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Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 27 November 2023

His career has spanned 7 different decades and now, at the age of 87, English filmmaker Ken Loach has decided to fold up his director’s chair for the final time.  His films never set the box-office on fire, but he’ll be remembered for using the medium cinema to bring awareness to important societal issues, and for telling stories that feel real and natural.  He’s one of only 9 directors to have won multiple Palme d’Ors (the top prize at the Cannes Film Festival) – for The Wind That Shakes the Barley in 2006 and I, Daniel Blake in 2016.  See both if you haven’t already.

Working with long-time screenwriting collaborator Paul Laverty, The Old Oak is a story about immigration and multiculturalism – often a controversial conversation topic amongst Brits.  Results from the most recent government census, completed in 2021, showed a statistical-high 10 million people (or roughly 18% of the population) identify as non-white in England and Wales.  Some have embraced this change while others have pushed back.

The Old Oak is set in a small town in North-East England which, due a decline in the mining industry, has fallen on tough times.  There’s an early scene where a resident complains about the declining value of his home – a product of the fact no one wants to move into the area.  The sole pub in town, The Old Oak, is a dump with only a handful of regular customers.  It’s so rundown that the kitchen/function room, a thriving hub back in the day, is now boarded up and unused because of safety concerns.  The cost to repair would far outweigh any new business.

The crux of the movie is about a group of Syrian refugees who move into town and start filling the many empty homes with the help of the government and charity organisations.  You might think new blood would be embraced by the financially struggling community, but factions are quickly formed.  There are some who cling to a view of the town they had several decades ago, and don’t want their neighbourhood overrun by non-English speaking Muslims.  On the flip side, there are some who do lay out the “welcome mat” and, appreciative of the trauma these migrants have been through, offer support wherever possible.

Loach has a knack for great casting and that’s again the case here.  He uses lesser-known actors which adds to the film’s “realness”.  The characters speak and interact in an ordinary manner and, in avoiding cliches, he creates a vibe that is more like a fly-on-the-wall documentary than a fictional drama.  The film’s two leads are Dave Turner and Ebla Mari who have next-to-zero feature film experience between them, but their performances are both superb.  In real life, he’s a retired fireman turned pub manager while she’s a Syrian national who lives in a town which borders Israel.

It’s a film is also to be admired for astutely capturing the best and worst of the human condition.  Topics like multiculturalism can easily be trivialised when covered by vote-grabbing politicians, and clickbait-generating journalists but Loach digs deep, and gives audiences something to think about and reflect upon.  Movies are often focused on providing simple entertainment (nothing wrong with that) but The Old Oak has loftier ambitions and wants to make the world a better place.

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Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 15 November 2023

Considering the first movie/book in the franchise was centred on the 74th instalment of the Hunger Games, there’s close to a century of (fictitious) material to draw upon in crafting a prequel.  The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes, adapted from author Suzanne Collins’ 2020 novel, takes us back to the 10th Hunger Games – a time when the public’s interest in the barbaric event was flailing and gamemaker Volumnia Gaul (Davis) was low on ideas.

As a quick refresher for those who missed the four earlier movies, the setting is a dystopian world where residences in the wealthy capitol, Panem, live lavishly while those in the 12 poorer districts live miserly.  To help suppress chances of an uprising, the tyrannical leaders in Panem organise an annual, televised spectacle where two unwilling teenagers are picked from each district, and they fight to the death in a craftily designed arena.

I love this film’s core concept.  In the same vein as Revenge of the Sith and Joker, it’s an origin story about a villain.  As the folk who want to upend/destroy society, their backstories in action films are often more intriguing than the screen-hogging heroes.  The central character of The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes is Coriolanus Snow.  We know he grows up to be Panem’s oppressive ruler (played by Donald Sutherland in the earlier flicks) but here, he’s a smart, kind, popular, fresh-faced 18-year-old high school graduate.  He is played by newcomer Tom Blyth (Billy the Kid) in a likeable performance (even if he does spend a lot of time looking at TV screens).

