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Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 11 September 2013

Since mid-March, I’ve seen just over 100 films in Brisbane cinemas of which 15 have been sequels/reboots. You can add one more to that total with Riddick – the third instalment in this franchise following Pitch Black in 2000 and The Chronicles Of Riddick in 2004. Vin Diesel (Fast & Furious) is back in the leading role but aside from an insignificant cameo from Karl Urban, it’s a completely new cast.

I can’t remember much from the earlier films (well, it has been 9 years) and this film doesn’t provide much in the way of background. It’s opens with an injured Riddick (Diesel) stuck on an unknown planet and doing whatever he can to survive. Water is hard to find and he must fend off an array of nasty creatures including wild dogs and some kind of scorpion thingy. Both have long, sharp teeth.

Riddick eventually finds a deserted settlement and is able to activate an emergency beacon. Help won’t be forthcoming though. Two spaceships arrive filled with heavily armed men looking to kill Riddick. They’re bounty hunters and are hoping to cash in on a substantial reward – which will be doubled if Riddick is brought back dead as opposed to alive.

That sets the stage for the remainder of the film – a cat and mouse game where Riddick tries to evade and outsmart the bounty hunters. He may not be much of a conversationalist but Riddick has the strength, the intelligence, and the knowledge of the local area to be a formidable opponent. His goal is to steal one of the spaceships and escape this desolate planet.

I’m a little surprised to see this franchise being reinvigorated. The 2004 sequel had a budget of more than $100m and struggled to recoup that at the international box-office. Writer-director David Twohy has gone with something smaller this time. Riddick was produced for just $38m and it comes with a smaller cast and shorter action sequences.

Put simply, it’s not a great film but it’s still watchable. I like the setting and the freaky alien creatures that Riddick encounters. You know he’s going to survive… but it’s not always obvious as to how he’s going to do so. It’s also fun watching him get the better of the bounty hunters. The film doesn’t shy away from violence and as an example, there’s a graphic scene that involves someone’s head being sliced open like a tomato (which got quite a laugh at my preview screening).

That’s about all there is to it. Vin Diesel doesn’t say a lot – and that’s a good thing. He speaks in a dull, monotone voice and it’s often hard to work out if he’s just mumbling or actually saying something! Fans of Diesel won’t have a problem but others might be wondering how he’s developed a reputation as an action hero (particularly given his similar personality traits in the Fast & Furious franchise).

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Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 28 August 2013

Using a common film technique, Jobs begins with its ending. Wearing his trademark black turtleneck and blue jeans, Steve Jobs (Kutcher) stands on a stage in front of his employees. The year is 2001 and he talks about a product that will dramatically change the music industry. It’s a device that can hold 1,000 songs and fit comfortably in your pocket. Of course, I’m speaking of the iPod.

That simple product would help transform Apple into one of the world’s wealthiest companies and Jobs into a multi-billionaire. But what was Steve Jobs really like? How did he get started in the computer industry? Where did his ideas come from? Who helped him along the way? Was he easy to work with? These questions are the focus of Joshua Michael Stern’s (Swing Vote) feature film – the first to explore Jobs’ life.

As someone who knew very little about Steve Jobs going into the theatre, I found the film moderately interesting. Yes, it’s a dramatization and yes, it’s only focusing on certain parts of life but there’s enough to paint a clear picture of his zealous determination and his continual pursuit of perfection. These traits helped kick start his career but they would later become an obstacle as Jobs had to manage the expectations of Apple’s board and its stockholders (following the listing of the company).

Watching this film, it’s hard not to make a comparison with David Fincher’s brilliant drama, The Social Network, which chronicled the beginnings of Facebook. With some cracking dialogue from Aaron Sorkin, Fincher’s film took us inside the head of creator Mark Zuckerberg and asked the question – is he a misunderstood genius or a lonely sociopath?

This is where Jobs suffers. For much of the film, it felt like we were going through the major milestones in his career – some good and some bad. All of this information could be found in a simple internet search and while it may be of interest to some, it’s not going to provide any new perspective for those already familiar with Jobs’ life.

What doesn’t come through in the movie is a true sense of who Steve Jobs was as a person. For example, Matt Whiteley’s screenplay provides a very limited view of Jobs’ relationship with his girlfriends and family. This is strange given that he goes to the trouble of introducing them as characters.

I’ve seen reviews critical of Ashton Kutcher’s performance but I’m not as negative. He’s fine in the leading role and he does a decent job mimicking Jobs’ walk and other mannerisms. The supporting players, led by the likes of Dermot Mulroney, Matthew Modine and J.K. Simmons, also hold their own. It’s just a shame they didn’t have a stronger script to work with.

