No. 28. (2020) THE PLATFORM May 21st.

Film No. 28 (2020)  May 21st.  8:35 PM.  Netfilx, Living Room  Mt. Hawthorn. W.A. 

"There are three types of person. Those at the top, those at the bottom and those that fall". (The richly toned voice, form the first words, in voice-over, of this bleak film).

In the same way Bong Joon Ho's Snowpiercer (2013) questioned the concept of class, carriage by carriage via a runaway train circling the world, Spanish director David Desola asks similar questions, but this time in the dark, dystopian chambers of a multi level prison. The platform is the slab which moves from level to level, once daily, like a lift. The Slab contains the passport to each inmate's survival; sustenance. Each cell has two occupants, no gender distancing, with personality quirks to make this film bubble. But how many levels are there? What sustenance is left for those at the bottom? What becomes of those at the lower levels? Our focus is with Goreng (Ivan Messague) and Trimagasi (Zorion Eguileor); they occupy level 48. Who are they? We get a clue about Goreng, but will it be relevant in the scheme of things? Using a form of trickle down economics (sustenance) as a metaphor for life, this becomes more horror than thriller. This is a grim, powerful and always confronting film. It will not be for everyone. But if you like grim films that take you to the edge, quite literally, The Platform will tickle your fancy. Better still, more likely, prods your solar-plexus, then don't miss this one! 9GUMS.            

    

No. 27. (2020) BAD EDUCATION May 17th.

Film No. 27 (2020)  May 17th.  7:35 PM.  HBO Fox Living Room   Mt. Hawthorn. W.A. 

"How far can I make a difference? I got us to number four and I will get us to number one!". (Frank explains his aim and justifies his existence even after he's been found to have displayed major deficiencies in his conduct).

Once again here is a story emanating from  an essay/article published in the glossy mag, New York in September 2004. But a warning, don't read the article if you know nothing of the story. It is a far richer and more tense experience not knowing the story behind the scandal which unraveled at Roslyn High School, Long Island in the early 2000's.

Made for the small screen by HBO with a couple of heavy weight big screen performers in Hugh Jackman and Allison Janney as Superintendent Frank Tassone and Assistant Superintendent Pam Gluckin respectively, BA tells a compelling story of how a leader with only the best intentions but with sociopathic tendencies and a compliant deputy with only greed on her mind, come to terms with their decisions and contrary personalities.

In these times of streaming, Bad Education emerges as an A Grade example of the made for T.V. movie. Every scene forms an essential building block towards asking its audience to decide how they feel about the events. While Tassone is the focus, every character displays their vulnerability with a subtle close-up or mood shift via the edgy soundtrack.

With a stable of strong documentaries (What's My Name, Running with Beto) and powerhouse T.V. series' (Succession, Chernobyl), Bad Education might just mark the beginning of Fox/HBO lifting the bar just a little higher on quality films for the small screen with a socially dramatic focus. 10GUMS.      

  

No. 26. (2020) NATALIE WOOD: WHAT REMAINS BEHIND May 9th.

Film No. 26 (2020)  May 9th.  7:35 PM.  HBO Fox   Living Room   Mt. Hawthorn. W.A. 

"What do we think about re-opening this case?". (One of just a few perplexing questions put to, Daddy Robert Wagner, by step daughter and film's co-producer Natasha Gregson Wagner).

You won't be able to take your eyes off this HBO documentary. The titles will flick on, it will feel nothing more than a standard hour you've sat, wrong! It had been two hours. I sat mesmerized by both the beauty and talent of Natalie Wood as her legend is unraveled by Laurent Bouzereau (Director) and Natasha Gregson Wagner (Producer), daughter of Wood.

