TRACKS - film

If I told you this is a film that chronicles a woman walking 2700 kilometres across the Australian desert, what would you say?

"That sounds really boring, Steph!"?

Ding ding ding! You are correct.

There are some redeeming features in the film, including beautiful cinematography capturing the Australian outback, but it's simply not enough to drag this into 'you should go and see' territory. I'd barely recommend it for a DVD viewing to be frank.

It stars Mia Wasikowska, who is an undeniably talented actress and Adam Driver who will be recognised by fans of the US TV show 'Girls' for his portrayal of Adam. But when it comes to casting, special mention must go to whoever cast an Australian actor to play an Afghani person. What an unbelievably weird choice.

The lesson? That someone can do something remarkable and it not be worthy of a 110 minute film.

Here's a 2.5 star review from the Sydney Morning Herald if you want to know more about the storyline and what their critic Jake Wilson made of it.

Trailer here.

NEBRASKA - film

This is nominated for best film at the Oscars so there's no disputing it's a good film. I enjoyed it a lot but in the landscape of what's out at the moment, if you were able to see just one film, I don't think it'd be this one I'd recommend. Great but not must-see great for me. Though shout out to the star of the film, Bruce Dern - my God, he's fantastic in this.

More on the storyline, cast etc in this five star review from the New York Times.

Trailer here.

DALLAS BUYERS CLUB - film

When I saw this, I didn't realise it was 'inspired by real events'. In fact, the only reason I rushed to see it on the preview weekend before general release is that I saw the trailer for it one solitary time and thought, 'that looks fantastic'. So there I was and so it was. 

I've mentioned in a previous blog post that I've not been much of a Matthew McConaughey fan but as the lead in this, he's just superb. I'm definitely a fan now! This article about Matthew and this film rang true when it mentioned some of his early stuff such as 'How to lose a guy in 10 days'. God, I hated that movie and I think it set me on a path to unfairly hating him.

In this he plays a Texan womanising electrician Ron Woodroof who is diagnosed with HIV in 1985 when treatments were nowhere near as advanced as they are now. He's given a very grim diagnosis but sets about researching and tracking down treatments, regardless of whether they're approved and where they come from. It's such a compelling story, you get totally hooked on him and what will become of him.

Jared Leto was a great choice to play transgender Rayon who becomes Ron's business partner - he's excellent in this too.

Matthew McConaughey won the Golden Globe for best actor in a dramatic motion picture a few weeks back and is nominated for best actor at the Oscars also. I wouldn't be at all surprised if he took the double, he's brilliant in this.

Read this five star review in the UK Daily Mail if you need further convincing or want a little more background to the story and film.

Trailer here.

12 YEARS A SLAVE - film

This is an excellent film. Really, really great. 

It's an adaptation of a memoir written in 1853 by Solomon Northup, a free black man from New York who is kidnapped and sold into slavery where he stayed in obviously awful, awful circumstances for 12 years.

So, if you get the sense this isn't a thigh-slapping good time, you're right.

Perhaps don't go if you're feeling depressed and would like a film that puts a spring in your step but otherwise, I can highly recommend this one. It's been nominated for Best Picture at the Oscars with good reason.

Trailer here.

THE WOLF OF WALL STREET - film

One of the joys of writing about films on my modest (spin doctor alert) blog rather than being a proper film critic is that I don't have to analyze a film in any great depth. I walk out of the cinema and then tell you whether I liked it or I didn't. Whether I think you should spend your hard-earned to see it or not. After all, it's my aim to 'cut to the chase', not provide a review, per se, which you can find on a million other websites.

The Wolf of Wall Street is a little trickier. I saw it over a week ago and have given it quite a bit of thought since then and also read a lot of articles and reviews. As the credits rolled, the two people I was sitting with reacted strongly. One with "I hated that!" and one with "Really? I loved it!".

I enjoyed watching it a lot, in spite of it being three hours long. But I do see my hater-friend's perspective. Some of the characters in the film are truly awful people and that can be hard to watch.

The film is based on the memoirs of dodgy (convicted) stockbroker Jordan Belfort. To say he lived a life of debauchery on his rise to powerful multi-millionaire status would be an understatement and director Martin Scorsese really makes this spectacularly, graphically clear. There's a reason it's rated R here in Australia.

