BEGIN AGAIN - film /  by Cut to the chase

I thought this movie was delightful. A feel good film that I would happily recommend to a pretty broad range of people. 

Keira Knightley plays the lead female and I'm not much of a fan of hers so it's testament to what a lovely film this is that I could get past that. And she even sings in it! And can actually sing! Adam Levine from band Maroon 5 is also in it (they both play singer/songwriters) so together, it's a really great soundtrack too. It probably also helps that it also stars Mark Ruffalo and James Corden - love them both!

Though not groundbreaking cinema, it's a damn nice way to spend 105 minutes! And special shout out to the Sun Theatre in Yarraville where I saw this one, a beautiful old cinema I haven't been to in about ten years. If I lived closer, I'd be there all the time.

For more on the story and a great four star review, check out this piece from The Guardian.


JERSEY BOYS - film /  by Cut to the chase

I'll be honest, I didn't know a thing about The Four Seasons or Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons for that matter. If you don't either (I'm too young, I hear you cry! Me too - yay us!) don't let that stop you. This Clint Eastwood film is a great with brilliant music throughout. So I guess it'd be a no if you don't like musicals but otherwise this is just a jolly good time!

 Here's a four star review from the Fairfax press, check it out for some nice praise and more details on the flick if you're thinking of seeing it.

 Trailer here.

SEX TAPE - film /  by Cut to the chase

I'd read this 1.5 star review in the Fairfax press so I had low expectations. The first little while was actually ok and I was thinking that the review was pretty harsh. 

 And then it all went down hill.

 Given the title, I'm sure you're all clever enough to know that this is about a couple who make a sex tape and then... surprise! It gets out! Hijinx ensues!

 I'd say give this a miss. Maybe on DVD at a stretch. And to anyone who's heard Cameron Diaz is naked in this and wants to perve on her, just Google it & save yourself a lobster. (It's not full frontal or anything!)

 Trailer here.




THE LUNCHBOX - film /  by Cut to the chase

"A mistaken delivery in Mumbai's famously efficient lunchbox delivery system connects a young housewife to an older man."

 This got four stars from both Judith and Jason on At The Movies (filling in for Mum and Dad... I mean, Margaret and David) so I had pretty high hopes for this film and it didn't disappoint. It's poignant, subtle and funny. My one criticism would be that it felt long - longer than it was at a reasonable 101 minutes. There was a few sneaky peeks at my watch which is a sign things are moving slowly for me.

 It's a more arthousey kind of flick (Indian) than mainstream, with some of it subtitled. If that's not your thing, you probably won't love this but if you like more contemplative kind of stuff, go for it.

 More on the lovely and unusual storyline in the At The Movies review here and trailer here.

CALVARY - film /  by Cut to the chase

Loved this film!

 It has so many things you want in a good film - compelling story that maintains your interest, humour, a great cast performing beautifully and an element of the unexpected.

 An Irish crime drama with moments of black humour, I'd highly recommend you get along to this one. Stars Brendan Gleeson, who is off-the-dial good, with great support from Chris O'Dowd and others.

 Read this 4.5 star review in the Fairfax press for more on the story or just to hear more high praise for this flick.

Trailer here.


BLENDED - film /  by Cut to the chase

The only thing crappier than this film was this promotional cup I accidentally bought at the Hoyts candy bar...



 Seriously though, this film was ordinary, full of lame jokes, cliches and unbelievable plot lines.

 I'd confidently say give it a miss but in the interests of fairness, most people in the cinema laughed more than me.

 Here's a 2-star review from the Fairfax press that I reckon is bang on and a trailer for your viewing 'pleasure'.


FRANK - film /  by Cut to the chase

It's pretty easy to 'cut to the chase' on this film because it's so strange that I really don't know how to describe it!

 What I can say though, is that it's really quite charming and I did enjoy it.

 If you like unusual films straight out of left field, give this a go. If you have mainstream taste and don't get to the movies often, I can safely say you ought to give it a miss.

 Here's a nice four star review from The Guardian and here's a trailer. Even if you don't plan to see it, give the trailer a squiz - it's a fascinating concept!

 Stars (though, it's complicated - watch the trailer!) Michael Fassbender for those of you who are fans.

THE ROVER - film /  by Cut to the chase

I really try to support Australian films so I bought my ticket to this one blindly, having read no reviews and not knowing anything other than it is by the same director as 'Animal Kingdom', David Michod, and stars Guy Pearce, who I love, and Robert Pattinson, who many of you will know from his turn in the Twilight flicks. 

