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Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 06 August 2016

In 1905, Italian philosopher George Santayana penned the famous phrase – “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”  History is littered with examples of prejudice, racism, discrimination and persecution.  Just when you think the human race has taken a few positive steps forward, fear takes hold and we regress back down the ladder.

The release of Down Under feels appropriate given the intense public debate that is currently taking place about Muslims in Australia.  As part of her policy platform, recently elected Senator Pauline Hanson wants to stop Muslim immigration, wants surveillance cameras installed in all Mosques, and has called for a government inquiry to determine if Islam is a religion.  The support for her party shows that she’s not alone in sharing such views.

Down Under takes us back ten years when a similar debate was taking place.  In late 2005, racial and ethnic tensions were building around the Sydney suburb of Cronulla.  There were regular altercations between “white” Australians and those of Middle Eastern descent.  It reached a tipping point on 11 December 2005 when riots began at North Cronulla Beach and more than 100 people were arrested.  The event became international news and it represents a not-so-great chapter in Australia’s history.

Writer-director Abe Forsythe (Ned) opens this film with actual news footage from that day.  It provides a quick reminder of what took place and the number of people involved.  He follows that with a fictional tale set against the backdrop of the riots.  It provides perspective and also helps us understand the mindset of the rioters.

There are two distinct “car loads” of characters.  One features a group of white Australians who are looking to take the riots to neighbouring suburbs.  They are led by Jason (Herriman), a middle-aged guy who feels emasculated at home and is keen to “beat up some wogs.”  The other group consists of four Lebanese men.  They include Nick (Romahn) who is out for revenge after the previous day’s riots and Hassim (Younes) who is trying to locate his missing brother.

This is a film that doesn’t take a particular side.  While all these characters show glimpses of intelligence and likeability, there’s an underlying stupidity that has set them on a collision course for disaster.  It also highlights the danger of peer pressure within adult groups.  A dominating, misguided leader can impair the viewpoints of those who think differently.

Forsythe has taken a big chance in framing his movie at a dark comedy.  The early scenes had me worried that I was watching another Housos vs. Authority sequel.  Some will be lured into laughing with these characters as opposed to laughing at these characters.  Thankfully, my concerns were dispelled by a gutsy finale that pulls the rug from under the audience.

Complete with a few unexpected soundtrack choices, Down Under packs a strong emotional punch and asks us to take a good, hard look at ourselves.

You can read my interview with writer-director Abe Forsythe by clicking here.

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Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 27 July 2016

As a quick recap, Jason Bourne was the creation of American author Robert Ludlam who penned three novels during the 1980s.  Universal Pictures subsequently bought the right and created a trilogy of movies between 2002 and 2007.  Matt Damon starred as an assassin who had been recruited and trained as part of a top-secret CIA program.  Over the course of the three films, he learned more about his identity (he originally suffered from amnesia) and evaded/killed those intent on his demise.

With no books left to adapt, some thought that would be the end of the Bourne franchise.  Not so.  The Bourne Legacy was released in 2012 without Bourne (despite the film’s title) and without Damon.  It was an original screenplay and centred on a new undercover operative, played by Jeremy Renner, who was on the run from just about everybody.  It was a modest success at the box-office but didn’t replicate the success of the earlier movies.

I guess we’ll treat The Bourne Legacy the same way as The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift.  It’s likely to be remembered as an unnecessary divergence from what made the franchise so successful.  In this new film, strangely titled Jason Bourne, Matt Damon has returned along with Paul Greengrass (United 93), the Oscar-nominated director who created the second and third instalments.  His fee hasn’t been made public but Damon is likely to have been lured by a pay cheque exceeding $25 million.

With most subplots resolved in the earlier films, Greengrass and co-writer Christopher Rouse have crafted a new mystery for Jason Bourne to wrap his head around.  Who was his father and what did he know about his son’s recruitment into the secretive CIA program known as Treadstone?  Bourne is fed information by former colleague Nicky Parsons (Stiles) and after keeping a low profile for many years, his search for answers brings him back into the spotlight.

This immediately grabs the attention of CIA Director Robert Dewey (Jones) who has engaged a renowned assassin (Cassel) to locate and kill Bourne.  He is motivated by self-interest rather than national security.  Dewey is also working with a high-profile tech guru (Ahmed) to create an online platform that will allow the CIA to covertly watch almost every resident in the country.  This is the more interesting storyline but doesn’t get sufficient attention.

