No. 34. (2020) THE BOOKSELLERS June 20th.

Film No. 34 (2020)  June 20th.  11:00 AM.  Cinema 1 LUNA Leederville.

"In the 1950's there were three hundred and ninety eight bookstores in New York city. Today I just went and counted, there are seventy nine". (A voice over summing up examples of change in retail book selling in the city best known for antique book stores).

Could this be a film to be watched in 100 years where the viewers will be fascinated at the depiction of objects called books? Maybe those viewers had heard of books but lived in a society were books no longer existed. I doubt it, but The Booksellers asked that question.

This film, by  documentary short film maker D.W.Young takes us into the world of some of New York's best known book collectors. It examines: What makes them tick, what sorts of books they collect, how they continue to be viable in our digital world, where their specific interests germinated, which books they decide to sell and which do they keep, and why is the record price paid for a book only $26M (Bill Gates acquisition) and not hundreds of millions as in the visual art world? All of these queries are either answered or thoroughly pondered.

But the real fascination of the film is the characters who make up New York's book scene. The film is broken into chapters. Each chapter, the name of the collector/seller in focus; each with their own likable personality. There isn't an unlikable person in the film. Maybe that says something about people who place books and reading as a priority of life. 

The Booksellers has a professional thoroughness about it. Slick, without an annoying voice-over and shot with immaculate digital quality. Twenty minutes cut from its running time may have helped, as themes are repeated on occasion. Bookworms are going to feast on this "page turner". 9GUMS.

  

No. 33. (2020) AMERICAN WOMAN June 17th.

Film No. 33 (2020)  June 17th.  8:10 PM.  APPLE T.V.  Living Room  Mt. Hawthorn. W.A. 

"They (times) are not going to go back to the way they were. You make do with what's left". (The words used by Debra's sister Katherine as she wills Debra to move on).

Tough independent films of the American Woman kind are hard to watch for those seeking simple, uncomplicated entertainment. Me, well I loved the way Sienna Miller's Debra dragged me by the collar into her life. A life which highlights the adage "life wasn't meant to be easy". Our ride with Debra is staged over 11 years. She was a young mum and the loving relationship she has with teenage daughter Bridget (Sky Ferreira) is touching. Bridget and her baby son Jesse live at home with Debra . Bridget is sixteen. Her path in life would seem to be following a similar pattern to Debra's. Bridget suddenly disappears from Debra's chaotic life. The immediate impact on Debra and family is devastating, but as time passes seedlings of new hope germinate. Family trust is tested but with every test comes a closer binding of loyalties. While the tension and mystery surrounding Bridget's disappearance are at the forefront of the narrative, Debra's unhinged love life and haphazard career path also draw our attention. Her relationship with sister Katherine, (wonderfully played by Christina Hendrick)  provides the fuel that drives her will to press on, that, along with the pure love she develops for grandson Jesse. The test with this type of film is, will you reach for the tissues in the closing sequence? I'd be surprised if you don't. Miller is a force here! 10GUMS.            

      

No. 32. (2020) ALI'S WEDDING. June 10th.

Film No. 32 (2020)  June 10th.  8:10 PM.  SBS On DEMAND, Living Room  Mt. Hawthorn. W.A. 

"My dad has a saying. A lie begins in the sole and then travels the world". (Ali's introductory voice-over describes one of his father's many philosophical reflections on life).

Ali's Wedding takes us on a pleasant, if somewhat, predictable ride, highlighting the pressures life can bring for a young man living as an Iraqi, in Australian society. Those pressures come in the form of career expectations and a marriage of the arranged kind. So how is this a comedy? In the same way as house eviction via compulsory governmental acquisition is in one of Australia's funniest feature films, The Castle. 

Osamah Sami wrote this script along with Andrew Knight (Hacksaw Ridge, The Water Diviner). After all it's Sami's personal recollections. He also plays the lead, Ali, very competently it must be said. This could easily have been a recipe for disaster, but Ali's Wedding is a delight. It's about family, friends, falling in love and lying to save face.  

His book Good Muslim Boy has won literary awards, it's also a stage play and forms the foundation for his now very successful career as a writer, comedian and performer. Sami's story reflects a man comfortable in his own skin considering the pressures on show.  Ali's Wedding is an easy watch, without the bite of Muriel's Wedding but all the charm of The Castle. 9GUMS.   

