BURNT - film

A film that brings together two of my great loves - amazing food and Bradley Cooper - Burnt does not disappoint.

Cooper plays a messed up aggressive chef which in many respects makes him thoroughly unlikeable but I'll be frank: he's HOT and HE SPEAKS FRENCH. IN LIFE AND IN THIS FILM.

The story's probably a tad predictable but if that's it's worst crime, I think it's doing ok.

His pursuit of three Michelin stars in his culinary comeback has ups and downs and one or two surprises in spite of the aforementioned predictability.

I personally loved the food porn element of the film. I love to cook and love to watch others cook, though all the yelling of a professional kitchen depicted in this film is a tad scary! YES CHEF!

Here's a three star review by News Ltd's Leigh Paatsch if you want to know more. I agree with his positive sentiment but also his observation about the supporting cast - there's a lot going on there, probably a little too much.

Happily recommend this one.

Trailer here. In cinemas now.

BRIDGE OF SPIES - film

Directed by Steven Spielberg, co-written by the Coen brothers and staring Tom Hanks, this film has a lot going for it on paper.

Based on a true story, Hanks plays an American insurance lawyer recruited by the CIA to negotiate the recue of a US pilot detained in the Soviet Union during the Cold War.

It's getting great reviews (this four star review in the Sydney Morning Herald, for example) but for me, it's a thriller than never actually got thrilling. It builds to a considerable crescendo but I never ever had that edge-of-your-seat, will-they-won't-they? feeling that comes with a good thriller.

Hanks is fantastic (der) but regardless, I didn't walk out of this film thinking it was amazing or even great. Just good.

Trailer here. In cinemas now.

SLEEPING WITH OTHER PEOPLE - film

This rom com (or "raunch com" as Variety describes it) featuring Alison Brie and Jason Sudeikis does have some funny lines and moments but ultimately it never gets off the ground to be really great.

Despite an admirable attempt to throw you off the scent, it's a predictable ending. I mean, when you throw two people together who are desperately trying to stay just friends in spite of an attraction the audience sees and even they concede, it's hard not to guess how it ends.

Pleasant enough, but can't say I'd suggest rushing to the cinema and laying down a lobster to see this.

Here's the New York Times' review if you want to know more. I think their view can be summarized as being about the same as mine. 

Trailer here. In cinemas Thursday 29 October.

THE INTERN - film

This Intern is light and charming film. Robert De Niro stars as Ben, a widowed retiree in need of intellectual stimulation, who signs up for a senior intern program at an online fashion start-up.

He gets the gig (surprise!) and winds up working for their young, stressed CEO Jules, played by Anne Hathaway.

I don't reckon you don't need to know much more than that. Just know that if you need some pleasant light relief that won't make you think too hard (ok, at all, really), then get along to this one.

Check out this three star review in the Sydney Morning Herald for more.

Trailer here.  In cinemas now.

MISS YOU ALREADY - film

This weep-fest starring Drew Barrymore and Toni Collette is getting quite mixed reviews.

Based on a book by Morwenna Banks which I can only assume is similarly devastatingly sad, this film did get to me (TAKE TISSUES UNLESS YOU ARE MADE OF STONE) but ultimately I didn't like it that much.

Drew and Toni play besties (Jess and Milly respectively) at very different forks in the road of life. Jess and her FIFO partner are desperate to have a baby and Milly and her husband have two primary school age kids when she is struck by a breast cancer diagnosis.

No more details for fear of spoiling but this isn't Drew or Toni's best work. 

I didn't hate it but I didn't like it much either so it's a 'don't rush out for this one' from me. Perhaps watch it on TV when it pops up in future if you're in need of a cathartic wail.

If you're interested in reading more, this is a pretty negative review and this is a pretty positive one. See, mixed!

Trailer here. In cinemas Thursday 8 October.

CUT SNAKE - film

This Australian crime drama set in the 1970s is really great. I didn't know much about it before I saw it and having read some reviews subsequently, I think that's best. There's a significant plot twist in the film which some film critics have seen fit to spoil in their reviews. Honestly!

Sullivan Stapleton plays the lead character Pommie just brilliantly. He is terrifyingly creepy - a truly excellent performance.

My own experience of this film was interrupted by a poorly executed fire evacuation at Cinema Nova unfortunately. "This is not a drill" are words you just don't want to hear. Thankfully it wasn't a big nasty fire because let me tell you, many people would have been in strife if it was. "Evacuate" and "this is not a drill" does not mean get up out of your seat and mill about in the entrance to Lygon Court blocking access for fire fighters. No one seemed to be in charge or giving people any instructions. Epic fail, Cinema Nova.

