No. 76. (2020) MISBEHAVIOUR (British Film Festival; Perth) November 23rd.

 

Film No. 76 (2020)  November 23rd.  6:30 PM.  Cinema 2  LUNA SX Fremantle.

"Last year one hundred million people tuned in live to the Miss World final, more viewers than for the moon landings or the World Cup final" (The voice-over from a T.V. promotion ).

After sitting through a trailer the likes of that for Misbehavior (a very tight, well cut trailer) for upward of ten times I'm often unsure whether the film itself will live up to expectations. Thankfully in this case the slick trailer wasn't as good as the film. 

I had no idea that the events which took place at the Miss World contest of 1970 marked the start of the Women's Liberation Movement. The film is based on the true events (with some dramatic license) of the time. The annual Miss World competition, once a British bikini parade in the fifties had become a huge, televised world event by 1970. Bob Hope was there to host the show, so it made sense for a group of driven women to make a stance. Misbehavior does a great job of recounting the story.

The real life women, Sally Alexander and Jo Robinson played brilliantly by Keira Knightley and Jessie Buckley respectively have all the cards stacked on their side. These costume dramas depicting such antiquated views on how society viewed women, in this case only 50 years ago, are a healthy reminder for all. The odd gasp of disbelief will be heard from audiences at some of the dialogue because of its inappropriateness now.

Most of all Misbehavior is entertaining. Eric Morley (Rhys Ifans) and wife Julia (Keeley Hawes), the instigators of the 1951 bikini contest must warrant a story in themselves. Miss World had become their event. And while the trailer, (yes that trailer again) gave the impression Bob Hope (Greg Kinnear) was a major focus, he definitely wasn't. The greatest fascination for me was the story of the small step the competition of 1970 took towards race equalization in beauty pageants. Film entertainment at it's best. 10GUMS. 

 

       

No. 75. (2020) PALM SPRINGS November 21st.

 

Film No. 75 (2020)  July 21st.  6:45 PM.  STAN  Living Room  Mt. Hawthorn. W.A. 

"One time I smoked a bunch of crystal and made it all the way to Equatorial Guinea, it was a huge waste of time". (Nyles recounts one of his days as he tried to escape the unending loop he and Sarah are caught in).

Groundhog Day has plenty to answer for since bursting on screen to create its own genre in 1985; the looped in time, prison narrative. Source Code, Looper, Happy Death Day are all worthy films from this stable. Palm Springs, the most recent addition may well be the brightest inductee of all. 

These GD genre films always create a puzzle for the viewer, the puzzle leaves one thinking about a scene where we have to think back to previous days and the effects of the present which is about to become insignificant once the next loop begins. People who know the genre know what I mean. Palm Springs, is all about Groundhog Day but with a more intriguing and polished love story. GD still out ranks it however. It's hard to beat a concept breaker!!

The cleverness of Palm Springs is etched in the first 15 minutes. The film begins with all the hallmarks of a seen it all before social comedy. Bored male, Nyles (Andy Samberg), in a boring relationship, serenades the brides sister, Sarah (Cristin Milioti). He does it during speech time where he hijacks the microphone. Will he make a fool of himself? After all he's dressed as if to spend a morning at the beach. Very soon the heart of this clever film is revealed.

Samberg and Milioti, but particularly Milioti, are the perfect duo here. Their reliance on one another as each plot darkens then thickens works, and the simmering romance does just that, it simmers. J.K. Simmons as Roy is perfectly placed to give Springs that third element. He enters with a bang and make sure you stay for the titles. His final grab is like placing that last small piece in the 1000 bit jigsaw puzzle! 11GUMS.      

 

No. 74. (2020) LET HIM GO November 19th.

 

Film No. 74 (2020)  November 19th.  6:30 PM.  HOYTS Garden City Cinema 6.

"You let it be known that you're looking for a Weboy, then they'll find you. (A cousin of the Nth Dakota Weboys' let George and Margaret know how things work in them, there parts).

