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Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 29 August 2023

In doing pre-reading for the release of Haunted Mansion, I realised a movie about the Disneyland ride, starring Eddie Murphy, had already been made back in 2003.  I’d completely forgotten about it!  I can’t find my original notes but, considering it made by worst 10 list that year, suffice to say I wasn’t a fan.  It might also explain why I’ve supressed all memory of the experience.

The upside is that this 2023 reboot can only be an improvement.  Sticking with the Disney motto of leaning into existing intellectual property (as opposed to new ideas), this is a safe, formulaic comedy pitched at the family crowd.  The title may allude to something scary but the PG rating here in Australia suggests its anything but.  The lighter tone creates a vibe reminiscent to Hocus Pocus, The Addams Family and Hotel Transylvania.

The narrative is easy to follow.  A widowed mother (Dawson) and her curious son move into a rundown mansion with hopes of transforming it into a bed and breakfast.  It takes only one evening to realise it’s haunted by ghosts.  The obvious response is to flee but that option is removed via a convenient plot device – once you’ve met the ghosts, they’ll follow you no matter where you run.

With no other viable alternatives, the mum pulls together a diverse team including a spectral photographer (Stanfield), an exorcising priest (Wilson), and a questionable psychic (Haddish), to help rid the house of paranormal beings.  As part of their work, they learn more about the history of the property which helps understand why strange things are afoot.  It’s simple with few surprises.

The cast draw on their varied comedic approaches to help lift the material.  Oscar nominee LaKeith Stanfield (Judas and the Black Messiah) plays the “straight man” while Tiffany Haddish (Girls Trip) goes for the opposite end of the spectrum in creating an over-the-top character who is seldom serious.  Jamie Lee Curtis and Jared Leto provide cameos but they’re largely unforgettable.

There’s enough here to satisfy younger audiences.  For everyone else, Haunted Mansion has a few decent gags but struggles to entertain for the full two hours.

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Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 21 August 2023

Framed as an action-thriller, Sound of Freedom is about a Homeland Security Investigations agent, played by Jim Caviezel (The Passion of the Christ), who risks his life and becomes an undercover operative in trying to free hundreds of children from sex traffickers in Colombia.  It’s a worthy subject matter with the narrative loosely based on the life of American Tim Ballard who spent 12 years working for the agency.  As is often the case, details have been embellished in places (e.g. the jungle finale never happened) to make it more cinematic.

Whether you like the film or not, Sound of Freedom has become one of the most successful and talked about movies of 2023.  It’s a rare instance where the chatter surrounding the film, as opposed to the content itself, has fuelled that success.  It has grossed $175 million USD thus far in the United States which, remarkably, is more than the take for the latest Indiana Jones, Mission: Impossible, and Transformers flicks.  It’s a staggering total for a film which cost just $14 million and required the support of over 6,000 investors via a crowdfunding campaign to reach completion.

It’s hard to watch this film in isolation of the growing controversy of the past month.  There’s a lot to consider and digest.  Angel Studios created a “Pay it Forward” initiative and thus far, over 15 million people have purchased a ticket “for someone who would not otherwise be able to see the film.”  However, photos have been shared on social media showing “sold out” screenings with lots of empty seats.  The huge box-office may be technically correct… but what portion of tickets sold were used?  Opinions vary depending on who you speak with.

Another sticking point has been the film’s depiction of child trafficking.  What we see here is simple – a stranger abducts a bunch of children attending a fake acting audition.  Experts argue most cases are more nuanced and involve psychological manipulation and people the children already know.  Angel Studios has since acknowledged this on their website stating the writers took “creative liberties” and the kidnappings seen in the movie “do not represent the majority.”  It asks the question – should you look at Sound of Freedom as an eye-opening exploration of a very serious topic… or is it just an unrealistic, over-the-top Taken-style action piece?

