Film No. 73 (2024) October 28th. 6:30 PM PALACE Raine Sq, Cinema 6, Perth City.
"I've been harassed by people all day. I'm sick to death of it!" (Pansy explodes at husband Curtley as he maintains his trance like silence).
NOMINEE: Best Film (Mike Leigh) San Sebastian Int. Film Festival. (2024).
Is Pansy (Marianne Jean-Baptiste) of HARD TRUTHS (HT) simply too hard on those around her (including us) to be taken seriously? Yes, but as the complexity of her mental state is revealed, we need to take her very seriously.
Mike Leigh (HAPPY GO LUCKY) is back. He has as much to say here, as he did in SECRETS AND LIES. But while the 1996 classic attracted 5 Oscar nominations, HT will not. Perhaps over 28 years, the questions Leigh asks about connection and chemistry within families, and his pessimistic approach, has meant that his cinematic genius has diluted. Or maybe there are so many other techniques for presenting hard hitting social drama. Pansy is a gusher of negative "bile". Early on, there is humour in her rants. Gradually Leigh reveals her core. We are sad for Pansy, and all around her. She demands our attention.
Mike Leigh, like Ken Loach (I, DANIEL BLAKE) has been wondrously transfixing for over 50 Years. Classically, Leigh's creations bear fruit in his final scenes. No dialogue, three static camera shots of Pansy, husband Curtley and brow-beaten son Moses. His question: Surely there is hope, even some happiness, for this family? Maybe. 9GUMS.
Film No. 71 (2024) October 24th. 3:45 PM EVENT CINEMAS, Cine 3, Innaloo.
"I believed in glasses half full and silver linings. Life was so full and so precious. (Grace explains in voice over how she saw life).
WINNER: Best Feature Feature Film (Adam Elliot) London Film Festival.
Can an artist using stop-motion technique, create a feature film to be compared with those of Aardman's,Nick Park? When it's Australian, Academy Award winner, Adam Elliot, he most certainly can.
Grace (Sarah Snook) tells her story with such beauty here in MEMIOR OF ASNAIL. The overwhelming darkness in her life fades as her glass half full attitude gradually prevails. Elliot (MARY AND MAX) is notoriously dark in tone and narrative, but things are not always BLACK. With every shot there is a lighter reference to something. Melbourne's Bitter (a top, a pub) or Schnitz n'Tits (Pinky's workplace) examples of the smiles we get as we "slide" along with Grace. "Every film is a miracle", who said that? Shooting 5 to 10 seconds a day for 33 weeks, definitely qualifies MEMIOR for this category.
Maybe the narration is over played, but the pleasant tones of Sarah Snook are consistently sweet. Adam Elliot, you are a marvel. You place a mirror in front of us all. And while there is an anger here, you always leave us with HOPE! 10GUMS.
Film No. 70 (2024) October 23rd. 10:00 AM EVENT CINEMAS, Cine 6, Innaloo.
"The fact Superman was in a wheelchair, and prepared to go public with it was huge! If Chris was still here, I feel sure Robin (Williams) would also be. I'm sure of that. (Friend Glenn Close describes two strands to Reeves influence).
NOMINEE: Best Documentary Feature Film (Ian Bonhote, Peter Ettedgui) Critic's Choice Awards.
Where were you when you heard that Christopher Reeve had been thrown from a horse and critically injured? Okay, it's not quite JFK sphere, but I remember where I was.
The SUPERMAN (1978)feature filmcould not have been more perfectly cast. Classically trained Christopher Reeve (CR) was the embodiment of chiselled power and beauty. An innocuous horse-riding accident in May 1995 became the flashpoint for Reeve to become a real-life superman. CR left us 20 years ago. This immaculate production pieces together the breadth of his story, and the power his devoted family had, not just on Chris, but on the World. The film is about CR, but the stars are wife Dana, sons Matthew and Will and daughter Alexandra. But particularly 2nd wife Dana.