The cast is fantastic. Belfort is played brilliantly by Leonardo DiCaprio, scoring a best actor Golden Globe for his trouble. Co-stars Jonah Hill (with distracting weird fake teeth), Matthew McConaughey, Joanna Lumley and others are all great also. One pleasant surprise for me was Australian Margot Robbie who plays Jordan's wife. Never heard a hint of the Australian accent (same cannot be said of most Aussies in Hollywood) and quite apart from that, it was a terrific performance and I expect we'll see more of her on the big screen soon. 

When it comes down to it, I enjoyed watching this film. You might walk out with mixed feelings like I did but I doubt you'll walk out thinking it wasn't worth the $19 ticket price. If you hate anything about it, it will likely be the awfulness of Wall Street depicted, not the film itself. If you see it, I'd love to hear what you think.

This review in The Guardian gave it 3 stars and this one in the UK Telegraph gave it 5 stars. You be the judge!

Trailer here.

HER - film

This film is hard to explain. The wikipedia entry for 'Her' opens: "Her is a 2013 American science fiction romantic comedy-drama". Confused? Hmmm. Indeed.

It stars Joanquin Phoenix in the lead as the guy at the centre of the romance. With a computer operating system. Yep, you read right.

At first I was loving the film. In a world of films that are all pretty same-same, this film is really different and just sings its difference from the rooftop. It's a story unlike any other, as the Wikipedia sentence makes clear. It asks a lot of questions, without actually asking them, about the nature of relationships, loneliness and more.

At just over two hours, it actually feels a lot longer which isn't a good sign considering it started so well. I enjoyed this but it did test my patience a bit the longer it went on. The friend who I saw it with hated it, thought it was just too silly to take. You do need to open-minded and just go with it if you're going to enjoy it.

It's nominated in the 'Best Picture' category at the Oscars this year and I'm glad it is. It's great to see something a bit unusual included. But would I recommend you rush out and see it? Well, frankly, it's not for everyone. Maybe one to save for DVD on a rainy night. Some will love, others will hate and with the cost of an outing to the movies what it is, it's probably a bit of a risk for the average punter. Especially when there's so many crowd-pleasers out at the moment.

If you want to read more about the storyline, background to the film, the cast etc, read the Wikipedia entry for yourself here...

Trailer here.

SAVING MR BANKS - film

This is the story behind how the film 'Mary Poppins' made it from the pages of author P.L. Travers' book to the big screen.

Relevant background information: Mary Poppins was my favourite childhood film. I have seen it about 739 times and still love it to this day.

So I went into this a little apprehensive. I didn't want it to take any of the shine of my old fav! But it has had some great reviews so I thought I'd give it a go. Perhaps it would make me love Mary Poppins even more.

It did not.

It's an ok film. A fine film. A film that's easy enough to watch, sufficiently engaging with great performances from Tom Hanks and Emma Thompson in the leads as Walt Disney and P.L. Travers respectively.

But I didn't love it and on reflection, I'd probably just sit down and watch Mary Poppins again instead.

3.5 star review from The Age here.

Trailer here.

PHILOMENA

Loved this film. One of my favourites for the year I reckon.

Based on a true story, it follows a woman's (Philmomena, played spectacularly by Judy Dench) quest to find the child that was taken from her when she gave birth out of wedlock in Ireland in the early 1950s.

'Taken' is perhaps not the right word - it's much more complex than that and this film explores it all with the help of a journalist who's been commissioned by a newspaper to publish her story, played by Steve Coogan.

I've never been much of a fan of Coogan but this has changed that. He's brilliant in it.

Some parts are heart-breaking but there's funny and poignant moments too. I, and everyone else in the cinema it seemed, laughed and cried.

Go and see this, it's fabulous!

Here's a four star review from the Sydney Morning Herald with some interesting details about the background to Philomena's story and the film itself. "It's an immensely moving film, because of her capacity for forgiveness" the critic says, of Philomena. And boy, he's right.

Trailer here.