The most startling detail has been the interest from the far-right political movement known as QAnon.  They have been promoting the film heavily on message boards (more dollars for the box-office) and, while not covered in the film, they are drawing a connection with a belief that left-leaning Hollywood liberals participate in child sex trafficking rings to harvest blood.  Director Alejandro Monteverde has staunchly distanced himself from such interpretations but, with the likes of Donald Trump, Elon Musk and Mel Gibson promoting the film publicly, Monteverde’s views are of little interest to conspiracy theorists.

Almost two months after its U.S. release, Australian audiences can now see what the fuss is about and form their own views.  In critiquing Sound of Freedom purely on its artistic merit, I’ll describe it as a ho-hum thriller with average dialogue, an unsophisticated narrative, weak supporting characters (Mira Sorvino???), and some half-decent action pieces.  The film will be remembered… but perhaps not for the reasons the producers had hoped... unless that was always their intention.

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Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 24 August 2023

Past Lives serves up one of the best opening scenes of the year.  It’s 4am in New York City as a group of people, who we never get to see, look across a bar and watch two men and a woman engage in a conversation.  While they can’t hear what’s being said, they’re analysing their facial expressions and body language to speculate about who they are to each other.  It’s a fun, original way to introduce the film’s three leading characters because we, as the audience, can make our own observations in trying to answer the same question.

The film takes place in Manhattan where 30-something-year-olds Nora (Lee) and Arthur (Magaro) are a happily married couple.  They’re creative artists (he’s an author, she’s a playwright) who go about their lives with relative simplicity.  We get a strong sense of their relationship as they lie in bed of an evening having joke-laden, heart-to-heart chats.  It’s rich, honest dialogue!

Nora’s life is upended when a face from the past reaches out.  She grew up in South Korea before emigrating with her family to Canada as a 12-year-old.  Just prior to the move, she developed her first crush on Hae Sung (Yoo), a shy boy from the neighbourhood.  It’s a connection which still resonates.  Despite not having seen each other in person for over two decades, the unmarried Hae Sung has decided to visit the United States for the first time and is keen to spend time with the girl, now woman, he has never forgotten.

The pair spend a couple of days together exploring New York City with Nora playing host and showing Hae Sung popular landmarks like the Statue of Liberty and Jane’s Carousel.  Their slightly awkward interactions provide the film’s heart and soul.  It’s like Sliding Doors but without the visualisation.  There’s a clear bond between the pair which has them, and us, wondering about what life might have been like if Nora had not left South Korea as a youngster.  Would they have ended up together?  Or was it just a fleeting childhood infatuation?  It also taps into the theme about the way we “clutch onto” events from our past and look at them through different lenses over time.

Written and directed by first-time filmmaker Celine Song, Past Lives has been touted as an awards season contender since it premiered at the Sundance Film Festival back in January 2023.  The hype is justified.  It’s a beautiful drama which highlights both the simplicity and complexity of the human condition.  Feelings are instinctive but the way we then deal with those feelings is fraught with possibilities and challenges.

Greta Lee (Russian Doll) and Teo Yoo (Leto) are brilliant as Nora and Hae Song.  They have created interesting characters where, despite their intelligence, neither is fully in control of their emotions as the interactions progress.  Song adds to the film’s intimate feel with a guitar-laden soundtrack, and the use of long, unedited takes during key conversations.  As highlighted by the film’s unforgettable final scene, the streets of Manhattan also have a part to play in enhancing the material.

Past Lives is not to be missed.

You can read my chat with director Celine Song by clicking here.

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Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 17 August 2023

As someone who subscribes to the “less you know, the better” mantra, I tend to avoid movie trailers where possible.  I’d rather go into the cinema, be surprised, and not anticipate certain jokes/plot points.  That said, I recommend watching the trailer for Strays to understand just how depraved its humour is.  Just like the popular Ted, this is not a film for children.  The Australian Classification Board has dished out an MA rating for its “strong crude humour, sex, course language, and drug use.”  Not what you might expect from a flick centred on cute, talking animals!

