out to be honest. I have since read that one of them was played by Conan O'brien's sister!!!

The film is directed by David O Russell who has also done The Three Kings (which I absolutely loved) and I Heart Huckabees both with Mark Wahlberg. It was originally to be directed by Darren Aronofsky, but he left the project to do BLACK SWAN. Mark was involved from the beginning and trained constantly for 4 years while the project waited to get the greenlight! Hard work!!! Dickie was originally to be played by Brad Pitt and then Matt Damon, both who had to pull out due to scheduling conflicts.


The story is somewhat predictable, but the performances are definitely worth watching, just make sure to close your eyes every time the 'sisters' hit the screen!!! If you like a good fight film, or you love an award winning performance, go see it!

The sisters

The Social network

I owe you a review!!! It was a big couple of days, 2 highly anticipated films in the matter of 24 hours, life doesn't get much better than that. I have given you my thoughts on BLUE VALENTINE, now for THE SOCIAL NETWORK.

While I do not quite share the thoughts of one of my viewing companions that it is one of the most perfect films he has ever seen, THE SOCIAL NETWORK is an excellent film, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I really don't want to say too much, as the film is being hyped and it is excellent and you won't be disappointed but don't get caught up in the hype, we don't want to ruin it for you.

Directed by the great David Fincher, think' Seven', 'Fight Club' and the upcoming 'The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo' and written by Aaron Sorkin, think' The West Wing' and 'A Few Good Men' amongst others. Based on the novel of the true story of how facebook came to be, not only is the film intriguing but absolutely entertaining. The casting is sublime. Jesse Eisenberg as Mark Zuckerberg, the nerd with seriously not a lot of personality who became a billionaire in his early 20's. His performance is almost creepy as you really want to like him, but his facial expressions and mannerisms leave you seriously wondering what his motives are and whether he has any social skills whatsoever. Justin Timberlake as Sean, the guy who discovered napster. Kind of ironic don't you think, but justin plays it so well. Andrew Garfield the Englishman who is about to play Spiderman who plays mark's best and only friend who ends up suing him. I'm now looking forward to seeing him in Never Let me Go and Spiderman, great performance by him. And a special mention goes to Armie hammer who plays the Winklevoss twins and Rooney Mara playing Mark's girlfriend (seriously he had a girlfriend, pretty hard to believe actually!) who has been cast as Lisbeth in Fincher's 'Girl with the Dragon Tattoo'.

David Fincher knows how to keep a film interesting and you are hooked at every turn, but he never preaches, and you are never led in any one direction about the rights and wrongs and decisions made by these young men.

I'm not going to say anymore. Go and see it. Indulge yourself in some brilliant film making and a fascinating story. Opens in Australia on october 28.

BLUE VALENTINE

Well, i guess I owe you some comments on my viewing of BLUE VALENTINE. Regular readers will know, that this has been a film so eagerly anticipated by myself, that the thought of watching it was almost too much. The reviews from Sundance, Cannes, Toronto etc have all been absolutely solid, so this film had a lot to live up to.

It's beautiful and heartbreaking all at the same time, with performances that are stunning. The film jumps back and forth in time, so at the same time you are watching Dean (Ryan Gosling) and Cindy (Michelle Williams) falling disastrously out of love, you are also watching the very beautiful first moments of them falling in love. The film feels so real, and almost obtrusive and so very personal. It's like taking a camera and shoving it in the face of a very real couple and watching them disintegrate in front of your eyes. At times, its hard to watch, but you can never tear yourself away for a second, particularly because the two leads are mesmerising onscreen. I know that I am completely biased when it comes to some Ryan loving, but he is truly brilliant in this role, and even as a balding alcoholic, the appeal is still there. (so there!) as is the appeal of Michelle, who is so delicate, yet tough in this role.

This film won't be everyone's cup of tea. it's raw and in your face and a little bit sexy (it has just received an NC17 rating in the states, which is almost the equivalent of an R rating here.) but it is so worth the watch, even if it is to just view two of this generations very best actors at work. Stick it out for the credits, they may even bring a tear to your eye.

