Details

Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 04 June 2018

If you’ve seen the trailer or any other advertisements, you’d think Hereditary was a jump-out-your-seat horror film from start to finish.  That’s not the case during the opening hour.  It’s a dark, heavy drama about a family keeping secrets and dealing with grief.  It’s the sort of tale that would generate Oscar talk if released later in the year.

Annie Graham (Collette) is a renowned artist coming to grips the death of her elderly mother.  There’s a sense of loss but also a sense of relief.  Her mother was a private person from a “polluted” life who suffered from dementia in her later years.  The person struggling most with the situation is Annie’s social awkward 13-year-old daughter, Charlie (Shapiro), who was very close with her grandmother and relied upon her friendship.

There are two members of the Graham household who also have a part to play.  The first is Annie’s teenage son, Peter (Wolff), who must confront a tragic situation of his own.  There’s a powerful scene around a dinner table where the tension between he and his mother finally comes to the fore.  The final family member is Steve (Byrne), the quiet husband trying to offer emotional support whilst also being the “voice of reason” when arguments overheat.

Written and directed by first timer Ari Aster, Hereditary doesn’t let the audience off easily.  It’s a film designed to have maximum impact.  The best example is a lengthy sequence involving a car accident which is viewed from the perspective of a single character from start to finish.  Lacking in sound and lacking it music, it’s tough to stomach.  We’re just looking into the eyes of someone, soaking it in and wondering what is to follow.

As anticipated, the film delves into its supernatural elements during the second hour.  Again, it’s hard to say too much without revealing spoilers but Aster deals with them in a fresh, reinvigorated away.  He’s hasn’t relied on old formulas to create cheap scares.  We’ve grown to care about these characters and so we’re fully invested in their fate.  There’s plenty to ponder as the credits start to roll.

It’s not a big cast but the performances are all worthy of the material.  This is the best we’ve seen from Toni Collette (Muriel’s Wedding) since her award-winning run on the United States of Tara.  You can sense Annie’s intelligence but also the struggle to keep her emotions in check as things start to unravel.  He isn’t required to say much but Alex Wolff (Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle) also deserves praise for his intense performance as the scarred Peter.

Blending awkward family conversations with paranormal beings, Hereditary makes a big impression.

Details

Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 18 May 2018

The 2018 Alliance Francaise French Film Festival recently wrapped up after screenings at 10 locations across Australia.  More than 184,000 tickets were sold which is a clear sign of the love and appreciation for French cinema in this country.  A few of the more popular features from the festival will now get a wider release and the first “cab off the rank” is Aurore, the latest vehicle to star the popular Agnès Jaoui (Look at Me, The Taste of Others).

I’m reminded of the saying “life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans”.  That seems to be the case for 50-year-old Aurore who has spent the last few decades raising a family but now finds herself alone and unsure what to do next.  She’s separated from her husband, her kids have grown up and become independent, and she’s battling the early stages of menopause (complete with hot flashes).  She works as a waitress in a small café but it’s a struggle to stay motivated given the monotonous work and the remarks of her sexist boss.

The catalyst for change arrives in the form of a childhood sweetheart, Totoche (de Montalembert).  He was Aurore’s first love and they dated as teenagers but for whatever reason, things didn’t work out and they both went their separate ways.  It’s clear that he’s remained on Aurore’s mind based on her reaction when they bump into each other.  Could they possibly fall in love again after more than three decades apart?

As all of this goes on, Aurore is battling to keep other parts of her world in order.  Her elder daughter (Such) is pregnant – a fact she’s not entirely comfortable with given her daughter’s relatively young age.  There’s a little tension between the two as a result.  Her younger daughter (Roy-Lecollinet) is discovering love for the first time and with it, a clouded judgement.  There’s a humorous moment where Aurore comes home and hears them having sex in the bedroom upstairs.  Her best friend, Mano (Arbillot), is borderline deranged but her comedic antics leave a smile on her face.

There’s no huge twist or ground breaking revelation here.  This a character study about an ordinary woman looking to restart her life.  She makes a few mistakes and errors of judgement along the way but she’s likeable, warm-hearted and endearing.  She’s the kind of character who deserves a happy ending.  It’s a nice performance from Agnès Jaoui who works well under the guidance of director Blandine Lenoir.

