Melancholia - thank goodness for small planets!

Starring Kirsten Dunst, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Kiefer Sutherland.
Directed by Lars von Trier.
Classification: M (Sexual references, nudity and coarse language), 136 mins.

 If Tree of Life (2011) is at one end of the life-affirming poetic spectrum, Melancholia is at the extreme end of life-negating. Interspersed with the occasional beautiful landscape scene that are zooming stills (thank goodness for small mercies), the ENTIRE rest of the film in shot in annoying, unsettling, HandyCam - not even SteadyCam, yes jumpy close-ups of switching of dialogue. The background sound, equally annoying, is the radio waves of the approaching planet screeching, ebbing and overtaking, and utterly distracting. The characters are so unlikeable, by the end of two-and-a-half hours (of my life that I never get back watching this film), you feel like cheering on the little planet of Melancholia to destruction!

Set in two parts - part one "Justine' (Kirsten Dunst) is undoubtedly hauntingly beautiful - albeit self sabotaging, irresponsible, and downright hurtful to her newly-wed husband and the meticulous planning of the wedding reception by her perfectionist sister Claire (Charlotte Gainsbourg). Needless to say it mostly likely the shortest marriage in history, even by Hollywood actor standards - though painfully for the audience, stretches into at least about a year an hour on film.


If by any chance you happen to be able to sit through part one - part two "Claire" is equally uneventful, another hour of "will the planet Melancholia hit earth or not?" - in between the vague premise of who will have the first breakdown, Claire or Justine is equally irritating. Meanwhile Claire's husband John (Kiefer Sutherland), has a fascination with astrology and owns a mansion complete with butler - which seems to be the only reason his character is in this film.


Did I happen to mention the whole film was shot in HandyCam! Yes, yes it is stylistic Director choice though I can't help but imagine what the heck Lars was thinking.

Don't let me put you off though if you're a Lars fan, and trust me you'd want to be... and if you can find it in a playing cinema - which should probably hint at something - it is showing in limited release through Palace, Chauvel, and Dendy.

Beware of quick political fixes - "Ides of March" review

Drama - USA - 101 mins
Release Nov 2011
Directed by George Clooney
Screenplay by George Clooney & Grant Heslov

 A friend once said "Words, words, words... only just words - show me your heart by your actions". Nothing could be truer than in the game of politics. This film had me hmm-ing all the way through it! It seems the political system is forecasted to continue as it always has - new leader, same words, corrupt action - a snapshot of the current world political leaders set in a microcosm of the USA. Will "we" ever learn to discriminate hype from policy?


A brilliant script by Clooney et al, and naturally brilliantly acted by Clooney as soon-to-be destined President of United States Mike Morris and naive presidential believer Stephen Meyers (Ryan Gosling). Phillip Seymour Hoffman as political adviser Paul Zara and Paul Giamatti as opposition candidate adviser Tom Duffy also play definitive roles in this way too believable story arc.

To say I loved this film would be wrong - it made me sad. It is, however a powerful awakening to really listen to what is being put "out there" from global leaders.

Showing nationally, Dendy and Palace Cinemas.

Midnight in Paris - for intelligent audiences

For the Romantic at Heart
94 min  -  Comedy - Fantasy - "Magic Realism" - Romance
Written and Directed by Woody Allen
2011 USA

As a writer, isn't it everyone's fantasy to meet the literary greats? Throw in the heady mix of Picasso, Monet, Dali, a surrealist and philosopher or two, 1920s Golden Age of music, wine and dance and you've got yourself one heck of a wild imaginal trip!

Gil (Owen Wilson) is a Hollywood screenwriter and considers himself a "hack". He's on a journey to write a truly inspired literary novel though is having immense difficulty. Inez (Rachel McAdams) his fiance isn't exactly supportive, along with her "old moneyed" parents (Kurt Fuller and Mimi Kennedy). 




