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Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 24 March 2024

Since their creation in 2007, the Asia Pacific Screen Awards have helped shine a light on the great cinema emanating from the region.  Winners of best picture have included Samson & Delilah, A Separation, Parasite, and Drive My Car.  Last year’s top prize recipient was the Japanese-German co-production Perfect Days, a film which premiered at Cannes and since earned a nod at the Academy Awards for Best International Feature Film (losing to The Zone of Interest).

I’ll describe it as a wacky cross between Kenny, Happy-Go-Lucky, and Groundhog Day.  Set in downtown Tokyo, it follows the day-to-day existence of a simple man named Hirayama (Yakusho).  He lives alone in a rundown flat and works as a public toilet cleaner.  Hirayama wakes up at dawn, brushes his teeth, grabs a coffee from a vending machine, then drives across town in a small blue van.  He’s armed with an array of cleaning products and a jangling chain of keys which he uses to access storerooms.

I don’t think I’ve seen a film which features so many toilets!  As strange as it may sound, I think it’s a positive for the image of Japan because we see the artistic design which has gone into several of their public restrooms.  Another interesting plot is the pride and passion which Hirayama has for his work.  There is no cutting of corners.  He scrubs every toilet, sink and mirror until they are shiny and spotless.  He even uses a small mirror to help see behind corners where his head can’t reach.

I’ve always liked the line “the world is what we make of it.”  Hirayama’s profession may not be glamorous but he’s found, for the most part, an inner peace which allows him to value life’s beauties.  During his lunch breaks, he sits quietly in a shady park, eats a sandwich, and admires the trees above.  While driving around, he listens to upbeat Western music on scratchy cassette tapes.  Of an evening, he visits a small café where he enjoys a simple meal while watching baseball on television.  His happiness asks us, as the audience, to reflect on our own life and whether we are appreciating the many positives we often take for granted.

He’s not a big talker but over the course of the film, Hirayama interacts with a small number of people including an annoying co-worker, a restaurant manager, and his teenage niece.  These scenes allow us to see a beyond Hirayama’s smiling exterior and show not everything is as “happy” as it appears.  They trigger moments of deliberation about his work, his status as a bachelor, and the estranged relationship he has with certain family members.

I’d have preferred the pace to be a touch quicker, but I still admire what acclaimed German Wim Wenders (Wings of Desire, Buena Vista Social Club) has achieved here.  Perfect Days is a chill, mellow filmgoing experience with a great leading character.

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Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 12 March 2024

Marking the sophomore feature of English director Rose Glass (Saint Maud), Love Lies Bleeding is a love story with a few other elements bolted on.  Shot in New Mexico and set in the year 1989, it’s centred on an introverted young woman, Lou (Stewart), who lives alone with her cat and who manages a rundown gymnasium.  It’s far from her dream job.  Part of her day is spent dealing with aggressive, disgruntled customers while other parts are spent with her hand down a filthy toilet trying to fix a reoccurring blockage (a scene as disturbing as any horror flick).

It’s at the gym that she befriends Jackie (O’Brian), a destitute “Oklahoma farm girl” who has ambitions to be a successful bodybuilder.  She’s putting in long hours of training in preparation for an upcoming contest in Las Vegas.  Lou has an instant romantic attraction and, as part of her foreplay, helps Jackie by offering her a place to live, and performance enhancing drugs which can improve her bodybuilding physique.  It’s not long before sparks fly, and the pair are engaged in intense sex.

The love story is the film’s strongest attribute.  33-year-old Oscar nominee Kristen Stewart (Twilight, Spencer) is a terrific actor, and she brings the right balance of passion and apprehension to her shy character.  35-year-old Katy O’Brian (Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania) is also solid and the two share insightful, heartfelt conversations as they open-up about their troubled pasts.  It taps into the messaging that love shapes so much of our decision making, whether it be good or bad.

The remainder of the film is questionable.  There are stories involving a crooked cop, FBI agents, an oblivious wife, and missing people.  These involve Lou’s rough-as-guts, estranged father (Harris) who operates a gun range and is involved in criminal activity.  There’s another subplot which sees Lou’s sister (Beth) hospitalised after being savagely beaten by her abusive husband (Franco).  There’s not much to any of these supporting characters and the formulaic nature of their actions (e.g. Ed Harris as the powerful gangster), limits interest levels.

The directorial style of Glass didn’t win me over either.  It’s nice to see chances being taken but the weird sound effects (muscles expanding), musical montages, and imagery didn’t blend in a way which is cool and distinctive.  There are a few worthy moments (the final scene is fun) but, for the most part, it’s bland as opposed to brave.

Fresh from its world premiere at Sundance, Love Lies Bleeding works as a romance but fails as a crime drama.

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Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 20 March 2024

Immaculate clocks in at just 89 minutes.  That’s not because it’s a rich story told in a tight, concise manner but rather, because the storyline is wafer thin.  It’s got all the stuff you might expect from a horror film – tricks of light, spooky noises, weird characters, a creepy music score – but they’re used as stalling tactics to pad the narrative.  If you took out the superfluous scenes, this would end up being a very short film.