That’s because this is an action film and not a political film.  Greengrass uses exciting, elaborate chase sequences to compensate for the weak, not-so-interesting narrative.  Two lengthy scenes stand out.  The first features Bourne run from CIA agents through the crowded streets of Athens while a violent anti-austerity rally takes place.  The second sees Bourne involves in a destructive car chase through the main streets of Las Vegas.  These moments will provide adrenalin to any action junkie.

It’s just a shame there isn’t more “meat on the bone” when it comes to the story.  The “sixth sense” that Bourne uses to extricate himself from dangerous situations also feels over-stretched.  It’s hard to imagine that he can foresee every move made by the experienced assassin.  He’s starting to take on the appearance of an unbeatable cyborg void of any kind of weakness or vulnerability.

The stage is set for this series to continue.  Hopefully it takes a more adventurous path.

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Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 03 August 2016

Having seen the trailer umpteen times, Suicide Squad had the appearance of something fresh and new.  Instead of a traditional “good guys versus bad guys” action spectacle, it was going to blur the lines and make everyone a villain.  Regrettably, the finished product did not align with my expectations.  This is a tiring film that is low on laughs and high on confusion.

Following on from Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, it begins with government official Amanda Waller (Davis) offering a chilling warning to her military counterparts – “the next Superman might not share our values.”  She wants to assemble a team of powerful “bad guys” that can be used to save Midway City if it should ever be attacked by another supernatural being.

The idea didn’t make a lot of sense to me.  In the opening scenes, we learn how some of these villains were captured and incarcerated in the first place.  Deadshot (Smith) is a marksman who never misses his target.  Harley Quinn (Robbie) was a leading doctor in a mental asylum until led astray by the Joker (Leto).  Both were apprehended by Batman and hence my bewilderment.  If Batman can outsmart these two, why hasn’t Amanda enlisted the services of Batman instead?  Further, if he wasn’t available, why take the risk on these lunatics over the loyal, hardworking soldiers already at their disposal?

The contrived narrative gets even messier when it comes to the film’s actual villain.  It’s not the Joker as advertisements lead you to believe.  It’s apparent that more will be made of his character in future instalments.  It therefore falls upon Cara Delevingne (Paper Towns) to wreak havoc as a not-so-intimidating witch who has been locked up for hundreds of years.  She’s created a bizarre “floating ring of trash in the sky” and is keen to annihilate the planet for no reason in particular.

It’s a shame the movie amounts to so little because there are some great performances.  Will Smith (Ali) and Australian Margo Robbie (The Wolf of Wall Street) get the most screen time and the best of the one-liners.  You’re never quite sure where they fit on the scale between good and evil.  Robbie isn’t the only Aussie in the cast.  Jai Courtney (Jack Reacher) plays Boomerang, an expert thief who apparently has robbed every bank in Australia.  He’s appropriately introduced using the iconic AC/DC song “Dirty Deeds Done Dirty Cheap”.

There are way too many characters here though.  Just when you think you’ve got your head wrapped around them all, another enters the mix (e.g. Karen Fukuhara who pops out of nowhere as a martial arts guru).  Writer-director David Ayer (Fury) isn’t afraid to kill people off (that’s a good thing) but it’s hard to care when you don’t know their backstory and when the action scenes have been so chaotically assembled.

Changes were reportedly made to Suicide Squad following the huge success of Deadpool back in February.  The studio was looking for more humour and less drama.  They can’t have made too many alterations as the finished product is still a largely bland affair.  As is tradition, the closing credits provide a tease of the next instalment.  It has to be more entertaining than this.

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Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 25 July 2016

In 2003, the Colombian Government introduced legislation that would tax film producers, distributors and exhibitors across the country.  Its purpose was to create a fund that could be used to make local feature films and documentaries that offered insight into Colombian history and its people.  The government’s move has paid big dividends.  The number of movies produced each year has roughly tripled and the local share at the box-office has increased by an even greater percentage.

They took another small step forward this year when Embrace of the Serpent, a product of their growing movie industry, was nominated at the Academy Awards for best foreign language film.  Having submitted an entry on 22 previous occasions, this was the first time that a Colombian film had been included amongst the final 5 nominees.  It ultimately lost to Hungary’s Son of Saul but to steal the apt words from many Oscar acceptance speeches – “it’s an honour just to be nominated.”