THE SECRET LIFE OF WALTER MITTY - film

I'd seen the previews for this film and quite liked the look of it. It's about a guy played by Ben Stiller (more dramatic than comedic) who's a bit of a day dreamer and in his day dreams he's a lot more interesting and heroic than he is in real life. This film follows the adventure he goes on to solve a problem at work (he manages the photographs at the fictional 'Life' magazine) that gets him out of that unadventurous rut. There's also a bit of a love interest story running through it featuring Kristen Wiig, who I love.

I was a bit disappointed. It's not bad, but it's not fantastic. If you're lucky enough to get to the movies often perhaps you'd include it in your wish list but if not, I'd give it a miss.

To provide you with an alternative view, there's this four star review in the UK Mirror. Certainly more glowing than I'd give it.

Get the downlow on the story line in the trailer here.

ANCHORMAN 2: THE LEGEND CONTINUES - film

There's a hell of a lot of hype and expectation weighing on this film. The original Anchorman film is a modern, oft-quoted classic. I mean, you still hear people say "Milk was a bad choice" despite the film coming out almost 10 years ago. And with good reason! It's a hilarious film which I and so many others loved.

So, how does Anchorman 2 weigh up? Well, the news on this is good. But not great.

The film goes for two hours and for about the first half the laughs just come flying at you. Hilarious, fantastic laughs that are just as good as in the first film. I was thinking to myself 'the storyline's a bit lame but it was in the first one too really' so you just roll with it and enjoy the wise cracks. But then the storyline gets, well, just a bit too ridiculous and the laughs dry up a little. Not completely though, don't get me wrong. The poor guy sitting next to me could easily be telling his friends "well the lady sitting next to me with a loud and annoying laugh certainly enjoyed it!" and that would be true. There's some killer, hilarious lines & I think my favourite was when, in celebration of a victory, Ron Burgundy says "perms for everyone!"... That and a shout out to Olivia Newton John which I won't spoil, really made me cack myself!

It's not as good as the first one and the two mates who I saw it with agreed. That said, definitely plenty of laughs and still worth the ticket price to go & see it, particularly if you liked the first Anchorman film. 

I think this three star review in the Fairfax press is about right for me.

Trailer here.

AMERICAN HUSTLE - film

I nodded my head knowingly when reading this review of American Hustle, in particular the line "How to best describe the irrepressibly convoluted plot? That takes some doing (as well). Let's go with Argo meets GoodFellas meets The Sting, with all three getting on like a house on fire." ... True that it's a hard one to explain but there's no need to label it, all you need to know is that it's excellent and you should definitely go and see it!

Fantastic cast and Christian Bale in particular impressed me. He is brilliant in this and has been nominated for a Golden Globe for his trouble. It also stars Amy Adams, Jennifer Lawrence, Jeremy Renner and Bradley Cooper who are all excellent also. There is one rather alarming scene where Cooper has his hair in teeny tight rollers, briefly making him less worthy of the 'hubba hubba' label I'd usually attach to him but hey, the man takes his craft seriously.

Only downer for me would be the length - at 129 minutes, it's longer than I usually like my flicks.

However, five stars from the New York Times, 4.5 stars from both Margaret and David (I love it when mum & dad see eye to eye!)and 4 stars from The Telegraph UK makes a compelling case. If you need more, it's from the same director behind Silver Linings Playbook and The Fighter, two great films. You know what to do, folks.

Trailer here.

ONE CHANCE - film

This one is based on the true story of Britain's Got Talent winner, Paul Potts.

If you haven't heard of him, watch this clip to get a sense of his story but to cut a long story short, we're talking about a really nervous guy with dodgy teeth and one hell of a singing voice. Truly, watch the clip! I remember having it emailed to me back in the day. Remember when we had to email stuff like that around instead of sharing it on Facebook or Twitter? Ah, the good ol' days.

Anyway, according to this article in The Telegraph (UK), they've certainly taken some creative licence with the story, for what it's worth. You know, Hollywood-ed it up a bit.

One of the big draw cards on this one for me was the lead actor - James Corden who plays Smithy in Gavin & Stacey, possibly my favourite comedy TV show ever. He's great in this but not amazing. It's a pretty Smithy-esque performance to be honest.