Let Him Go is simply, and let me say, effectively shot western depicting the 60's. It's about two grieving, aging parents/grand-parents feeling morally obligated to right a wrong. A wrong that involves their own flesh and blood. So who better to have as our hero's than Kevin Costner and Diane Lane? Who indeed.

Like some of the great westerns, High Noon, Rio Bravo; Kevin and Diane as George and Margaret Blackledge are out numbered but they know that unless they stand up to a North Dakota family of bullies, the Weboys', they won't get to see their grandson Jimmy, again. And the Weboys, overseen by the queen of all things nasty, matriarch Blanche (Lesley Manville), always get their way; or have done in the past.

Manville and Lane play motherly nurturers of the worst and best kind. They provide the pulse for Let Him Go. You just know the climax is all about Blanche and Margaret facing off. The violence is slightly disturbing but if we are to feel rage on behalf of the Blackledges then blood has to be spilt.

Let Him Go will definitely sell some popcorn, it's a genre film done right. The Costner/Lane combination will definitely be on screen again soon. It's their film and they've done plenty here to maintain their solid reputations. 9GUMS.

    

          

No. 73. (2020) THE NEST (British Film Festival) November 19th.

 

Film No. 73 (2020)  November 19th.  1:00 PM.  Cinema 2  LUNA SX Fremantle.

"Rory, stop!" (Allison utters the final words of the film in a manner that sums up the journey the O'Hara family have taken, as expressed in The Nest).

At last, here is Sean Durkin's (Martha Marcy May Marlene) second feature, eight years after his first. So, has it been worth the wait? Yes and no, but I'm probably not as bullish about The Nest as many other critics. Martha, for me, is Durkin's better feature.

The star performer in The Nest is Carrie Coon in her first starring feature film role. She plays Allison, the wife  of narcissistic, financial, wonder-boy Rory O'Hara, played by Jude Law. Together they are a couple living beyond their means in a world Rory has created as he chases the elusive deal that will make them rich beyond comprehension. But will it provide the happiness he thinks great wealth will bring?

Durkin is a director who sets every scene like an artist arranges the colours on a palate. The silences are as effective as the sounds. Like knitting, every stitch of every scene is building to a product. In The Nest the intrigue comes from wondering what the dramatic conclusion will be? He does it well but I wasn't as intrigued or convinced as I would have liked to have been. However, given the reviews, I'm in the minority.

Expectations can be a handicap as a film goer. But often the test of a good film is the time it stays with you. Thinking about The Nest has been nourishing. It's a film about an era America depicted on film in raw Gordon Ghekko terms. Here in a U.K./Canadian production, a new light is shone on the greed culture of the eighties. It's a costume drama depicting a family caught in the time. I was left pondering what effects the "greed is good" culture would have on the O'Haras'. 9GUMS.          

 

No. 72. (2020) STARFISH November 15th.

 

Film No. 72 (2020)  November 15th.  1:00 PM.  Cinema 5  LUNA Leederville.

"They just grow them back again".(Tom explains to daughter Grace what happens to a Starfish if it loses its arms).

I haven't seen a project film of the likes of Starfish for a good while. And while the earnestness of the film's script makes for a very, made for T.V. product, the aim of Starfish is to bring an awareness to the wider community of a condition called sepsis.

 

Using the true story of Tom Ray and his family, writer/director Bill Clarke, has created a very moving story about how normal people, living normal lives are suddenly dealt a crushing hand. Joanne Froggatt, (also an executive producer) plays Tom's wife, Nicola. A wife who never stops loving her husband through all his physical and emotional challenges, as his body fights sepsis. The Ray family story must certainly have struck a chord with both Clarke and Froggatt. The unique technique of morphing aspects of Ray's actual face into Riley's for reasons that become obvious, is mesmerizing. Earnest this film may be, but it highlights the fact that what we worry about day to day can become insignificant when we are blindsided by something we never imagined happening to us. 