Mr Gosling, another absolutely superb performance! I think I am even more in love with you now!

PS there is a rumour he may be coming to Australia for the film's premiere.......I can't even begin to think about that possibility...............

Here is the new trailer, just released..........

TOMORROW WHEN THE WAR BEGAN - review

Tonight, I was lucky enough to attend the premiere of TOMORROW WHEN THE WAR BEGAN. Before i go any further, I have a major confession to make, I have never actually read the books! (Sorry John! ) So for once, i didn't have that nervous anticipation about a film adaptation from a book I loved, in fact i had no expectations. This film could seriously have sucked....it's Australian, and we are known for our depressing, heavy stuff or our Croc Dundee/Castle kind of stuff and it has a cast predominantly made up of teens from Aussie soaps....however......it totally didn't suck! In fact, it was ace.

The story, as most of you John Marsden book reading folk will know, is about a group of 7 teenagers who go away to a gorgeous private campspot for a weekend together before school goes back, only to discover upon their return that their hometown, and indeed Australia, has been invaded by a neighbouring country. The kids must now not only fend for themselves, but fight the enemy and try to save their families.

This is an Aussie film that had a budget (I've heard about $20M, which is big bucks in Aust) and thus it doesn't look cheap. It looks like a blockbuster, with big explosions and great scenery. It doesn't feel 'Australian', but in a good way. The story is told from Ellie's point of view (played by Caitlin Stasey from Neighbours), but all characters seem to get equal screen time, and they are all good. In fact, I barely recognised any faces, and this is unusual for me, but it meant I had no preconceived ideas about any of the characters, so they all became who they were supposed to be in the story really quickly for me.

Stuart Beattie, wrote the screenplay and made his directorial debut on this film. He has written the screenplay for AUSTRALIA, GI JOE (yes the one starring our hot bogan) and PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN, not bad for a boy born in Camberwell! he has done an amazing job.

There was much discussion both prior to, and after the film with other guests around me, fans of the book , and others like myself who had not read the book, (and others who had been taught by John Marsden - Tim Ferguson..anyone?) and all were in agreeance that the films stands up either way. I , for one, can't wait to see it again. And the ending definitely leaves things open for a sequel. So come on and pay the bucks to see this ripper Aussie film and we might just get a sequel.

IN CINEMAS FROM SEPTEMBER 2

ANIMAL KINGDOM - THE REVIEW

Wow, ANIMAL KINGDOM! When Aussie film is good, it's great. I've been meaning to see this since it came out, but it's taken me some time to be in the mood. I'm glad I waited, as It's not light fare, and not for a time when you are in a romantic comedy type mood!

It packs a punch from the very beginning, and keeps you absorbed until the final credits. it's strongest assets are it's actors, a who's who of the top of the crop Aussie actors, led by Jackie Weaver, who is quite mesmerising as the crime family's mother. When we first meet her character, we are led to believe she is a caring mum, if somewhat inappropriate with her affections for her sons, but as we get to know her we see a more sinister side to her and in her own way becomes nearly as scary as 'Pope'. 'Pope' is played by Ben Mendelsohn, who if you have been following our recent posts, will know we are searching for his soft side, because after this, you don't want to even think of him in a dark room by yourself, he is that creepy, chilling and menacing. the supporting cast of Joel Edgerton, Sullivan Stapleton and Luke Ford are all really well cast and performances are solid. James Frecheville is a new face in Aussie film, and it will be interesting to see what he does next. He is not animated in this, but doesn't need to be, he is really like a deer in headlights, someone who just was in the wrong life at the wrong time! Guy pearce plays a good guy, and the whole way through, we are hoping that he will stay that way.

So, go see the film. Not just if you love 'Underbelly' or 'True Crimes' or whatever other crime story hooha you like, but because you want to watch a great Australian film. I'm not necessarily a fan of the crime show, but I loved this film.