Film No. 48 (2015) What Lola Wants. July 6th.

Film No. 48 (2015) July 6th. 8:00 PM LUNA SX Fremantle.

 

"You tell me why a Beverley Hills princess fakes her own kidnapping? (Comes the question from Marlo, the grifter so smitten by Lola)

 

What Lola Wants.

There are so many influences reflected in Rupert Glasson's wonderful What Lola Wants. It has shades of the mesmerizing dialogue of Tarantino, the dreamlike aura of Lynch and the twisted charm of The Cohen Brothers. The key however is, Glasson doesn't copy, he just uses the essence of these masters and creates his own original work of art.

Lola (Sophie Lowe) fakes her own kidnapping. She comes from a family of influence so there is no doubt the authorities will be hot on her heels. We meet her at the quintessential, Easy Stop diner in the Californian desert where only dust and tumbleweed interrupts the low angle long-shot. Enter Marlo (Beau Knapp), a young man looking for trouble and Lola is definitely the trouble he's seeking.

So while there is mystery to all the unhinged characters who appear on screen we are in no hurry to learn of their past, we just want to know what comes next. Lola controls Marlo. The reward money is put up by Lola's parents; parents described by Lola as evil. But then there is Mama (Dale Dickey), a wild middle aged road warrior keen to teach her son Marlo, a lesson.

The story is as mindless as the characters, the fun of Lola is the brilliance of the sound, the visuals and the sharp dialogue all bundled into an 81 minute package. This showing was part of The Revelation Film Festival, the annual West Australian binge on original local and international films. As I type, Lola has failed to find a distributor. I'm staggered, but maybe I shouldn't be.  10GUMS  

      

Film No. 47 (2015) Last Cab to Darwin. July 2nd.

Film No. 47 (2015) July 2nd.  7.00 PM LUNA Leederville. 

"You should try driven' two thousand k's with the bastard", (Tilly talks about his time in the cab with Rex).

 

Last Cab to Darwin.


Jeremy Sims (director) and Reg Cribb (writer) came upon a news article about Rex Bell a cab driver from Broken Hill back in the early 2000's. Rex had been diagnosed with terminal stomach cancer and his prognosis was not good. Rex subsequently heard of the new Euthanasia Bill being passed in The Northern Territory which, under strict supervision, gave a patient the right to end their life. Rex, wanting a painless exit, jumped in his cab and headed for Darwin.

Cribb first retold the story as a play of the same name in 2003. Sims has been by his side throughout the retelling of Rex's legendary story and so it was inevitable Last Cab would become a feature film. And a very fine feature film it is.

Michael Caton, so revered as the likable, knock about Aussie battler underplays Rex beautifully. From the time we jump in the cab with Rex we have to believe in him and Caton doesn't let us down. Polly and Tilly, so exquisitely played by Ningali Lawford and Mark Coles Smith give insightful observations of real issues in Australian culture. The combined abilities of Lawford and Smith give Rex an ability to think more clearly about his future when most needed.

I'm a sucker for this type of Australian film which depicts our raw environment in such compassionate terms. Sure the narrative is perhaps 10 minutes too long and maybe Jacki Weaver was not the right fit for the Darwin doctor but these are minor quibbles. Last Cab is told with good humour and the right amount of pathos. It's a film for the world to enjoy but the nationalist in me is hoping we of the Australian breed will flock to the screens and luxuriate in a unique story of our own.   9GUMS.

  

Film No. 46 (2015) Ruben Guthrie 1st July.

Film No. 46 (2015) July 1st.  6.45 PM HOYTS Carousel Cannington. 

"Your father and I have decided, enough of these meetings, we want our son back". (Ruben's mother being as supportive as she knows how to assist her son through his problems, the meetings are his AA meetings).

 

Ruben Guthrie

I read Ruben Guthrie, the play, last summer and had it play out
in my head, as if it was staged on an intimate space, with a captivated audience. I imagined it to be a strong example of contemporary theatre in the vein of a David Williamson play at the height of his powers through the 70's and 80's. This film version, while really competently shot, unraveled like many of Williamson's conversions to film did. There just wasn't the same raw power.

