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Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 29 March 2023

At the Jusarang Community Church in Seoul, South Korea, one will find a hole in the side of the building referred to as a “baby box”.  It’s a place where people can anonymously leave a baby they can no longer care for.  It is manned 24 hours a day and, since its creation in 2009 by the Church’s pastor, over 2,000 babies have been “dropped off”.  Unless the mum/dad has second thoughts and returns soon after, the babies are carefully looked after and then given the opportunity to be adopted.

This real-life location serves as the opening setting for Broker, a fictional tale from Palme d’Or winning director Hirokazu Kore-eda (Shoplifters).  It’s a difficult film to summarise quickly and that’s part of its allure.  There are two guys (Kang-ho and Dong-won) who have stolen a baby from the box and are looking to sell him on the black market.  There are two police detectives (Doona and Joo-young) who are following closely and seeking to catch them in the act.  There is the baby’s mother (Ji-eun) who pops up unexpectedly while fleeing serious problems.  A few other players, including a young kid, also have a part to play.

Broker succeeds in being an interesting, not-sure-where-it’s-going thriller, and as a big-hearted family drama.  Kore-eda throws in a few unexpected twists along the way which will change opinions about the key characters.  These subplots add complexity and allow the narrative to morph into something deeper and thought-provoking.  It has something to say about successfully raising a child and how there are many different types of family structures that can achieve a positive outcome.

The performances are sublime.  Song Kang-ho (Parasite) won the Best Actor prize at last year’s Cannes Film Festival and is terrific as the morally conflicted thief.  Bae Doona (Cloud Atlas) is excellent as the hard-ass detective who slowly reveals a softer side.  Singer-turned-actress Lee Ji-eun (Shades of the Heart) skilfully illustrates the contradictory thoughts of a struggling mother.  Is giving up her newborn the right thing to do?

Parasite helped expand the popularity of South Korean cinema with Western audiences and if the country keeps churning out films as good as Broker, that interest is likely to be sustained.

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Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 20 March 2023

For those who have seen Barry Jenkins’ Academy Award-winning Moonlight, the similarities here will be easy to spot.  Jenkins’ film provided a deep, thought-provoking look at one man’s struggle to understand himself and his sexuality.  It was split into three distinct chapters, each at a different point in time, which showed him as a naïve child, a sexually awakened teenager, and a mature, guarded adult.

Of an Age is from Macedonian-born director Goran Stolevski (You Won’t Be Alone) and is a moving Australian drama about a similar subject matter.  The frenetic opening, set in 1999, introduces us to Kol (Anton), a 17-year-old from Melbourne who is on the verge of graduating high school.  He shares a love of dance with his best friend Ebony (Hook) but as we soon learn, she’s not as reliable and supportive as one should be.  You get a sense that Kol doesn’t have a wide friendship group and so he tolerates Ebony’s antics because there is no alternative.

It’s through an unexpected event that Kol shares a lengthy car ride with Adam (Green), Ebony’s older brother who has just graduated from university and is about to head overseas.  The pair quickly realise they share a love for conversation, music, and literature (well, kind of).  The innocuous banter between them shifts when Adam acknowledges that he’s gay and this leaves Kol, who has repressed his own sexuality for so long, thinking about whether he should open up himself.

Stolevski goes with a two-chapter approach in Of an Age.  Approximately 75% of the runtime follows the teenage Kol and lead actor Elias Anton (Barracuda) does a terrific job illustrating his character’s insecurities and inner torment.  Whether Kol is by himself (waiting in Ebony’s bedroom) or surrounded by others (a birthday party he’s semi-reluctant to attend), you can tell Kol isn’t comfortable in his own skin.  Thom Green (Camp) deserves similar praise for his performance as Adam.

The film’s finale takes up forward to the year 2010 where Kol and Adam, who haven’t seen each other in a decade, bump into one another at a baggage carousel at Melbourne Airport.  They’re now at very different points in their lives and they catch up while sharing a taxi to the city.  Just as we saw with Moonlight, this epilogue reminds us of how we change as we grow older… and how we hold onto specific memories of the past and look back at them through rose-tinted glasses.

Offering humour, romance and sorrow, Of an Age is one of the best Aussie movies we’ll get the chance to see this year.  Authentic characters and great conversations pitted against the backdrop of suburban, multicultural Melbourne.  That’s a winner in my book.

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Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 27 March 2023

I realise that most decisions are financially driven but when it comes to remakes and reboots, I’ve always thought it best to redo a stinker as opposed to a big hit.  It’s hard to improve on (near) perfection so why not start with a much lower benchmark?  That is certainly the case with Dungeons & Dragons: Honour Among Thieves.  The 2000 movie was a critical and box-office failure (it made my worst 10 list that year) and it was followed by two direct-to-DVD releases which have been largely forgotten.

Going against the Golem effect, a theory that lower expectations leads to lower results, I’m happy to say Dungeons & Dragons: Honour Amongst Thieves is an entertaining action-adventure which confirms this franchise has a pulse.  It will clearly appeal to fans of the popular role-playing game, first published in 1974, but those new to the material can enjoy it in equal measure.  It works because (1) the tone is extremely light and it doesn’t take itself too seriously, and (2) the quality cast is fully aware of this.

Two Hollywood stars headline the group of heroes.  Chris Pine (Wonder Woman) plays a widowed father who has escaped from prison and is on a mission to locate a magical tablet that can reincarnate his late wife.  Michelle Rodriquez (The Fast and the Furious) plays a tough, no-nonsense barbarian who is rarely on the losing end of battle.  Rounding out the “good guys” are an experienced spellcaster (Page), a glitchy sorcerer (Smith), and a shape-shifting druid (Lillis).

