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.

   

     

No. 64. (2020) TOTALLY UNDER CONTROL. October 22nd.

 

Film No. 64 (2020)  October 22nd.  7:45 PM.  APPLE TV  Living Room  Mt. Hawthorn. W.A. 

"We the scientists knew what to do for the pandemic response. The plan was in front of us. But leadership would not do it". (The voice of a Washington scientist waiting, as part of a national operational team, to go to action to counter COVID-19).

The title here is so Donald Trump, yeah? He said these exact words many, many times in the months crucial to controlling COVID 19. Those words sadly wowed many Americans into believing him. Enter Alex Gibney (Enron; The Smartest Guys in the Room, The Armstrong Lie); he felt compelled to reveal, before the 2020 elections, how empty Trumps words were. Gibney would have preferred not to have been put into a position of feeling a compulsion to publish so rapidly. But Trump's lack of action through ignorance, laziness and psychopathic personality disorder compelled him. I'm not going to say a lot about Totally Under Control other than, it shines with all the thoroughness that Gibney documentaries do. It slots together all the pieces of the shameful puzzle that was Trump's leadership as the virus raged, then sums up by outlining why science has to be respected, citing evidence from the people who know. Gibney then lays out what the consequences could be if the American people don't opt for change. It's compelling. 10GUMS.

 

No. 63 (2020) BABY DONE . October 14th.

 

Film No. 63 (2020) October 14th.  6:30 PM  EVENT CINEMAS Room 4,  Innaloo.

"You're a baby, having a baby" (Zoe's best friend Molly sprouts a home truth on how Zoe is handling pregnancy).

The New Zealand trope of creating cinema reflecting light stories (Hunt for the Wilderpeople, The Breaker Upperers) layered with rich and witty characters is the reason for a strong international following. Baby Done will do nothing but enhance The Land of the Long White Cloud's reputation in a cinema sense.

There are many holes in the storyline here as loving couple Zoe (Rose Matafeo) and Tim (Matthew Lewis) joust about taking their relationship to the next level (having a child). Zoe is a competitive tree climber so pregnancy is out of the question. An international event beckons but you guessed it, she does fall pregnant. Their life goals become compromised ... and unfortunately, so does the film.

How so? Well I couldn't quite figure out whether Curtis Vowell (Fantail) wanted us to focus on Zoe's ambition to beat all odds, travel to Canada and win a world championship whilst pregnant, or win her man back by coming to her senses. Obviously it's no spoiler that the latter happens, but it's the  cumbersome way Vowell handles the two leads after initially having us believing in their rock solid love for one-another. Perhaps he doesn't need to lead us down so many paths. 

Nevertheless, Baby Done is pleasant and likeable. Every scene has some comic value. No New Zealand film embedded with light mirth would be the same without Rachel House (Hunt for the Wilderpeople; Child Welfare Officer). House only has one scene here but her role as a school principal is dry and witty. What more can I say, Baby Done is three and a half star entertainment. 8GUMS.