Most tribute documentaries pay terrific homage to their subjects. SUPER/MAN does this but also complements the man, his family and all they endured and created on all levels. If documentary is not your thing; watch this one anyway. 11GUMS.
Film No. 69 (2024) October 21st. 7:00 PM LUNA CINEMA, Cinema 2, Leederville.
"Mum, I know this looks crazy, but I feel like this might just work" (Jade explains to her mum that the situation she has created may be the answer).
NOMINEE: Official Selection (David Vincent Smith) Sydney Film Festival.
The cinema presents us with heroes of many kinds, so where should Leila George's, Jade, stand in the spectrum of heroes who shake our senses to the core? A hero we won't be able to forget for a time.
First time feature film director David Vincent Smith gathers all his courage here to tell a personal story about his own family. Jade being the embodiment of how he believed he should have acted in relation to his predicament. Having a sibling dealing with an addiction, tearing the heart from a family of substance, is on show in HE AIN'T HEAVY. Smith knows what Jade needs to do to prove to herself that she tried everything to save her brother and thus her family. Smith's film is very accomplished. It's a powerhouse of a film.
Gathering Gretta Scacchi, daughter Leila George and VIKINGS: VALHALLA, Sam Corlett together was the lucky break West Australian film-maker Smith needed to bring his story to the world. He has not wasted a second of their time, or ours; the ending in particular is classy! 11GUMS.
Film No. 68 (2024) Oct 18th. 10.10 AM TOHO Namba Complex, Cinema 11, Osaka, Japan.
"Unless you have to?" (Reenie answers Bernie's question about not leaving her alone, for a day or two).
WINNER: Best Actor (Michael Caine) Barcelona-Sant Jordi I.F.F.
Would the real Bernie Jordan and family have been "chuffed" that he and wife Reenie were played by British legends of the screen, Michael Caine and Glenda Jackson? Most definitely and with good reason; the film is a fine tribute piece.
In 2014, Bernie Jordon created headlineswhen he walked out ofhis Hove (UK) care facility and caught a ferry across the channel, aged 89, without official registration, to be a part of the 70th Anniversary celebrations of the D Day landings in Normandy. Wife Reenie (Irene) held the secret, as his carers made a public plea to find Bernie. Oliver Parker(AN IDEAL HUSBAND) creates a multi layered film celebrating love, care, compassion and aging with great dignity.
Caine and Jackson combine to work a magic only masterful performers can achieve. Sure, the story is based on real events, but creating a couple truly devoted to each other with such conviction takes rare skill. Jackson deserved such a film as her farewell to us all. 10GUMS.
Film No. 67 (2024) Oct 10th. 10.30 AM MIDLAND SQUARE Complex, Cinema 6, Nagoya, Japan.
"I've never seen that chick before in my life; or afterlife" (Beetlejuice answers a question related to the woman he made his wife, second time round).
WINNER: Fanheart3 Award (Tim Burton) Venice FF.
Why is such a mish-mash of silliness and fun becoming the "run-away" Box Office phenomenon of 2024? I'm not sure. The 36 year wait for a sequel to a movie phenomenon may have something to do with it.
Devotees of the original won't be missing BEETLEJUICE BEETLEJUICE (BB). That's a certainty. And perhaps they deserve the most attention when it comes to critical comment. Me, well I saw the original, and while I thoroughly enjoyed the mayhem caused by a younger Keeton in a far more structured story about ghostly cleansing in the suburbs, it hasn't left a lasting impression. BB comes with a whole lot less structure, but a myriad of brand new effects technology. It's here that the uninhibited Burton revels and releases his inhibitions.
That BB has become the most successful September release film in cinema history heaps great credit on the Burton/Keaton following. Keaton has said that the only sequel he might consider would be this. The devoted have remembered, perhaps. 7GUMS.
"Just keep bringin' money and helping your useless Ma!" (Husband Ivano makes a cutting demand of daughter, Marcella, around the family meal table).
WINNER: Best Film (Paola Cortellesi) Sydney Film Prize (2024).