In the Ray's, case, sepsis is one very cruel blindsiding. The Ray family's bravery is anything but ordinary. 9GUMS.

 

         

No. 71. (2020) FREAKY November 11th.

 

Film No. 71 (2020)  November 11th.  6:45 PM.  Cinema 9  GRAND CINEMAS Warwick.

"Honestly, if this were a horror movie, I'd be one of the first ones to be killed".(Millie's voice-over sets the scene for what comes next).

The idea of Freaky Friday meets Friday the 13th is a good one. Suddenly a beautiful young girl is transformed into a serial killing butcher and visa versa. Director Christopher Landon of Happy Death Day is in charge. The writing needs, however, to be fresh and fun. Especially if the cast has the talent and the looks. Unfortunately Freaky is lacking the freshness it screams out for. Vince Vaughn (The Butcher) and Kathryn Newton (Millie) recite their prose competently and the visuals, highlighted by blood and violence, keep a large group of artists plying their trade with gusto. It must be a fun and ever expanding skill in our modern film industry. Okay, it's not my genre; there will be plenty of popcorn lovers to lap up the "tick the boxes" competency of Freaky. Good luck to them and the distributors, the more people flocking back to the cinemas the better. Freaky may be just the tonic! 7GUMS.

      

No. 70. (2020) THE IRON BRIDGE (Zelazny most) Polish Film Festival (Perth W.A.) November 6th.

 

Film No. 70 (2020)  November 6th.  6:45 PM.  Cinema 1  LUNA Leederville.

"Does it matter how you die? One moment, and it's over!".(Oskar utters these profound words under the influence of strong drink in response to wife Magda's more reflective view on death).

A dark drama from Poland; so dark it takes us on an emotional roller-coaster where you're pleased that the nightmare unfolding is not one you are living.

Director/writer Monika Jordan-Mlodzianowska takes us underground into a Polish coal mine where the emotional drama unfolding on the surface between lovers Magda (Julia Kijowska) and Kacper (Bartlomiej Topa) is nothing compared to what her husband, and his best friend, Oskar (Lukasz Simlat), is enduring 300 feet beneath the surface.

The opening scene takes us halfway into the drama. A scantly clad Magda opens the door of her and Oskar's apartment, to her lover, but Kacper has company, a mining executive and they have bad news. Rewind to the story behind the love triangle and soon you'll understand why Oskar has been truly duped. We rejoin the opening scene mid film and Jordan-Mlodzianowski has brilliantly set us up for a most powerful conclusion. I do not use the term, powerful, lightly here.

Kacper controls Oskar's underground shifts. Does Magda know where her true emotional loyalties rest, or does it take a crisis of the worst kind to reveal this? Has Kacper weighed up what real friendship is? Especially when he takes advantage of his position of authority. And, what is the price each will pay? Feel good this is not. A brilliantly perceived social drama it is. 10GUMS.

  

 

No. 69. (2020) THE CLIMB November 5th.

 

Film No. 69 (2020)  November 5th.  10:40 PM.  Cinema 3  LUNA Leederville.

"No one likes you Mike, I'm the only one who likes you and do you want to know why? You're loud and obnoxious and you're an asshole".(Kyle expresses his feelings towards his friend during yet another emotional exchange).

The Climb is a remarkable, low key independent U.S. film. I'm not sure if Michael Angelo Covino and Kyle Marvin are re-enacting a key era of their relationship as thirty somethings, or if they have created a piece of pure fiction. I suspect the latter. They did after all co-write, produce and star in The Climb. But maybe there are some real life incidents along the way.

Together Covino and Marvin created a short, 8 minute film, in 2018, of two guys cycling up a hill, one in better shape than the other. Mike, the mate in better shape, reveals that he has slept with Kyle's wife to be. Kyle becomes furious but can't catch his best-man to be (or maybe not), he's too unfit. It's a great concept ... but even better is the fact these two artists decided to make a feature showing what happens next, in 6 chapters, over the next thirteen years.

