AICN Downunder: NARNIA 3, I LOVE YOU TOO, And New Guillermo Del Toro
Published at: May 11, 2009, 1:22 a.m. CST by mrbeaks
I know how to do it now. There are nearly thirteen million people in the world. None of those people is an extra. They're all the leads of their own stories. They have to be given their due.
AICN-DOWNUNDER
After the WOLVERINE screening the other week, I drove home and half-heartedly began writing my review. Realising I had no creative momentum, I abandoned it with the plan that I'd return to it the following day. A few days later, the film was out and it seemed pointless to bother. If a film really sucks (like, say, X-MEN III), I can use that energy of anger and frustration to write a negative review. But what if a film is mediocre, boring, un-energised? What if it's not actually bad, but rather consistently bland (with occasional moments of badness, I'll admit)? What if there's nothing to say about it?
Though it filmed largely in Australia and featured a big cast and crew filled with Aussies, it is thankfully drowned out by three films currently playing in cinemas that you must go and see.
The first is SAMSON AND DELILAH. When I first reviewed it, a part of me wondered if my own adoration of the film would be echoed by others in the media. Boy, was it ever. The film is getting five star reviews all over the place, a nice slew of positivity that coincides with the film getting into Cannes. It's a huge relief to see something genuinely Australian and genuinely brilliant garner so much deserved attention.
The second film you have to go and see is MARY AND MAX. Adam Elliot's feature film follow-up to HARVIE KRUMPET is an astonishing character piece, a truly beautiful movie that exceeded the expectations Elliot had thrust upon him when he collected his Oscar.
The third film is STAR TREK. You hardly need convincing to go and see this, so I'm simply going to talk up the Australian connection: TREK features Eric Bana and Melbourne actor Chris Hemsworth (as George Kirk), and both are brilliant in their relatively-short screen time.
You're all going to see TREK, as well you should, and I wouldn't even begrudge you a second viewing. But SAMSON AND DELILAH and MARY AND MAX should be viewed as well, and I don't say that as if it's some sort of community service you'd be performing. Too often, Australian audiences are lambasted for not "supporting Australian movies", as if it's we who must cater to them. Finally, Australian movies are catering to audiences, and it is you who will benefit from seeing these films in the cinema.
NEWS
Speaking of Australian films completely and utterly ruling, THE HORSEMAN has just signed a deal with LA sales agent Media 8 Entertainment. Hopefully, this will see the film attaining wide distribution, especially here in the goddamn country it was made in. Hmph. For more details, as well as a look at a new poster for the film, check in with Inside Film by clicking here.
I LOVE YOU TOO is the first script by Melbourne comedian Peter Hellier, and production began last week. The romantic comedy stars Brendan Cowell (NOISE), Peter Dinklage (THE STATION AGENT), Megan Gale (almost JUSTICE LEAGUE), Yvonne Strahovski ("Chuck"), and Hellier himself. The film is being directed by comic-turned-director Daina Reid.
Michael Apted, as was previously reported by others and then forgotten by myself, will direct the third NARNIA movies, THE VOYAGE OF THE DAWN TREADER, which is currently preparing to film from July-through-to-November in Queensland. Which is in Australia. Between NARNIA and GREEN LANTERN, I say hooray for our weak dollar and its ability to lure exciting Hollywood projects!
Further to that sentiment, DON'T BE AFRAID OF THE DARK is preparing to shoot in Melbourne. Don't know it? It's written by Matthew Robbins and Guillermo Del Toro. The film will be directed by Troy Nixey, and will likely star Katie Holmes, best known for her recent tabloid work. Given the current state of employment, the best news is probably the five hundred full-time (or thereabouts) jobs it will create, which is the key point being promoted by the very-excited Victorian State Government.
AWARDS, FESTIVALS AND SCREENINGS
2009 Russian Resurrection Film Festival
The annual Russian Film Festival once again comes to Australia, scooting around most of the major capital cities between August and September. To find out more info and book tickets, go to the Palace Cinema Como (Melbourne), the Chauvel Cinema (Sydney), the Palace Centro Cinema (Brisbane), the Cinema Paradiso (Perth), or the Palace Nova Eastend (Adelaide).
2009 Tribeca Film Festival
Victorian College of the Arts graduate Anna McGrath saw her film SMALL CHANGE pick up the Student Visionary Award at this year's Tribeca. Said the Tribeca jurors: "The filmmaker uses minimal storytelling to achieve maximum emotional impact and we commend the terrific performances of the young actors."
BOX OFFICE
It was inevitable that WOLVERINE was going to get a lot of people in, but don't expect it to stay there for long. The inevitable negative word-of-mouth, combined with this weekend's STAR TREK opening, should push this down a whole bunch.
1. X-MEN ORIGINS: WOLVERINE
2. FAST AND FURIOUS
3. DEFIANCE
4. 17 AGAIN
5. THE BOY IN THE STRIPED PYJAMAS
RELEASED THESE PAST TWO WEEKS
Jon Hewitt's film is unburied, the Germans make a movie about a shopping centre, the sequel to DE-LOVELY looks at Cole Porter getting engaged, Matthew McConnaughey forces me to question the validity of his existence, the PARIS series of films finally completes its twelfth trilogy, I am told by a reliable source that this is the worst Australian movie ever made, I might have mentioned that this is one of the best Australian movies ever made, STAR TREK wins me back big time, Charlie Kaufman proves his previous films were straightforward linear romps in comparison to this, John Polson and Russell Crowe fail to make an impact, and the X-MEN series yawns and puts the result on screen.