I enjoyed Strays for what it is.  This isn’t a profound, deep, life-changing comedy.  It wins points for its sheer shock value – making inappropriate, eyebrow-raising jokes about things you wouldn’t expect.  I lost count of the references to humping, genitals, butt-sniffing, and faecal matter.  There are also “completely out of left field” moments like the cameo of a Hollywood star who plays an avid bird watcher.  It’s hard not to laugh and the randomness and stupidity.

The plot isn’t hugely critical (it’s jokes above all else) but for those interested, Reggie (voiced by Will Ferrell) is a naïve, 2-year-old Border Terrier who has been abandoned hours out of town by his unemployed owner, Doug (Forte).  Finally coming to the realisation that Doug is a scumbag who never loved him, Reggie teams up with three other “off the leash” strays brought to life by the voices of Jamie Foxx (Ray), Randall Park (Fresh off the Boat), and Isla Fisher (Wedding Crashers).  The later deserves credit for using an exaggerated Australian accent which is humorously annoying.

With the characters introduced, our four “heroes” then go on a road trip back to Reggie’s hometown to inflict an extremely painful revenge on the unsuspecting Doug.  To help pad the film out to its 93-minute run time (an appropriate length), a few skit-like misadventures are thrown in during the middle act.  Without giving too much away… highlights include the interactions with a narrator dog (voiced by Josh Gad) at a carnival, and the crazy method used to steal a set of keys.

The production values of director Josh Greenbaum also deserve a shoutout.  He’s found great dogs and expert trainers in bringing the narrative to life – a way of limiting the visual effects and making it feel more real.  I won’t be taking my mum along to Strays but if you’re after a filthy, foul-mouthed outing to the cinema, here’s the movie for you.

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Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 22 August 2023

He was just a film student at the Swinburne Institute of Technology when Paul Goldman first met iconic Australian music producer Michael Gudinski in 1979.  As part of a first-year university assignment, Goldman had helped make a music video for the Nick Cave helmed band The Boys Next Door.  Gudinski was impressed by the video, had Goldman spruce it up with a bit more money, and it was soon being played on national television.

Goldman has since forced a successful directorial career which includes over 200 music videos (he won an ARIA Award in 2007) and a handful of feature films including Australian Rules and Suburban Mayhem.  Now in his mid-60s, there’s something poetic about Goldman making a documentary about Michael Gudinski given he kick started his career over four decades ago.  This was intended to be a detailed TV mini-series but following Gudinski’s unexpected death in 2021, a more concise 2-hour feature length documentary became the approach.

If you’re new to the subject matter, Gudinski was a “larger than life” personality within the Australian music industry who founded a record company, Mushroom Records, when just 20 years of age (incredible!).  He was inspired by the lack of local music on Aussie radio and wanted to provide budding artists with more creative control and opportunities to fill that gap.  There were a lot of financial ups and downs in the early years but bands which kept the company afloat included Skyhooks and Spitz Enz.

The film covers many angles to Gudinski’s life including the fractured relationship with his father (who disapproved of his career choice), his diversification into tour promotion for singers like Frank Sinatra, the sale of Mushroom Records to Rupert Murdoch, and the career/style pivots required to remain an industry heavyweight.  Goldman pulls from an array of current and archival interviews to generate a fast-paced narrative.  Those we hear from include Jimmy Barnes, Bruce Springsteen, Ed Sheeran, Sting, and Kylie Minogue.

As someone not hugely familiar with the intricacies of Gudinski’s life, this is a fun, enlightening documentary.  He had his fingers in a lot of pies!  It doesn’t shy away from Gudinski’s flaws (he admits them himself in old interviews), but it also celebrates his incredible contribution to the Australian music scene and the number of people who benefited.  There are many terrific behind-the-scenes stories including the way he helped lure certain artists, and his realisation that big theatrical concerts could generate more revenue than CD sales.

For anyone with an interest in the music industry, Ego: The Michael Gudinski Story is interesting from start to finish.