A second film about Steve Jobs, written by The Social Network’s Aaron Sorkin funnily enough, has been spoken about over the past year. Sorkin has revealed that his screenplay contains just three lengthy scenes and all of them will shot in real time. Each scene takes place just prior to an important Apple product launch. The film is not yet in production but if it does manage to get off the ground, I’m hopeful that it will dig a little deeper than this effort.

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Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 09 September 2013

The greed, corruption and mismanagement that led to the 2008 global financial crisis have been covered in numerous movies over the past few years. We’ve had feature dramas such as Margin Call, Too Big To Fail and Wall Street 2: Money Never Sleeps. We’ve also been treated to some great documentaries including Capitalism: A Love Story and the Academy Award winning Inside Job (a personal favourite of mine).

This new film from Woody Allen tackles the same subject matter but comes at it from a different angle. Blue Jasmine doesn’t focus on the rich finance guy doing bunch of dodgy, unethical stuff. Rather, we see things from the perspective of his wife.

When we first meet Jasmine (Blanchett), she’s rocking up at the doorstep of her sister, Ginger (Hawkins), who lives in San Francisco. She’s not there because she wants to catch up with her younger sibling. She’s there because she has nowhere else to go. Jasmine was once the wife of an extremely wealthy investment manager (Baldwin) living in New York but she lost everything after her husband was convicted of massive fraud and sentenced to prison.

It’s been tough for Jasmine to deal with her quick descent from “riches to rags”. This is a woman who has grown very, very accustomed to her life as a wealthy socialite. Given she’s never had a job and shows little interest in the daily news cycle, Jasmine’s conversation starters tend to be limited to her lavish overseas holidays, her expensive shopping trips and her husband’s successful real estate investments.

Jasmine may sound like a selfish, narcissistic human being but Woody Allen’s masterful screenplay doesn’t judge her. This could easily have been crafted as a simple comedy where we go “ha ha, let’s laugh at his dumb woman who is finally getting what she deserves.” Thankfully, it’s much deeper than that. There are moments where we get to see behind Jasmine’s selfish, delusional exterior and find someone who is troubled, scared and insecure.

It will be a sad day when Woody Allen finally retires from filmmaking. It’s been 35 years since Annie Hall swept the Academy Awards (winning best picture, director, screenplay, actress) but Blue Jasmine proves the 77-year-old can still make a memorable black comedy complete with distinctive characters (thanks to quality casting) and wonderful dialogue.

I’m also a fan of the way Allen uses multiple timelines in Blue Jasmine. The current day setting sees Jasmine trying to get along with her sister, find a job and meet a new man. This is interwoven with flashbacks from Jasmine’s past where we learn about her hoity-toity life in New York City and gather a better understand of why she is the way she is. The non-chronological format also allows Allen to slip in a few unexpected twists (but let’s keep quiet about that).

I can’t avoid the subject matter any longer. If there’s one reason to see this film… it’s the amazing performance of Cate Blanchett! Describing Jasmine as having “delusions of grandeur to an epic proportion”, it’s not hard to see why she was attracted to the complicated role.

It’s fascinating to watch Blanchett play a character that is so very hard to like. Just when you start to have a little empathy towards Jasmine, she’ll do something or say something to instantly squash such feelings. She’s a certainty to receive an Oscar nomination and while we’re at it, I also think Sally Hawkins (Happy-Go-Lucky) deserves similar plaudits for her performance as Jasmine’s subservient sister.

If you’re someone who likes to put together a top 10 list at the end of each year, see Blue Jasmine and you’ll only need to find 9 more.

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Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 27 August 2013

I’ll freely admit that I know nothing about the country of Laos. Wikipedia tells me that it’s a landlocked country in Southeast Asia that is home to roughly 6.5 million people. It is one of the world’s last communist dictatorships (along with China, Cuba, Vietnam and North Korea) and the country went through a brutal civil war from 1953 to 1975 where tens of thousands of people were killed.

The Rocket tells a great story (we’ll get to that in a moment) but it’s also worth your time because it takes us inside this unheralded country. Writer-director Kim Mordaunt, a graduate of the University of Technology Sydney, has worked in Laos for several years. In 2007, he put together the much acclaimed documentary Bomb Harvest – a documentary that follows an Australian bomb disposal specialist who was training Laos locals in the aftermath of their civil war.

The Laos government was impressed with Mordaunt’s work and the way the film raised awareness of the issue to the wider world. They then granted him permission to make a follow up but instead of going with another documentary, Mordaunt has crafted a fictional drama that brings together the country’s history, its curious traditions and its beautiful landscape.

Tourist operators in Laos will be pleased with the result. After winning the award for best feature by a first-time filmmaker at the prestigious Berlin Film Festival back in February, The Rocket has gone on to win the Audience Award at the Sydney Film Festival, the Melbourne Film Festival and the Tribeca Film Festival in New York City. The bottom line – it’s not just me who has liked this film. It’s proved itself as a heart-warming crowd pleaser.