The film is a mix of tribute, deserved, and family editorial which is quite likely deserved. The fascination of WHAT REMAINS BEHIND is the interview set pieces between step daughter Natasha and step "daddy" Robert Wagner. They take up 20% of the film and they simply reinforce what Wagner has always said happened on that fateful night in November 1981. There has never, baring tabloid talk, been any reason to disbelieve Wagner or Christopher Walken (also on the boat). Viewers can make up their own minds based on these scenes.

Ignoring the set pieces, WRB is possibly the best tribute film ever made on the legend that is Natalie Wood. I'd forgotten the talent Wood possessed. From childhood she was dominating scenes in films like The Ghost and Mrs Muir (1947) as an eight year old, Rebel Without a Cause (1955) at 26  and then Bob and Carol and Ted and Alice (1969) as a 31 year old. In an era when women were still undervalued by the big studios, Wood is portrayed as a genuinely good mum, performer, friend, advocate and all round person. Most literature written on Wood rarely contradicts that image.

As a doco, WRB is not exceptional. It is however both entertaining and enlightening. It leaves us to ponder (the interview set pieces) the grieving experienced by her family. And for those Wood fans who have always felt duped when she left our screens so suddenly, this is not to be missed. 9GUMS.    

              

                                        

   

No. 25. (2020) THE IMMIGRANT May 3rd.

Film No. 25 (2020)  May 3rd.  2:55 PM.  Stan streaming. Redmond Theatre, Ocean Reef. 

"Lady Liberty opens her arms to you. Only you can release her". (Bruno's introduction of Ewa, as her stage name, to her prospective clients).

This handsome costume drama with a great cast, interesting story-line and sumptuous settings is fractionally disappointing, but maybe my expectations had become inflated over 5 years of waiting. It's a film I've wanted to see, knowing it to have solid reviews and a great pedigree (Weinstein Production). Nevertheless it is a good film, and I'd recommend it.

Post World War l Ewa (Marion Cotillard) and sister Magda (Angela Sarafyan) arrive in New York, in the hope of a new life. Magda is ill and must be quarantined. Her illness may be fatal. Ewa is desperate. She is to be deported, knowing she may never see her sister again. She'll do anything to remain. Enter Bruno (Joaquin Phoenix), a theatre agent! Really? He certainly works from a theatre, but he's an upmarket pimp (up market for 1921). Ewa is very untrusting of Bruno but he offers her the hope she seeks, that of seeing her sister again. Their relationship forms the fascination of the film. Bruno's brooding nature leads to a slightly surprising ending.  

Emil or Orlando the Magician (Jeremy Renner) appears mid film and while he is the white knight with an interest in saving Ewa, there isn't the critical chemistry between  Cotillard and Renner. It's surprising but true. Because of this there comes a dreariness to the plot. A particularly climactic moment in the masculine tussle between Bruno and Emil is not as emotionally gripping as it could have been. Cotillard is mesmerizing as a vulnerable heroine, her beauty does not waver for 120 minutes. Solid period drama. 9GUMS.     

      

No. 24. (2020) BLOW THE MAN DOWN April 23rd.

Film No. 24 (2020)  April 23rd.  2:10 PM. Amazon Prime streaming. Redmond Theatre, Ocean Reef. 

"I try to protect these girls, but I can't be expected to do everything". (Enid explains part of the responsibilities she accepts as the employer of working girls in her care).

Here is another little gem streaming from the Amazon Prime platform. Oh, and what a little gem it is. This might be a good time to reflect on all the small films to miss major accolades in minor or major festivals around the world this year. COVID-19 guarantees that! Blow The Man Down is certain to go reasonably unrecognized in 2020. But not by me.

To begin with ... BTMD is a powerful vehicle for the Me Too movement, the message delivered with such subtlety and power, it doesn't become obvious till well after the credits have rolled. So how does the Me Too message colour a seedy mystery thriller with the pessimism of Fargo and the quirkiness of The Trouble With Harry? The plot revolves around 6 women who each have a secret wherein, the first to blink might lose.