Ruben Guthrie (Patrick Brammall) has it all. A dream house, a gorgeous, sensible fiance and a career where he sets the agenda, an award winning agenda. So what can go wrong? His inability to understand that to really enjoy all that he has, alcohol can't dominate his existence. Ruben, it would seem has addictive behaviour issues. While we don't really get time to be convinced of Ruben and Zoya's (Abbey Lee) commitment to one another, Zoya walks out and gives our man 12 months to abstain or lose her.

And so we spend 350 odd days with Ruben as he changes his behaviours while making new friends and disgarding old ones. The process of Ruben "growing a heart" while mixing with more common folk has traction. Jack Thompson and Robin Nevin work well as the supportive/ unsupportive parents.  Finally he's forced into an inevitable corner.

In the intimacy of a live theatre space an audience can become enthralled with a larger than life character like Ruben. A cinema audience is looking for more than just the one trick pony Ruben offered so successfully on stage. Given this, the film is tightly adapted for screen, well performed by all and fantastically shot. Cowell is a good writer, perhaps the next Williamson. Brammall is making his mark after achieving great success on the smaller screen. Ruben is worth a look. 7GUMS    

Film No. 45 (2015) Amy 27th June.

Film No. 45 (2015) June 27th.  10.30 AM LUNA Leederville. 

"The more people see of me the more they'll realize that all I'm good for is making music". (Amy Winehouse during an interview at age 18 as her star began to shine).

 

Amy

I can remember hearing of the death of Amy Winehouse in mid 2011 and not being surprised considering the reputation that preceded her. I enjoy her pure vocal tones and I own just one of her albums but I knew little of her life other than that which had been reported, mainly by dubious sources. After spending time with her via this intimate documentary I can't help but wish I'd taken a little more time to consider who she really was, while she was alive. 

Amy takes us on an intimate journey into the world of a young lady who possessed a prodigious talent. Low self esteem, talent, strong mindedness and a penchant for addictive behavior is too often a fatal concoction. Judy Garland, James Dean and Marilyn Monroe left our world before they'd fulfilled all their talent, all suffering from, it would seem, similar afflictions. The name Amy Winehouse must now be included on that legendary list. The sadness I felt comes from the fact that I now wonder if anything could have been done to save this strong willed soul.

Asif Kapadia made one of my favorite documentaries of all time, Senna, 5 years ago and while Amy offers up more intimate material in the form of home video, he doesn't quite reach the same heights. He is however a master at finding a sense of the truth about his subjects. He's never judgmental, he merely produces critical footage that gives us an intimate view of his subjects. In Amy's case the scene in which she meets her idol, Tony Bennett in a recording studio is one in which a wonderful moment is captured. We see a vulnerable Amy but during a special moment, a strength of character also shows through. It is a magical short scene.

The Amy story is told conventionally from her early life through to her sad end. It was well told but there were facets of it that left me unfulfilled. We are told early in her story of Amy's father's exit from the family unit when she was nine, then quite suddenly he becomes her key mentor nine years on. Russell Brand, no shrinking violet himself, and major Winehouse ally had no input into the portrait. Juliette Ashby was Amy's best friend and a very positive influence on Amy's life but she seems to cut in and out of the doco without continuity. Minor quibbles indeed.  8GUMS      

      

Film No. 44 (2015) Jurassic World 24th June.

Film No. 44 (2015) June 24th.  6.45 PM READING Cinemas Belmont.

"Every time we have unveiled a new attraction, attendance has spiked".

Jurassic World

 

Jurassic World, the B Grade movie of the year, without doubt may even become the highest grossing movie of all time. The B Grade tag doesn't dilute it's credibility, it just describes the film from a formula driven content POV. And what a formula this big blockbuster of a disaster movie has.