The film is a nice one, easy to watch. It covers Paul's life leading up to the BGT performance and that's about where it ends, it doesn't give you a sense of what his life became after he won the show. It did drag a bit, felt longer than it actually was. Good but not great. Maybe wait for it on DVD.

Trailer here.

As an aside, I would like to make the following observation about the rather spectacular behaviour of a fellow patron in the cinema. She hobbled in on crutches with her leg in one of those long moon boot kind of things that goes right up your leg. She sat quietly through the trailers and ads and then WHEN THE FILM STARTED, she proceeded to tear apart the 385 pieces of lycra holding the leg brace on. Well it felt like 385, who knows how many there actually was. And you know why it felt like so many more than there was? You know what would be more annoying than someone swiftly undoing lycra all the way down their leg? SOMEONE DOING IT SLOWLY BECAUSE THEY THINK THAT WILL BE QUIETER AND BETTER. LADY, IT WAS NOT QUIETER OR BETTER, IT WAS SPECTACULARLY ANNOYING & YOU SHOULD TAKE A GOOD HARD LOOK AT YOURSELF.

ADORATION - film

I've seen the trailer for this film many times and each time made me more sure I wanted to see it.

The premise is intriguing - two Australian women, childhood friends played by Robin Wright and Naomi Watts, hook up with each other's buff teenage (late teens, at least!) son.

I did enjoy this, but just not quite as much as I hoped I would.

There's some lines in the script that are actually laughable (interesting take on that particular issue here) and the two sons are so laconic that they verge on comatose! It's particularly so with one of the sons, played by James Frecheville who you might recognise from Animal Kingdom.

I read one review that described Robin Wright's Australian accent as "perfect"... Sorry, what?! I'm afraid I don't agree and her frequent use of the word 'Harold' in reference to her husband (Ben Mendelsohn) is a regular reminder. It comes out as 'Hair-old' in that American way and despite the fact that she's an excellent actor and her performance in this is good, it kept me wondering why they didn't just cast another Aussie beside Naomi Watts.

All that said, in spite of a few 'cons' with this one, it still remains a really interesting premise and Watts' and Wright's performances are excellent. I'd probably put this in the 'see it on DVD' category, don't rush out to the cinema and pay a lobster to see it. Good but not amazing.

Trailer here.

ENOUGH SAID - film

I really enjoyed this one, would happily recommend it.

It's a rom-com starring Julia Louis-Dreyfus & James Gandolfini (in the last movie role filmed before he died) but not a super cheesy rom com, one with a bit of intellect.
Margaret & David gave it 4 and 3.5 stars respectively on 'At the movies' & I concur.

Oh and Toni Collette plays a supporting role with her Australian accent and no one felt the need to give some naff explanation for it... Yay!

Trailer here.

ABOUT TIME - film

This film is by British writer/director Richard Curtis, the man behind Love Actually and the Bridget Jones flicks, so we're talking pretty high 'rom com' credibility there.

It involves time travel so you do need to get over the implausibility of it all early on to be able to just go with it and enjoy it. And I did enjoy this one to a degree but it doesn't live up to the standard of Love Actually, a film which has a lot going for it in the rom com stakes.

Despite not really loving it, I did get pretty weepy at a sad moment towards the end of the film which made me realise I was perhaps a bit more entrenched in the story than I'd been aware of.

I've not seen the leading man Domhnall Gleeson in anything before and he's really delightful. Hopefully we see a lot more of him. He's paired with Rachel McAdams who, as always, is also lovely to watch.

Let me put it this way, if you generally love a rom com and can suspend reality to enjoy one, you'll dig this but otherwise, perhaps wait for it on DVD.

For more on the plot, cast etc, read this review in Crikey which I think wraps it all up well & in particular captures my feelings about the MANY unanswered questions in this flick. Like I said, you've really got to be willing to just roll with this one!

Trailer here.

FRUITVALE STATION - film

This film is amazing.

It's a little tough going at times in the emotional sense - perhaps not one for when you're feeling a bit down in the dumps but otherwise, it's a highly recommend from me.

It's based on a true story & is winning awards and getting great reviews. I agree with this review from The Guardian which gave it 4 stars. Like all of the reviews and articles, it reveals the ending which I did not know when I saw this film - if you can go in blind, I'd recommend it but either way, it's a pretty compelling story.

