May
22
2013

SNITCH

by Roy

Reviewed by GREG KING

Director: Ric Roman Waugh

Stars: Dwayne Johnson, Barry Pepper, Jon Bernthal, Susan Sarandon, Rafi Gavron, Benjamin Bratt, Michael Kenneth Williams, Melina Kanakaredes, Nadine Velazquez, JD Pardo, David Harbour, Harold Perrineau.

A documentary that screened at the Melbourne International Film Festival in 2012 was called The House I Live In, which explored the US’s war on drugs and the consequences of its policies of mandatory sentencing. It also suggested several reasons why it is losing that war. In 1999, a Frontline television documentary called Snitch explored another element of this ongoing war. It looked at how even minor drug dealers are arrested and then coerced into informing on others or even conspiring to help set them up in order to reduce their sentences. A frightening statistic reveals that the average sentence for a first time drug dealer convicted of non-violent drug related offences is longer than those served by prisoners convicted of rape, child molestation or even manslaughter.

Writers Justin Haythe (The Clearing, Revolutionary Road, etc) and director Ric Roman Waugh use some of the information and background detail as the starting point of this thriller that gives a fictitious spin on the issue. Although the film explores some morally complex territory it nonetheless seems grounded in reality.

The innocent victim ensnared in a dangerous web of violence and drug cartels is teenager Jason Collins (Rafi Gavron, from the little seen thriller Mine Games, etc), who is sent a package of ecstasy tablets by a friend. As soon as he opens the packet he is arrested by federal police. He faces a mandatory sentence of ten years. The ambitious federal prosecutor Joanne Keeghan (Susan Sarandon), who is running for reelection on a campaign of being tough on drugs, offers him a chance to reduce his sentence if he agrees to turn informant and help capture other drug dealers. He of course refuses to do so.

His estranged father James (Dwayne Johnson) runs a construction and trucking company and has little knowledge or experience of this murky world of narcotics trafficking. Driven by guilt for having been an absent father for much of Jason’s life, Marshall is desperate to help free his son, and works out a deal with Keeghan and sympathetic undercover DEA agent (Barry Pepper). He will try to set up a local drug dealer in exchange for a reduced sentence for Jason. With the reluctant help of Daniel James (Jon Bernthal, from popular HBO series The Walking Dead, etc), an employee with a history of minor drug deals, James gains entry into this seedy subculture.

But James finds himself drawn deeper into the world and eventually is drawn into the web of a vicious Mexican drug cartel, run by the ruthless Juan Carlos Pintera (Benjamin Bratt). And once the cartel has their hooks in anybody it is hard to escape.

A former wrestler known as “the Rock”, Johnson has a formidable physical presence on screen, and he has recently been used to beef up fading franchises like Fast & Furious and GI Joe. But fans expecting him to flex his muscles here and blow away lots of bad guys may be a bit disappointed. Snitch is something of a departure for Johnson as it is more of a character driven piece, and he seems slightly miscast and uncomfortable as an ordinary man out of his depth, a role that requires a more introspective performance. The film probably needed someone with a less imposing physical presence to be credible as the desperate father and honest businessman prepared to break the law to help keep his family safe. Nonetheless he is solid, and delivers a more nuanced performance that we have seen from him before. Even in those scenes he shares with Oscar winner Sarandon he more than holds his own.

Sarandon is given little to do here with a largely one-dimensional character. But the best performance comes from Bernthal, as the con is dragged back into a world he had left behind. He delivers a strong performance as a man caught up in a situation beyond his control but keen to protect his young wife and son from the repercussions of his actions.

Director Waugh is a former stunt man who has worked on high octane action films like Cannonball fever, Days Of Thunder and Gone In Sixty Seconds, etc. His best known film as a director is the intense prison drama Felon, with Stephen Dorff and Val Kilmer. Waugh brings a touch of gravitas to this effective drama. His direction is brisk but quite measured, and he keeps the graphic violence to a minimum. However he comes into his own with two standout sequences – a shootout in a junk yard that is reminiscent of the famous shootout in Michael Mann’s Heat and a rousing car chase that shows off his experience in this genre.

Snitch has an exciting beginning and climax, but the pace tends to lag a bit in the middle. Dana Gonzales’s cinematography of the drug houses, junkyards and nocturnal mean streets oozing with menace adds authenticity to the material. However the film’s critique of the futility of the war on drugs and the terrifying consequences of the mandatory sentencing laws is potent. Its sense of anger is palpable, and the message will resonate with audiences.

***

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May
20
2013

THE RELUCTANT FUNDAMENTALIST

by Roy

Reviewed by GREG KING

Director: Mira Nair

Stars: Riz Ahmed, Live Schreiber, Keifer Sutherland, Kate Hudson, Om Puri, Martin Donovan, Nelsan Ellis, Imaad Shah, Chris Smith.

Based on the 2007 novel written by Mohsin Hamid The Reluctant Fundamentalist is a moody, contemporary political thriller that explores big themes in a world living under the spectre of Islamic terrorism. The film has been directed by Mira Nair (Monsoon Wedding, etc) whose previous films have explored the rich culture of India. Here she explores a world changed by terrorism and shaped by paranoia, suspicion and fear.

When an American professor teaching at a university in Lahore in Pakistan is kidnapped by Islamic radicals, local teacher and activist Changez Khan (played by Riz Ahmed, from the superb black comedy Four Lions, etc) is suspected of having ties to the terrorist organisation. He is approached by Bobby Lincoln (Liev Schreiber), an ex-patriate American journalist who may also be working for the CIA, to gauge his involvement. The pair meet in a cafe to talk, but their meeting is shaped by a palpable air of tension and an element of danger. The deadline on finding the kidnapped professor alive is quickly running out. There is only a short time before a heavily armed CIA squad and the Pakistani security forced burst in and arrest Changez for a more vigorous interrogation.

With a strange lack of urgency given the situation, Changez tells Bobby his background story, which unfolds in a series of extended flashbacks. We learn how he was the ambitious son of a respected poet (Om Puri) and how he studied at Princeton. Headhunted by Underwood Sampson, a top Wall Street analysis firm, Changez was on the fast track to promotion under the guidance of his mentor Jim Cross (Keifer Sutherland). Changez was living the American Dream – a lucrative job as an financial analyst for which he had a natural affinity, international travel, a lavish apartment in New York, and a nice American girl friend in neurotic, guilt-ridden bohemian photographer Erica (an almost unrecogniseable Kate Hudson).

But it all changed on September 11, 2001, when those jets flew into the twin towers and brought those visible symbols of wealth and capitalism crashing down. Suddenly Changez finds himself alienated and persecuted, an outsider who is stopped, questioned and sometimes searched by the authorities purely because of his background. “I didn’t choose a side,” he tells Bobby, “it chose me!” Disenchanted by his treatment in America and the injustice he has experienced first hand, Changez returns home to Pakistan, where he takes up a teaching position and tries to change attitudes from within the system. This Pakistan is a turbulent place, full of student unrest and suspicion of westerners, but Changez tries to maintain a rational approach.

As we listen to his story we come to understand much of the sense of frustration and bitterness and the raw emotions that lead Changez back to his homeland. But he is also something of the typical unreliable narrator. He is an ambiguous character, and we are never quite sure of where he really stands. Is he truly innocent, is he a terrorist leader or is he a potential terrorist in the making?

Surprisingly enough, Nair makes Changez a sympathetic character, which is a potentially controversial and bold move in this political climate. Ahmed is a charismatic actor with a commanding screen presence, and he delivers a wonderfully subtle and nuanced performance in a complex role. Sutherland is also good in a more low key role as his mentor, but Hudson is badly miscast and delivers a largely one note performance as the romantic interest.

The Reluctant Fundamentalist has the urgency of those thrillers whose plot seems ripped from the headlines, and it deals with big themes such as identity, the clash of cultures, xenophobia, the price of zealotry, the souring of the American Dream, and the climate of fear in the wake of 9/11. The film is also suffused with an air of optimism as it tries to bridge that gap between two different cultures, and seems to be calling for an end to the bloodshed and senseless violence. Shortlisted for the prestigious Booker Prize, Hamid’s novel has been described as one of the books that defined a decade, and bringing the book to the screen has been a five year labour of love for Nair. She wants to present a three dimensional exploration of a complex situation, and tries to be even handed in her approach.

Nair, who also directed one of the stories in the portmanteau film 11’09’01, obviously feels a passion for the material here and she brings some complex issues into sharp focus, and explores that deep and divisive schism between East and West. Working with Hamid, Ami Boghani (a former producer who worked on films like Nair’s The Namesake, etc) and television screenwriter William Wheeler, Nair has altered the novel’s monologue-driven structure to make it more cinematic.

And there are sharp parallels between the blind pursuits of religious fundamentalists and their extremist views and the titans of wall street driven by the relentless pursuit of money and wealth, both of which cynically and ruthlessly destroy lives. Nair draws a marvelous contrast between Pakistan and its rich vibrant culture and history and the cold, soulless, impersonal glass and concrete structures of Manhattan. These contrasts are magnificently highlighted through Declan Quinn’s sumptuous cinematography, which lends an ominous tone to the exotic locations.