Fresh from his memorable performance in Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre, Hugh Grant (About a Boy) effortlessly steps into the shoes of the scheming villain.  He creates the film’s most interesting character – a power-hungry, wealth-grabbing swindler who can sweet talk his way out of any difficult situation.  He’s sneakily taken control of the kingdom and, despite what the people of Neverwinter may think, he’s not the least bit interested in his citizens’ wellbeing.  The role is a perfect fit for Grant who is both humorous and cunning.

It’s the one-liners which make this a winner, but the action isn’t too bad either.  There’s a Hunger Games style competition towards the end which makes great use of a labyrinth and some nasty critters.  There’s another scene in an underground cavern which gives off Indiana Jones-type vibes.  The directing duo of Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley (Game Night) have proven themselves in holding our attention for the 134-minute running time.

Dungeons & Dragons: Honour Amongst Thieves will surprise many… in a positive way.

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Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 15 March 2023

In case you missed it, X was an above-average horror-thriller set the 1970s and about a group of young adults who had rented a guest house on a Texas farm to shoot a pornographic movie.  It was made in New Zealand on a low budget and performed admirably at the box-office with over $500,000 here in Australia and over $11 million USD in the horror-loving United States.  If you stayed until the very end of the closing credits, you’d have seen the trailer for Pearl, a prequel which was shot at the same time (a great way to save money).

It’s been a peculiarly long wait for our audiences to see this prequel.  While X was released in the United States and Australia at the same time (the second half of March 2022), Pearl opened in the States back in September 2022, fresh off its premiere at the Venice Film Festival.  It’s taken six months to find a slot here with the film now receiving a limited release in the quieter aftermath of awards season.

It’s a tricky film to describe succinctly.  In the original movie, star Mia Goth played two different characters – a young woman trying to get rich in the porn industry and, thanks to the benefit of make-up, a super creepy octogenarian who wasn’t afraid to murder a person or two.  Pearl is set six decades prior to X with Goth now playing the 20-something-year-old version of the old woman.  Have I lost you yet?  Don’t sweat it.  This background material is interesting but it’s not essential knowledge.  With minimal overlap in terms of narrative, there’s no need to have seen one before the other.

X won me over with its blend of entertaining comedy and violent horror, but Pearl is a very different beast.  For starters, it’s centred on one person as opposed to a wider group.  This makes it more of a character study than a conversation-driven piece.  Further, it makes audiences feel uncomfortable in a dissimilar way.  There’s still splashes of bloody gore but it creates its “horror” through social awkwardness.  From her strained smile, to her unusual voice, to her lack of a “filter”, Pearl is an odd one.  It's hard to work out if you should feel sympathetic (she had a tough upbringing) or scared (she says some messed-up things).

I don’t think the script is as strong this time around.  There’s not a lot going on and the supporting players are flimsy.  Still, it’s a film to be seen because of Mia Goth’s memorable performance.  Director Ti West and cinematographer Eliot Rockett assist Goth with their use of close-ups and long takes.  There’s a particularly jarring scene late in the movie where Pearl confides in her sister-in-law while casually sitting at the kitchen table.

Love it or hate it (I can understand the divisiveness), Pearl is a film you’ll remember.

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Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 22 March 2023

There’s a scene early in this film where our hero is told “not even you can kill everyone.”  It may be factually accurate… but it won’t stop the unkillable John Wick from trying.  In the same vein as the earlier movies, which kicked off as a surprise success story back in 2014, this is the kind of action flick where the dead body count feels higher than the number of words spoken.

And that’s not necessarily a bad thing.  This is a franchise that knows exactly what it wants to be.  It’s not a James Bond spy flick with an intricate story about villainous conspiracies, and it’s not a Marvel superhero movie bringing together popular comic book characters from the past century.  There’s nothing flash about the storylines in the John Wick movies (they make no sense) but they provide great entertainment because of the well-choregraphed action sequences.

Former stuntman Chad Shalelski returns as director (he’s made all the John Wick movies) and once again, he’s crafted distinctive fight sequences which will jolt, shock and energise audiences.  The actors and stunt crew deserve praise but worthy of similar credit are the production design, set decoration, cinematography, and lighting teams.  They make the most of the terrific locations which include a boutique hotel, a pumping nightclub, a long set of stairs, and the famous Arc de Triomphe in Paris.

There’s creativity shown with the fights themselves.  One highlight occurs in a hotel kitchen where a blind assassin, played by Donnie Yen, slays a group of henchmen using martial arts and a few musical doorbells.  It’s so ridiculous… that it works!  Another great battle occurs in a building where Oscar-nominated cinematographer Dan Laustsen (The Shape of Water) and editor Nathan Orloff (Ghostbusters: Afterlife) go with a single, unedited overhead shot which will have you shaking your head with disbelief.

An action film needs a “bad guy” and the responsibility in John Wick: Chapter 4 falls on the shoulders of Bill Skarsgård (It) who is very good.  From his haircut, to his fancy suits, to his quirky accent, Skarsgård has a character who is cool and unlikeable in equal doses.  In terms of the other cast members, 58-year-old Keanu Reeves continues to defy Father Time with his action heroics, and veteran Ian McShane remains a huge asset with his distinctive voice.  It’s worth noting this is one of the last movies of Lance Reddick who sadly passed away last week at the age of 60.

There is only so long an action movie can hold by attention and despite the many positives, 169 minutes is an unnecessarily long run time.  This could easily have clocked in at two hours and been just as good.  Still, the finale is worth the wait and in my eyes, there’s yet to be a bad film in this solid franchise.