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There are many truths to this depiction of a turbulent friendship. One can imagine a couple of close mates watching this feature together, nudging one another as a chapter, or better still scene, sparked common threads. The Climb is very much a fun, at times, laugh out loud social comedy. Some themes are quite serious, but you get a sense Covino and Marvin ask the question, is life better lived when sharing common experiences with a mate?

The Climb is a quirky, unique comedy. There is no big studio money involved, just a heart felt script which gives life and soul to every character (mainly Kyle's family/lovers), each with their own opinion of our central players' relationship. The Climb is fresh and very enjoyable. 10GUMS.

      

 

No. 68. (2020) RAMS November 1st.

 

Film No. 67 (2020) November 1st.  10:15 AM  EVENT CINEMAS V-Max Cinema 16,  Innaloo.

"If they're going to take the whole valley, then why don't they just take us too, and finish the job?" (Les Grimersun airs his views before he and brother Colin's farms are quarantined).

Director Jeremy Sims (Last Cab to Darwin) has a wonderful feel for regional Australia and captures uncomplicated people solving complicated matters, using companionate means and gentle humour. This time he's duplicated the Icelandic classic Hrutar (Rams) transferring the tale to the Central Great Southern of Western Australia. It's not quite as tight as the original but it's still very good.

Put simply, the plot has brothers Grimersen, Colin (Sam Neill) and Les (Michael Caton); as next door neighbours but on non-speaking terms (40 years) as annual prize ram producers. One or other wins the prize each year in no particular order, so what happens when a major spanner is thrown into the silent gulf which separates these testy (Colin less so) rusted on individuals?   

Our story is quite obviously all about the drama which reunites the boys. The reference to the word boys is unavoidable considering the juvenile manner in which they treat one another. One of Les's rams contracts a highly contagious disease which infects the valley. Colin has a plan which isn't very ethical in real terms but suits this narrative to conveniently move towards a heart-felt ending.

The idea of contrasting the original, stark, cold landscape of Iceland with a more temperate, but still challenging Australian pastureland is a masterstroke. They are different, but the same. Hrutar is darker and more atmospheric, Rams is lighter and takes a more trivial view of its serious (animal viral pandemic) subject matter. It's a risk; Sims pulls it off. Neill, Caton and a cute collie ride the back of a few well behaved sheep. 9GUMS.

          

   

No. 67. (2020) KAJILLIONAIRE October 30th.

 

Film No. 67 (2020)  October 30th.  4:00 PM.  Cinema 5  LUNA Leederville.

"Hun, you've never called me that. But you could if there were a job though, right?".(Old Dolio quizzes her mother Theresa about the lack of love she feels she receives as her daughter).

Miranda July (Me And You And Everyone I Know) is a director who is accumulating a following in the same way Sofia Coppola collected her devotees. They are women who tell interesting stories about women (generally) who need to be heard. July has created a love story like no other in Kajillionaire and it is a testament to her talent considering the description of the plot-line, which when read may cause punters some puzzlement. Parents Theresa (Debra Winger) and Robert (Richard Jenkins) are professional small-time grifters of the laziest and most unlikeable kind. Their daughter Old Dolio (Evan Rachel Wood) knows nothing other than the loveless road-map of life set by her parents. We meet the family on a typical day, Old Dolio has become the brains of the operation. Enter target Melanie (Gina Rodriguez) who turns out to be the vibrant dynamo this threesome should "adopt". The plot is irrelevant, the energy that Melanie injects into this sad trio is the key to Kazillionaire. I mentioned a love story, and so it is. How? Well that's why Kazillionaire is worth a look. Even if the plot-line does nothing for you, the performances of the four stars are worth the price of admission. It's wonderfully comic, heartfelt and ultimately unique; a cinema experience like no other. 10GUMS.