In classic Woody Allen style, it's clear Gil and Inez aren't meant for each other... though insecure, and perhaps naive Gil persists with the relationship while the whole time dreaming about walking in the Parisian rain and being born into the wrong era. 

Lost in the streets of Paris one evening the clock chimes midnight and suddenly a vintage yellow Rolls Royce comes to his rescue - inside are of course F. Scott & Zelda Fitzgerald.

Owen Wilson plays this character perfectly! And for those who have remarked Australian audiences are lazy (sorry Margaret P)... I challenge you to indulge in this wonderful fantasy and witty dialogue. 

It's one of those film scripts you wish you had of written - if only you'd thought of it first. Loved every minute of it. Showing Nationally now.

Just for the Fun of it!

To dance is to be out of yourself. Larger, more beautiful, more powerful. ~Agnes De Mille

Bright Young Things - young film-makers Festival

Short Film Festival by first-time festival director Rachel Cormack!

Sydney, 20 October 2011

Upcoming AFTRS graduate of Screen Studies explores the pitfalls and joys of being a short-film festival director/curator, with outstanding results. The six short films that made the final cut were delightfully varied, yet intricately linked, showcasing Australia indeed has some very talented Bright Young Things.


The six films that made "the cut" were (in order of appearance):

Lewis Johns
Directed by Lewis Johns, featuring model Rhys Wakefield

 


A stunningly poetic film on the beauty and vulnerability of youth.

http://rhyswakefield.net/2009/12/new-short-film/



Clouds
Writer/Director/Cinematographer Alexander Lee

An intelligent short film on the premise of What if... de ja vu was really a destined event you had already experienced in the future, and knowing this in advance could you prevent it? Special mention to the producer Joel Bell, another bright young thing! Clouds premiered at Dungog Film Festival 2011, IF Awards 2011. JUDGES HONOURABLE MENTION AWARD. http://www.facebook.com/cloudsfilm


Reception
Directed by Dane McCusker

A horror awaits an ambivalent teen mother as she works the night-shift at a low-budget hostel. Another debut short at Dungog Film Festival and IF Awards. Well done.


http://www.ifawards.com/film/reception


The Fear
Directed and Produced by Matt Burgess

Do you remember losing your virginity? A drug-hazed teenager is trying to forget.
Matt Burgess is a film-maker, artist, singer, song writer - a really bright young thing.


http://wickedmirandaproductions.tumblr.com/tagged/the_fear
  
 Abbie
Directed by Erin Good
A comedy about idealistic, creative young girl entering the workforce and the conflicts of reality versus fantasy. Look out for some wonderful animation of Abbie's mind. WINNER of Bright Young Things Award 2011. Well done.


http://www.eringood.com/films/abbie-2



Camera Obscura
Directed and created by Marta Maia
My personal favourite of the festival is this superb stop-motion short film. Sometimes the only way to change the world is to let in the light and to block out the darkness. Loved it!
http://vimeo.com/martamaia







Congratulations Rachel Cormack! A fantastic success and a wonderful opportunity for young film-makers 18-28 yrs to showcase their work. It was an absolute pleasure to view all these bright young things short films.

Steve Jobs - a mythical hero's journey

The hero is introduced in his ORDINARY WORLD where he receives the CALL TO ADVENTURE.  He is RELUCTANT at first to CROSS THE FIRST THRESHOLD where he eventually encounters TESTS, ALLIES and ENEMIES.  He reaches the INNERMOST CAVE where he endures the SUPREME ORDEAL.  He SEIZES THE SWORD or the treasure and is pursued on the ROAD BACK to his world.  He is RESURRECTED and transformed by his experience.  He RETURNS to his ordinary world with a treasure, boon, or ELIXIR to benefit his world.

Steve Jobs was this hero. The man that turned a computer programmer into an artist, a geek into a cool kid, and didn't stop there... wherever there was a huge clunky devise being used he transformed them into sleek, slim, and hip.

The Macintosh completely changed my career world around and for that alone I'm eternally grateful! 

