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Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 26 June 2006

In 2002, director Rolf de Heer made The Tracker.  It was a terrific Australian film which was nominated at the AFI Awards for best picture.  As a member of the AFI, I voted for The Tracker but it lost the top prize to Rabbit-Proof Fence.  The good news from the evening was that star David Gulpilil won the AFI Award for best actor.

What I didn’t know at the time was that another great film was in the works.  Gulpilil suggested to de Heer that he shoot a film in Ramingining, an Aboriginal community located near the northern tip of the Northern Territory.  After much thought and collaboration, a screenplay was written by de Heer and the end result is Ten Canoes.

Two stories are told in this film.  The first is of Dayindi, a young man who has developed a crush on a wife of Minygululu.  On a goose egg hunting expedition, he is taken aside by Minygululu and told an ancient tale so that he can see the error of his ways.

This is where the second story begins.  Set hundreds of year before, it begins with a stranger arriving at a small village.  He is looking to trade magical objects and the scared townsfolk soon send him away.  Not long after, the wife of an elder statesman goes missing and the stranger becomes the lead suspect.  The tribesmen want revenge but they may be getting themselves into even deeper trouble…

Ten Canoes wasn’t an easy film to make.  The actors in the film speak Ganalbingu, an Aboriginal dialect.  De Heer needed translators to help explain to the cast what they were supposed to be doing and saying.  The other major problem is that everyone in Ramingining wanted to be involved!  There were heated discussions as to which people should be cast and what elements of the Aboriginal lifestyle should be shown.

Interwoven within the film are some beautiful shots of the Australian landscape.  At the film’s premiere in Brisbane, de Heer spoke about how tough some of those shots were.  At one point, he was standing in a swamp with water up to his waist.  This may not sound difficult but keep in mind that a crocodile spotter was sitting with his gun high atop a nearby tree.

In the words of narrator David Gulpilil, this is a film “like you have never seen before”.  On the other side of the world, at the lucrative Cannes Film Festival, many agreed.  In the Un Certain Regard category (the secondary competition), Ten Canoes won a special jury prize.  I can’t speak for the jury but I know that I liked its unique narrative and absorbing insight into Aboriginal culture.

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Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 18 June 2006

This school holidays, there are two animated films to choose from.  In my opinion, you should be seeing Cars.  Over The Hedge isn’t as creative in terms of its storyline, its characters and its animation.  Most kids won’t be evaluating these films on the same level as I have and will enjoy themselves regardless.  I have no problem with this but I’m fairly confident that full-fee paying adults will find much more to like in Cars than Over The Hedge.

The flimsy plot centres on a hungry raccoon named RJ (Willis).  He finds himself in a tricky predicament when caught trying to steal a hoard of food from the cave of a nasty looking bear named Vincent (Nolte).  Vincent catches RJ in the act but in the process, the food falls from cave’s ledge and onto the street below.  It is crushed by a passing motor vehicle and Vincent is not happy.  He’s given RJ one week to replace the food or else.

Knowing he can’t do it alone, RJ makes some new friends.  They are a group of small animals who live in a patch of wildlife surrounded by a housing development.  There’s a tortoise named Verne (Shandling), a skunk named Stella (Sykes), a squirrel named Hammy (Carell) and a family of possums.

These animals are accustomed to finding their food in their natural surroundings but RJ’s arrival changes that.  He shows them the world “over the hedge”.  A world where humans consume massive amounts of food and leave their mountainous amounts of waste in rubbish cans.  It’s there for the taking and RJ teaches them the art of stealing it.  What the animals don’t know is that RJ has an ulterior motive…

The good news is that Over The Hedge is just 83 minutes long.  The bad news is that there isn’t much to laugh about in this time.  Quite frankly, these characters are boring and you’ll struggle to maintain interest in the silly storyline.  This isn’t an animated classic which I could watch over and over again.  In fact, I wish I’d never seen it the first time.

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Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 24 June 2006

I’ll be upfront and say that this is an amazing film.  At the start of the year, I was largely oblivious to the issue of global warming.  I knew it was a problem but that’s about it.  Now, having seen An Inconvenient Truth, I am more informed and more concerned.  If you only get to see one movie this year, then make sure this is it.  There have been a handful of better films in 2006 but none will leave a more lasting impression.

Most people remember Al Gore as the former Vice President of the United States.  What many don’t know is that Gore has long been a lecturer on the effects of global warming.  He has delivered his famous speech over 1,000 times around the world in an effort to increase awareness and to help in its prevention.

Gore’s message is now being taken to a wider audience through the medium of film.  Directed by David Guggenheim, An Inconvenient Truth is a documentary which allows us to see Gore delivering his speech at a variety of locations.  Intermingled within the speech are clips providing background information on Gore and showing us how he first became so passionate about the issue.  Listening to Al Gore speak for 100 minutes may not sound like an appealing offer but trust me, you’ll be very interested in what he has to say.

To sum up what Gore has to say, the world is heating up as a result of the increased level of carbon in the atmosphere.  This has huge ramifications for us all.  We’ll see an increase in the number of tornadoes, cyclones and hurricanes (which get their energy from warm water).  We’ll see the sea level rise as the ice at the polar caps continues to melt.

