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Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 06 September 2004

I’m a big fan of The Simpsons and one of my favourite lines is when Lisa goes to Homer – “but if you’re the police, then who will police the police?”  The Corporation is an explosive documentary which looks at the seemingly limitless power that corporations have generated for themselves across the globe.  You may be surprised to know that corporations didn’t come about until the 19^th Century.  They were heavily regulated, couldn’t borrow money, couldn’t own other corporations and were only allowed by the government if they were to provide a lasting service to the community.

How things have changed.  In 1999, the Bolivian government (on advice from the World Bank) privatised the supply of water.  This precious resource was now owned by a subsidiary of Bechtel, one of America’s leading corporations.  Water rates subsequently doubled and it even became illegal for residents to capture rainwater in tanks.  American shareholders were the winners.  Bolivian families were the losers.         The Corporation is a Canadian documentary which looks at the repercussions of capitalism and the unstoppable ascendancy of the modern day company.  It’s undeniably fascinating and if you’re wondering why you haven’t heard some of these amazingly diverse stories before, you’ll soon find out.  In the words of a leading Fox News executive to an investigative journalist - “we just paid 3 billion for these television stations – the news is what we say it is.”  

This brilliant film does everything a good documentary should.  It poses questions of the audience and leaves us continually thinking and questioning our beliefs.  It’s provided at least two hours worth of conversation for me since I left the cinema last night.  It acknowledges that corporations do have benefits but the ultimate goal is no longer to provide a service to the community, it is to increase shareholder value.  In America each year, leading corporations are fined hundreds of millions of dollars by the government for breaches of environmental law.  The problem with this is that it’s cheaper for corporations to pay these fines than to find more environmental friendly resources.  And so, they continue to pollute the earth at a rapid rate and the share price stays healthy.

Each view will draw something different from the film but for me, it was a realisation that something needs to be done and so.  We are plundering the earth’s resources at a rapid rate and if we continue to do so, little will be left for generations which follow.  Unfortunately, governments are finding themselves less and less able to intervene in this problem.  It is the corporations which control the government and not the other way around.  In one interviewee’s words corporations are now the “high priests and reigning oligarchs of our system”.  Governments of the world have privatised many basic services and continued to open barriers to free trade.  What may be good economics has ramifications which are scarily going unnoticed.

I must sound like a political spokesman rambling on like this.  I admit that I have believed in this topic for many years.  Don’t think though that it is crazy propaganda designed to smear corporate high-flyers.  The film was placed 3^rd by the audience at one of the world’s most prestigious showcases, the Toronto Film Festival, and was voted the best documentary by the audience at our own Brisbane International Film Festival.  All I ask is that you see it for yourself and make up your own mind.

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Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 29 August 2004

In last week’s news, I read an article which said that Geoffrey Rush’s performance in The Life And Death Of Peter Sellers would be ineligible for Oscar consideration this year.  The reason?  The film will not be shown in theatres of the United States.  Instead, it will debut directly on the pay television channel (HBO) which helped finance the film.

At the time, I thought little of this information.  Geoffrey Rush already has won Oscar (for Shine) and surely a low budget telemovie couldn’t be that good.  Well, I have once again proven myself wrong in a very surprising way.  Having now seen the film, it would be a crying shame to deny Rush another Academy Award nomination and I hope that buzz generated here at home and in the UK (where the film is also being released theatrically) might change the minds of the HBO executives.

As he was well before my time, I knew very little about Peter Sellers and had seen virtually none of this many films.  Born in 1925, he began his career on radio and determination saw him craft an impressive resume on film.  The early 1960s proved to be his golden era.  Two of his most famous characters were Inspector Jacques Clouseau in The Pink Panther (1963) and three crazily distinct roles in Stanley Kubrick’s. Dr Strangelove (1964).

Sellers was acclaimed as a comic genius but off screen, he was a deeply depressed man who could not find satisfaction in life.  One of his memorable quotes was “If you ask me to play myself, I will not know what to do. I do not know who or what I am.”  He married four times, experimented with drugs and psychics, and had a near-death experience after a serious heart-attack.

Some will be shocked to see such an unflattering account of a man considered so highly in the film industry.  I found it fascinating and although some of the supporting characters (including Charlize Theron and John Lithgow) were a bit rough around the edges, Rush steals the limelight and turns what might well be a standard telemovie, into a great motion picture.  He is deadest brilliant.

It has its down moments but there are several uplifting moments to Sellers’ story to give us all hope.  A very intriguing person he was.  The Life And Death Of Peter Sellers debuted at this year’s Cannes Film Festival and unlike those residents of the USA, you don’t have to wait for the smaller screen.  Geoffrey Rush is lighting up the screen in theatres across Australia.

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Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 05 September 2004

If you don’t know young director M. Night Shyamalan by name, you will most likely know him by reputation.  He burst from obscurity in 1999 with one of the highest grossing movies of all time, The Sixth Sense, and he followed that with 2000’s Unbreakable (starring Bruce Willis) and 2002’s Signs (starring Mel Gibson).  His films are distinct in that he tries to keep us on guard and on our toes.  Things are rarely as they appear to be and you ought to be paying very close attention…

The Village follows this trend.  It’s certainly an intriguing film but is it an interesting film?  I’m not so sure.  I am not at liberty to divulge the film’s secrets but looking back on it, I found the story didn’t grasp me in the way Shyamalan’s previous three films did.  Box-office numbers from the U.S. suggest I may be in the majority with this assessment.  It’s second weekend, the film dropped a whopping 67.5% in business which could only suggest very bad word of mouth.

The opening introduces us to a quiet community in a small American village.  This village is tucked away in a forest clearing and since their arrival many years ago, none of the townsfolk have ventured back into the world they once left.  You see, there are dangerous “creatures” in the woods with whom a truce has been reached.  They do not come into the village and in return, the townsfolk do not enter the woods.