However the film is occasionally let down by some cliched dialogue, some attempts at proselytising, and some stereotyped, one-dimensional characters straight out of the Hollywood playbook.

Powerful and provocative, The Reluctant Fundamentalist is one of those films that is sure to spark plenty of debate amongst audiences.

***1/2

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May
20
2013

News and Special Screenings

by Greg

 May 20, 2013

A savage selection of cinematic lunacy comes to Nova 
 
Melbourne film buffs will get an extra dose of cult movies over the coming months as Cinema Nova presents Cultastrophe, a program of cutting edge films from the deepest corners of genre cinema universe.  On top of this, we celebrate the art of bad film with the return of Cinema Fiasco; and we bring back “disasterpiece” The Room.

CULTASTROPHE
Every Friday @ 9.45pm. Begins May 24
Curated by Zak Hepburn, Cultastrophe aims to present movies you will not see anywhere else. Each session arrives with a personal introduction, followed by exclusive a pre-show program assembled just for that session. This madcap reel will feature retro advertisements, trailers and other interstitial clips. 

Zak Hepburn is writer, curator and educator who specialises in genre cinema and is currently completing his thesis examining VHS culture.  He says “My aim in creating this program is to offer audiences a chance to see some elusive genre gems on the big screen, presented with a personal touch. This program is for true believers of the cinematic alliance – a program for genre cinema lovers by genre cinema lovers.”

The focus of the program is broad, jumping from Horror to Spaghetti Western to Blaxploitation. Kicking off May 24 with a film that was lost for thirty years, the bona fide kung fu classic Master Of The Flying Guillotine. The film is one of Quentin Tarantino’s favourite films and influenced his movie Kill Bill. Other Cultastrophe highlights include David Cronenberg’s The Brood;  Alex Cox’s unique punk rock sci-fi comedy Repo Man; and Fear(S) Of The Dark – a collection of frightful tales presented by some of the world’s foremost acclaimed graphic artists.
 
Click here for June/July program.
CINEMA FIASCO
First Friday of the month @ 7.30pm. Begins June 7
Cinema Nova is delighted to bring back Cinema Fiasco, a comedy show featuring screenings of classic bad movies accompanied by the hilarious commentary of film buff comedians Geoff Wallis and Janet A McLeod. Geoff and Janet have been watching bad movies together since their teens and honed their appreciation into a fine art.  Geoff Wallis says “There are so few good movies it makes sense to learn how to enjoy the bad ones”.

Cinema Fiasco begins with Blacula, about an African prince on an anti-slavery mission to Transylvania in 1780 who is bitten by Dracula and cursed to roam the earth as the terrifying black vampire Blacula. This great Blaxploitation/horror hybrid features a mind-boggling array of afros, heels, flares, jive-talking dialogue, a guest appearance by hit-makers The Hues Corporation and the magnificent William Marshall whose velvet voice and imposing presence call to mind the tantalizing suggestion of a vampire Barry White.
 
 
THE ROOM
First Saturday of every month. Begins June 1
Nova first screened The Room in February 2010 and since then this independently made, self-distributed movie by the eccentric Tommy Wiseau has become a pop cultural phenomenon in Melbourne, with some Nova patrons returning to see the film ten times. Tommy is currently attending special screenings in the US for the 10th Anniversary of The Room, whilst a petition calling for Tommy to have a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame is circulating.

 

April 19, 2013 – THE GREAT GATSBY TO PREMIERE IN SYDNEY

Warner Bros and Village Roadshow Pictures announced today that filmmakers Baz Luhrmann and Catherine Martin, together with cast-members Leonardo DiCaprio, Tobey Maguire, Carey Mulligan, Joel Edgerton and Elizabeth Debicki, will attend the Australian Premiere at Hoyts, The Entertainment Quarter, on Wednesday 22nd May 2013.

 

Sydney will be the third city to host a Premiere event after New York and the opening of the 66th  Cannes Film Festival.

From the uniquely imaginative mind of writer/producer/director Baz Luhrmann comes the new big screen adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel “The Great Gatsby”. The filmmaker created his own distinctive visual interpretation of the classic story, bringing he period to life in a way that has never been seen before, in a film starring Leonardo DiCaprio in the title role.

 

“The Great Gatsby” follows would-be writer Nick Carraway as he leaves the Midwest and comes to New York City in the spring of 1922, an era of loosening morals, glittering jazz, bootleg kings, and skyrocketing stocks. Chasing his own American Dream, Nick lands next door to a mysterious, party-giving millionaire, Jay Gatsby, and across the bay from his cousin, Daisy, and her philandering, blue-blooded husband, Tom Buchanan. It is thus that Nick is drawn into the captivating world of the super rich, their illusions, loves and deceits. As Nick bears witness, within and without of the world he inhabits, he pens a tale of impossible love, incorruptible dreams and high-octane tragedy, and holds a mirror to our own modern times and struggles.

 

 Academy Award ® nominee DiCaprio (“Django Unchained,” “Aviator”) plays Jay Gatsby, with Tobey Maguire starring as Nick Carraway; Oscar® nominee Carey Mulligan (“An Education”) and Joel Edgerton as Daisy and Tom Buchanan; Isla Fisher and Jason Clarke as Myrtle and George Wilson; and newcomer Elizabeth Debicki as Jordan Baker. Indian film legend Amitabh Bachchan will play the role of Meyer Wolfsheim.

 

 WARNER BROS. PICTURES 2 Oscar ® nominee Luhrmann (“Moulin Rouge!”) directs the film in 3D from a screenplay co-written with frequent collaborator Craig Pearce, based on Fitzgerald’s novel. Luhrmann produces, along with  Catherine Martin, Academy Award® winner Douglas Wick (“Gladiator”), Lucy Fisher and Catherine Knapman . The executive producers are Academy Award® winner Barrie M. Osborne (“Lord of the Rings – Return of the King”), JAY Z, and Bruce Berman.

 

Two-time Academy Award ®-winning production and costume designer Catherine Martin  (“Moulin Rouge!”) designs as well as produces. The editors are Matt Villa, Jason Ballantine and Jonathan Redmond, and the director of photography is Simon Duggan. The music is by Craig Armstrong.

 

 Warner Bros. Pictures presents, in association with Village Roadshow Pictures, in association with A&E Television, a Bazmark/Red Wagon Entertainment Production, a Film by Baz Luhrmann, “The Great Gatsby.” Opening in Australian cinemas on May 30, 2013, the film will be distributed in 3D and 2D by Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company, and in select territories by Village Roadshow Pictures.

 

THE GREAT GATSBY will release in Australian cinemas on 30th May 2013

 

 

 

NOT A ‘SOUR KRAUT’ IN SIGHT…! 2013 AUDI FESTIVAL OF GERMAN FILMS

Presenting a wonderfully audacious collection of contemporary German cinema, the 12th annual Audi Festival of German Films celebrates the rich diversity of one of Europe’s most dynamic and creatively renowned cultures.  Showcasing 45 award-winning films and documentaries from inspiring thrillers to wry comedies and critically lauded feature dramas, the Festival will take place across 8 cities throughout the first two weeks of May, and, for the first time, will include Newcastle and Byron Bay. Presented by the Goethe-Institut in association with German Films, screening partner Palace Cinemas, and the generous support of Audi, whose superb vehicles combine elegance with innovative technology, Festival Director, Dr. Arpad Sölter has crafted a ground-breaking programme which will showcase over 230+ screenings across eight distinct and aptly titled categories from Eastern Promises, Retro, German Currents and Kraut Pleasers to Hot Docs, Russian Roulette, Our Neighbours and Kinder Kapers.   Two Lives, from writer/director Georg Maas, who will be one of the Festival’s many international guests, will launch the event in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Adelaide.  Starring the legendary Liv Ullmann, along with Ken Duken and Juliane Köhler, Two Lives is a thrilling drama that seeks to discover the true identity of a woman whose mysterious past lies in the buried secrets of a wartime liaison between a Norwegian woman and a German soldier. 

Additional Festival highlights include:   Bliss (Screening in Sydney, Melbourne, Canberra, Adelaide & Perth) From filmmaker Doris Dorrie (Cherry Blossoms) comes Bliss, an uncompromising study of the consuming love between Irina, an illegal Macedonian immigrant who sells her body on the streets of Berlin, and Kalle, a homeless man, from filmmaker Doris Dorrie (Cherry Blossoms).  

Break-Up Man (Screening in Sydney, Melbourne & Canberra) This smash-hit comedy tells the tale of Paul Voigt, a charmingly ambitious professional who works for a ‘relationship break-up’ agency. A master at delivering bad news to husbands and wives on behalf of partners lacking the courage to say ‘it’s all over,’ Paul’s on the verge of a big promotion until he meets Toto, a neurotic client who decides to cling to cool-and-calm Paul for dear life with dire results! 