ACOLYTES
THE BAADER-MEINHOF COMPLEX
DEFIANCE
GHOSTS OF GIRLFRIENDS PAST
PARIS 36
PREY SAMSON AND DELILAH STAR TREK
SYNECDOCHE, NEW YORK
TENDERNESS
X-MEN ORIGINS: WOLVERINE
REVIEWS
SYNECDOCHE, NEW YORK
Australian/NZ release: May 7
There are two extremes when it comes to reviewing movies. On the one hand, you have something like STAR TREK , which excites you, surprises you, and makes you want to write thousands more words than anyone will reasonably read. At the other end of the scale are films like NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN, which I'm almost unable to write about, because I feel I need at least a year to mull over its meanings and depths. I know they were there, but I'm also aware that I'm not conscious of them all.
SYNECDOCHE, NEW YORK falls into the latter category. I've just seen it a few hours ago, and I want to capture my thoughts on it before they coagulate into something overly standard (like, say, a rating out of ten) which would go against the very grain of the film. Right now, I am in a state of confusion, and it only befits the nature of SYNECDOCHE that I write my review in this state.
Going in, I expected something lighter, something funnier. I think, based on the description, I was expecting something akin to a Michel Gondry Bjork clip. Certainly, there's no denying the influence that Michel Gondry, Charlie Kaufman, and Spike Jonze have all had on one another. But Kaufman's first attempt at directing a film goes several levels beyond the progression we'd been seeing. ETERNAL SUNSHINE was, by and large, perfect, and its surreal (yet never inexplicable) style was, we hoped, an indication of what was to come. SYNECDOCHE is not the logical child of ETERNAL SUNSHINE; it's the great-grandchild, several steps beyond into a new style of storytelling we've not yet seen on this sort of scale.
Actually, that's not entirely true. We have seen this level of surrealism on a large scale and featuring movie stars: just look to David Lynch's backlog. And it's fitting, because SYNECDOCHE feels like Kaufman's INLAND EMPIRE. I'm on the record as listing INLAND as one of the worst films I saw in 2007, even though Lynch is one of my favourite directors, and if I'm honest, I'm still struggling with my feelings on the film. Love it or hate it, it's the closest we'll get to seeing inside of Lynch's mind; it's a subconscious free-for-all, where his brain is put on screen without any sort of structure to filter it. Similarly, SYNECDOCHE takes into Kaufman's mind, and it's a frightening place.
I have my own theories about what happened and what didn't, and over the next few days/weeks/months, I'll try to coagulate them into something tangible that I, at least, can understand. But for the time being, I'll simply recommend that you ignore everything you've heard thus far about the film, and see it for yourself. This is a film that deserves the discussion.
DVD REVIEWS
WALTZ WITH BASHIR (Region 4, Madman Entertainment)
The film: Last year, I had trouble deciding whether WALTZ WITH BASHIR or NOT QUITE HOLLYWOOD was the Best Film of the Year. I let my patriotism factor in, and the scale tipped towards NQH, but it really should have been a draw. It's difficult to overstate the brilliance of WALTZ WITH BASHIR. Serious film collectors tend to have a collection that lives on the scale of Important Weighty Cinema and Guilty Pleasure Easy-To-Watch Movie. WALTZ sits perfectly in-between the two poles. It's easy to see its importance; it's a story about an ex-Israeli soldier trying to recover his apparently lost memory of his military years. It's an animated documentary, which at time appears to be rotoscoped (though it's not) and other times takes flight into Miyazaki-like fantastical exaggeration. The Miyazaki comparison is apt; few other films have used a slightly-surreal filter to capture mundane truths, such as what it's like to simply be in a place. It is difficult to argue BASHIR's place as an important film. What's baffling is how rewatchable it is. I eagerly watched it a second time, and now as I write this, I'm jonesing to watch it a third. It's a truly beautiful, captivating, and addictive film, and you really don't expect it to be. It is absolutely essential viewing. I cannot overstress this.
The extras: The package isn't brilliant, but as far as I can tell, the Region 4 release is superior to the Region 1 and 2 releases. We get an interview with director Ari Folman (as seen on "At the Movies") and a trailer for the film. Though I would have loved, well, an extra disc of material, I'm quite happy with simply having the movie in high quality.
Should you buy it: Yes, yes, a hundred times yes. It ticks every box, invents some new boxes, and ticks those as well. Go, buy now. NOW.
NEXT WEEK
- The WGA introduces a new 140 character screenplay format in advance of the murder mystery series for the Twitter generation, MURDER, SHE TWOTE
- Pixar issues new warning to Disney ahead of the TOY STORY 3 release: if Woody persists for more than two sequels, consult Pete Docter
- Vin Diesel and Paul Walker agree to explore the undeniable homoerotic undertones of their movies in THE FAST AND BICURIOUS