Definitely recommend this one. Go & see it!

Trailer here.

PRISONERS - film

This movie is fantastic.

But sometimes the external factors in a cinema-going experience are so ridiculous that they detract from the movie in a way that leaves you just plain grumpy. I hope for your sake that the following things do not happen...

- Two old women sit behind you and talk constantly. The talking is particularly vigorous following a toilet break for one during which a great deal of important things happen in the story which her friend must then catch her up on upon her return which included a trip up the stairs.

- You move seats to get away from them.

- It doesn't help because the cinema is actually full of groups of people who feel the need to make observations and guesses about the more mysterious parts of the film. You know the types - the ones who say out loud "oh it was him!" out loud when everyone else can just THINK IT IN THEIR HEAD LIKE A NORMAL PERSON.

- The cinema (hat tip to cinema 2, Hoyts Northland) is so unbelievably cold that you stare with envy at any warm clothes being worn on screen and unconsciously imagine being cloaked in them.

- An old man in the cinema on his own hollers "That was a terrible ending" at the end of the film. And I mean HOLLERS. In his defence, he did have a point. The ending was so blunt that I actually thought to myself 'oh that would just top this damn experience off for the equipment to break down right near the end of the film' but alas, that no, that was the actual end.

Whilst my own experience of this one was a bit annoying, don't let it stop you seeing the film. It is really well done and stars Hugh Jackman, whose performance is unlike anything I've seen him do before. Jake Gyllenhaal and Paul Dano are also terrific in this children-gone-missing, 'whodunit' flick. That description doesn't do it justice, so read the link below if you are thinking about going to see it!

A proper (& glowing) review from Crikey including more on the plot here and the trailer here.

DIANA - film

Based on the terrible reviews this film about Princess Di has been getting (you can read about them here), I was expecting this to be a dud and sadly it was.

I refuse to believe Diana was that insipid and whilst there was good chemistry between her and the leading man (a post-Charles love who most probably haven't even heard of), it wasn't enough to carry this film and certainly not enough to make up for the lame repeated reference to her being "the most famous woman in the world"... we get it, ok?

Give this one a miss.

Trailer here if you can be bothered...

GRAVITY - film

I'd seen the trailers for this sci fi flick and filed it under 'not my kind of film'. But then as the release approached the reviews started rolling in and wow, they were full of very high praise... 96% on Metacritic and 97% on Rotten Tomatoes for a start but also 4.5 & 4 stars from Margaret and David respectively, 4 stars in The Age, 5 stars from the UK Telegraph and 5 stars from the New York Times.

So I was already swaying a little and then I got a free ticket. Sold!

Described on Wikipedia as a "3D science fiction thriller and space drama", I went off to this Alfonso Cuarón film with very, very high expectations that were ultimately unmet. Don't get me wrong, it's fantastic, edge-of-your-seat stuff, but it wasn't knock-it-out-of-the-ballpark, best-film-I've-seen-in-ages stuff. 

OK, I'll stop hyphenating now.

In the interests of fairness I present the opinion of my viewing companion, Jo, for whom this film is very much 'my kind of film'...

“Wow, if you love space, technics and rollercoasters, you’ll love Gravity. I enjoyed it enormously. Apart from some technical errors (you figure it out) and lots of referencing of other sci-fi movies (you figure it out), Gravity is definitely worth a look, even a second look!” 

If you're going to see this film, do see it in 3D to do the amazing effects justice.

Trailer here.

RUSH - film

I'm going to level with you.

I saw this film because I had a Village Cinemas movie pass that was about to expire and it was the only thing on at the right time. I'd seen the previews and not taken an interest as it seemed to be about Formula 1 racing, in which I have nil interest. Talk about striking it lucky!

This film is fantastic! Sure, it's about Formula 1 in a sense but it's much more than that. I wasn't around to see the rivalry between Niki Lauda and James Hunt unfold in the late 1970s so I had no idea how the story ended which meant I was totally caught up in it, desperate to know how it all finished up.

This film is directed by Ron Howard and I just can't help but think, wow, that Richie Cunningham's gone a hell of a long way.

More info about the film in this review from The Vine which I reckon is right on the money...

Trailer here