Breathing (Screening all cities) Directed by actor Karl Markovics (The Counterfeiters) Austria’s entry in the Foreign Language Oscar category tells the story of Roman Kogler, a 19-year-old ward-of-the-state living in a detention centre following a serious crime.  As part of the centre’s day release program, Roman’s only hope for rehabilitation comes when he is offered the position of assistant undertaker at the local morgue. 

Dreileben Trilogie (Screening all cities) Directed by three of Germany’s leading filmmakers, Christian Petzold, Dominik Graf and Christoph Hochhäusler, this intriguing trilogy of films, each plays upon figures of three, to form a series of subtle repetitions and triangulations of characters and events.  

Famous Five  (Screening in Melbourne, Brisbane and Canberra) There’s much to enjoy in this fast-paced and entertaining film that captures author Enid Blyton’s spirit of fun and adventure.  Based upon the exploits of four children and a dog, the story follows their quest to uncover the secrets behind a smuggler’s cave, a kidnapping and a secret scientific laboratory.  

German Sons (Screening Sydney & Melbourne) When Harald Grosskopf, the son of a Nazi Party member soldier, and filmmaker Philippe Mora, the son of artistic Jews, met in 2009 Berlin, Mora decided to make a documentary on their incredibly disparate upbringing, resulting in an engrossing portrait of two people impacted by the Hitler years. 

Mercy (Screening Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Canberra) A slow-burning thriller about a couple, torn apart by infidelity, brought together when they attempt to conceal a tragic accident.  

Russendisko (Screening Sydney, Melbourne & Canberra) Based on Russendisko, the runaway 2000 bestseller by Russian author and disc-jockey Wladimir Kaminer, this poignant, modern-day fairytale charts the adventures of Wladimir, Mischa and Andrej, three young men from Moscow who arrive in Berlin soon after the fall of the Berlin Wall.  

Sound of Heimat (Screening Sydney, Melbourne & Brisbane) What happens when a New Zealand saxophonist embarks upon a search for the roots and living traditions of German folk music?  In this exuberant documentary, Kiwi horn blower Hayden Chisholm seeks to discover the musical embodiment of the quintessential German notion of Heimat (homeland). 

The Wall (Sydney, Melbourne & Adelaide) Set amidst the Austrian Alps, this Robinson-Crusoe like drama tells the story of a woman who becomes separated from the rest of humanity by an invisible, impenetrable wall.  A metaphor rich mediation on loneliness, fear and survival, based on the acclaimed 1963 novel by Marlen Haushofer.

 This Ain’t California (Screening Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Newcastle, Canberra & Byron Bay) A fascinating documentary about teenage rebellion and skateboard riding in East Germany that follows three childhood friends from the 1970s until present day. 

Turkish for Beginners (Screening Sydney, Melbourne & Perth) The most successful German film of 2012, this lively romantic comedy reunites characters from the hit TV sitcom about German-Turkish relationships and follows the adventures of Lena Schneider, a sensible but slightly neurotic young woman, who is stranded on a desert isle with Cem, a young Turkish-German man with raging hormones, his deeply religious sister, Yagmur, and a stuttering Greek named Costa. 

Festival dates and venues are as follows: SYDNEY:  30 April  - 14 May  Chauvel Cinema, Palace Verona MELBOURNE:   1 – 15 May  Palace Cinema Como, Kino Cinemas BRISBANE:   3 – 9 May  Palace Centro NEWCASTLE   4 – 5 May  Tower Cinemas CANBERRA:  7 – 12 May   Palace Electric Cinema ADELAIDE:   8 – 13 May  Palace Nova Eastend Cinemas PERTH:   9 – 13 May  Cinema Paradiso BYRON BAY: 10 – 12 May  Palace Byron Bay

 

 

JULIAN ASSANGE FILM UNDERGROUND STARTS NATIONAL SPECIAL EVENT TOUR

ROB CONNOLLY HITS THE ROAD WITH CHRISTINE ASSANGE, WIKILEAKS, CAST AND CREW

Matchbox Pictures’ Underground: The Julian Assange Story to screen in cinemas nationally from March 17 to launch Robert Connolly and Footprint Films’ new CinemaPlus initiative. Underground screened at the Toronto and London International Film Festivals where it received rave reviews. Broadcast on Network Ten in October 2012 to critical acclaim, Underground drew over 1.3 million viewers nationwide.

Now the official Festival edition of the feature will hit the big screen in Australia, followed by question-and-answer events with director Robert Connolly and a roster of special guests including Christine Assange – Julian’s mother, portrayed in the film by Rachel Griffiths – and lead actor Alex Williams.

The tour will kick off in MELBOURNE with a week of special events at Cinema Nova and Palace Brighton Bay before travelling to SYDNEY, CANBERRRA, BYRON BAY, MURWILLUMBAH, BRISBANE, ADELAIDE and PERTH.

All attendees at CinemaPlus event screenings of Underground will receive a package containing a DVD-ROM with special features, including behind the scenes featurettes, screenplays, extracts from Suelette Dreyfus’ eBook of “Underground”, music from the soundtrack and production photographs. The package will include a code to stream Robert Connolly’s director’s commentary – members of the audience are encouraged to bring headphones to listen to the commentary during the screenings. Underground: The Julian Assange Story – in 1989, Julian Assange and two friends formed the ‘International Subversives’. Using early home computers and calling themselves ‘white hat hackers’ – who look but don’t steal – they broke into the world’s most powerful organisations. Young, brilliant, and in the eyes of the FBI, a major threat to national security, they were chased through the electronic underground of Melbourne.

For a strictly limited season, Footprint Films is pleased to present the theatrical edition of Underground: The Julian Assange Story at Cinema Nova and Palace Brighton Bay in Melbourne and at the Chauvel Cinema in Sydney, with exclusive engagements to follow in Canberra, Brisbane, Byron Bay, Murwillumbah, Adelaide and Perth.

For more information visit

www.undergroundthemovie.com.au

Or follow up at facebook.com/CinemaPlusEvents and on Twitter @CinemaPlusEvent

March 13

JAMES FRANCO ANNOUNCES AUSTRALIAN PREMIERE OF HIS NEW FILM AT THE MELBOURNE QUEER FILM FESTIVAL REPLACING I WANT YOUR LOVE BANNED BY LOCAL CENSOR

Academy Award nominated actor James Franco and director Travis Mathews have gifted their latest title Interior. Leather Bar to the 23rd Melbourne Queer Film Festival in response to the shock banning of I Want Your Love, directed by Travis Mathews. Franco co-directed Interior. Leather Bar with Mathews.

The Hollywood star of Disney’sOz The Great And Powerful, currently the most popular film on screen around the globe, has spoken directly to the Australian Classification Board in an online video protesting the ban.

“This just is such a disappointment to me and seems really silly. The reason I approached Travis to make a film (Interior. Leather Bar) was because of his work in I Want Your Love,” he said. “It’s very short-sighted and very hypocritical… Frankly, adults should be able to choose. They’re not going in blind. I don’t know why in this day and age a film that is using sex – not for titillation but to talk about being human – is being banned. It’s just embarrassing. I hope you’ll re-consider”.

I Want Your Love has been refused exemption from classification by the Australian Classification Board. There is no appeal process and the festival has been informed that even if they paid for it to be classified it would be denoted as X 18+ and not able to be shown. The reason given for the ban was because the film contains explicit sex scenes without the narrative context to support the sex scenes.

Interior. Leather Bar has been a huge hit at the Berlin and Sundance film festivals. It examines the making of the 1980 film Cruising,  starring Al Pacino as an undercover cop investigating a murder in the NYC gay leather bar scene. Cruising was plagued with controversy, and its director was forced by US censors to cut 40 minutes of sexually explicit material. Those 40 minutes have never been screened publicly – in Interior. Leather Bar Franco and Mathews set out to reimagine what might have transpired in those lost scenes.

“It’s a huge coup for us to be able to screen James and Travis’ brand new film. Given the recent banning of I Want your Love, a film about censorship couldn’t be more topical,” said Melbourne Queer Film Festival director Lisa Daniel. This is the second year in a row that the Board has not allowed director Travis Mathews’ work to be screened, with the banning of In Their Room: Berlin, at the 2012 Mardi Gras Film Festival despite his great credibility as a filmmaker.

Baz Luhrmann, Leonardo DiCaprio and Scott Fitzgerald to inaugurate the Festival de Cannes.

