Film No. 74 (2016) Jackie December 13th.

Film No. 74 (2016) December 13th.  6.30 PM Greater Union Event Cinema, Innaloo.

"I believe the characters we read about on the page end up being more in relation to the men who stand beside us" (Jackie begins her recount of the days immediately after J.F.K.'s assassination to her handpicked journalist (Billy Crudup.)

Natalie Portman (Jackie) may well have sewn up a Golden Globe and an Oscar in this highly stylised account of the most loved U.S. presidential first lady in the days immediately following that fateful day in November 1963. So therein lies the warning. This is not a Jackie tell all story about her life, loves and final days. This film is so, so much better than that.


Jackie Kennedy was best known, prior to 22.11.1963, as the beautiful first lady who took the world, via T.V., through the White House as she described her new home as The Peoples House. This event becomes a corner stone flash back scene for the film as Jackie talks to unnamed journalist Billy Crudup through the effective technique of story management via Jackie's reflective, highly emotive words.


Because of the private nature in which the actual Jackie Kennedy conducted herself, there were only fleeting moments when she spoke, so her distinctive, breathy vocal tones were very much her fingerprint. Portman has worked her craft, vocally, as fastidiously as she she did physically in Black Swan. She is mesmerising as Jackie. Chilean director Pablo Larrain has a reputation for a thorough approach to his work, his melding with Portman in Jackie is a masterstroke. 


This film could have been titled Jackie: 7 Days of Grief. There is no pretence about where we are led as an audience. We learn a little of Bobbie Kennedy's (Peter Sarsgaad) grief and care for his sister-in-law. Lyndon and Ladybird Johnson are background puppets and Jackie's exchanges with priest John Hurt and assistant Tuckerman (Greta Gerwig) are telling. Gerwig is as never seen before in her fleeting role. But Jackie is all down to Natalie Portman and Natalie is good, very good.  10GUMS. 

Film No. 73 (2016) A United Kingdom December 5th.

Film No. 73 (2016) December 5th.  6.45 PM LUNA Paradiso, Northbridge.

"This is likely the most inspiring story of love and endurance ever told" (Nelson Mandela on becoming the first black president of South Africa) as he described the love shared by Seretse Khama and Ruth Williams.

Botswana is a success story when it comes to looking at the past of Third World African countries. It's a country I've not visited and while I know little of it's historical past this tale of enduring love went a long way in helping me to understand Botswana's current economic and social standing.


We've all heard the phrase, Love Conquers All, it's often used as a snappy film catch phrase to lure a prospective audience. The phrase is tired  but A United Kingdom could be the flagship film for it's rejuvenation. The film is clunky enough to support the cliched phrase but this criticism in no way diminishes the importance of the story.


This is the story of Seretse Khama (David Oyelowo), Botswana's first president, who meets and falls in love with his wife Ruth (Rosamund Pike) a white, english girl, while he is studying in the U.K. Serenest is a prince and he's about to be called home to become king. His union with Ruth caused major reactions on both sides of their respective national spectrums. Britain held sovereignty over Botswana at the time. Sanctions on the couple came thick and fast, sometimes heavy handedly from a cinematic POV, in a bid to break their bond. 


Director Amma Asante created a better film in Belle (2013)as she told a different story of the hardships endured in mixed race relations. A United Kingdom however is a bigger film with a more important story.  A quick reference to Botswana's contemporary history will verify this. Oyalowo and Pike maintain the right chemistry but it's Jack Davenport's plodding performance as the stiff upper lip diplomat which made me cringe. On reflection it's how it had to be I suspect. 8GUMS. 


   


   

Film No. 72 (2016) Arrival November 27th.

Film No. 72 (2016) November 27th.  12.30 PM READING CINEMAS, Queenstown New Zealand.

"You are at the top of everyones list when it comes to translations" (Colonel Weber (Forrest Whitaker) addresses Dr Louise Banks (Amy Adams) as unidentified craft appear on Earth.

Amy Adams is the flavour of this cinema year it would seem. She certainly has a charismatic quality which endears her to the screen. Arrival will likely earn her many a nomination over the coming awards season. So what is it about Arrival, the movie?