A flailing tourist attraction of a dinosaur park needs to maintain the edge in the new beasts department. So what happens when the newer bigger, more intelligent Indominus Rex goes free in a tourist park during peak holiday season? Of course we have the kid and his teenage brother out exploring when they shouldn't be. Their Aunt, who does everything in high heels and a tight skirt, is an executive in the parks hierarchy and rarely takes heed of the buffed ranger guy who will eventually help save the day. 

Funnily enough I was reminded of an outstanding documentary when watching JW. Blackfish told the story of Tilikum an Orca (Killer Whale) held in captivity. It was responsible for the maiming of various keepers and handlers at a Sea World attraction in the U.S. Large intelligent animals held in captivity have the potential to cause mayhem because of their circumstance and the way they have been cloned. Jurassic World uses the same premise, and if you sit and watch in 3D glasses the mayhem is twice as chaotic.

There are no big names in the cast or crew to talk of, except perhaps Spielberg (Executive Producer). There is nothing new either from a script or effects POV. There is however a vehicle which looks more like a tom-bowler which is innovative but that's about it. The first two weekends of the film's release, world wide, saw nearly half a billion dollars taken. I'm not sure there are enough corn kernels being cultivated to keep up with the demands of Candy Bars. Jurassic World is a B Grader of the highest order … I got what I expected, it's just I'm still wondering what all the hype is about?  7GUMS.

    

    

Film No. 43 (2015) Aloha 23rd June.

Film No. 43 (2015) June 23rd.  1.00 PM ACE Cinemas Rockingham.

"Your life is going to become very, very complicated". (Carson Welch played by Bill Murray indicating to Gilcrest (Cooper) what's in store) 

Aloha

 

Why didn't this convoluted series of muddled sub-plots and unconvincing performances called Aloha go straight to DVD?

Maybe the producers felt that with a cast including Cooper, McAdams, Stone, Baldwin and Murray the job was done. People would flock to cinemas. 

What am I talking about? I got sucked in, but I owe my mum an apology for dragging her along. We lost 100 minutes of our lives we will never recover.   

Download it when there is absolutely nothing else to watch. 2GUMS    

Film No. 42 (2015) Going Clear: Scientology and the Prisoner of Belief June 22nd.

Film No. 42 (2015) June 22nd. 6:40 PM LUNA SX Fremantle.

 

"They sell it all in the beginning as something quite logical". (An ex-disciple describing their Scientology experience)

 

Going Clear: Scientology the Prisoner of Belief.

 

After watching this riveting feature, Going Clear, I'm baffled as to why; one,a "crackpot" like Hubbard, a prolific Sci Fi pulp fiction writer could believe in most of his fanciful writing and two, how thousands of people became disciples to these, in some case, quite sinister beliefs. The church today is diminishing in numbers but expanding as a business enterprise. Interesting!

Alex Gibney (Enron & The Armstrong Lie) is a thorough documentary film maker. In a recent interview it was interesting to hear him talk about taking his raw footage then handing it over to his editor,in this case Andy Grieve, and having total confidence the film will emerge as he intended without him having to look over his shoulder. Gibney is a a documentary film maker of the expose' type. With Scientology (cult or religion) in his sights he has found the perfect fodder. 

We first learn of the origins of Scientology. Gibney incorporated excellent home footage of Hubbard discussing all dimensions of his world, the impression being that Scientology was born of simplistic ideas from a complicated figment of his imagination. How he was charismatic enough to attract the disciples he did  baffles me. But once the battles with the US internal revenue were finally won, thus gaining Scientology religious status, the evidence was that big business was a motivation for its existence.

It would seem Scientology is a far more sinister organization in contemporary times. Auditing is an important tradition of the cult; here an individual reveals truths about their lives to the "church." It becomes a record which is held for purposes only people higher up the "food chain" can know. I can't help but wonder what they hold over Tom Cruise and John Travolta; neither seem totally comfortable in their P.R. roles for the organization. But then again who cares. I did however enjoy the ride Gibney took me on.  9GUMS