Has there been a minor social/cultural revolution in Italian cinema since the release of actress/director Paola Cortellesi's THERE'S STILL TOMORROW? Revolution? No, but its popularity in Italy means it is the talk of the nation.
The film has been more popular in the city of Rome (the 1946 setting) in the last 12 months than BARBIE. Digest that! And while the film lacks subtlety, it more than makes up for this minor flaw with its powerful black and white pallet. The sharp images give Delia (Cortellesi) and daughter Marcella (Roma Maggiora) a beauty that belies their treatment by a male dominated household. 1946 is also the year women were first allowed to have their say (constitutional vote). Cortellesi uses this backdrop to give this story the sting it deserves.
DOMANI is a brilliant empowerment (female) drama, parallel in time with the highest grossing feminist film of all time; BARBIE. Outgrossing BARBIE, in Italy, says much about a nation celebrating a significant 70 year milestone. 10GUMS.
"I'm saving you for last!" (The words which will haunt a child who is key to this story).
NOMINEE: Best Film (Marco Martani) Raffaella Fioretta (2024).
Is BAMBINI a film to enjoy, but not a tale where knowing it's a pure figment of a creator's imagination is a relief? Yes, and the relief factor comes in the form of knowing this tale is more akin to waking from a nightmare!!
We return to the Calabrian coast for writer/director Marco Martani's (CEMENTO ARMATO) latest story. Is it me, or is the Calabrian setting a passport for a plethora dark tales? Martani is deft at building a web via the memories of childhood, showing how the repercussions occurring today were founded in the past. BAMBINI is a revenge drama built around a group of 30 somethings who saw something as children that needs to be cleansed. That cleansing is going to take teamwork and courage. In the hands of Martani this tall tale will hold your interest.
The award winning, THE MAFIA ONLY KILLS IN SUMMER (2013) was co-written by Martani. BAMBINI has MAFIA'S pedigree with a well timed feminist punch issued excellently by Lucrezia Guidone. It's a good flick. 9GUMS
"Have you ever dreamt of a better version of yourself?" (V.O. on repeat via Elisabeth's inward thinking about her future beyond her fifties).
WINNER: Best Screenplay (Coraliie Fargeat) Cannes FF (2024).
Should a film, so brilliantly conceived and performed have such a long and bizarre conclusion that its message flails? Probably not. It diluted my enjoyment of THE SUBSTANCE (TS), however.
"Careful what you wish for" has great gravitas in the world of film-making. IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE (1946), a post war classic, created a never forgotten life lesson. Well, don't expect themes of empathy from THE SUBSTANCE. When aging star, Elisabeth Sparkle, (Demi Moore) is offered the opportunity to transform herself into a reinvigorated 20's version of herself, via strange and bizarre chemical injections; buyer beware.
We know the answer, and so the Qualley/Moore chemistry is the key to TS. We know early on that we are about to witness a "car crash". And what a car-crash it is in this fantasy to salute to vanity!! 9GUMS.
Film No. 67 (2024) September 30th. 4:15 PM EVENT CINEMAS, VMax Cine 4, Innaloo.
"No it's not! I'm a very young adult" (The older Elliot justifies why her age should not be considered middle-age).
NOMINEE: Breakthrough Award (Megan Park) Variety and Golden Globe.
Could MY OLD ASS (MOA) be better titled and thus be more enticing as an education tool in schools? From where I'm sitting, most definitely!
While uneven in structure, MOA is wonderfully heartfelt and surprisingly, tugs on our emotions. Surprising, because, Megan Park (THE FALL OUT), uses interesting ideas to bring a selfish seventeen year old, Elliot (Maisy Stella), into a zone of self reflection. How many of us live with a regret or two about how we bulldozed through our late teens, without appreciating those who got us there?
But its the performances that parcel MOA up. Aubery Plaza is the next "big thing" (if she isn't already) on any screen. The brilliant Stella could not have gained her third dimension without Plaza. Something special here. 9GUMS.