Clocking in at a sizeable 157 minutes, this outing from director Francis Lawrence (he made the last three movies) is split into three parts – an introduction to the characters, the running of the 10th Hunger Games, and the complex aftermath.  Coriolanus isn’t a competitor but rather, he’s been instructed to mentor a feisty girl chosen from District 12 (Zegler) and help increase her popularity and chances of victory.  Coriolanus isn’t overly keen about the task but there’s an upside – he can impress the Panem bigwigs and earn a prestigious college scholarship referred to as the Plinth Prize.

The film held my attention but there are times, particularly in the third act, where execution can’t match ambition.  We see a subtle transformation in Coriolanus but there isn’t enough time to credibly interrogate the reasons why.  The last 15 minutes is particularly rushed!  This problem could have been avoided if the lengthy Hunger Games scenes in the middle were shortened (they’re not that exciting given we don’t care about most entrants) but, I understand that may have irked those looking for the franchise’s trademark – dark, creative battles.

My thumbs are still up though.  From its detailed costumes and sets to the strength of its leading performances, The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes is an entertaining prequel which doesn’t come across as a mere cash-grab.  It has an interesting story to tell.

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Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 27 November 2023

Trolls Band Together is the third film in the animated series which launched in 2016.  They remind me of the Smurfs and they’re a colourful bunch of music-loving creatures who don’t mind an adventure or two.  This film begins with a short prologue about five brothers who teamed up to form a boyband called BroZone.  They found bigtime fame but, in pushing too hard for perfection, they lost their love for the craft and went their separate ways.  They haven’t been together since.

We now slip a few years into the future and learn that one of the brothers, Floyd (Sivan), has been kidnapped by two talentless singers (Schumer and Rannells).  It’s hard to explain… but they’ve stuck Floyd in a perfume bottle made of diamond and are harvesting his “essence” to transfer his beautiful singing voice onto them.  Does that make sense?  Probably not but it’s easy enough to follow once you see it on screen.

The rest of the narrative falls into place as you might expect.  The other four brothers, led by the younger Branch (Timberlake), have to reunite and rescue Floyd before all of his talent is stripped away.  It’s not too bad.  There are superfluous subplots which add nothing (the Bergens’ honeymoon) but it’s a simple narrative which kids can follow.  I enjoyed the cunning villains (you want to see them get what they deserve), the fun voices, and the colourful animation.

The voice cast includes a number of talented singers who have proven themselves in the music industry or on Broadway.  These include Justin Timberlake, Troye Sivan, Daveed Diggs, and Andrew Rannells.  They’re a gifted bunch but the film’s weakest elements are its musical numbers.  The song choices are uninspiring and, when used, they interrupt the flow of the story.  These characters have more to offer when they’re humorously talking with each other as opposed to singing.

The original Trolls was a financial success but both World Tour (released at the start of the pandemic) and Band Together have struggled to set the box-office alight.  They’re not bad films… but these animated creatures are lacking the cute/emotional spark that we’ve seen from other franchises like Toy Story and Despicable Me.  Maybe it’s time to put them to bed and move on?

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Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 13 November 2023

Some filmmakers toil in the fields for decades before making it Hollywood but that hasn’t been the case for London-born Emerald Fennell.  The actor-turned-director won the Oscar for best original screenplay for her first feature film, Promising Young Woman, in early 2021.  While I wasn’t its biggest fan (was iffy on the script), you could see Fennell’s talent behind the camera.  She had created an intriguing character (Carey Mulligan in an Oscar nominated role) and loaded the movie with interesting, provocative ideas.

Saltburn is her sophomore outing and, knowing I’m in the minority for saying this, is a better film.  It’s a wild, colourful, surprising, head-spinning ride filled with hilarious, self-absorbed characters.  You’ll be studying them from the outset and trying to work out if they’re complete morons or cunning psychopaths.  None of them are particularly likeable (part of the film’s alure) so it bucks the trend of a traditional narrative with heroes and villains.