It is on The Great Gatsby by Australian director Baz Luhrmann, that the curtain will rise at the inauguration of the 66th Festival de Cannes, on Wednesday 15th May, in the Grand Théâtre Lumière of the Palais des Festivals, out of Competition in the Official Selection.
Adapted from the famous novel by American author Francis Scott Fitzgerald and set against the roaring twenties on the East Coast of the United States, the film depicts the romantic and tragic figure of Jay Gatsby (Leonardo DiCaprio), as narrated by his friend Nick Carraway (Tobey Maguire). Carey Mulligan is Daisy Buchanan, whose husband is played by Joel Edgerton. This prestigious occasion will also be graced with the presence of Bollywood legend Amitabh Bachchan, as well as the American pop star, rapper Jay-Z.
“It is a great honor for all those who have worked on The Great Gatsby to open the Cannes Film Festival. We are thrilled to return to a country, place and festival that has always been so close to our hearts, not only because my first film Strictly Ballroom was screened there 21 years ago, but also because F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote some of the most poignant and beautiful passages of his extraordinary novel just a short distance away at a villa outside Saint-Raphaël.”
Produced by Warner Bros. Pictures and Village Roadshow Pictures, the film was scripted by Baz Luhrmann and his faithful co-screenwriter Craig Pearce, based on Fitzgerald’s 1925 novel.
The opening film will be screened in 3D – for the second time during the history of the Festival, following Up by Pete Docter, in 2009.
Born in 1962 in Australia, Baz Luhrmann has twice been honoured by the Festival de Cannes for Strictly Ballroom (Un Certain Regard in 1992) and for Moulin Rouge! at the 54th Festival, in 2001, at an opening which is unlikely to be forgotten any time soon.
Leonardo DiCaprio (Jay Gatsby) has rarely been seen on the Croisette. He returns to Cannes for the first time since the 2007 presentation of The 11th Hour, a documentary on ecological issues which the actor himself produced.
THE GREAT GATSBY WILL RELEASE IN AUSTRALIAN CINEMAS ON 30TH MAY 2013

Grammy Award-winning musical artist Shawn “JAY Z” Carter has collaborated with writer/producer/director Baz Luhrmann on The Great Gatsby —in the capacity of Executive Producer—to bring the modern “Jazz Age” energy of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s original text to the big screen, procuring, performing, producing and arranging for a soundtrack featuring some of the world’s top musical artists.
JAY Z’s contributions, woven amongst a score by long-time Luhrmann collaborator, composer Craig Armstrong, drive Gatsby’s champagne-infused dance floors, rumble in New York’s illegal speakeasies, and foreshadow the tragedy behind Gatsby’s “extraordinary gift for hope.” To articulate the film’s “1920s-Meets-Now” sound, JAY Z also comes to “The Great Gatsby” soundtrack as a performer and contributor of original music.
Luhrmann and JAY Z were introduced by Leonardo DiCaprio (Jay Gatsby), and this led to a two-year collaborative effort. During this time, JAY Z worked with Luhrmann and his team to capture, translate and contrast the feelings of Fitzgerald’s decadent era with that of our own, using hip-hop and jazz, music contemporary and period, to bring two distinct American moments to simultaneous life. They sculpted the film’s musical landscape alongside Armstrong, who worked with the director on “Moulin Rouge!” and “Romeo + Juliet.” The film’s music supervisor is Anton Monsted.
Luhrmann calls the collaboration with JAY Z “a credible and natural fit. Fitzgerald was a pioneer, famed and controversial for using the then-new and explosive sound called jazz in his novels and short stories—not just as decoration, but to actively tell story using the immediacy of pop culture. He coined the phrase ‘the Jazz Age.’ So, the question for me in approaching Gatsby was how to elicit from our audience the same level of excitement and pop-cultural immediacy toward the world that Fitzgerald did for his audience? And in our age, the energy of jazz is caught in the energy of hip-hop. Not only is JAY Z a great artist, full stop, but I had heard that he was a great collaborator. Leonardo and I were lucky enough to be present in a recording session over two years ago as JAY Z was recording ‘No Church in the Wild,’ and the collaboration grew from there.”
JAY Z said, “As soon as I spoke with Baz and Leonardo, I knew this was the right project. The Great Gatsby is that classic American story of one’s introduction to extravagance, decadence and illusion. It’s ripe for experimentation and ready to be interpreted with a modern twist. The imagination Baz brought to ‘Moulin Rouge’ made it a masterpiece, and ‘Romeo + Juliet’s’ score wasn’t just in the background; the music became a character. This film’s vision and direction has all the makings of an epic experience.”
“The Great Gatsby” soundtrack will be released by Interscope Records.
Warner Bros. Pictures presents, in association with Village Roadshow Pictures, in association with A&E Television, a Bazmark/Red Wagon Entertainment Production, a Film by Baz Luhrmann, “The Great Gatsby.” Opening in Australian cinemas on May 30, 2013, the film will be distributed in 3D and 2D by Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company, and in select territories by Village Roadshow Pictures.

February 26

PASSION IS TESTED IN THE EMOTIONALLY GRIPPING LA BOHEME

 Australian audiences can experience historic Parisian life during the much-loved traditional opera; La Bohème. Palace Opera & Ballet in conjunction with The Royal Opera present La Bohème in March for an exclusive season at eight selected Palace location across Australia.

 Teeming with period detail, John Copley’s definitive production is traditional opera at its best. From a shabby garret to the bustling Café Momus to a snowy courtyard at dawn, this minutely observed panorama of 1830s Parisian life, beautifully designed by Julia Trevelyan Oman, conjures emotions and atmosphere ranging from joy to tragedy, in large-scale crowd scenes and intimate tableaux.

 In Puccini’s depiction of the tender and ultimately tragic love between Mimì (Kovalevska) and Rodolfo (Popov) he achieved an immediacy, warmth and humanity that have rarely been equalled.

 Palace brings the grandeur of Europe’s finest stages to Australian cinemas with this brand new production from The Royal Opera House.

 “Maija Kovalevska’s powerful sound is wonderfully even with a silvered purity, and in character she’s grandly flirtatious”**** The Independent

 “Boyish bravado, tenderness, urgency, tragedy – they skip from one to the other (flawlessly)” **** The Guardian

 Director: John Copley, Conductor Mark Elder Cast: Dmytro Popov, Maija Kovalevska, Stefania Dovhan and Audun Iversen Duration: 2 hours 45 minutes

La Bohème screens on March 1, 2, 3 & 6 at the following cinema venues:-

Melbourne:       Palace Balwyn, Palace Brighton Bay, Palace

Sydney:                Palace Norton, Palace Verona

Brisbane:             Palace Barracks

Adelaide:            Palace Nova Eastend

Canberra:            Palace Electric Cinemas

With a special screening on March 3 at:-

ByronBay:          PalaceByron Bay

In addition La Bohème, Palace brings the grandeur of Europe’s finest stages to Australian cinemas with an array of brand new theatre and live productions from The Royal Opera House, The Royal Ballet, Glyndebourne and featured in the Palace Opera & Ballet season for 2012/2013.

 

October 25

Doctor Faustus ventures into the depths of human desire.

Australian audiences will have the opportunity to experience the greatest tragedy in English before Shakespeare, captured live from Shakespeare’s Globe. Doctor Faustus will leave viewers contemplating mankind’s insatiable desire for knowledge and power when it screens in eight venues across Australia during November at selected Palace Cinemas.    

Doctor Faustus, restless for knowledge, forsakes scholarship for magic and makes a pact with the Devil: if the tortured spirit Mephistopheles will serve him for 24 years, Faustus will yield his soul to the Devil after death.

Transformed into an arena of wild spectacle and dark illusion, the Globe becomes the scene for an epic battle between Lucifer and the angels for one man’s soul. Larger than life puppets, huge flying dragons and horned stilt walkers bring Marlowe’s fantastical world to life.

With the conversion of Palace Cinemas to state of the art HD digital projection “patrons can now enjoy these spectacular events in all their glory.” said Executive Director Benjamin Zeccola.

“rude, robust, bawdy, magical and violent, it is a provocatively entertaining production.” **** The Daily Express

The Spectator declared Doctor Faustus “A triumph of spine-tingling spectacle…. that would delight the Prince of Darkness himself.”

Doctor Faustus will be screening nationally November 2, 3, 4 & 7 at the following cinema venues:-

 Melbourne:       Palace Balwyn, Palace Brighton Bay, Palace Cinema Como

Sydney:                                Palace Norton, Palace Verona

Brisbane:             Palace Barracks

Adelaide:            Palace Nova Eastend

Perth:                   Cinema Paradiso

In addition to Doctor Faustus, Palace brings the grandeur of Europe’s finest stages to Australian cinemas with an array of brand new theatre and live productions from The Royal Opera House, The Royal Ballet, Glyndebourne and featured in the Palace Opera & Ballet season for 2012/2013.

Ravel Double Bill (Glyndebourne) Nov 9, 10, 11 & 14 – 2012

Les Troyens (Royal Opera) Dec 8 & 12 – 2012

Swan Lake (Royal Ballet) Dec 21, 22, 23 & 24 – 2012

The Nutcracker (Royal Ballet) Feb 1, 2, 3 & 6 – 2013

La bohème (Royal Opera) March 1, 2, 3 & 6 – 2013

Eugene Onegin (Royal Opera) May 10, 11, 12 & 15 – 2013

Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (Royal Ballet) May 24, 25, 26 & 29 – 2013

Nabucco (Royal Opera) June 7, 8, 9 & 12 – 2013

La donna del lago (Royal Opera) Jul 19, 20, 21 & 24 – 2013

Gloriana (Royal Opera) Aug 2, 3, 4 & 7

TICKETS:

General Admission: Adult: $27.00, Conc: $24.00, Senior (60+): $22.00,

Child (14yrs & under): $15.00

Movie Club (Max 2): $24.00

Palace Opera and Ballet have recently released the 2012/2013 season trailer, which can be viewed here: http://youtu.be/ikjrakeQQfw

Filmmakers, Start Your Engines!