Anyway, if you enjoyed Animal Kingdom and other films in that genre, I think you'll love this. It's pretty heavy going (lots of violence, for example) but very, very well done.

More on the story in this 3 star review in The Guardian.

Trailer here.

 

ODDBALL - film

Based on a true story, this is a remarkable family film about an otherwise naughty dog coming good when he finds his niche guarding penguins in Warrnambool. 

It's delightful - highly recommend for school holiday viewing with the kids.

For more on the film, check out this three star review in The Guardian.

Trailer here.

EVEREST - film

Based on a true story, this film follows a group attempting to trek to the peak of Mt Everest.

It did have a bit of a 'gents climb the mountain while the ladies fret at home' vibe but since it's based on a true story, I guess I shouldn't quibble.

It certainly paints a clear picture of how incredibly challenging the expedition is. I spent most of the time thinking to myself WHY ARE YOU PEOPLE DOING THIS?! But then, I'm not exactly known for a desire to push myself to the brink physically so I guess I can't relate!

The cast includes Jake Gyllenhaal, Josh Brolin, Robin Wright, Keira Knightly (whose  attempt at a New Zealand accent is dreadful), Sam Worthington and more. I was totally invested in their journey, much more so than I expected to be.

No spoilers here, just see it if adventure thriller is your thing. If it's not, you can probably give this a miss. I guess I'm saying it's good and I enjoyed it a lot more than I expected, but I can't say I'd encourage you to race out for it.

Four stars from The Independent UK and two stars from The Guardian. Probably somewhere in the middle for me.

Trailer here. In cinemas now.

HOLDING THE MAN - film

This is one of the best Australian films I've seen, certainly in recent memory.

Based on a 1995 memoir about growing up gay in Australia in the 1970s by Timothy Conigrave, it's a spectacularly beautiful love story. 

Ryan Corr as Timothy and Craig Stott as the love of his life John, both give stunning performances. There's a few laughs but this is no comedy. It's a very sad film and I'd urge you to take tissues!

There's an impressive supporting cast too - Anthony La Paglia, Sarah Snook, Guy Pierce, Geoffrey Rush and young Melbourne comedian Tegan Higginbotham with a small role.

This review in The Age gives it 3.5 stars but it's more like 4 for me. (More on the film & story in this review also if you want further reading.)

Trailer here.
 

STRAIGHT OUTTA COMPTON - film

Allow me to start with a confession.

What I know about Compton can be summarised by this picture:

Yes they're cheerleaders, but they're financially challenged cheerleaders.

Anyway the point is, the film Straight Outta Compton, which chronicles the rise of hip hop group NWA, is arguably not my cup of tea. I may or may not have told someone it was about The Beastie Boys before I'd really read up on it.

I really thought I wouldn't enjoy it at all but the great joy of low expectation is the potential for it to be exceeded, as it was when I watched this film. Same can be said of the friend I saw it with. Double endorsement!

I enjoyed watching the dramatisation of how this group of young guys fought to make their musical dreams come true in the face of considerable adversity. That said, at 2.5 hours long it was 1 hour too long.

It's going gangbusters at the US box office which is a great sign. And The Guardian's Mark Kermode gave it 3 out of 5 stars which is about right for me. 

Trailer here.

A WALK IN THE WOODS – film

Based on author Bill Bryson’s autobiography of the same name, this film follows Bill (Robert Redford) and his childhood friend Katz’s (Nick Nolte) hiking journey of the 1000 mile Appalachian Trail in America.

Cue light-hearted gags about old guys doing things they might not be up to.

If you thought it would be tough for a Robert Redford-type to walk 1000 miles through the bush (complete with snow at times), spare a thought for the Nick Nolte-type. Crikey, that guy has done some rough livin’.

Exhibit A:

 

I read a review of this film that called it “pleasant enough to watch, but by no means riveting or revolutionary” and I thought it a perfect summary.

Trailer here.

LAST CAB TO DARWIN - film

 

This Aussie film follows Rex, Michael Caton, on his journey to Darwin, undertaken after discovering he has terminal cancer and that the NT is legislating to allow medically supervised euthanasia.

Knowing that about the film I'd prepared for it to be sad & packed a bunch of tissues but it's really quite uplifting. I didn't cry once actually, though there was some poignant moments. It's a drama but told with wry Australian humour so there is some laughs to be had.

There was one let-down for me. AFL commentator Brian Taylor plays a football coach and how the fact that he cannot act very well escaped the notice of the film makers is beyond me. 

Michael Caton, on the other hand, was excellent.

I was surprised to find about 40-50 people in the same suburban cinema as me when I went to see it. Perhaps this film has more legs than most Australians films of late. I enjoyed it but it probably doesn't make it up into rush-out-and-see-this territory.