Blending comedy, drama and romance, Aurore is easy to watch and easy to like.

Details

Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 24 May 2018

We’ve all found ourselves involved in debates over petty, trivial things.  It’s normally not worth arguing about but you can’t help yourself and are prepared to waste the time.  That’s pretty much my summation of narrative in The Bookshop, the latest film from Spanish director Isabel Coixet (The Secret Life of Words, Elegy).

Set in a British seaside town in the late 1950s, Florence (Mortimer) is a middle-aged woman who has been widowed since World War II and is looking to pour her energy into something new.  She’s loved reading since a young child and so, having learned the trade as a child, she acquires a rundown property (known as the “Old House”) and opens a small bookshop.  Her business strategy is sketchy.  She’s told that virtually no one in the small town reads books and so it’s no surprise that her bank manager, portrayed as a villain, is nervous.

The store appears to be profitable in its early days.  I’m not sure how since Florence and her teenage assistant (Kneafsey) spend more time reorganising and dusting shelves than selling anything.  We do meet one customer however.  Edmund (Nighy) is a hermit who has locked himself away in a hilltop mansion and reads all day long.  He’s too scared to come into the shop and so Florence makes selections for him and has the books personally delivered.

Things go further awry with the introduction of Violet Gamart (Clarkson), a wealthy socialite who is unhappy with Florence’s bookshop and use of the Old House.  She’d rather the property be transformed into an arts and cultural centre.  That in itself makes less sense than the bookshop but it evolves into a pointless battle between the two.  Violet uses all her connections in the town to destroy Florence’s business so that she will be forced to sell the property and give up on her dream.

That’s pretty much it.  This is a two-hour fight over whether a rundown building should be a bookshop or an arts centre.  Adapted from the novel written by Penelope Fitzgerald, Coixet struggles to create anything interesting.  The dialogue between the characters is stiff and unnatural.  The worst of the bunch is James Lance who plays a hopeless, slimy BBC journalist who earns Florence’s trust despite being a jerk for the entire film.  One way he sabotages the business is by putting a “closed” sign in the store window when it’s actually “open”.  That’s the kind of silly stuff we’re talking about here.

Things get even stranger when Violet lobbies for legislation changes in parliament to help get Florence evicted.  Does the arts centre mean that much to her?  Or is just a crazy power grab?  It’s hard to say given we know so little about Violet and her background.  The same can be said for most in this ensemble though.  Violet’s clueless husband pops up in two scenes with nothing to offer.  The journalist’s girlfriend is introduced and then disappears in a matter of minutes.  The strangest character in the mix is the narrator who chimes in at unnecessary times to explain Florence’s obvious mindset and other unnecessary details.

Emily Mortimer, Patricia Clarkson and Bill Nighy are all accomplished actors but their talents are not enough to save this confusing mess.

Details

Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 16 May 2018

Spurred on by fantastic word of mouth, Deadpool was one of the big success stories of 2016.  It exceeded the expectations of analysts to gross $783 million at the international box-office (the 9^th highest film of that year) and surprised many critics when it earned a lucrative Producers Guild Award nomination (losing to La La Land).  It was a question of when and not if a sequel would be made.

If you weren’t interested in the original, you won’t be interested in this.  You can stop reading.  For everyone else, the film sticks very close to the format used in the unorthodox original.  Deadpool (played by Ryan Reynolds) continues to break through the fourth wall and talk directly to the audience.  There’s even a scene where he discusses the box-office of the first movie!  The end result is something that’s part action blockbuster and part mockumentary.

While Deadpool generated interest as a worthy origin tale, Deadpool 2 struggles when it comes to an engaging story.  After his wife is killed by gangsters, Deadpool slips of the rails and considers ending his own life.  The problem is that his superpowers have made him indestructible.  When a villain fails as expected, Deadpool cheers him up with the thought – “don’t feel bad… even I can’t kill me.”

Don’t fret.  This isn’t meant to be dark and depressing.  Deadpool gets a new lease on life when he meets an angry 14-year-old mutant, going by the name of Firefist, who is in need of love and affection.  Those who saw the brilliant Taika Waititi comedy Hunt for the Wilderpeople will instantly recognise the child actor as New Zealander Julian Dennison.  He’s even retained his Kiwi accent for the role.

