Reviews
"Kingsman: The Golden Circle" & "mother!" Reviewed
Let’s find out if the second fitting of the Kingsman’s self-aware spy garb still makes the cut; and discuss the harrowing, controversial and ambitious thriller from Darren Aronofsky starring Jennifer Lawrence.
"Blade Runner 2049" Review
There’s not going to be a more stunningly composed film this year than “Blade Runner 2049”. Director Denis Villeneuve and cinematographer Roger Deakins have crafted a remarkable, immersive, sensory experience that embraces you wholly. For the cast Ryan Gosling, Sylvia Hoeks, Harrison Ford and Jared Leto, each scene comes with mood altering atmosphere. The world of “Blade Runner 2049” doesn’t feel like a creation rather that it exists and Villeneuve and Deakins have created a viewing portal into a prospective future.
“I Am Not Your Negro” (2016) Review
Raul Peck’s Oscar nominated documentary is a manifestation of the profound intellect of author and activist James Arthur Baldwin. “I Am Not Your Negro,” is possibly one of the most revelatory, insightful and prescient visual documents on civil rights and race that has ever been committed to screen.
“The Hitman’s Bodyguard” (2017) Review
“The Hitman’s Bodyguard,” has one overwhelming positive going for it, and that’s the chemistry of the leads Reynolds and Jackson.
“The Trip to Spain” (2017) Review
The delight of “The Trip to Spain” is getting back with these two gents who seem to relish a relaxing holiday, badgering one another about their different stages of an extended mid-life existential crisis.
“Baby Driver” (2017) Review
“Baby Driver” is not like any heist movie that you’ve ever seen before. Writer/director Edgar Wright’s meticulousness and mastery takes a keen eye on first viewing to get a hint at the level of fastidious planning that went into every aspect of the film.
Revisionist History and "Churchill" (2017) Review
“Churchill” is to its subject what the “The Green Berets” was to the Vietnam War. “Berets” attempted to make a World War Two heroic propaganda in the wrong war. “Churchill” wants to humanise the man and instead devolves into a blatantly misleading revisionist history.
“Song to Song” (2017) Sydney Film Festival Review
“Song to Song” feels like the memory Malick intended, if he suffered a traumatic brain injury.
Ultim-APE-um: “War for the Planet of the Apes” (2017) Review
Reeves and Bomback may be playing with actors in leotards, and the incredible CGI transformation; but the pleasure of the entire Apes series is that they’re about something. They’re ultimately about the frightening consequence of the human impulse to innovate and explore. They place a fragile humanity in a position that requires empathy and diplomacy, in the face of a threatening circumstance
Being the Boogeyman - “John Wick: Chapter Two” (2017) Review
Wick is the role that Reeves was born for; despite its dependence on the original, “John Wick: Chapter Two” is top shelf revenge as stylish as the protagonist.
The Thin Line Between Malick and Spielberg - "Dunkirk" (2017)
Christopher Nolan’s latest film “Dunkirk” is a technical wonder. The jaw-dropping IMAX 70mm cinematography from Hoyte Van Hoytema (who lensed “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy,” “Her” and “Interstellar”), precision editing from Nolan’s regular collaborator Lee Smith and deafening and terrifying sound editing from Richard King et al create a staggering and immersive experience.
“Happy End” (2017) Sydney Film Festival Review
Haneke’s “Happy End” is darkly funny, impeccably made and the performers relish being conducted by a master; however it doesn’t have as clear a drive or fervent punch of his other string of incredible works...
“Ordinary People” (2016) Sydney Film Festival Review
One hopes desperately that this confronting film is an exaggeration - not the ‘ordinary’ experience in Manilla. “Ordinary People,” is not a neo-realist film about working class life, set in a culture of poverty, making a case for redistribution of wealth. The grim reality portrayed is horrific, the moral undertones make it mean.
“The Wall” (2017) Sydney Film Festival Review
“The Wall” is a war movie, make no bones about it. Despite the slick premise, the refreshingly sound logic, the ‘real-time’ experience of the characters and the blistering pace, it presents the conflicted ethics and morality of the American war in Afghanistan.
“The Other Side of Hope” (2017) Sydney Film Festival Review
Aki Kaurismäki’s “The Other Side of Hope” is the kind of film about asylum seekers that one imagines Rainer Werner Fassbinder would have made.
"Transformers: The Last Knight" (2017) Review
“Transformers: The Last Knight” is a bad film – in fact, it’s one of the most ludicrous films ever made.
"Ingrid Goes West" (2017) Sydney Film Festival Review
“Ingrid Goes West” is filmmakers Smith and Spicer going ‘behind the filter’ on social media obsession and disarming you with humour. You’ll laugh, you’ll cringe, but don't you dare look at your phone.
"Manifesto" (2017) Sydney Film Festival Review
“Manifesto” may have been a vibrant, disorientating and fascinating art installation. As a film, it’s an agonising, mind numbing slog.
The problematic representation in “Australia Day” (2017)
“Australia Day” is stuck in an interconnecting formula that propagates stereotypes, and wedges gaps between racial tribes that no closing montage can correct.
Sydney Film Festival 2017 Diary Days 1-3
Welcome to my weird and wonderful experiences of the Sydney Film Festival 2017.