Movie Extra Tropfest 2013 entries now open

Toyota offering a new car to the winner!

 Filmmakers around Australia should rev up their engines and dust off their equipment as entries for the 2013 edition of the world’s largest short film festival, Movie Extra Tropfest, officially open this month.

The winning filmmaker is set to receive enormous attention from the local and international film community, a $10,000 cash prize, a trip to Los Angeles for ‘a week of meetings’ with film execs and, for the first time in Tropfest history, a brand new car, thanks to new Major Partner, Toyota.

As well as arguably the world’s richest prize pool for filmmakers, Tropfest offers Finalists the chance to have their work viewed by approximately 150,000 people LIVE at venues across Australia on Sunday, 17 February 2013. And once again, Tropfest’s Naming Rights Partner, Movie Extra, will screen the event live to hundreds of thousands more via their subscription TV channel.

Nikon, world leader in camera and lens technology, will bring an exciting new element to this year’s competition with the introduction of the new DSLR film category, in which all entries must be made entirely on a DSLR camera. The category will showcase the versatility and capabilities of video recording technology in DSLR’s and will give filmmakers a new, accessible outlet to express their creativity.

Whether you’re a beginner or a seasoned professional, all you have to do to enter Tropfest is start shooting. Films must not exceed seven minutes and, in long-standing festival tradition, must contain the Tropfest Signature Item (TSI), which for 2013 is “BALLOON”. Entries will close on January 3, 2013.

Entering Tropfest is simple and organisers are expecting this year’s competition to be hotly contested, as the Festival continues to grow both at home and abroad. Once again, Tropfest will fly all national and international Finalists to Sydney for Festival Night.

Last year’s winner Alethea Jones says her $10,000 cash prize supported by Kennedy Miller Michell, trip to LA supported by the Motion Picture Association, and Nikon camera changed her life. She has had a very busy year and is heading to LA next month for casting sessions on her new US feature film.  Alethea is also pitching another feature with one of her writing partners, also in the USA, and spent part of June at Tropfest Las Vegas where her film, “Lemonade Stand,” was a Finalist in the All Star Competition.

Kicking off on February 15, Tropfest will host a three-day Festival of late night screenings, parties and the hugely popular filmmaker symposium, Tropfest Roughcut, in Sydney, Australia’s proud home of short film. Then, on Sunday 17th, the rest of Australia will be invited to join in via the main event, where Finalist films will be judged live by a panel of celebrity and industry judges. In previous years, the jury has included the likes of Nicole Kidman, Toni Collette, Geoffrey Rush, Cate Blanchett, Russell Crowe, Baz Luhrmann, Ewan McGregor, Asher Keddie, Elijah Wood, Tobey Maguire and many more.

Tropfest Founder and Director John Polson says: “I want to welcome back Movie Extra, our naming rights partner, as well as Nikon, Kennedy Miller Mitchell, the MPA, Toyota and the rest of our incredible supporters for coming to the party this year. What started in a café in front of 200 people is now a bonafide international festival – arguably the world’s first global film festival. I love the idea of being able to provide the world’s next hot talent not only with an amazing week of meetings with some of the most influential people in the film world, but with a brand new Toyota. Nice.”

NSW Minister for Tourism, Major Events and the Arts, George Souris, says: “Tropfest has become one of the world’s greatest short film festivals and is a major part of a line-up of world class summer events on the NSW Calendar.

“It’s a time when Sydney City streets, beaches and parks become the stage for free outdoor events.

“Congratulations to John Polson and the Tropfest team for creating such a successful event that not only showcases our Harbour City to the world, but also provides a springboard for filmmakers of all ages and experience.”

Tropfest not only attracts entrants from across the globe for its Australian competition, but hosts fully-fledged festivals in Arabia, New Zealand, the USA, with others in planning.

For more information go to http://tropfest.com/au/submit/

Wednesday 19 September 2012

BBC LAST NIGHT OF THE PROMS 2012

The World’s Greatest Classical Music Festival

 CAPTURED LIVE IN HD FROM LONDON’S ROYAL ALBERT HALL

SCREENING IN SELECT CINEMAS

FEATURING INTERNATIONALLY-RENOWNED MALTESE TENOR JOSEPH CALLEJA

AND VIOLINIST NICOLA BENEDETTI

 Saturday 20 & Sunday 21 Octobe

TICKETS ON SALE NOW

 The BBC Last Night of the Proms is one of the most famous music events in the world, listened to and watched by millions around the globe.  The powerful finale of the 2012 BBC Proms season will be screened in select cinemas on 20 & 21 October direct from the Royal Albert Hall in London.

Join us for the year’s biggest musical party with two very special guests. Since taking the UK by storm as 2004’s BBC Young Musician of the Year, Scottish-born Nicola Benedetti has enhanced her reputation as one of Britain’s most innovative and creative young violinists. We also welcome Joseph Calleja, the Maltese tenor who sings with the grace and elegance of the voices of a bygone era.

A brace of Czechs acknowledges the sterling work of the BBC Symphony Orchestra’s outgoing chief Jiří Bělohlávek, while contributions from 2012’s anniversary composers include Delius’s valedictory settings of Walt Whitman.

More familiar UK home-grown music from Henry Wood brings down the curtain in time-honoured fashion.

Tickets are on sale now from participating cinemas across Australia:

NSW – Dendy Opera Quays, Dendy Newtown, Chauvel Cinemas, Manly Cinemas

VIC – Cinema Nova, Palace Como, Palace Brighton Bay

ACT – Dendy Canberra

QLD – Palace Centro, Dendy Portside

SA – Palace Nova Eastend Cinemas

WA – Luna Windsor, Nedlands

September 16

WORLD PREMIERE OF “WHERE THE TRAIL ENDS” OFFERS COMPLETE MOVIE AND RED CARPET ACTION TO BE STREAMED LIVE ON REDBULL.COM/BIKE SEPTEMBER 20TH AT 1:30PM AEST

Tickets On-Sale for World Premiere at Las Vegas’ Pearl Theater at Palms Casino Resort

Santa Monica, California (September 14, 2012) — The long-awaited freeride mountain bike film, Where The Trail Ends, has finally arrived. In Las Vegas, on September 19th, 2012, Red Bull Media House and Freeride Entertainment will premiere their latest cinematic creation in The Pearl Theatre at Palms Casino Resort. A red carpet treatment will greet athletes and VIP’s beginning at 8:30PM PST (1:30pm AEST), followed by the 9:00PM PST (2 pm AEST) big screen launch of the most progressive and groundbreaking mountain bike movie of the past decade. Tickets to the premiere are available at www.wherethetrailends.com, and the first 1,000 moviegoers to pick up their tickets will receive a limited edition issue of Decline Magazine that includes a special LCD video display inside.

For Australian (and global) fans unable to make the trip to Las Vegas, all the action from the red carpet and premiere of Where The Trail Ends will be live-streamed for free at www.redbull.com/bike beginning at 1:30pm Thursday 20 September (AEST). Witness interviews with the athletes, filmmakers and special guests on the red carpet by none other than host Sal Masekela, then follow the cameras inside with the crowd to catch the introductions and watch the film live as it premieres to the world. If viewers miss any of the excitement, the entire live stream loop, including all the red carpet antics and the film in its entirety, will be broadcast continuously for 24 hours allowing everyone a chance to view what might be the most influential big mountain riding film ever.

Where The Trail Ends is the culmination of three years of travel to the farthest reaches of the globe, including the Andean foothills of Salta, Argentina, China’s challenging Gobi Desert, Nepal’s near-secret Mustang region, the unexplored shorelines of British Columbia’s Fraser River and Virgin, Utah — big mountain freeriding’s birthplace, and punishing proving grounds.

Where The Trail Ends’ storyline follows professional mountain bikers Darren Berrecloth, Cameron Zink, Kurt Sorge, James Doerfling, Andreu Lacondeguy and another half dozen of the world’s top freeriders in an extraordinary chronicle of exploration, chaos and culture, set amongst some of the globe’s most harrowing and remote natural landscapes.

Freeride Entertainment’s crews created the project’s remarkably compelling tone, footage and narrative using the most advanced filmmaking and sound equipment ever used in the outdoor adventure sport genre. An array of transportation tools including jet boats, helicopters, fixed wing aircraft, as well as the riders themselves, helped provide a variety of unique perspectives for the audience. Partnerships with Contour (www.contour.com), hands-free HD video cameras, and Specialized Bikes were vital to the project’s success.

Where The Trail Ends will be available on DVD, Blu-ray™ and iTunes beginning September 21st. The Blu-ray™ version is mastered in 7.1 surround sound using Dolby TrueHD providing fans the most compelling viewing experience possible. To order exclusive Where The Trail Ends apparel by Troy Lee Designs, and for more information, please visit www.wherethetrailends.com.