With all that has gone down politically in the U.S. over recent months this is a timely film. A film to drag us up by our moral lapels, so that we might be shaken into the realisation that if it's possible to communicate with alien life, then why the hell can't we make positive contact as humans in our global village? Does it work? Yeh it does, surprisingly, because if one had 30 seconds to pitch this plot, corny maybe the concluding verdict.  


I'm doing Arrival a disservice by suggesting the film is a blueprint for the global benefits of effective communication channels. It's most endearing quality is the thread of life, and the premise, if one knew the future, would you make a decision knowing the pain as well as the beauty of what was to come. Still sounding corny? Well Arrival has a corny premise and farfetched threads but it works.


Louise Banks (Amy Adams) is a world renowned linguist who is co-opted by the U.S. govt. to make contact with "visitors" who have suddenly arrived and are literally hovering in different positions all over the world. She teams with Donnelly (Jeremy Rimmer) to peel back the layers of a coded exchange between beings. While the film is both subtle and clever, I'm not convinced there is real chemistry between Adams and Rimmer during their key moments as Earth's ambassadors. You see, the film demands chemistry, for me it doesn't deliver on that front but delivers everywhere else. 9GUMS. 

Film No. 71 (2016) The Accountant November 21st.

Film No. 71 (2016) November 21st.  8.00 PM CINEMA CLYDE, Clyde New Zealand.

"I have difficulty socialising with other people, even though I want to". (Christian Wolfe (Ben Affleck) talks about one of life's frustrations to Dana Cummings (Anna Kendrick).

Right, so Ben Affleck gets to play a character with autism, an accountant who, because of his condition, possesses  extraordinary talents. Talents which are used for less than scrupulous purposes by very unscrupulous people, world wide. It sounds like the sort of 30 second pitch which may have pricked the ears of the money men of Hollywood. So The Accountant came to be, and reasonably entertaining it is.


Gavin O'Connor brought us Warrior (2011) where the depth of family bonding and hand to hand combat made for thought provoking viewing. Warrior had plenty of fans because the father/son relationship built tension. O'Connor brings similar themes to The Accountant. The life of Christian Wolfe (Affleck) takes a turn for the worse when his mother abandons the family. Christian's dad, a military man, takes on the parenting of his sons and teaching them hand to hand combat skills are key to his influence. This is important to the plot as we flick back and forth to unravel the reasons why Wolfe conducts himself in a manner that makes greater sense later in the movie.


The side story belongs to Ray King (J.K. Simmons) and Medina (Cynthia Addai-Robinson). As servants of the government King blackmails Medina into tracking Wolfe, for reasons, once again, made more obvious later. Both characters are under developed because Wolfe and Dana Cummings (Anna Kendrick) need to become a duo of substance. It's all a bit far fetched but it ties up pretty well and as I've mentioned, it's trivial entertainment.


Be warned however, The Accountant, is a violent, immoral movie which will soon be forgotten. Affleck adds another string to his bow if playing a smart but violent accountant with autism is a string. But what I do recommend is, if you are visiting south island New Zealand, find the small hamlet of Clyde, not far from Queenstown and catch a movie at the 42 seat Clyde Cinema (leather comfort). It's where I caught The Accountant.  9GUMS.

cinema.http://www.flicks.co.nz/cinema/clyde-cinema/

Unique cinemas can be difficult to find in these days of multiplexes. All hail Clyde Cinema, it's a small gem with a view to expand to a second cinema soon.  12GUMS.


    

Film No. 70 (2016) I, Daniel Blake November 14th.

Film No. 70 (2016) November 14th.  6.45 PM LUNA Paradiso, Northbridge.

"You've got nothing to be ashamed of, you're all alone with two kids, you're amazing" (Daniel (Dave Johns) reassures Katie (Hayley Squires) that she is skilled in her quest to make a life for herself and her kids).

Ken Loach turned eighty in June. Many thought he had directed his last film in Jimmy Hall, two years ago. Thank the heavens that this was not fact. If it were, he would not have delivered I, Daniel Blake to us in 2016.It won the Palme D'or and there were many tweets at the time that it was not deserving of this honour. I beg to differ, I, Daniel Blake is an outstanding film.  


Tis the season to be merry so, most films in the next month will depict a bunch of silly characters (either animated or as good as) in contrived pieces leading to a standard, predictable happy ending. So why recommend, I, Daniel Blake as a must see film just prior to Christmas? The reason; it will stir your conscience and the want to give to people and causes who don't have the same opportunity or money that we do, will be heightened. It's a hard-hearted, middle class westerner who walks from a screening of I, Daniel Blake not feeling deeply affected.