The story centres on a mischievous 10-year-old boy named Ahlo who has been blamed for his family’s bad luck since the day he was born. The reason? Ahlo was born a twin. The tribal belief is that twins carry a curse and while the other baby did not survive childbirth, Ahlo’s grandmother still looks down on him. She’s also quick to point the finger when the family is forced by the government to leave their long-held home to make room for a new dam. This is Ahlo’s fault.

The family try to find a new home but with next-to-no money, they are continually made to feel unwelcome at the villages they come across. Ahlo is determined to prove himself though. He’s tired of being the family’s “curse” and wants to show everyone that a determined, hard-working kid with a lot to offer… including a little good luck!

Having been subjected to a barrage of reboots, remakes and sequels over the past few months, many of the comic book related, The Rocket comes along like a breath of fresh air. It has a great story to tell and subtly mixes the comedic and dramatic genres. Some moments will leave you smiling. Other moments will leave you on the edge of your seat.

The leading role, youngster Sitthiphon Disamoe is wonderfully loveable as Ahlo. He had no prior acting experience but after a lengthy casting process, Mordaunt was drawn to his energetic personality and his personal background – Disamoe was a kid living on the streets of Laos and selling candy to survive. He acts like a 10-year-old too – something we don’t often see in Hollywood movies where the dialogue is so scripted that all kids talk like mature adults.

There’s always debate in Australia about what kind of films we should make in this country. We often try to make films that promote our heritage, our culture and our unique sense of humour. I’m not questioning that methodology but movies like The Rocket highlight that there are people outside of our borders and they too have stories to share. The idea of an Aussie film shot in Laos might have been a tough sell to investors but the end results speak for themselves. It’s one of this country’s best films in recent years.

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Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 04 September 2013

The events of September 11, 2001 instilled fear into many citizens of the United States. The government responded by increasing its surveillance powers and creating the Department of Homeland Security. Airports radically overhauled their security procedures through enhanced checkpoint screenings and the installation of bulletproof cockpit doors. Whether you supported the measures or not, they played a part in making Americans feel safe again.

Now, here we are in the year 2013, watching two big-budget movies about a major terrorist attack in Washington D.C. Back in April, we were “treated” to Olympus Has Fallen where a tainted Secret Service agent (Gerard Butler) saved the day after the President was kidnapped by a group of angry North Koreans intent of kick starting a nuclear war. If you missed it… you were lucky. The film was rubbish.

White House Down follows in its footsteps. In its defence, at least it isn’t falling in the tired cliché of using a villain from the Middle East, North Korea or Eastern Europe. It’s a very pissed off American that wants to extract revenge against the President (Foxx) after his son was killed in Iran while serving in the U.S. Army. He can’t do the job alone and so he’s assembled a heavily armed team that includes a few disgruntled ex-military guys, a computer hacker and a “right-wing socialist”.

They storm the White House, kill every member of the Secret Service and take a bunch of hostages. Unfortunately, the President manages to evade their capture thanks to his new best friend – a wanna-be Secret Service agent named John Cale (Tatum) who just so happened to be taking a tour of the White House with his daughter when pandemonium broken out. It’s up to them to rescue the hostages and ensure the bad guys don’t get their hands on the nuclear launch codes. Gasp!

Cinema is a curious art form and White House Down illustrates the importance of a film’s tone. Given events in their recent history, one might think that a violent movie about a terrorist attack in the U.S. capital might be tough for Americans to watch. Not so. As he’s done in the past with films such as Independence Day, Godzilla and The Day After Tomorrow, director Roland Emmerich has taken a heavy subject matter and packaged it as “light entertainment”.

Jamie Foxx isn’t that believable as the President but there’s some fun chemistry between he and Channing Tatum as they fight their adversaries. This links to the film’s major strength – its comedy. Quite a few moments will generate a laugh from the audience and they range from the silly actions of a passionate White House tour guide… to a subtle dig at the mainstream media when Al-Qaeda is first blamed for the attacks.

Unfortunately, the rest of White House Down is a standard action fest. Channing Tatum flies through the air in slow motion, he slides across a table in slow motion, he jumps through a window in slow motion and he falls through a glass ceiling in (wait for it) slow motion. It’s not offering us anything we haven’t seen before. We even get the familiar countdown clock in the finale where our heroes are given the longest 8 minutes ever recorded.

While there a couple of half-decent twists, the plot lacks coherence. Characters behave in a manner that often doesn’t make sense. It’s like watching a bad horror movie where the victims act as if they want to get caught. The film also uses a well-worn subplot where John Cale risks the lives of millions to save his own daughter. Does this make him a hero or an idiot?

It’s better than Olympus Has Fallen but there was still a lot of room for improvement with White House Down.