The story revolves around a young nun, Cecelia (Sweeney), who has left her home country and taken up a position at a busy Italian convent.  She takes her vows on the first night and promises to devote her life to God.  It’s at that point where things get a little wild.  There are sinister nuns, suspicious priests, a dubious doctor, and an unexpected pregnancy.  I’ll say this much, it keeps you guessing about how they could possibly wrap it up in a way that makes sense (won’t spoil if they actually do).

In terms of genre, writer Andrew Lobel hedges his bets and tries to offer something for everyone.  There are sequences which are brutally violent which tap into the horror label and justify the MA rating here in Australia.  These contrast with scenes where star Sydney Sweeney (Anyone but You) shows an unnecessarily large amount of “skin” which had me thinking it’s a self-aware spoof.  Other elements give off vibes of comedy, mystery, and science fiction.  These genres are not blended together in the right way, and it makes the premise even harder to engage with.

Sydney Sweeney is the film’s biggest positive.  It’s as if she knows the script is garbage but she compensates by calling on an array of emotions – from a shy, naïve newcomer through to a vengeful emotional wreck.  It’s a shame she doesn’t get more support from the underwhelming supporting cast.  Director Michael Mohan adds a splash of style in places (liked a few of the camera angles) but for the most part, it’s formula over creativity.

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Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 04 March 2024

When Hollywood makes coming-of-age tales centred on teenagers, the tendency is to cast actors who act and speak like 35-year-olds.  That’s not the case with How to Have Sex, the debut feature film of British director Molly Manning Walker.  In addition to winning the Un Certain Regard prize at last year’s Cannes Film Festival, it recently picked up a nod for best British feature film at the BAFTA Awards (losing to The Zone of Interest).

Mia McKenna-Bruce (Persuasion), Lara Peake (Mood), and newcomer Enva Lewis star as Tara, Skye, and Em – three 16-year-old Brits who have gone on a “schoolies” style island holiday to Malia in Greece.  They annoyed the hell of me… and I intend that to be a huge compliment.  Speaking as a 46-year-old guy who is out-of-touch with the youth of today, I saw these young women as frustratingly hyperactive and immature.

It’s the first time any of them are experiencing the independence of being away from their parents on an overseas holiday and their goals are to get as drunk and laid as possible.  They write themselves off on the first day, and it reaches the point where they’re vomiting in the gutter while simultaneously saying how much they love each other and will be “besties for life”.  It’s a pattern that continues for several evenings as they sleep off their hangovers, lounge by the resort’s pool, and go out drinking again (oblivious to any lessons from the night before).

There’s a more important layer to Walker’s film which is disturbing and thought-provoking.  Tara is the only virgin of the trio and, feeling pressure to remove the tag, she drunkenly hooks up with a British kid (Bottomley) staying in the room next door.  It’s an uncomfortable encounter which raises questions about sexual consent.  It leaves Tara rattled and over the next few days, her personality shifts as she reflects on what took place and whether anything needs to be said.

This is a very good film.  In addition to its core theme, it has something to say about party culture (there’s a head-shaking scene involving a public blowjob), peer pressure, jealously, responsibility, the impacts of alcohol, and the importance of friendships.  Walker covers all of this inside a tight 91 minutes.  What you ultimately take away from the movie will depend on your own age and experiences.  The natural performances of the actors, often talking over the top of each other, give it the vibe of a documentary.  This adds to the emotional impact.

How to Have Sex is not to be missed.

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Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 17 March 2024

Last month, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced their first new Oscars category in over two decades.  The details are still being finalised but in 2026, a statuette will be awarded to recognise the year’s best casting directors.  They’re the folk who scout around, watch tapes, hold auditions, and find the ideal actor for each role.

Wicked Little Letters is a wonderful example of just how importing casting directors can be.  It’s not a particularly deep or complicated screenplay (there’s a lot of repetition) but the actors elevate the material and make it all worthwhile.  Olivia Colman and Jessie Buckley, who starred together two years ago in The Lost Daughter, are superb as the two leads.  The supporting players are terrific also!

Set in 1920s England and loosely based on a true story, Wicked Little Letters is the tale of a town engulfed in scandal.  A series of filthy, profanity-laden letters have been sent to the home of Edith Swan (Colman), a middle-aged religious woman who still lives with her domineering father (Spall) and quiet mother (Jones).  The household suspects the author is Rose Gooding (Buckley), a free-spirited single mum who lives next door with her young daughter.  The pair recently had a falling out, hence the motive.

It’s not long before police get involved and the situation escalates.  Rose is arrested, despite protesting her innocence, and is put on trial for libel.  It’s the kind of bizarre case where everyone in town is talking about it.  Newspaper journalists add more fuel to the fire with their interviews and salacious stories.  Most members of the public believe Rose is guilty but a handful of acquaintances have doubts and are doing some off-the-record policing to validate her innocence.

Framed as a dark comedy, this latest effort from English director Thea Sharrock (Me Before You) is fun.  It succeeds as an interesting whodunit and also offers perspective on a patriarchal society.  Several of the villainous characters, such as Timothy Spall as the father, get deep under your skin.  You want to see him get what he deserves!  The friendlier individuals, played by the likes of Joanna Scanlan (After Love) and Eileen Atkins (Gosford Park), steal scenes at any opportunity with their endearing wit and charm.

The narrative may not always make sense but if looking to be moved and entertained, Wicked Little Letters is a good choice.