Despite the fact that terrorism dominates media headlines, global warming is the biggest problem we face today.  We turn a blind eye however because it is a gradual process that we can’t really see.

When the film was released in the United States, it was savagely attacked by certain people within the media and the general public.  On his website, leading U.S. film critic Roger Ebert wrote that “I've received so many messages about my review… that, frankly, I don't see how the Answer Man can process them.”  Those that object think this a political film and a political issue.  They believe that global warming is an over-hyped issue and that scientists are making too much of it.

These people are wrong.  Scientists are in almost unanimous agreement about the seriousness of global warming.  People that tell you otherwise are usually not scientists and are either misinformed or have an agenda.  Back in May, I had the chance to hear Australian scientist Tim Flannery speak on the matter.  Flannery is an expert on the subject and in 2005 was honoured as Australian Humanist of the Year.  He provided the same facts and drew the same conclusions as those of Al Gore.  Flannery has no political agenda and quite frankly, I believe him.

I feel like I’m now defending this movie as opposed to giving it my usual detailed assessment.  It reminds me of my reviews of The Corporation, Fahrenheit 9/11 and Bowling For Columbine.  If you do want to criticise the film and my views on An Inconvenient Truth, then you need to (a) see the film, (b) do your research and then (c) send me an email.  If you’re not prepared to do steps (a) and (b), then I’ve no reason to listen to what you have to say at step (c).

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Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 13 June 2006

I downloaded the trailer for The Chumscrubber last August and it was immediately on my list of must see films.  It featured many aspiring actors (such as Billy Elliot’s Jamie Bell), many experienced actors (such as The Constant Gardener’s Ralph Fiennes) and a quirky screenplay that reminded me of Donnie Darko (one of my all-time favourite films).

The film can be best described as an ensemble black comedy.  Dean (Bell) is a quiet teenager struggling to understand why his best friend recently committed suicide.  Bill (Fichtner) is a self-help guru promoting his latest book.  Crystal (Belle) is a young girl involved in an unorthodox kidnapping.  Michael (Fiennes) is a politician in search of a life change.  Jerri (Moss) is a middle-aged woman who wants to feel younger.  Lee (Pucci) is a student looking to sell drugs at his school.  Terri (Wilson) is a high-flyer planning her dream wedding.  Carrie (Close) is a mother who has seemingly lost the plot.

The stories of these characters (and a few more I haven’t mentioned) are interrelated.  They will cross paths in both ordinary and strange circumstances.  It all takes place in a well-off neighbourhood where everyone is nice on the outside but not so much on the inside.  It’s like a warped version of Desperate Housewives (if that’s possible). 

So, what’s it all supposed to mean?  That’s where I’m a bit blurry.  The film is interesting throughout but I did leave with an empty feeling and a sense that there was message I didn’t pick up on.  Helping to confuse matters is an animated character, known as the Chumscrubber, who appears at selective points during the film.

The Chumscrubber is a film which I find hard to recommend.  There are plenty of worse films in cinemas at the moment but unless you’re a person who can appreciate an off-beat black comedy, this will be an incredibly frustrating experience.

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Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 22 June 2006

Kenny Smyth (Shane Jacobson) is a decent, hard-working Melbournian who loves his job.  He treats his fellow employees with respect, does whatever he can to please his customers and puts in the long hours when needed.  So what job provides such satisfaction, you ask?  Kenny works for Splashdown, a business which rents portable toilets for use at outdoor concerts, carnivals and sporting events.

Kenny is a feel-good Australian film which looks at a simple man who loves life and provides a hilarious insight into the “poo industry”.  Creators Shane and Clayton Jacobson have craftily mixed fiction and reality in generating the story.  Kenny Smyth is a fictitious character but the Splashdown business actually does exist.  In fact, the owner of Splashdown provided all the funding for this low-budget film.

There are two elements to Kenny that make it very enjoyable.  The first is poo.  I can’t believe how many funny jokes there are to be made about the subject.  I’m not talking about fart jokes (which lace many American comedies) but rather the humour in dealing with shit (literally) every day.  Most of the situations in which Kenny finds himself are based on actual stories from the real Splashdown crew.  If you think a blocked toilet is as nasty as it can get, then think again.

The second element is its true-blue, good nature.  Kenny Smyth reminds me of Darryl Kerrigan in the 1997 Australian comedy, The Castle.  He epitomises Australian culture with his no nonsense actions and his comical sayings.  He’s the kind of guy who would make you feel better, no matter how bad your dad has been.

The film climaxes with Kenny’s first overseas trip.  He’s asked to go to the International Pumper & Cleaner Expo in Nashville, Tennessee (which he calls “Poo HQ”).  There, Kenny’s eyes are opened to a world of toilet technology that he never imagined.  His agreeable personality endears him to everyone he meets.  In keeping with the film’s documentary style, these scenes were shot at the actual expo in Nashville.  By the end, I almost believed that Kenny was real.

It’s not easy for small Australian films to find success at the box-office.  Their marketing budgets can’t compete against those of American blockbusters and their success is determined largely by word of mouth.  I’m off to start the ball rolling…