 At first I was enjoying this film, which is sort-of thriller/drama, I guess, set in the Australian outback. The story starts with Guy's character Eric's car being stolen and the film is a journey of his desperation to get it back but we don't find out the reason for it until those closing scene of the film and for me, that just made it hard to buy into that desperation. As the film went on I just couldn't help but feel we weren't really getting anywhere. And I was struck by the large amount of violence that doesn't sit comfortably with me personally.

 Regardless, Guy Pearce delivers an excellent performance and Robert was a pleasant surprise to this non-Twilight fan. On that note, any fans of Robert Pattinson's work from that franchise, you need to know that The Rover is a very very different film to those ones!

 If you have mainstream taste and if you don't get to the movies very often, I'd say you should give this a miss. For the smaller pool of people who like more arthouse stuff and who get to the movies regularly, this film will divide you, if the reviews are anything to go by. They are very mixed - a reminder that ultimately even critics using the same techniques to review a film can easily come to different conclusions.

 I've done the reading and broadly grouped them here for those looking for a little extra light reading. Leigh Paatsch's review is probably most in line with my own opinion of the film but I'm listing the positive reviews here too in the interests of balance.

 Positive:
Margaret & David on At The Movies ABC TV - 4 stars from both
Variety Magazine

 Middle of the road:
Paul Byrnes in Fairfax press - 3 stars (Includes a quote to which I actually said "yes!" out loud when I read it - "Michod has tried to take out everything extraneous, but he ends up with a plot that we have to construct ourselves, and a punchline finale that is more suited to a short film than a feature.")

 Not so positive:
Leigh Paatsch in News Ltd press - 2.5 stars
The Guardian - 2 stars
New York Times - 2.5 stars
The UK Telegraph - 2 stars

 Trailer here.




THE FAULT IN OUR STARS - film /  by Cut to the chase

This film is based on a young adult novel of the same name by John Green and you know what, this old "young adult" bloody loved it!

It's not perfect, artful cinema but it's a beautiful execution of a heart-breaking story. We know from the outset that there will be heartbreak on the horizon, after all, leading lady Hazel has a terminal illness, but it breaks you in a way that I for one never expected. 

You connect with the main characters Hazel and Gus straight away and you get swept away in their ultimately tragic young love story.

WARNING: You will cry and cry and cry. It takes a while for the weepy stuff to get started but by gee, when you get going you will wish you had a lot more tissues in your pockets than you probably do. Don't say you weren't warned.

So if you're up for a big ol' cry courtesy of a sweet heartbreaking love story, get thee to a screening of The Fault in Our Stars.

More on the story of the film in this review in The Age which I reckon is on the money.


MALEFICENT - film /  by Cut to the chase

Maleficent, starring Angelina Jolie, is described as a 'fantasy adventure' film, a genre which is not usually my cup of tea to be honest but I didn't mind this. Also described as a re-imagining of the film Sleeping Beauty, this time around it tells the story from the perspective of Maleficent. I don't remember the Sleeping Beauty story at all though so don't sweat that connection too much - the story stands alone just fine.
My mate who took me along to this is more into both fantasy and adventure than I and she really enjoyed it. To quote 'if you like fantasy, this one's for you!'.

 If you don't get to the movies often, I'd probably save this for a DVD viewing.

 Three stars from both Margaret and David on ABC TV's 'At the movies' and I reckon that's about right for me too.

 Trailer here.


THE TRIP TO ITALY - film /  by Cut to the chase

I thought this film was delightful but the reality is that it's not for everyone.

It's a follow up to 'The Trip' which was both a film and TV series. If you liked one of those, you'll enjoy this.

Rob Brydon (who I love) and Steve Coogan play versions of themselves and in this turn they're travelling through Italy eating amazing meals and visiting important sites from the lives of poets Byron and Shelley.

It's an unusual concept which I think many would probably just not particularly enjoy even though there's little you could really object to.

Here's a good review of the film from the Sydney Morning Herald with a trailer.

If you get to the movies pretty regularly and like things a little less mainstream, then check this one out. If you don't get the chance to see one very often and you like your flicks pretty middle-of-the-road then this probably isn't for you.

CHEF - film /  by Cut to the chase

This feel good flick is written and directed by and stars Jon Favreau who will be familiar to many of you. He plays a chef whose creativity and temper see him suddenly looking for a new gig. Hellooo, food truck revolution!

 I don't use 'feel good' as a throw-away cliche, it genuinely does leave you with that 'well that was nice' feeling at the end.

Is it an amazing 5 star kind of film? No. But if you're looking for a movie to see that's easy to watch and just good fun, then check this one out.

There's an unusual incorporation of Twitter which I haven't seen a film before. Again, just good fun. 

