Review: Snowpiercer (Bong Joon-ho, 2014)

Snowpiercer is Korean genius Bong Joon-Ho’s first English language feature – he directed Memories of Murder, The Host and Mother – and it is based on Jacques Lob’s graphic novel Le Transperceneige. Bong wrote the screenplay along with Kelly Masterson (Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead), and the result is as spectacularly ambitious, thought provoking and entertaining a science fiction entry as Bong’s esteemed credentials promise.

The film is set in the year 2031, and the world is a frozen and uninhabitable. Seventeen years earlier measures were taken to stop global warming, but the experiment was a disaster, killing everything in the process. Those lucky enough to survive boarded the giant rattling ark called the Snowpiercer, a train that circumnavigates the globe over the course of exactly one year.

We are first introduced to those living in the back of the train, the lowest class. They sleep cramped together, their hygiene is appalling, their only source of food is a manufactured protein block distributed once per day, they are beaten and mistreated by the train’s guards and have been deprived everything that the upper class forward carriages consume in lavish excess. Amongst these tail-dwellers are Curtis (Chris Evans), Edgar (Jamie Bell), Gilliam (William Hurt) and Tanya (Octavia Spencer), and they are desperate to shake up the world order.

Continue reading at Graffiti With Punctuation. 

New Releases (17/07/14)

In cinemas this week: Sex Tape, Charlie's Country, Venus in Fur, All This Mayhem, Words and Pictures.

Sex Tape - Jay (Jason Segel) and Annie (Cameron Diaz) are a married couple still very much in love, but ten years and two kids have cooled the passion. To get it back, they decide - why not? - to make a video of themselves trying out every position in THE JOY OF SEX in one marathon three-hour session. It seems like a great idea, until they discover that their most private video has gone public. In a panic, they begin a wild night of adventure - tracking down leads, roping in friends, duping Annie's boss - all to reclaim their video, their reputation, their sanity, and, most importantly, their marriage.

Charlie's Country - Written by Rolf de Heer and David Gulpilil as a collaborative project, CHARLIE’S COUNTRY stars Gulpilil as blackfella Charlie, who is getting older, and is out of sorts. The government’s intervention is making life more difficult on his remote community, what with the proper policing of whitefella laws that don't generally make much sense, and Charlie's kin seeming more interested in going along with things than doing anything about it. So Charlie takes off, to live the old way, but in doing so sets off a chain of events in his life that has him return to his community chastened, and somewhat the wiser.

Venus in Fur - Based on the Tony Award-winning Broadway play by David Ives, which itself was based on Leopold von Sacher-Masoch's groundbreaking novella, VENUS IN FUR is the latest film from master filmmaker Roman Polanski. Alone in a Paris theater after a long day of auditioning actresses for his new play, writer-director Thomas (Amalric) complains that no actress he's seen has what it takes to play the lead female character: a woman who enters into an agreement with her male counterpart to dominate him as her slave. Thomas is about to leave the theater when actress Vanda (Seigner) bursts in, a whirlwind of erratic - and, it turns out, erotic - energy. At first she seems to embody everything Thomas has been lamenting. She is pushy, foul-mouthed, desperate and ill-prepared - or so it seems. When Thomas finally, reluctantly, agrees to let her try out for the part, he is stunned and captivated by her transformation. Not only is Vanda a perfect fit but she apparently has researched the role exhaustively, learned her lines by heart and even bought her own props. The likeness proves to be much more than skin-deep. An analytical and interpretative performance adaptation of a playwright's adaptation of a 19th century erotic novel with contemporary commentary on relationships and gender politics. There really is a lot going on, but it sure is sexy. Brilliantly performed by Seigner and Amalric, this all takes place in a lone empty theatre on a stormy night. Polanski still has it. ★★★★

All This Mayhem (actually released last week, very limited screens) - Tells the story of brothers Tas and Ben Pappas, two boys from Melbourne who took the skateboarding world by storm, defeating Tony Hawk and crowned International World Champions within a year. Skateboarding came naturally to the Pappas brothers, but success was a different story. In this unflinching, never-before-seen account we witness the dark consequences of Tas and Ben’s rapid success, their intense fraternal bond and their journey from the pinnacle of their sport into a downward spiral of self-destruction. From the makers of award-winning documentaries Exit Through the Gift Shop and Senna and featuring fascinating interviews, first person accounts and archival footage, All This Mayhem is a searing account of what happens when raw talent and extreme personalities collide and tells of a tragedy too incredible to believe. Review by Tom Clift, Concrete Playground.

Words and Pictures - Stars the engaging duo of Juliette Binoche and Clive Owen working together on-screen for the first time. Prep school English teacher Jack Marcus (Owen) laments his students' obsession with social media and good grades rather than engaging with the power of the written word. A one-time literary star, Jack has not published in years filling his spare time with drink versus the art of language. He meets his match in Dina Delsanto (Binoche) - an abstract painter and new teacher on campus, who was once celebrated for her art. From the start, the two flirt and provoke each other with equal relish. 