    

   

No. 65. (2020) BRAZEN HUSSIES. October 24th.

 

Film No. 65 (2020)  October 24th.  10:45 AM.  Cinema 1  LUNA Leederville.

"I think men think Women's Liberation is a threat to their manhood, and it really is a treat to their manhood because their manhood is phoney".(A pioneer from the movement making her comment when asked by a TV journalist in the 60's).

Many countries have their stories emanating from the early sixties, of the revolution that became known as Equal Rights For Women. The Australian story is told well, if not a little dryly, here in Brazen Hussies. I only say dryly because I'd hate for a story so important to be missed by future generations because some may perceive this presentation as a "bit boring". The film's content and the personalities on show are anything but!

Who can believe women weren't paid the same as men doing the same job (often better qualified) in the early seventies? It was how society was conditioned to operate. To break conditioning there had to be a revolution. File film depicts women embarking on a series of physical protests; chaining themselves to pub bars, inundating public forums asking male politicians for fairness etc. At the election of the Whitlam Government in 1972, women were truly mobilized and ready for change. The new P.M. Gough Whitlam, appointed a woman to advise him on all matters pertaining to women. 

The documentary doesn't compare our rates of change with other western countries but it was obvious Australia led the way in so many aspects of gender justice matters. The Whitlam era showed how quickly change could take place. Elizabeth Reid, Whitlam's inaugural appointee is a star of the documentary and while she admits she didn't get everything right, she grew from being a woman reluctant to look her enquirers in the eye, to a steely focused champion for the women's movement by film's end.

Hussies is yet another film depicting an important historical era of Australian coming of age. We have had Brock; Over the Top and Slim and I in recent months; each grasping similar eras' in sport and cultural heritage respectively. Each doco is as insightful as the other. Brazzen Hussies is an excellent tribute to those who fought for what should always have been a matter of common sense and fairness. 9GUMS.             

 

No. 66. (2020) NEVER, RARELY, SOMETIMES, ALWAYS. October 26th.

 

Film No. 66 (2020)  October 26th.  6:30 PM.  Cinema 5  LUNA Leederville.

"Whatever your decision is, is totally fine, as long as it is yours".(New York social worker, played brilliantly by Kelly Chapman, reassures Autumn that she is safe in her care).

Powerful, naturalistic cinema, parcelled up to make a point about a topic as important as the right to abortion in the U.S., is not an easy watch, but Never, Rarely, Sometimes, Always is a compelling experience. It is spellbinding but so beautifully under played; our heroes say so little but tell us so much.

Eliza Hittman (Beach Rats) is a film-maker who prides herself on telling important stories. She is not prolific but she is thorough. Sidney Flanigan is Autumn, the central character. Flanigan has never performed in a feature film before. How could this be possible? Talia Ryder, Autumn's cousin and reliable friend, is Skylar. Ryder is only partially more experienced than Flanigan. She too is stunningly good. But I guess that is the point of Hittman's casting; her actors are raw and achingly believable. 

Both Autumn and Skylar come from the Pennsylvania "rust belt". A Trump stronghold of the 2016 election. I had to check it wasn't a 60's costume drama, given the attitudes on show in the first 30 minutes. Autumn suspects that she's pregnant and she's right. She's brave and she's got a real friend in her cousin, Skyler. This is fortunate as she needs to terminate her pregnancy and it can't be done in her home state. The next seventy minutes is time we spend travelling with these extremely likeable young ladies. It's a journey which is both haunting and revealing. Then there is a scene (you'll know it)which will have you thinking about our heroes, days later.      

Naturalism, with shaky camera (not overly so) is not everyone's "cup of tea". I was aware of the camera action for no more than 5 minutes before the film drew me in. I was so pleased to be captured so thought provokingly by Hittman. It is such a simple film with such complicated undertones. Cinema devotees of screen work of the diverse kind shouldn't miss this.  11GUMS.