 There was a funny line in the film about American reality TV star Honey Boo Boo which was lost on everyone in the cinema if their reaction (*crickets*) was anything to go by. I guess I should be embarrassed that I got it.

 I tend to agree with this review from the Washington Post. Check it out for more on the storyline, cast etc.

Trailer here.


THE OTHER WOMAN - film /  by Cut to the chase

This chick flick with Cameron Diaz at the helm is predictable and lame.

 As the woman sitting next to me said as she left the cinema... "What a pile of crap".

 Couldn't have said it better myself.



Tegan Higginbotham in 'Game changer' - MICF show /  by Cut to the chase

Tegan's a young Aussie comic, this is her third MICF show. I saw her first show as there was a bit of buzz around how good it was and I thought she was great that year. Unfortunately this show doesn't live up to that for me. It's not without laughs and she has a commanding stage presence with great capacity for physical comedy and amusing facial expressions but her show last night just didn't fire. There was quite a few jokes that were a bit niche and clearly went over heads. I got the Harry Potter stuff but jokes that required knowledge of Star Wars, Dr Who and even some about AFL passed me by. I felt for her, it was a small and tough crowd including one rather unhelpful guy who kept checking his phone even after she'd called him out on it who also chimed in with a couple of attempts at humour of his own. She didn't let it derail her too much but I think it just added to the awkward feel of the show. At $24 for a ticket, I'm afraid I'll have to file this under 'give it a miss' this time around but I'm confident she'll be back with great shows in future.

Justin Hamilton in 'Johnny loves Mary forever 1994' - MICF show /  by Cut to the chase

This show is beautifully done. Justin in an Australian comic who, though not overly well know, has been at it for about 20 years. You don't have a career that long if you're not any good at your craft! This show is in large part about Justin's experience performing comedy for soldiers in Afganistan. A review of it that I read made the observation that though it's a nicely crafted show, the subject matter just isn't actually that funny so I actually went in not expecting to laugh all that much but I was pleasantly surprised - there's plenty of laughs.
Happily recommend this but it's probably not quite up there with my favourite shows this year such as David O'Doherty and Celia Pacquola.

Tommy Little in 'Middle class gangster' - MICF show /  by Cut to the chase

Tommy is just delightful. I challenge any of you to see this show and not like him. The show got funnier and funnier as it went along. Chatter with the audience is high risk territory but he does it effortlessly. Some material on sheet thread counts really tickled my funny bone in particular. Middle class indeed. 

 The pedant in me couldn't help but be a teeny bit disappointed by a joke at the expense of the older people in the crowd referring to them going home to watch The Bill. The Bill hasn't been on TV for almost four years! It's such a small thing it seems silly to even mention it but it just took the sting out of that little bit of the show for me. Doctor Blake or Foreign Correspondent or something would've worked better. 

 With a 4.5 star review from the Herald Sun, I doubt you'd be disappointed by this.

David O'Doherty in 'David O'Doherty will try to fix everything' - MICF show /  by Cut to the chase

David is an Irish comedian who's been visiting the Melbourne International Comedy Festival for many years now and I think this is about my fifth year in a row seeing him. I try to mix it up when the festival rolls around and see different people but the fact that I see this guy year after year speaks volumes. He's one of my favorite comedians, I would never hesitate to recommend him as he is reliably damn funny. Traditional stand-up mixed with some really witty songs where he accompanies himself on a small plastic keyboard make a killer and unique combination. This show has received a 5 star review in the Herald Sun.

 What more do you need?! Go see this guy.

Em Rusciano in 'Divorce the musical' - MICF show /  by Cut to the chase

Loved this. As the name makes clear, it's not a stand-up comedy show, it's a very funny musical show chronicling Em's journey to divorce and ultimately the show she's performing before you.

Some of you might remember Em from an early series of Australian Idol. I'm not an Idol watcher so I hadn't seen her sing before this and HOLY MOLY, the girl can hit those notes! That alone is worth the ticket price. She's accompanied by her dad who's a handy little guitarist and back-up vocalist. If they were ever to release an album, I'd buy it in a heartbeat.

If you love a good show, the bells and whistles kind with OTT costumes, fun songs, high kicks and plenty of laughs, then this is for you.


Celia Pacquola in 'Let me know how it all works out' - MIFC show /  by Cut to the chase

Best show I've seen so far this festival! It has everything. Fabulous delivery and belly laugh after belly laugh.

 This show is masterfully crafted, clearly honed over many stand-up gigs in the lead up to the Melbourne International Comedy Festival.

 After Celia's show I felt just like I did after Wil Anderson's show last year - that I'd just seen one of the best in the biz. I hope Celia's performing to crowds as big as Wil's soon, she deserves it.

 Highly recommend this show (der)... go and see it!