A 3.5 star Leigh Paatsch review in the Herald Sun here if you want to read more.

Trailer here.

MR HOLMES - film

Ian McKellen as an ageing Sherlock Holmes. The guy is good. Soooo good. 
Truly, I don't think I've seen McKellen be better. 
I mean, I'm not across his back catalogue or anything, but you get the idea.

This film is current day 93 year old Holmes living with housekeeper Laura Linney and her young son. Holmes and the young boy form a lovely bond though it's a bit sad that it's often in unity against Linney's Mrs Munroe. It's a nice story of connection between the two but the other story running through the film is better, to my mind. As current day Holmes is increasingly losing his memory to dementia, he's trying to remember an intriguing case from back in the day for a book he's writing. The two stories run together pretty effortlessly.

I suspect it's a fairly sugar-coated depiction of dementia but I guess given everyone's experience of the disease is different, it's not for me to judge.

Here's a four star review from the Sydney Morning Herald if you want to know more. Happily recommend this.

Trailer here.
 

TRAINWRECK - film

The stars of Trainwreck Amy Schumer and Bill Hader visited Australia from the US to promote this film and promote they did! It seems like they were on every TV show, radio show, print publication and blog in town.

So when the celebs come to town and your favourite hosts on The Today Show, Nova, The Project etc interview them, you know they pretend to have liked the movie even when they thought it was crap, right?! I mean, I get it, it would be super awkward if Karl Stefanovic said on national TV to Angelina Jolie "This movie is really terrible... did you get that feeling as you were making it or did it only become clear when you watched the finished product?"

So when everyone in the media was raving about Trainwreck, I wondered whether to believe the hype.

BELIEVE THE HYPE, PEOPLE!

I wanted to love this film because I love Amy Schumer, an accomplished stand-up comic, who wrote the film and stars as the leading lady; a character based on herself of many years ago. And I did love it, damn it!

It's laugh-out-loud-funny (including some great slapstick humour which I personally love) but more than that, which I confess I was surprised by. I cried at the heartfelt moments and not just an attractive tear rolling down the cheek 'cry' but actual red-face crying.

Amy and Bill are both so great in this but you want a surprise package? Check out basketballer LeBron James as himself! An excellent and seemingly effortless performance. Also Tilda Swinton who is barely recognisable but also excellent, as always.

Finally, any film that acknowledges that Billy Joel's Uptown Girl is a bloody awesome song gets my tick of approval.

If you don't get to the movies very often but enjoy a laugh, make this one happen!

Check out this four star review in the New York Post if you want to know more.

Trailer here.

(Opens 6 August in Australia but keep an eye out for sneak preview screenings in the meantime.)

RUBEN GUTHRIE - film

I've thought about this Australian film a lot since I saw it earlier this week. I'm a bit up and down as to whether I like it and could recommend it. That probably makes me a crappy blogger but I always want to be honest with you, dear readers.

Ruben (Patrick Brammall) is an advertising guru who's living the high life - amazing house by the Sydney Harbour, hot model girlfriend, booze, booze and more booze. You get the picture.

His girlfriend gets fed up and skips town but says she'll give it another shot if he stays sober for a year. Ruben has an emotional watershed moment pretty early on the film and you know what? I just felt no empathy for him. We just hadn't been given enough reasons to care about this guy yet. It was a strange moment in the film.

What follows is an interesting look at how unbelievably hard it must be to give up the grog when it's under your nose constantly. Alex Dimitriades is great as his camp mate who presents constant temptations because he's so bored by how dull Ruben is sober and that's just one of the many things luring him back to the bottle.

Also a shout out to my home girl Robyn Nevin (Ruben's mum) who I just love. This isn't her best work but seriously, even her worst work is great.

If I must summarize it, I guess I'd put it in the middle of the road. Certainly not terrible but also not amazing. If you do see this, I'd love to hear what you think.

The Herald Sun's Leigh Paatsch called it "irksomely uneven" in his review which I guess is in keeping with my experience. He gave it two stars.

For a more positive take on it, here's a 3.5 star Sydney Morning Herald review which is also a good source of background on the film is you're keen to know more.

Trailer here.

GOING CLEAR: SCIENTOLOGY & THE PRISON OF BELIEF - film

I wouldn't usually blog about a film having seen it so far into the run in cinemas, but Going Clear rates a mention regardless of circumstances.

If you have even a passing interest in psychology, faith, Scientology, spirituality, Hollywood, vulnerability, power, the infamous break-up of Nicole Kidman and Tom Cruise, cults, whether Tom Cruise is really as bonkers as he seems (think, jumping on the couch on Oprah), religion, people's need for guidance or 'answers', L. Ron Hubbard ETC ETC ETC, then you should see this.