Weekly recommendation: I have heard terrific things about Senna-esque skateboarding documentary All This Mayhem and Roman Polaski's Venus in Fur is one of the sexiest films I have seen this year. I am also very much looking forward to seeing Rolf De Heer's Cannes winner, Charlie's Country, starring the great David Gulpilil. 

2014 Melbourne International Film Festival Guide

This week the program for the 2014 Melbourne Film Festival, running from the 31^st July to the 17^th August, was announced. Opening the festival is the new film from the Spierig Brothers, Predestination, starring Ethan Hawke and Sarah Snook. The Closing Night film is Felony, directed by Matthew Saville and starring Joel Edgerton, Jai Courtney and Melissa George.

At the link are 12 titles screening at MIFF that I can highly recommend catching, and if I were attending MIFF for a substantial period of time 18 films I would endeavour to squeeze into my schedule.

Continue reading at Graffiti With Punctuation. 

Review: The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out The Window And Disappeared (Felix Herngren, 2013)

After another meeting with the bizarre brand of Scandinavian 'black' humour I am still not sure if it is to my tastes. The wonderfully weird 'Of Horses and Men' from Iceland is one of the funniest films I have seen this year, but I wasn't so fond of revenge thriller-comedy 'In Order of Disappearance'.

Despite feeling a bit 'throw everything at an audience and see what sticks' Felix Herngren's mad, unpredictable adaptation of Jonas Jonasson's novel of the same name remains engaging and entertaining throughout. No doubt a massive hit in Sweden, this well-funded venture possesses more than enough madcap energy to have mischievous novelty appeal outside of Scandinavia. There are stretches where the laughs dry up considerably and some of the humour is uncomfortably inappropriate, but its escalating incidents are eventually tied together in an oddly satisfying way.

Centenarian Allan Karlsson (Robert Gustafsson, whose make-up and prosthetics bears him a striking resemblance to Johnny Knoxville’s 'Bad Grandpa') elects to avoid his 100th birthday party by escaping his retirement home and seeking an adventure like the ones he has experienced in his younger days. Allan's journey, in the simplest terms, involves him gaining possession of a biker gang's $50 million dollars and acquiring several equally-strange comrades (some willing, some not) as he goes on the run and attempts to avoid the gang’s desperate attempts to reclaim. Even at 100 he's still quite sharp and his taste for chaos hasn't left him. Involved is a former circus elephant, the typical dunderheaded villains, a hapless detective trailing the case, people dying in horrific ways, lots of drinking and an immeasurable amount of misunderstandings.

Stitched into this is a recap of Allan's life from his birth to the present, accompanied by his amusing voice-over. It is a baffling, satirical Forest Gump-esque comedy of errors that sees the explosives-obsessed Allan riding the wave of the 20^th Century, drinking his way into the friendship and trust of more than one Great Dictator, and playing an evidently important role in shaping the world he still survives. It is these chapters that are the most tonally outrageous, and the least successful.

If you're looking for something bonkers and completely different, and I guess it all depends on whether the Scandinavians are your jam, The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out The Window And Disappeared is worth a look.

My Rating: ★★★

Review: Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (Matt Reeves, 2014)

Directed by Matt Reeves (Cloverfield and Let Me In), Dawn of the Planet of the Apes takes 20^th Century Fox’s reboot of the original series to an intelligent and ambitious new level. Rupert Wyatt’s unexpectedly excellent 2011 Rise of the Planet of the Apes introduced audiences to the miraculous Caesar (an extraordinarily emotional motion-capture performance from Andy Serkis), delved into themes of nurture versus nature and became a largely-silent prison uprising and coordinated revolution full of exciting action set pieces and one of the most shocking revelations in the last few years of cinema.

The much darker Dawn feels completely different, the now post-apocalyptic San Francisco setting playing a role in this. It is an intimate, complex character-driven sci-fi/war hybrid that offers a relentless barrage of intense, unpredictable and deeply affecting moments of moral conflict, and an astounding fusion of visual effects and choreographed battle sequences. Incredibly, the epic Dawn improves upon Rise in almost every capacity, offering thought-provoking commentary on humanity and the differences that may bring opponents to war – despite the mutual desire for peace – amidst unfathomably consistent tension and aesthetic spectacle.

Continue reading at Graffiti With Punctuation.

New Releases 10/07/14

In cinemas this week: just two - Dawn of the Planet of the Apes and The Lunchbox. 

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes - A growing nation of genetically evolved apes led by Caesar is threatened by a band of human survivors of the devastating virus unleashed a decade earlier. They reach a fragile peace, but it proves short-lived, as both sides are brought to the brink of a war that will determine who will emerge as Earth's dominant species. Review by Blake Howard, Graffiti With Punctuation.