This may sound rather horrible but in fact, the townsfolk and very happy and always peaceful.  There’s no need for money, everyone pulls their weight, and the go about their serine lives with the utmost dignity.  Most are satisfied with their surroundings but there are some who wonder what is beyond the forbidden woods.  One in particular wants to take on these creatures and embark on a journey to a world he can only imagine…

That’s all I’m prepared to say on the plot but the cast is another story.  It’s of the highest quality and includes William Hurt, Signorney Weaver, Adrien Brody, Joaquin Phoenix and Brendan Gleeson.  The star of the film is newcomer Bryce Dallas Howard who plays a blind girl with a remarkable foresight.  Her performance would be the stand out of the film.

From the director’s chair, Shyamalan does a strong job.  He has a knack for finding fresh camera angles and I like his variations in film editing.  Sometimes he’s quickly cutting back and forth between shots but at other times, he’ll hold on the same camera for a long time.  From the writer’s desk however, Shyamalan doesn’t impress.  It’s a lacklustre story and the film’s finale is drawn out and predictable.  As good a filmmaker as he is though, I won’t hold it against him.

The Village is sure to provide ample post-movie conversation but I don’t believe it’s a film you’ll be talking about much longer after that.

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Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 22 August 2004

Another superhero has arrived to save the day.  Back in 1944, a young baby found his way into this world from a portal which was opened into another universe.  That baby was raised by Professor Trevor Bruttenholm (Hurt) and has he has now grown into a being with superhuman strength who seemingly cannot be killed.  Played by Ron Perlman, he is Hellboy.

The Professor, Hellboy and another sci-fi creature known as Abe Sapien head an undercover FBI department.  Joining this unit is Agent John Myers (Evans), a fresh graduate who doesn’t know what he is getting himself into.  When he asks of the point to it all, the Professor replies with “there are things that go bump in the night, Agent Myers… and we are the ones who bump back.”

Of course, keeping Hellboy’s identity hidden from the public is an ordeal in itself.  The world isn’t ready to know that such aliens exist on their planet and FBI official Tom Manning (Tambor) is running out of excuses to explain the many unusual sightings of a large red creature roaming the streets.  Unfortunately for Hellboy, he isn’t one who enjoys being hidden away and now that he has an outside love interest in Liz Sherman (Blair), he’s more eager than ever to sneak out of the top secret FBI headquarters.

For Agent Myers, his initiation will become something he will soon not forget.  An evil presence has arrived on the scene who are determined to reopen the mysterious portal and allow those from a long distant universe to invade Earth.  Hell is about to break loose, so to speak.

It’s a rather intricate storyline and you’ll need to pay close attention during the opening half hour or so to understand the backgrounds to these characters.  There’s a few details I am still a bit sketchy on so may wait for the video for a closer look.  On the positive side, this superhero caper isn’t like most others.  Hellboy is very casual and has an acute sense of humour.  The romance angle is also interesting and I found myself empathising with several characters.  Not quite as good as the new Spider-Man series but well up there.

A sequel has already been commissioned for a 2006 release with director Guillermo del Toro and star Ron Perlman returning.  Del Toro is one of a bunch of great Mexican directors finding an audience in America.  If you’ve seen either 1997’s Mimic or 2001’s Blade 2, you’ll be familiar with his previous works.  He’s speciality is the thriller genre and given the dark edge to Hellboy, he’s in his element here.

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Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 29 August 2004

When we last left Jason Bourne (Damon), we thought we were leaving him for the last time.  Unfortunately for Jason, there are some people who want him found.  When a CIA operation in Berlin goes horribly wrong, two agents are killed and some top secret documents (which the CIA were after themselves) were stolen.  The only clue at the scene is a single fingerprint and investigating agent, Pamela Landy (Allen) has traced it to Jason Bourne.

However, us audience members know that Bourne was never there.  He’s been hiding on the coast of India for over two years with his girlfriend Marie (Potente).  His peace though is to be short lived when he is fired upon by an unknown assailant.  He assumes the CIA has broken their promise and once again come after him.

What now begins is a game of cat and mouse where both are chasing each other.  Landy and her CIA team are in search of Bourne.  Bourne is in search of the CIA to seek revenge and to find out why they want him eliminated.  Jason Bourne is a very cunning individual and Matt Damon plays him very well.  He’s well trained and that is why he has a habit of making the correct choices.  This isn’t one of those cheesy thrillers where our hero is fired upon 8 million times without being hit.  This is well thought out.

The Bourne Identity was released here in September 2002 and it wasn’t a particular favourite of mine.  This time around, I leave the cinema far more satisfied and perhaps it is the influence of new director Paul Greengrass (Bloody Sunday) which provided the biggest improvement.  I can’t ever recall seeing a film so heavily edited.  Some may be annoyed but I was fascinated.  It looks very fast, very real and you’d think Matt Damon did all the stunts himself.  Helping the fast pace is a super film score from John Powell.  I remember his work on The Italian Job and I think I’ll be visiting my nearest music score to pick up a copy of this soundtrack.

It’s another fine performance from Matt Damon who has now launched himself into superstar status along with the Tom Hanks’ and Mel Gibsons’ of this world.  One particular facit I liked was the limp he developed in the later stages.  Once again, it gives the pursuit a heightened sense of reality – he behaves like human unlike the stereotypical action heroes who hardly get a scratch.  The other cast member I can praise is Joan Allen (Nixon, The Contender) who I have always admired.  I have seen very little of this three time Academy Award nominee of late so it’s great to see her back.  She is the most underrated actress of Hollywood today.

The Bourne Supremacy is a very strong package with few weaknesses and it adds up to one of the best action/thriller releases of 2004.