All you need to know is that it's a FASCINATING documentary about the Church of Scientology, in which former members give some truly alarming accounts of what goes on in their very secretive world.

Check out this piece in Vanity Fair 'The six most disturbing moments from HBO's Scientology documentary Going Clear'.

Here's a five star review of the film from The Guardian if you want to know more.

Trailer here.

TERMINATOR: GENISYS - film

The latest installment in the Terminator series of films (number 5) is what I imagine the previous installments are. That's right, I haven't seen them. Well, I think I might have seen Terminator 2, or at least some of it... if you're getting the impression this isn't exactly my genre, you'd be right.

So here's what I reckon. 

I was pretty confused by this film. I wonder if it would have helped to see the previous installments but I can't be sure. I enjoyed it more than I thought I would but I thought I wouldn't at all so the bar couldn't have been any lower really.

Arnie features but as someone who's more into politics than Terminator movies, I found it very hard to process him as something other than a Governor. At a stretch, I can just picture him as a kindergarten teacher (or 'cop', if you like) saying "It's not a tumor".

I think if you've enjoyed the previous Terminator flicks you should consider seeing this. I'm not saying you'll enjoy it, I'm just saying you're the only hope this film has. I think if you haven't seen them or didn't enjoy them you should definitely give it a miss.

If you're considering it and want to know more, check out this one star review in The Guardian and this three star review in Rolling Stone magazine. (Three stars is as good as it gets, as far as I can tell.)

Trailer here.

INSIDE OUT - film

The latest animated flick from the Pixar crew, this one doesn't disappoint.

11 year old Riley moves to a new town with her parents and the main characters in the film are the feelings in Riley's subconscious as she deals with the move; Joy, Anger, Sadness, Disgust and Fear. Amy Poehler is the voice of their ringleader Joy and just bring so much, well, joy to the role.

As you could imagine, when an 11 year old moves to a new town it's not all smooth sailing. Sadness especially keeps creeping in and even Joy struggles to maintain the joy sometimes. I confess I shed a few tears. It's just lovely.

I think kids will love this and the parents who go with them will like it too. Like I said, not all joy, but the 'lessons', if you could call them that, aren't phoney or lame, just real-world emotion processing going on.

It's getting rave reviews and I can only add my voice to the chorus. Paul Byrnes from Sydney Morning Herald says in his review that it's an "astonishingly good movie, not just a great animation".

Trailer here.

ALOHA - film

It's not a good sign when a film director is getting publicity for apologising for his film. Oh dear, Cameron Crowe.

He says it's "misunderstood", I say it's "crap".

It's pretty hard to get past the fact that Emma Stone (above left) who is very much not either Hawaiian or Chinese plays a woman who is supposedly a quarter Hawaiian and a quarter Chinese. And it's actually part of the story. She talks about that heritage. It's ridiculous, you guys.

I thought about how to explain the convoluted plot to you in a 'cut to the chase' style but you know what, given my message is to stay well away from this one, I'm not going to bother.

Just take my word for it and give it a miss. Happily I didn't have to pay to see it but if I'd dropped down a lobster to see this I'd be disappointed, to put it mildly.

The one saving grace for me personally is that it also stars Bradley Cooper who has the most beautiful face I have EVER seen. I could stare at him for days.

If you want to read more about the film check out this review in Variety. To give you the flavour of it, it opens with "Unbalanced, unwieldy, and at times nearly unintelligible..."

If you want to read about Cameron Crowe's defence of the film, check out this Fairfax article.

Trailer here.

ENTOURAGE - film

A spin-off from a the very popular TV show of the same name, this film follows movie star Vincent Chase (Adrian Grenier) and his 'entourage' made up of hopeless and not-nearly-as-attractive-as-Vince brother Drama and childhood friends E and Turtle.

This film has had some pretty stinking reviews so I went in with fairly low expectations. They were exceeded! I laughed a lot mainly thanks to the cutting humour of Vince's one time manager, now movie studio head, Ari Gold played by Jeremy Piven.

If you enjoyed the TV show, I reckon this will give you what you want in the main. It's still Vince, E, Drama and Turtle being the same old guys kicking around Hollywood trying to make it big. In the film, Vince is having his first run as a film director which plays out fairly predictably but not in an unpleasant way.

My only significant criticism of it is that I HATED the ending. I don't want to spoil it but I will say this - you can't spend eight seasons of a TV show making us believe a character is a complete loser and then expect us to suddenly believe he's a winner.

Two star review from the Sydney Morning Herald here if you want to hear what a proper critic thinks and/or know more about the story.

Trailer here.