Written and directed by Ciro Guerra, Embrace of the Serpent was inspired by the writings of two Westerners who explored the Amazon in the first half of the 20^th Century.  They encountered numerous Indigenous tribes throughout South America and their writings helped bring attention to the region’s rich history and the way in which tribes operated.

Guerra’s creative screenplay uses two connected narratives.  The first is set in 1909 and follows Theodor (Bijvoet), a German explorer who is being guided up the Amazon River by a local shaman named Karamakate (Torres).  Theodor is looking for a sacred healing plant known as yakruna and Karamakate is looking for other members of his long-lost tribe.

The second storyline takes place in 1940.  Evans (Davis) is an American who has read the published works of Theodor and is following in his footsteps.  He has tracked down Karamakate (Bolívar), who is now an old man, and convinced him to travel up river in search of the same plant.

Embrace of the Serpent isn’t shy in showing the negative effects of Western influence in Colombian communities.  Tribes were accustomed to passing down knowledge from generation-to-generation and raising their children in line with long-held traditions.  Much of that was lost with the arrival of the “white man” who were keen to exploit slave labour and the country’s rich natural resources, including rubber plants, in pursuit of wealth.  One of the film's most powerful moments shows the aftereffects of an abusive Catholic priest who is trying to indoctrinate young kids.

The film offers more than a history lesson though.  It’s an intriguing character study where “trust” is a valuable commodity.  Motives are not always made clear.  Are Theodor and Evans genuinely interested in the lives of Amazonian people or do other goals take precedent?  Karamakate asks a serious of probing questions to determine if these explorers can indeed be trusted.

Filmed in Colombia’s Amazonía region, Embrace of the Serpent is stunning to look at.  Guerra used 35mm film (as opposed to digital camera) to best capture the intricate beauty of the location.  He also made the unusual decision to shoot in black & white to help recreate a simple time that was “completely devoid of exuberance and exoticism.”  Cinematographer David Gallego, who happens to be his brother-in-law, deserves praise for turning Guerra’s vision into reality.

Providing a voice to a group of people seldom seen on the big screen, Embrace of the Serpent is a must-see.

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Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 02 August 2016

As someone completely new to Absolutely Fabulous, I look at these much-loved characters in a mild state of shock.  Edina Monsoon (Saunders) is a hapless, struggling PR agent who is mocked by her colleagues in the industry.  She rarely works and spends most of her time shopping, drinking and socialising.  Her best friend, Patsy Stone (Lumley), is no better.  She’s the party-loving, cocaine-snorting, chain-smoking fashion editor for a leading magazine.

Their lives up until this point have been funded by Edina’s wealthy ex-husband but unfortunately, those days are about to come to an end.  There’s no money left.  Their expansive champagne cabinet is empty and there are no new clothes for their wardrobes.  Edina laments that the credit cards “are broken” as if they’re some kind of fixable toy.  She tries to sell her autobiography to a publisher but that too ends in failure.  Edina is told that “her life may be worth living but it’s certainly not worth reading about.”

This is clearly a film for those who are fans of the series.  There have been 32 episodes and 7 television specials since it debuted on the BBC in 1992.  Many characters return for this feature film including Julia Sawalha as Edina’s daughter, June Whitfield as her mother, and Jane Horrocks as her dopey personal assistant.  There are also cameos from the likes of Jon Hamm and Rebel Wilson (which I haven’t spoiled since they’re already shown in the trailer).

After about 30 minutes of character reintroductions, the film finally arrives at its key plot point.  Supermodel Kate Moss (playing herself) is looking for a new agent and Edina has her sights on the role.  She rushes up to her at a soirée in London and in the blink of an eye Moss falls off a ledge into the River Thames.  She is presumed drowned and a “well-coordinated lynch mob” goes after Edina.  Whatever reputation she had left, is now in tatters.

It becomes apparent in the later stages that this is a film to be enjoyed for its utter craziness than its coherent narrative.  Supporting players slip in and out of the picture and it culminates with a trip to the French Riviera.  By this point, the Kate Moss storyline is almost forgotten.  Long-time supporters of the show will enjoy catching up with the eccentric characters.  Others may be left scratching their head and wondering if this is the female equivalent of a Hunter S. Thompson novel.

It’s obvious that the cast had fun making this.  My enthusiasm levels were not quite has high.