The Lunchbox - Middle class housewife Ila is trying once again to add some spice to her marriage, this time through her cooking. She desperately hopes that this new recipe will finally arouse some kind of reaction from her neglectful husband. She prepares a special lunchbox to be delivered to him at work, but, unbeknownst to her, it is mistakenly delivered to another office worker, Saajan, a lonely man on the verge of retirement. Curious about the lack of reaction from her husband, Ila puts a little note in the following day's lunchbox, in the hopes of getting to the bottom of the mystery. This begins a series of lunchbox notes between Saajan and Ila, and the mere comfort of communicating with a stranger anonymously soon evolves into an unexpected friendship. Gradually, their notes become little confessions about their loneliness, memories, regrets, fears, and even small joys. They each discover a new sense of self and find an anchor to hold on to in the big city of Mumbai that so often crushes hopes and dreams. Still strangers physically, Ila and Saajan become lost in a virtual relationship that could jeopardize both their realities.

Weekly Recommendation: I really enjoyed The Lunchbox, a pleasant Indian romantic drama that celebrates the role that chance plays in our lives, but you should make every effort to see Dawn. It is an intense, shocking and affecting sci-fi/war hybrid with astounding effects. It improves upon the already excellent Rise in pretty much every capacity. 

Fairytales and Film: Idle Wrath Films' Crowdfunding Campaign Launch Party

Presented in association with Mr. Falcons weekly cult TV show night and Idle Wrath films (with shorts from Kino Sydney), this evening is part celebration of fairytale and mythology inspired short films by local filmmakers and part crowd-funding campaign launch. Idle Wrath films was set up by Jason Ide and Suzanne Rath in March 2014, and they're currently in pre-production on a 15 minute short, 'Fairy Fort,' which tells the story of a young girl who discovers sinister mythical creatures hiding in the woods on her grandfather's property. 'Fairy Fort' will be shot in September 2014 in Kurrajong and features local cast and crew. Completion is aimed for the end of 2014, to allow for an international film festival run in 2015. As part of the crowd-funding campaign, Idle Wrath Films are offering a host of benefits, including limited edition posters designed by artist Phil Soliman, time on set, screenwriting, editing and filmmaking advice and more! Their goal is to create a community of film, fairytale and mythology lovers who will help them make an amazing film.

The event will take place from 6.30pm at Mr Falcon's, 92 Glebe Point Rd, Glebe, NSW 2037 on this coming Monday, the 14th July. Get in early, as there are giveaways, a bar tab and short film screenings from local filmmakers. From 7.30 there is a screening of True Detective and free pizza.

New Releases 03/07/14

In cinemas this week: Calvary, Belle and Sebastian, Tim's Vermeer, Rio 2 and Jersey Boys.

Calvary - Father James (Brendan Gleeson) is a good priest who is faced with sinister and troubling circumstances brought about by a mysterious member of his parish. Although he continues to comfort his own fragile daughter (Kelly Reilly) and reach out to help members of his church with their various scurrilous moral - and often comic - problems, he feels sinister and troubling forces closing in, and begins to wonder if he will have the courage to face his own personal Calvary.

Belle and Sebastian - Based on the much-loved 1965 children’s book which was later adapted into a popular French TV series. Set high in the French Alps during the Second World War, it is the timeless tale of a boy and his dog. Six year old Sebastian lives on the mountainside with a kindly but gruff caretaker and no real family of his own. As such he is left to his own devices and is often found roaming the countryside. Belle is a wild mountain dog who has escaped from her cruel owner. The villagers have mistaken her for a “beast” that has been killing their sheep. When Sebastian first crosses paths with Belle he must keep their friendship a secret and the two of them form an unshakeable bond. Their adventures take them through the mountains and ultimately they become pivotal in the successful escape of refugees fleeing Nazi Germany for the safety of Switzerland.

Tim's Vermeer - Tim Jenison, a Texas based inventor, attempts to solve one of the greatest mysteries in all art: How did 17th century Dutch master Johannes Vermeer ("Girl with a Pearl Earring") manage to paint so photo-realistically - 150 years before the invention of photography? The epic research project Jenison embarks on to test his theory is as extraordinary as what he discovers. Spanning a decade, Jenison's adventure takes him to Delft, Holland, where Vermeer painted his masterpieces on a pilgrimage to the North coast of Yorkshire to meet artist David Hockney and eventually to Buckingham Palace, to see the Queen's Vermeer.

Rio 2 - It's a jungle out there for Blu, Jewel and their three kids in RIO 2, after they're hurtled from that magical city to the wilds of the Amazon. As Blu tries to fit in, he goes beak-to-beak with the vengeful Nigel, and meets the most fearsome adversary of all - his father-in-law.

Jersey Boys - The story of the rise of the music group The Four Seasons, with a special focus on their lead singer, Frankie Valli (John Lloyd Young) the small kid with the big falsetto. In addition to following the group’s coming of age as performers, the core of the show displays how an allegiance to a code of honor learned on the streets of their native New Jersey got them through a multitude of challenges: gambling debts, Mafia threats and family disasters.

Weekly Recommendation: Set in the spectacular French Alps the touching Belle and Sebastian is a great choice for the families in the school holidays, while Calvary is a tense, riveting, and deeply affecting Irish drama that will leave many viewers shaken. Tim's Vermeer is a lot of fun; a documentary about a man who took on centuries of art theory and created something truly extraordinary. Rio 2 and Jersey Boys I am personally not going to bother with, but they will no doubt have an audience and likely will be the top grossing films this week.