 

August 13

Illumination Films, SAVAGE Films, The Austin Hospital and

the Organ and Tissue Authority present

 

THE DINNER PARTY

Documentary by Paul Cox

A new documentary by internationally acclaimed Australian auteur filmmaker Paul Cox in which eight liver transplant recipients share their stories at an intimate dinner party in Paul’s home was launched by award-winning actor David Wenham and Professor Bob Jones AM, the Director of the Liver Transplant Unit at Austin Health.

Supported by The Austin Hospital and the Organ and Tissue Authority the documentary, The Dinner Party, was conceived as a gift and educational resource for use by community and government organisations to assist in raising awareness of the vital need for donors and to aid medical professionals’ understanding of the recipient experience.

Through personal stories, The Dinner Party provides a unique insight into the lives of organ recipients, their time spent on waiting lists, their transplant surgery and the everyday realities of living with an organ from a deceased person. The film will be made broadly available within the organ and tissue donation and transplantation sectors as a contribution to the achievement of the Australian Government’s National Reform Agenda, A World’s Best Practice Approach to Organ and Tissue Donation for Transplantation led by the Organ and Tissue Authority.

To achieve this aim, the film is licensed under Creative Commons which enables copyright owners to allow others to share their material legally. Health professionals are encouraged to freely utilise this resource in their work.

The Dinner Party is the second philanthropic project to come out of Paul Cox’s personal battle with liver cancer, and his time spent on the waiting list for a transplant. After searching unsuccessfully to find reading material which would help him understand the process he was going through, Paul decided to write “Tales From the Cancer Ward”, and donate all proceeds from the sale of the book to the Austin Hospital.

In launching The Dinner Party, award-winning actor David Wenham revealed that he is confirmed to play the lead role in Paul Cox’s next feature also inspired by Paul’s personal journey.  This feature with the working title Force of Destiny has received Screen Australia development support, and is scheduled to shoot next year. Force of Destiny (working title) is the uplifting story of ‘Robert’ a sculptor whose life is transformed in miraculous ways when he’s given a liver transplant.

Filmmaker Paul Cox said “I can’t make another film before I make Force of Destiny and I’m utterly delighted to be working with David Wenham to bring this life affirming story to the screen.”

Director of the Austin Hospital’s Liver Transplant Unit and the surgeon who performed Paul Cox’s life-saving operation, Professor Bob Jones AM welcomed the documentary’s launch and said “The Austin has valued Paul Cox’s strong connection with us since his liver transplant.  He is a great support to others and a champion for organ donation.”

CEO of the Organ and Tissue Authority Yael Cass said “We are honoured that Paul Cox, one of Australia’s celebrated filmmakers, has generously shared his journey of transplantation to educate Australians on the topic of organ and tissue donation. I know that ‘The Dinner Party’ will help inspire Australians to decide and discuss organ and tissue donation.

The Dinner Party was produced by Illumination Films and Savage Films with the support of the Austin Hospital and the Organ and Tissue Authority.

As guests arrive we hear Paul Cox’s voice over…

“Almost a year ago I was summoned to the Austin Hospital and received a transplant of the liver. I was given that great gift of life. Tonight I want to celebrate my donor’s life and my miraculous survival. I have invited a few of my fellow recipients for dinner. There are not that many of us. A fairly exclusive club I would say. None of us would have lived without the miracle of transplantation and we’re very grateful to be alive. It seems easier now to be forgiving and kind, to be more generous and loving. But we find ourselves in a world that moves too fast, a world that doesn’t even have the time to contemplate our gratitude. Tonight we want to listen to one another, share a moment of warmth and understanding. The body heals but the mind doesn’t heal that easily. How can one get used to miracles?”

Each of The Dinner Party guests underwent a liver transplant at the Austin Hospital (Melbourne) for quite different reasons. Rosie, had a transplant before she even knew she needed one such was the rapidity of her decline. Jonathan had been waiting for his since he was a teenager. Paul Cox who has a rare blood group thought he might not make it to the top of the list before his cancer took his life.

Each of these organ recipients has an immense happiness to be alive. Listening to their stories makes one reflect on life, love, health, family and the nature of human existence … the important things, often forgotten in our frantically busy world. This film communicates the incredible gift one gives when choosing to become an organ and tissue donor.

The Austin Hospital and the Organ and Tissue Authority have supported the production of The Dinner Party as an educational resource for the health community and the Organ and Tissue Authority are distributing copies of the documentary throughout the sector for organ and tissue donation for transplantation, to assist them in their important work in community awareness and education of organ and tissue donation for transplantation.

The documentary aims to achieve the following:

* Provide donor families with an authentic insight into the impact of the ‘gift of life’ given by their family member

* Provide a personal insight into the outcome of organ donation for surgeons, doctors, nurses and hospital staff

* Increase the number of Australian organ and tissue donors

* Raise awareness and stimulate discussion about organ and tissue donation

* Be screened for those awaiting organ transplantation, support groups, individuals and families impacted by organ and tissue donation

* Be utilised in the professional development of clinical staff

* Be utilised by DonateLife Education Coordinators

 

Cate shortland returns to Cinema Nova

Somersault’s Cate Shortland to discuss her return to the director’s chair Cinema Nova will host Australian Director Cate Shortland on Tuesday 18 September where she will discuss her first film in eight years.

Shortland, the acclaimed director of Somersault, will discuss her new film Lore, which has been described as ‘a fitting reward for those who’ve waited eight years to see what Shortland would do next.’ (The Hollywood Reporter) Lore is Cate Shortland’s adaptation of Rachel Seiffert’s novel The Dark Room and is a complex story about relationships forged by young people in post-World-War II Germany.

When their Nazi SS parents are taken into Allied custody, five siblings are left to fend for themselves. Teenaged Lore, the oldest, takes charge, and the children set out to join their grandmother in Hamburg, 900 km away. Along the arduous journey, the children encounter a populace suffering from postwar denial and deprivation, and for the first time are exposed to the reality and consequences of their parents’ actions. With food hard to come by, and the journey becoming ever more dangerous, the children meet Thomas, a young Jewish survivor who helps them negotiate their way through tricky situations. Lore is both repulsed by and attracted to Thomas. All that she has been taught leads her to believe that he is the enemy, but his industriousness, generosity and physicality prove alluring. “Shortland deals with complex issues with the greatest of care and once again brings fascinating characters and subject matters to the screen with great intelligence and subtlety,” said Cinema Nova General Manager Kristian Connelly. “We trust that Melbourne cinema goers will be curious about how Cate went about undertaking this ambitious project.”

Tickets to this special Meet the Filmmaker event are now available on the Cinema Nova website: www.cinemanova.com.au Meet the Filmmaker event – Lore with Director Cate Shortland 6:30pm, Tuesday 18 September Cinema Nova, 380 Lygon Street Carlton Tickets: $18 adults/$16 concession For more information, visit www.cinemanova.com.au

 

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May
18
2013

THE GOOD THE BAD & THE UGLY FILM SHOW PODCAST #32

by Roy

http://subcultureentertainment.com/2013/02/the-good-the-bad-the-ugly-film-show-episode-32/

This week Episode #32

Every week you can hear the latest film reviews, DVD reviews and news from the world of film with GREG KING, DAVE GRIFFITHS, ADAM ROSS and NICK GARDENER on The Good, The Bad and The Ugly Filmshow Podcast. Click on the above link to take you to the podcast.

This week Greg, Adam, Dave and Nick take a look at new releases A Place For Me, The Call, Snitch and Broken. They also have a look at who are the best modern day directors, they also chat to cult film fanatic Zak Hepburn about the forthcoming Cultastrophe at Cinema Nova in Melbourne. This episode also includes interviews with Abigail Breslin and Michael Eklund.

To listen and download this episode of ‘The Good The Bad Ugly Film Show’ just go to this link -

http://www.mediafire.com/?bgxkdj4b78b2e

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May
16
2013

BROKEN

by Roy

Reviewed by GREG KING

Director: Rufus Norris

Stars: Tim Roth, Cillian Murphy, Rory Kinnear, Rick Emms, Eloise Laurence, Bill Milner, Zana Marjanovic, Martha Bryant, Dennis Lawson, Rosalie Kosky, Faye Daveney.

Fear and loathing in North London?

The theme song of a popular, long running television soap opera sings about “good neighbours,” but good neighbours are in short supply in this bleak and brutally bruising but profoundly moving British drama about dysfunctional and broken families. Much of the drama takes place in a small cul-de-sac in a middle class suburb on the outskirts of London, where three families live in close proximity to each other.

Broken is also a brutal coming of age tale for its eleven-year-old protagonist, a tomboyish girl known as Skunk, and played to perfection in a winning performance from newcomer Eloise Laurence. Skunk suffers from diabetes and needs regular injections of insulin. Skunk’s impressionable and innocent view of the world around her is destroyed by the events she witnesses in this treacherous environment. Skunk’s father Archie is a widowed lawyer who sometimes is called upon to act as an advocate for his neighbours during disputes, and he is the voice of reason.