Margo Martindale (The Americans, Sneaky Pete) is Enid, the town Madam, who provides a service mainly for the men of the local seafaring community. Her partner in business Mary Margaret Connolly has died suddenly and so we begin the story. Daughters Connolly, Presilla (Sophie Lowe) and Mary Beth (Morgan Saylor) are of very differing personalities and become embroiled in a deed so dastardly they are at some time going to be called to account. Then there are the three elderly women of the town who notice everything. It's all you need to know. 

It's a tight regional tale with a catch. Blow The Man Down is a guilty pleasure you can stream (Amazon Prime). It's so good, set yourself a time, watch it with other film buffs in a dark room, with a 95 minute space in your diary. I do hope Writer/Directors' Danielle Krudy and Bridget Savage Cole collaborate on something else in the future. 10GUMS.       

       

No. 24. (2020) GENERATION WEALTH April 20th.

Film No. 24 (2020)  April 20th.  7:55 PM.  AMAZON Prime, Living Room, Mt. Hawthorn. W.A. 

"I know the names of the Kardashians but I don't know the names of my neighbours". (Greenfield's son Noah makes an observation about an aspect of life in his world).

Photographer and film-maker Lauren Greenfield (The Queen of Versailles, Thin) takes us, in a slightly muddled fashion, on a journey into the lives of people who have experienced wealth, fame and or popularity through stages of their lives. Greenfield photographed them (I say them, but it was more, some of them) as young up and comers in the mid eighties; a time (Reaganomics) when "GREED WAS GOOD".

 

Some subjects hold us more than others, depending on our interests. For me, cigar smoking investment banker Florian Homm, struck a chord. He was at the seat of reasons for the Global Financial Crisis. Life for him in 2018, is very different, even bringing him to tears at one stage. Wall Street mogul, Suzanne Murphy, with distracting wide blue eyes, also made fascinating viewing, as time passed, her maternal instincts pushed her financial ambitions to one side.

Toddlers and Tiaras star Eden Wood was profiled briefly but the more interesting story probably lay with her mother. That wasn't explored. So it's here that the documentary failed to fully satisfy. There was so much content, Greenfield didn't know where to concentrate her attention. The subjects weren't all about wealth either, the theme seemed more about becoming a better person through time and experience. Wealth and fame was a common denominator for some.

Meanwhile Greenfield herself draws on her own family experiences, slotting them in randomly throughout the film. The reasons for her personal interludes is never fully revealed. At one point her son Noah makes an honest heartfelt comment that Greenfield is not prepared for. Maybe that could be another film for her to pursue. So do I recommend G.W.? If you love watching film about how the other half lives; don't miss it. 7GUMS.  

    

   

No. 23. (2020) THIRTEEN April 15th.

Film No. 23 (2020)  April 15th.  1:45 PM. Redmond Theatre, Ocean Reef. 

"It's too late now, you have to play". (Vince suggests it is time for him to leave after finding out what he has let himself in for, his chief backer has other ideas).

Writer/Director Gela Babuani shot his first feature 13 Tzameti (French), prior to this effort. He won an award (World Cinema Jury) for Tzameti. Why he needed to repeat the same film five years later doesn't make a good deal of sense. Maybe the fact he managed to secure the services of Jason Statham and Ray Winstone guaranteed a mighty income. It was shot for a fortune and returned investors a little over $3M, total! Babuani quite likely has a sad story to tell about how this film set his career back.

Vince (Sam Riley) is a good, loyal family boy. An opportunity arrives where, if he assumes the identity of a stranger he just might solve his family's dire decline into poverty. Has he a clue about the risk factor of his decision? No, it would seem. We are talking the ultimate risk factor here. And it really should be more gripping.    

13 is, quite simply a poor man's version of a Ritchie/ Tarantino fable with an overpowering soundtrack that will quite possibly have you pressing the exit button on your remote 15 minutes in. Jason Statham fans may even struggle to get through this one. Now that's saying something. 4GUMS.