     

No. 31. (2020) FORD V FERRARI May 29th.

Film No. 31 (2020)  May 29th.  7:35 PM.  FOX On DEMAND, Living Room  Mt. Hawthorn. W.A. 

"Then how long did you tell them you needed? Two or three hundred years?". (Ken asks Carroll for the deadline Ford had set him to develop a car).

Yet another tribute film. Ford v Ferrari tells the tale, in reasonably simplistic terms, of how Ford, under the leadership of the sometimes maligned Henry Ford II, developed a car that beat Ferrari using unconventional means in what was considered the Grand Prix of endurance racing, 24 hour Le Mans. The film never veers from the legend surrounding how this was achieved. Carroll Shelby (Matt Damon) and Ken Miles (Christian Bale) represented the unconventional means to the end. They weren't Ford men. Shelby a man of "never say die" spirit and Bale a testy but flawed genius both behind the wheel, and tinkering under the bonnet, changed Ford's brand for ever. The film adopts more of a Rocky than a Chariots of Fire feel. It's entertaining, cliched and simply clunky at times. Bale proves his worth eventually but his English accent had me chuckling initially. However the chemistry he achieves with Damon has us cheering, then reaching for the tissues as the screen fades to black. The final bibliographical titles make for interesting reading, so don't start clearing your popcorn containers too early. I'm not sure it was Academy (2019) nominee material but it was a fun ride. 9GUMS.

    

No. 30. (2020) A PRIVATE WAR May 27th..

Film No. 30 (2020)  May 27th.  8:00 PM.  SBS On DEMAND, Living Room  Mt. Hawthorn. W.A. 

"War is not that terrible for governments because they are not wounded or killed like ordinary people". (Colvin attempts to explain why atrocities are committed by leaders in society).

Some may describe Marie Colvin as more fool-hardy than brave. Perhaps that's why she died before her time. It's hard to disagree after viewing A Private War, but my admiration for fearless journalism ratcheted up a notch after doing so. Rosamund Pike gets her chance to shine as Colvin and shine she does. The film is based on, yes you guessed it, a magazine essay, in this case Marie Brenner's Marie Colvin's Private War written in 2012. There was no where more dangerous than Syria, and Homs in particular, in 2011/12. While Colvin was paid by the U.K.'s Sunday Times her stories of the diabolical war out of the region in that time were printed by news outlets world wide. Pike gives legitimate oxygen to Colvin's A Type personality traits. Colvin, drank (whiskey), smoked and blasphemed  her way to more than just observe her stories. She had a thirst, or should I say, hunger to be up close to a story (losing an eye in Tamal infested Sri Lanka). The greater the danger the closer she'd be. To read her stories is to understand her bravery and dedication to reveal the truth. Documentary film maker Matthew Heineman (City of Ghosts) has used his skills to blend feature fiction with reality. You'll want to read more about Colvin after viewing A Private War. 9GUMS.

              

  

No. 29. (2020) CRIP CAMP May 23rd.

Film No. 29 (2020)  May 23rd.  8:35 PM.  Netflix, Living Room  Mt. Hawthorn. W.A.

 

"A rehabilitation program has been vetoed by The President because it is cost prohibitive". (The voice of a news-reporter announcing Nixon's reaction to a national push for greater integration into American society for those with disabilities).

By far and away the most significant feature documentary I've watched in 2020, is Crip Camp, and that's saying something. I loved Honeyland for its social comment, but Crip gives us an insight into how those with both physical and intellectual disabilities became empowered in a society that would have preferred that they be neither seen nor heard. Camp Jenad existed a few miles south of Woodstock. People less fixated on the bustle of life and more with living it (Hippies), shared time with cripples, the demeaning label of the time. It was in this environment of compassion and shared experiences that a revolution occurred, a revolution which extended to the highest echelons of government. The Americans with Disabilities Act was passed in 1990 and the way the world treated those with disabilities, world wide, was changed for ever. Doco film makers James Lebrecht,a dis(who has a disability) and Nicole Newnham have created one of the year's most important films. Using a mixture of grainy file film and contemporary interviews, Crip Camp should be seen by many. Hey, it's a Netflix production, surely many will. 11GUMS.