Let's hope that if ever there is film made about him (and I'm sure there will be) that it is in a form fitting the legend's journey. PIXAR please. 

Watch Steve's unveiling of the first Apple Macintosh in America in 1984 here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2B-XwPjn9YY&feature=player_embedded

Death becomes Him - Alan Ball in conversation

Wil Anderson in conversation with Alan Ball 

Alan Ball: Vampires, Death and the Mundane:

Sydney Opera House

8 September 2011

Bringing the miraculous within the mundane is Alan Ball's catch cry... and he certainly doesn't disappoint with iconic films such American Beauty (1999) and Towelhead (2007), and multi-award TV series as Six Feet Under (2001-2005) and True Blood (2008-).

Why the fascination Wil asks? In true multi-layered styles as complex as his movie and television series are, Alan Ball responds:

As a graduate from Florida State University in Theatre Arts, Alan Ball originally sought to be an actor. As it is be known to happen, acting roles are scarce to newcomers and so he began writing "parts" for himself and colleagues...  he realised writing was what he really wanted to do.

Thinking about Alan Ball as a writer, comedy isn't usually first thing that springs to mind, though one of his first TV writing gigs was a sitcom called Oh, Grow Up, a talking dog whose thoughts were communicated via subtitles. Universally hated... the talking dog went on to become something of a grounding experience. While accolades were on American Beauty, his sitcom was deemed unwatchable. Should of given the dog a voice (and some drugs to smoke) maybe.

However, death and the mundane obviously featured prominently throughout the evening, and in fact his career. Ball, having been traumatized by the death his sister at a young age, he identified with the 'normalization' of suppressing grief and emotion that he experienced in funeral homes. His own mother was whisked off behind a curtain at the first visible sign of grieving at her daughter's funeral and his own feelings toward viewing the open casket. Later, these experiences and observations would go on to inform and personify the setting for writing a pilot for the HBO series of Six Feet Under.

 Though the subject matter isn't as morbid as the title suggests. Six Feet Under, for those that haven't experienced it, is a series that deals with, comedy (albeit dark), life, grief, denial, guilt and everything that engulfs the people that are "left behind". Ultimately, it suggests themes of: how well do we really know our loved ones - their secret lives revealed only after death. Each character's story within the series is explored fully, with Alan Ball creating a revolutionary approach to a television series where equality prevails on screen. A humanistic approach.

The prelude to this series has related moments in the film American Beauty. It touches on insanity, insecurity, fantasy, desire, conformity, the alluring of the scary but beautiful things that are behind the doors of suburbia.

Moments of Ball's ingrained observation appear throughout his body of work such as: the memory of watching a plastic bag 'dance' through an empty World Trade Centre Plaza as it mesmerised him for fifteen minutes, creating a feeling that there was this entire 'life' behind things, an incredible benevolent force that wanted him to know there was no reason to be afraid, ever. A scene that was beautifully depicted in the film.

The teenage girl's dialogue captured so wonderfully between Angela and Jane in the film (...you total slut, you have a crush on him. You're defending him, you love him, you wanna have, like, ten thousand of his babies...) was also inspired by an attending a U2 concert when a teenage fan got up in front of Ball and screamed "I love you Edge, I wanna have, like, ten thousand of your babies!"

On True Blood and vampires, Ball cites same same, but different, themes of sex, desire, danger, equating vampires = sex.

First encountering Charlaine Harris' Sookie Stackhouse novels arriving, thirty minutes early to the dentist and wandering into a neighbouring bookstore, he was drawn to the vampire shelf and consequently read the first novel in a day. Taken by the novel, excuse the pun(s), he could immediately envision his next television series.

Alan Ball is a funny guy (fantastic humour)! A Buddhist, an activist, an ultimate observer of life and what it is to be human, Wil Anderson asked how he'd like to go. Ball replied that he would like to have his cremated ashes stuffed inside a talking dog.

Go now to your nearest DVD outlet and purchase his work... you'll want to watch it more than once!