In the words of Ken Loach, Daniel Blake (Dave Johns) represents decency, a quality possessed by the vast majority of people. When decent people are restricted in the way they live their lives through no fault of their own, in a system which ceases to care, then film can serve a purpose to deliver a strong message. In I, Daniel Blake, Loach delivers that message in spades. It's the simple images of Blake on the phone, endlessly on hold or Katie, breaking down in a food bank and being reassured by Daniel that she is a skilled mother.


When the film starts, Daniel Blake has recently lost his wife, which may have aggravated a heart condition, rendering him unfit for work. To get a pension, he will need to prove to bureaucracy (The Decision Maker) that he is eligible and that is no easy task. Loach weaves a second family, Katie (Hayley Squires), Daisy (Briana Shann) and Dylan (Dylan McKiernan)into Dan's life simply and with heart. All are fighting for survival in the suburbs of North East England. The Decision Maker holds the key to their survival. Is this a moral system?  11GUMS. 






  


     

Film No. 69 (2016) The Golden Years November 11th.

Film No. 69 (2016) November 11th.  6.30 PM LUNA SX Fremantle.

"A Great British Comedy" (The words on a promotional poster for Golden Years ......... DON'T BE MISLEAD!)

There used to be so many of these "try hard", feel good, caper films coming out of the U.K. There probably still are but they have become T.V. fodder. People want more from a cinema experience.

Other than amongst those who have experienced a real hold-up, Golden Years will have some fans. Oldies getting revenge on The Banks because of their dwindling pensions is an easy theme to pursue to get a following. But Golden Years is light, wet, offensive, predictable and generally immoral. It has a quality cast all looking to be challenged. Golden Years does not fulfil their needs.

Look out for this strange little film on a streaming network one cold afternoon. The only thing wetter than the rain splattering against your window that sodden afternoon will be the script blaring from your flat screen's surround sound system! 5GUMS.     

Film No. 68 (2016) Hell or High Water November 5th.

Film No. 68 (2016) November 5th.  10.30 AM LUNA PALACE, Leederville. 

"All this was my ancestor's land, till these folk took it and now it's been taken from them, 'cept it ain't no army doin' it, it's those sons of bitches right there (pointing to a bank in the town's high street)" (Alberto summarizes the state of play historically in his home state of Texas)

It was hard to watch Hell or High Water and not reflect on the  dysfunctional political landscape surrounding this once great nation the U S of A. A scene late in the film depicts Toby and Tanner Howard (Chris Pine and Ben Foster) hurriedly rushing from a bank they'd just robbed into a hail of gunfire. Our immediate thought is the police had the bank surrounded; cut to local towns folk crouching behind their vehicles taking pot-shots. A bizarre scene but perhaps the norm in this remote Texas outpost.


Hell and High Water is an ironic comment on many aspects of life in contemporary U.S. society. It has all the ingredients of an old fashioned western. There are Toby and Tanner a couple of bank robbers with a humane edge. Then there's Texas Ranger Marcus Hamilton (Geoff Bridges) and Mexican/Indian side-kick Alberto (Gil Birmingham) whose method it is to track these baddies "on foot" rather than via modern day methods using laptops or mobile phones. But there is a whole lot more to this film of simple themes.


Toby, the elder brother, has inherited the family property which possesses rich oil reserves. The bank holds the deeds and will foreclose if debts aren't paid within a strict timeframe. His only course of action is to steal from the bank keen to take over his property, or more importantly the property which is the inheritance of his children. The tension builds as Hamilton and Alberto track the brothers the old fashioned way; the bloodhound method. Each of the robberies by the brothers is more daring and violent than the last. Robin Hood, these guys ain't!  


The steamy, tense feel, coupled with the earthy soundtrack gives Hell and High Water the credibility it deserves. The relationships, key to ratifying the concluding scenes (e.g. the dysfunction in Toby's relationship with his ex-wife and kids) lack real development. The role of corporate banking and the irony of the brothers' quest wasn't fleshed out completely. But Geoff Bridges, Hamilton is all one would expect of this quality, character actor. The less he says, the harder it is to take our eyes off him. 9GUMS.