Skunk lives with her father (Tim Roth, from tv series Lie To Me, etc) and older brother Jed (Bill Milner, from Son Of Rambow, etc), and their live-in housekeeper Kasia (Zana Marjanovic). Kasia has recently broken up with her former lover, the kind school teacher Mike Kiernan (Cillian Murphy), who turns out to be Skunk’s teacher at school. Skunk is confused by her feelings towards both Mike, whom she idolises, and Kasia. And then she meets Dillon (George Sergeant), and feels the first pangs of a teenage crush, which further adds to her emotional turmoil.

Another neighbour is the Buckley family, whose son is the simple-minded Rick (Robert Emms, from War Horse, etc), who lives with his loving parents. When the film opens Skunk watches in disbelief as their other neighbour, the volatile and hot tempered widower Bob Oswald (theatre actor Rory Kinnear) charges across the road and beats Rick while he is washing the family car. It turns out that he was acting on the claim of one of his three promiscuous daughters that Rick has raped her. Of course, this turns out to be false, but it sets the pattern for further disturbing events orchestrated by the Oswald girls.

These brutal opening scenes, inspired by malicious allegations of child abuse, suggest that we may again be venturing into similar territory explored in the powerful Danish drama The Hunt. The three feral, skanky and slutty Oswald daughters terrorise the neighbourhood, and their willful actions ultimately lead to tragedy. Oswald himself is still grieving for his dead wife, and is often unaware of what his daughters are up to.

Broken is a powerful and emotionally charged coming-of-age drama in the same vein as the films of Mike Leigh or Shane Meadows, and it sends out shockwaves that ripple throughout the film. The film deals with some universal themes such as love, loss, friendship, family, grief, violence, bullying, and even emotionally charged issues such as teenage pregnancy. It heralds a striking film directorial debut for Rufus Norris, an acclaimed theatre director.

Much like Sam Mendes did in his debut film American Beauty, in Broken Norris scratches beneath the surface of suburbia to find the sometimes fragile nature of his flawed characters and the simmering tensions of this toxic and broken environment. The nearby junkyard that crushes cars seems to be a crude metaphor for the ruined lives and sense of despair that permeates this neighbourhood.

Written by Mark O’Rowe (Boy A, etc), Broken is based on the 2008 novel written by Daniel Clay, and its structure and main characters were loosely inspired by the classic novel To Kill A Mockingbird. Some of the influences are obvious – the gentle and understanding widowed father and lawyer, the tomboyish heroine who loses her innocence, the mentally handicapped but harmless neighbour, and the brutal family.

The characters here are all three dimensional and fleshed out by the ensemble cast, who deliver solid performances. Particularly impressive is newcomer Laurence, whose nuanced, unself-conscious and insightful performance suggests that we will see a lot more of her in the future. In his first British made feature for over a decade the normally intense Roth brings restraint, and a gentle quality and warmth to his somewhat underdeveloped role as Archie, who is portrayed as the voice of reason in this hectic neighbourhood. There is a great deal of warmth in those shared scenes between Laurence and Roth that temper the bleaker moments.

Emms is also excellent as the vulnerable and troubled, intellectually challenged Rick, whose journey in the film is heartbreaking. And Kinnear, who played Hamlet on stage for the National Theatre and was recently seen as M’s secretary in Skyfall, is fierce and intimidating as the brutal Oswald, who acts impulsively to protect his daughters, and whose sudden eruption into violence sends ripples throughout the neighbourhood. And Martha Bryant is also excellent as Sunrise, the youngest but most vicious of the three Oswald girls.

Nonetheless, Norris brings a sympathetic touch to the material and he suffuses the bleak film with quirky touches of humour, particularly through the presence of a couple of miscreants who hurl plastic bags full of faeces at passersby, and bittersweet moments. Like Mendes before him, Norris also displays a solid command of cinematic language. Scenes of brutality seemingly come out of nowhere and then he flashes back to see what caused the violence.

There is very little unnecessary padding or subplots in Broken, and the film crams a lot of drama and incident into its 91 minutes. However there are a few minor problems with the melodramatic climax. The evocative cinematography of Rob Hardy creates some memorable images, and also brings some shades of grey to this claustrophobic and bleak world.

***1/2

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May
13
2013

EVIL DEAD

by Roy

Reviewed by GREG KING

Director: Fede Alvarez

Stars: Jane Levy, Shiloh Fernandez, Lou Taylor Pucci, Elizabeth Blackmore, Jessica Lucas.

A group of attractive young college students head off to a remote cabin in the woods and are soon assaulted by supernatural or malevolent forces. This scenario has become a cliche of modern horror films such as Cabin Fever, Wrong Turn, and even last year’s The Cabin In The Woods, which admittedly turned the conventions of the genre upside down. The familiar tropes get yet another workout here in this rather faithful and visceral remake of Sam Raimi’s 1981 classic The Evil Dead.

This film is the work of Fede Alvarez, a young director from Uruguay making his feature film debut here, and it is obvious he has a passion for horror films. Two of the producers are none other than Raimi himself and original star Bruce Campbell, who seem to have given their approval to this new vision.

A brief prologue shows us one horrible event that has occurred at this rustic cabin as a father burns his teenaged daughter at the stake to rid her of demons. This effectively sets the scene for further supernatural happenings that follow.

The film kicks in proper when the troubled Mia (Jane Levy, from Suburgatory, etc) wants to kick her drug habit by going cold turkey in a remote cabin. She enlists the help of her brother David (Shiloh Fernandez, from Red Riding Hood, etc). He brings along his girl friend Natalie (Elizabeth Blackmore) and two other close friends to help keep Mia focused during this detox program. Thankfully one of them Olivia (Jessica Lucas) is a nurse, as her training will come in handy later. While tidying up the cabin to make it livable, they stumble upon a room in the basement that has rotting carcasses of dead animals hanging from the roof. This should be the first sign that things are not quite right here.

Then Eric (Lou Taylor Pucci, from Thumbsucker, etc) finds The Book Of The Dead, a leather bound volume tied with barbed wire. That should be the second sign that maybe they should get away from the cabin as quickly as possible. But then Eric starts to read from the book, and soon has summoned up some fearsome undead creature from the woods.

Mia is raped and possessed by some supernatural spirit from the woods. That is when things turn decidedly nasty, and before too long the attractive cast are being pursued, beaten, mutilated, disfigured, and having limbs and other body parts amputated, and brutally murdered. Eric tells David that there are only a couple of ways to end this horror – either bury Mia alive, dismember her or burn her alive. Of course David resists these options until it is clear that nothing else will stop the possessed Mia from killing them all.

Alvarez gleefully ramps up the gore here – there are plenty of icky, gross out moments that will have you looking away from the screen – and he goes all out during the over the top climax as the screen is literally awash in blood. Alvarez has a bigger budget to play with than Raimi had for his original, and full credit must go to the visual effects team and the superb horrific makeup, who add to the nightmarish atmosphere. Alvarez has largely eschewed CGI effects and opted for old-fashioned gore. And he uses the claustrophobic confines of the cabin to great effect, ramping up the uneasy atmosphere and suspense. And there are lots of sharp objects – broken mirrors, knives, nail guns and even a chain saw – to come into play.

Although the setting bears a strong resemblance to Raimi’s original film, Evil Dead was actually filmed in Woodhill Forest in New Zealand. Alvarez and his regular co-writer Rodo Sayagues have borrowed from a number of other classic horror films which fans of the genre should recognise. Alvarez and co pay homage to the original while occasionally subverting expectations. His direction certainly suffuses the material with plenty of energy. However, the original had a strong streak of black humour, which is missing here. Nonetheless , Alvarez has established himself as a director to watch in future.

The cast is largely unknown, and acquit themselves well in quite physical roles, given nuanced performances. Levy replaced Lily Collins in the role of Mia, and she delivers a great performance as she alternates between the twitchy addicted teen and the demonically possessed shrew maniacally screaming profanities from her rotting body.

Heavily influenced by the torture porn genre in particular, this effective if uninspired remake of Evil Dead is one of the stronger entries in the horror canon of recent years. It is easily a welcome antidote to the popular, formulaic but dull Paranormal Activity films and their ilk which have elaborate setups but deliver very little genuine thrills or shocks. It’s a pity that the local distributor has baulked at giving the film a wide release, meaning that audiences keen to catch it in the cinema will have to scan the newspaper guides to find screening details.

***

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May
13
2013

A PLACE FOR ME

by Roy

Reviewed by GREG KING

Director: Josh Boone

Stars: Greg Kinnear, Jennifer Connelly, Lily Collins, Logan Lerman, Nat Wolff, Liana Liberato, Kristen Bell, Spencer Breslin, Patrick Schwarzenegger.