The narrative is fairly jumped from this point on with several characters fighting for attention.  Firefist was abused in a mutant orphanage and now seeks a violent revenge against those who wronged him.  Cable (Brolin) is a Terminator-like soldier who has travelled back in time to complete an essential mission to protect mankind’s future.  We’ve also got a few folk returning from the earlier movie including Deadpool’s bartending friend (Miller), his blind housemate (Uggams), his eccentric taxi driver (Soni), and a mutant made of steel.

So what does it all add up to?  Not much.  In the lead role, Ryan Reynolds feels like he’s peddling the same type of jokes from the original.  The material that generated “laugh out loud” moments two years ago could only get a smile from me this time around.  Perhaps my expectations were too high or perhaps I’m in the minority.  Not everyone in the cinema was laughing but there were still plenty having a good time.

As touched on above, it’s the story that’s the biggest letdown.  Those characters returning from the original have nothing new to offer and Firefist isn’t an interesting “bad guy”.  The lone exception is Josh Brolin who is terrific as the time-travelling Cable.  There’s something intriguing about his character from the get-go and the curious mission he has been set – travelling from the future to alter the past.  It looks like we’ll be seeing a lot more of him in future instalments.

Complete with the violence, profanity and sexual references that made the original so distinctive within the superhero genre, Deadpool 2 tries hard but cannot match the sheer fun of its predecessor.

Details

Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 21 May 2018

Disney had a lot to lose when it purchased Lucasfilm in 2012 for the sum of $4 billion USD.  It all comes down to numbers.  The average Star Wars film has a production budget of around $250 million.  When you throw in marketing and overhead costs on top of that, you’re in a position where a film needs to pull in some serious coin to make a profit – whether it be in ticket sales, DVD sales, TV rights or merchandise.

Solo: A Star Wars Story is the 4^th film to be released since the acquisition and while the last 3 have been hugely successful (they’ve grossed a combined $4 billion), this movie had Disney worried.  Directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller (The Lego Movie) were fired by producer Kathleen Kennedy midway through the shoot due to “creative differences” and replaced by Ron Howard (A Beautiful Mind).  There were also rumours that star Alden Ehrenreich (Hail, Caesar!) needed an acting coach and was struggling to recreate the character made famous by Harrison Ford in the late 1970s.

I’m not sure who ultimately deserves the credit given the director change but Solo: A Star Wars Story, as a finished product, is an entertaining film.  We learn how Han Solo got his name, how he met Chewbacca, how he first fell in love, and how he came into possession of his coveted starship, the Millennium Falcon.  You don’t need to be a Star Wars devotee to understand what’s going on.  This works as a standalone feature.

For those already familiar with these characters, the film sits on the Star Wars timeline somewhere between Episode III and Episode IV.  We’re told it’s a “lawless time” with the galaxy overrun by crime syndicates in search hyperfuel – an extremely powerful energy source that is in short supply.  The film’s best action sequence arrives at the end of the opening act.  Working under a blood thirsty crime lord named Dryden Vos (Bettany), Han teams up with his quasi-girlfriend, Qi’ra (Clarke), and a shady criminal, Tobias Beckett (Harrelson), to steal a shipment of hyperfuel from a fast-moving train.

The run time is a lengthy 135 minutes but there’s more than enough material to hold your attention.  In fact, one could argue more time was needed to expand on key subplots.  Qi’ra and Han spend three years apart but when they finally get back together, it’s odd that neither wants to talk in detail about her past and newfound allegiance to Dryden Voss.  Some action scenes are also rushed such as an encounter with a space monster.  It’s over before there’s even a chance to get the heart racing.

These nit-pickings are relatively trivial though.  He may not have perfected Harrison Ford’s personality from the earlier movies but Ehrenreich brings a distinctive hairstyle and easy-going nature to the title role.  He’s well supported by a great group of actors.  It terms of a stand out, it’s hard to go past Phoebe Waller-Bridge who plays a sassy, feminist robot who has fallen in love with her master and has views of changing the world.

The last few Star Wars films have had a darker tone and while I expect that trend to continue with the untitled Episode IX, due to be released in late 2019, Solo: A Star Wars Story tips the scales back in the other direction and is a fun, likeable adventure.