The quick-moving storyline revolves around Oliver (Keoghan), a first-year student at Oxford University who is ridiculously intelligent when it comes to academia… and ridiculously inept when it comes to meeting people.  He wants to be part of the “cool crowd” but they want nothing to do with him.  Rightly or wrongly, they perceive Oliver as an awkward nerd with poor dress sense and an empty wallet.

Oliver’s social status improves dramatically when he helps the super-popular, super-attractive, super-wealthy Felix (Elordi) out of an annoying situation (his bicycle broke while riding to class).  It’s not long before he’s regularly hanging out with Felix and his friends – from drinking in bars, to chatting in dorm rooms.  The pièce de resistance arrives when a sympathetic Felix invites a grieving Oliver (his father just died) to stay with him for the summer at the family’s enormous mansion, known as Saltburn.  The introductory tour provided by Felix is a funny highlight.

The crux of the film is spent at Saltburn where Oliver interacts with Felix’s mum (Pike), dad (Grant), sister (Oliver), cousin (Madekwe), and long-time butler (Rhys).  I won’t reveal too much but there are some outlandish moments (e.g. a draining bathtub) that will generate a reaction from even the most nonchalant audiences.  It’s power games aplenty as characters use their smarts and sexual appetites to try to get the upper hand over others.

One might argue there’s not much in the way of broader story… but that’s not what Saltburn is about.  It’s a film to be savoured for its memorable individual scenes and its off-the-wall conversations.  Barry Keoghan (The Banshees of Inisherin) is terrific, Rosamund Pike (Gone Girl) is comically good, and Archie Madekwe (Gran Turismo) uses his stand-out voice to great effect.  It’s also a career best outing for Australian Jacob Elordi (Euphoria) who finally gets a juicy role to work with.

Featuring distinctive cinematography and inspired song choices, Saltburn rattles and entertains.

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Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 20 November 2023

There are films which highlight positive aspects of Australia, and there are films which showcase the negative.  The Royal Hotel fits into the later category.  This new film from director Kitty Green (The Assistant) begins with a great opening shot – two women partying hard in a crowded, dimly-lit room.  It’s only when they leave that we realise they’re not in a nightclub but rather, a boat sailing past the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

Their expensive lifestyle is about to catch up with them.  Hanna (Garner) and Liv (Henwick) are Canadian backpackers who have now run out of cash and need to find work.  After visiting an employment agency, they find their only option is to accept a short-term gig as bartenders for a hotel in a remote mining town.  Hanna isn’t a fan (she came to Australia to spend time at the beach) but they decide to embrace the experience and do it for few weeks to replenish their empty bank account.

It’s an eye-opening experience from the get-go.  The hotel rooms are filthy, the showers barely function, and when they ask about the availability of internet wi-fi, they’re quickly laughed at.  The paid work is no better.  The hotel owner (Weaving) is a debt-laden drunk and the regular patrons, who have nothing else to do of an evening, are rowdy and aggressive.  The bottom line – it’s not a safe working environment.

With the stage set, The Royal Hotel becomes a character study centered on power games and shifting dynamics.  It’s as if everyone is trying to get a read on everyone else.  The drunks start pushing boundaries and conversely, Hanna and Liv push back.  What can they get away with?  The best character in the film is Carol, the no-bullshit employee who works in the kitchen and has become somewhat of a hotel matriarch.  She’s played by a scene-stealing Ursula Yovich who infuses the character with sass and bravado.

I expected a little more from the finale.  The scenario is realistic but at the same time, it won’t blow you away with unexpected plot points.  Green deserves praise though for creating a credible drama where the uncomfortable vibe felt by the two leads is imparted onto the audience.  Like so many other countries around the world, Australia has issues when it comes to binge drinking and sexual harassment.  As shown The Royal Hotel, the line is crossed too many times for us to accept.