Part coming-of-age tale, part mid-life crisis comedy, and part dysfunctional family drama, A Place For Me is a character based drama that follows a year in the lives of a fractured family. Its characters are tortured by love in its various forms, and this melodramatic tale seems to have something for every generation. A Place For Me (aka Writers, or the much blander Stuck In Love in the US) is a bit of a tearjerker that mixes pathos, family dynamics and comedy. This personal tale of love, family and reconciliation marks an assured debut feature from young writer/director Josh Boone, and it has an autobiographical feel to it.

The film introduces us to the Borgen family, a typically dysfunctional family full of the cliches beloved of Hollywood filmmakers. Patriarch William (Greg Kinnear) is a best selling author who has been suffering from a case of writer’s block ever since his wife Erica (Jennifer Connelly) left him three years earlier. Erica’s absence is most painfully felt at the family Thanksgiving dinners when a plate is set for her at the dining table in the vain hope that she will turn up. However, William still optimistically holds out hope that she will return to him, although his two children urge him to move on with his life. The obsessed William also spies on Erica and her new husband, and also engages in some casual, therapeutic sex with his beautiful young neighbour (Kristen Bell).

He also pushes his two children to become writers. Oldest daughter Samantha (played by Lily Collins, the daughter of Genesis drummer and singer Phil Collins) has just had her first novel published, although she is unable to share this achievement with her mother. Since the separation, Samantha is bitter and estranged from Erica. She is also cynical and jaded about relationships, and loses herself in a succession of one night stands. Then she meets Lou (Logan Lerman, from The Perks Of Being A Wallflower, etc) a musician who also attends her writing classes. Lou tries to win her over with his earnestness, intelligence, wit, kindness, and his mutual love of writing.

Teenage son Rusty (played by newcomer Nat Wolff, from The Naked Brothers Band) is still at high school and lacks the experiences that shape a writer. William pushes his son to participate in life rather than be an observer so that he can find a distinctive writer’s voice. That all changes when the naive and virginal teen falls heavily for his acerbic and troubled classmate Kate (played by newcomer Liana Liberato, from the HBO series Sons Of Anarchy, etc). Kate has substance abuse problems that push the film into darker, more emotionally troubling territory, but which inspire Rusty to write a story that launches him on the path to becoming a published author.

The film spans twelve months and follows the Borgen family through a series of long, painful and sometimes embarrassing situations as they stumble towards an overdue catharsis and the healing process that helps to bring them back together. The film explores universal themes of love, longing, family ties, the fear of commitment and the pangs of first love. Its multi-layered narrative is full of honest emotions as it explores several problematic romantic entanglements and personal dramas. However, Boone’s direction is a tad manipulative and the trajectory of the narrative seems somewhat predictable.

Much of the drama occurs at the Borgen’s beach house, which is suffused in warm, bright lights by cinematographer Tim Orr (Seeking A Friend For The End Of The World, etc). Overall, production values are excellent and the soundtrack from Mike Mogis and Nate Walcott is suitably grungy and evocative.

The young performers are all terrific and there is a truthfulness and honesty to their performances that elevates the material above the usual cliches of this genre. Kinnear is also very good and sympathetic, and he brings a sort of wounded and fragile quality to his performance. Connelly is largely wasted as Erica, although she gets a couple of scenes in which she is able to explore the emotional depths of her character.

Although a low budget, independent feature film that will only gain a limited release, A Place For Me is worth checking out in the cinema.

**1/2

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May
10
2013

STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS

by Roy

Reviewed by GREG KING

Director: J J Abrams

Stars: Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Benedict Cumberbatch, Simon Pegg, Karl Urban, Zoe Saldana, Alice Eve, John Cho, Anton Yelchin, Bruce Greenwood, Peter Weller, Leonard Nimoy.

The original Star Trek television series ran for only three seasons between 1966-1968 before it was cancelled, but it acquired cult status and has lived on ever since in reruns and a series of feature films. In 2009 J J Abrams gave the creaky old series a much needed makeover in his big budget, special effects heavy reboot. Ironically, Abrams was not a fan of the original Star Trek series. He went back to the start and gave us an origin story, presenting the iconic characters created by Gene Rodenberry as younger versions, just starting out their careers in Starfleet.

Kirk (played by Chris Pine, from Unstoppable, etc) was an impetuous, daring commander who acted on instinct rather than follow the rule book. Spock (Zachary Quinto) was adjusting to his role as the science officer, trying to understand the illogical and often emotional approach of humans to solving problems. In the original series, Kirk was a father figure to his crew, but here the younger Kirk is still feeling his way and earning the trust and respect of his team.

In this sequel to that film, Abrams raises the stakes substantially as he sends them on a mission with no less than the fate of Starfleet Command and Earth itself at stake. Star Trek Into Darkness is markedly better than its predecessor, both in scope, action and ambition, even though it doesn’t go boldly where no filmmaker has gone before.

The film opens with a spectacular sequence on a distant planet that makes good use of the 3D technology. As Kirk and Bones flee from fearsome spear-chucking natives, Spock ventures inside an active volcano to set off a cold fusion bomb that will save the planet from destruction. But Kirk then has to use the Enterprise to rescue him when he becomes trapped, which exposes the ship to the primitive superstitious natives, thus breaking one of the cardinal directives of Starfleet Command. As a result, there is tension between Kirk and Spock. Kirk loses command of the Enterprise and Spock is reassigned to another ship.

But they are reassigned to the Enterprise when a rogue terrorist threatens Starfleet command and have to learn to trust each other and work together. Benedict Cumberbatch (better known for playing Sherlock Holmes in the stylish television series) plays the formidable villain John Harrison, a renegade former Starfleet agent who is waging his own personal war against Starfleet. He bombs the London offices and attacks the San Francisco HQ in a daring raid. His mission is to eradicate any life form inferior to him, which, given his arrogance, means just about everybody else.

When Harrison flees to the distant planet of Kronos to hide, Kirk and the crew of the Enterprise are sent to capture or kill him, which tests the courage and loyalty of the crew. The highly logical Spock objects to the mission parameters itself, declaring it “immoral.” Even Scotty objects to having photon torpedoes loaded onto the Enterprise, which creates tension between him and Kirk. But these personal conflicts are never allowed to get in the way of some spectacular action or slow down the narrative.

Written by Abrams’ regular writers Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman, along with Lost writer Damon Lindelof, Star Trek Into Darkness deals with themes of courage, self-sacrifice, responsibility, loyalty and friendship, and the subtext refers to the ongoing war on terror. However, the script also pays homage to the mythology of the original series, while suffusing the action with generous touches of humour to lighten the mood when necessary. Orci, Kurtzman and Abrams have even borrowed several ideas and scenes from the second film in the Star Trek series The Wrath Of Khan, which long time fans will readily recognise, but they have put their own spin on the material. And there are a couple of twists and surprises here that will surprise and shock Trekkies.

And there is a wonderful lightness of touch to the material that belies a title that suggests a bleak adventure. Technically and visually Star Trek Into Darkness is a triumph. Abrams is a superb director of action scenes, and there are some tremendous individual sequences here, including a huge spacecraft crashing to Earth and wiping out much of a futuristic San Francisco. Dan Mindel’s cinematography enriches the otherworldly environment and settings, and he infuses many scenes with lens flare. However, the digitally created visual landscape is impressive.

The ensemble cast is solid here and they seem more comfortable with the characters this time around. And this time audiences form a more emotional connection with the familiar characters. Pine is charismatic as the younger incarnation of Kirk, and makes him human and fallible as he grows into his role as a leader. Quinto brings a suitably stoic and humourless quality to his performance as Spock. There is some good rapport and chemistry between Pine and Quinto, and the byplay and banter between the two adds some spark to the material.

Simon Pegg brings plenty of humour to his role as the dour engineer Scotty, delivering one-liners with dour style and a suspicious Scottish accent. Karl Urban is solid as Bones, the no-nonsense doctor, while Anton Yelchin reprises his role as Chekov, who is promoted to engineer here and finds himself a little out of his depth. Zoe Saldana (from Avatar, etc) plays Uhura, and she gets a bigger role in the action this time around. And there is a new addition to the crew here in the form of beautiful and ambitious new science officer Carol Marcus (Alice Eve) who boards the Enterprise under false pretenses.

Admittedly it is a bit disconcerting to see John Cho, from the raunchy comedies exploring the misadventures of Harold and Kumar and the American Pie series as Sulu, piloting the Enterprise. One almost expects to see him head off to White Castle for a burger before tackling the imminent alien threat. And Peter Weller, the original Robocop himself, plays Admiral Marcus, the corrupt Starfleet officer who is intent on starting a war against the Klingons.

And Cumberbatch is a surprise as the villain of the piece, but he has a formidable and imposing presence. For much of the time, there is a delightful ambiguity about his character – is he truly friend or foe? When his real identity as one of the key arch villains of the television series is revealed it will come as a pleasant surprise for Trekkies. He is a nasty cold blooded villain here who doesn’t hesitate to kill anyone who gets in his way.

Rumours have Abrams directing the new Star Wars film, and on the strength of his work here it is time to start getting excited about the prospect of his robust direction actually reinvigorating the whole franchise, especially after the rather disappointing three “prequels” from creator George Lucas himself.

***1/2

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