The Graduate

The Graduate
Must See film No. 1!

Welcome to my exciting new film blog!

Hello friends and film lovers
After hundreds and hundreds of films over the past 3 decades and much film banter, critique and recommendations, I thought it was about time I started this blog. I will start to list my 'must see films' as well as blog reviews from any film I see from here on. I look forward to your being part of my blog community, your comments and feedback on all things FILM!

Wednesday, December 23, 2009

An Education


An Education - was very aesthetically pleasing with lush styling from the early 60s and lots of sparkly things, red lippy and vintage wear for eye candy. I believed the characters and there was lots to relate to (eg 16 year old school girl with raging hormones keen to break out of her star pupil ways and experience the bigger world and all of its temptations) plus an unexpected turn towards the end which was very satisfying. I love being surprised by a storyline, even when in retrospect the twist seems so obvious. I give this film 3.5 / 5

500 Days of Summer


500 Days of Summer wasn’t quite as good as I had expected but that’s what you get for reading reviews and believing the hype. While it was a tad predictable, it had some nice quirky elements and I still have a bit of a crush on both leads. Great for a rainy DVD afternoon. 2.5/5.

The September Issue

The September Issue was entertaining, light, funny in parts and somewhat revealing. However, as candid as some of the interviewees were, Ana Wintour was fairly guarded and seemed determined to keep the audience at a distance. Afterall, when someone has a camera in their space, they’re not going to turn into a monster for all the world to see, unless it’s some awful reality TV show where the cameras are hidden to encourage participants to slowly let the skeletons out of their dark closets. 2.5/5

Coco Avant Chanel

Coco was entertaining enough (if not forgettable) and Audrey in Chanel is really moving art (though she could beef up a bit, would put some colour in her cheeks!) The film did, however, leave me craving for more on the metamorphosis of this inspirational lady…2.5/5 for Coco . A must for fashionistas or Audrey Tautou fans.

Elegy


Elegy was a contemplative love story with again much eye candy c/- Penelope Cruz and lots of warm moments. I left the film feeling light, a bit sad, satisfied and thoughtful. Still, the movie goes on my ‘forgettable’ list…just another 2.5/5

Adventureland


If you liked Knocked Up/Superbad/PineappleExpress...then this film features some of those actors, some of the Saturday Night Live Cast, was Directed by Superbad's Director (if you haven't seen it yet, it's a very sweet and funny film about being young, naiive and hormotional) and some youngins who are very believeable. This is an overnighter right now but I got it for free from my local OOVIE box. You gotta love that! Anyhoo, Karim was in tears cos he spent many heated days at the Darling Harbour fun park in his adolesence - you know those days where you can smell the heat rising up from the ground, and everything is sticky - and this film is set in a fun park so there's lots of shenanigans going on. I remember being at luna park and narrowly avoiding a kid's projectile spew after coming off the Love Machine. Well these guys live at the park all summer and when they're not avoiding spew, they're getting drunk/stoned, falling in love and realising that even the shittest environments can sprout some beautiful life if you give it a chance. This is by no means a rush out and grab it film, I waited months until I decided to give it a go, but I really enjoyed it and will look forward to seeing what young Jesse Eisenberg does next. 3/5.

Broken Embraces


Ever since I saw Pedro Almodovar's Talk To Her I've been under the Pedro spell. This film so moved and inspired me, it was quickly added to my 'top 10 must see films' and I've been holding out for an experience of the same intensity every since. So you can hardly imagine the anticipation with which I entered the cinema for the special champagne screening of his latest film. Hmmmm, once you've achieved magnificence, there's only one direction to go from there, and unfortunately Pedro is not winning me over with his latest efforts. Some people grow more beautiful talented as they age and Penelope Cruz is such a eye pleaser, it's easy to be distracted by her and abandon your care for the story. However, when I found myself shifting in my seat 3/4 through, and then getting myself ready for the inevitable twist, I started huffing and puffing a bit about the tedium and mechanics of it all and I could be distracted no longer. This film has some lovely imagery, panting, sweaty embraces and the always delicious Spanishness that makes me want to immediately run away to drink red by the Spanish sea side. But it's not Pedro's finest and while I still hold out hope to one day be moved to heaving tears, I wouldn't rush out to see this one. 1 for Spain, 1 for Penelope and 1/2 for the main guy who had a twinkle in his blind eye - 2.5/5.

Avatar


Well this film was really very visually stunning as you've probably heard. It causes me some discomfort when animation 'moves' me, but I gotta say, I was moved! But while the film was in 3D and the images were crystal clear (I even waved my arms about to stop the snow flakes falling on me!) why oh why do these movies have to have such 2D characters - so cliched, such basic dialogue, so predictable. I wonder if Michelle Rodrigues will do anything else but look tough in a sweaty white singlet, chewing gum and rolling her eyes at how daft everyone is in her world. Sam Worthington really carries this film. He's certainly a star on the rise. And Karim and I have been mimiking the tall blue creatures ever since, with their hissing, outbursts of rage and lost world kind of accents. It's hard for a movie like this to live up to all the hype, so be sure to stop anyone who tries to tell you anything about it and go out and decide for yourself if it's worth the $300-$500M spent on it. Films like this always make me think about all the homeless and less fortunate folk out there and how on earth such money can be spent when there's so much suffering. But then a film like this serves to delight, entertain and transport us out of our daily lives, and this is a wonderful thing. Sam gets 1 point, the blue creatures and their amazing universe get 1, and because the animation moved me, I'm reluctantly giving it 3/5.

Julie & Julia

Thought I'd post some of my earlier reviews fromm 2009....enjoy!
Bianca described it well by saying it was ambling. So while we all delighted in the visual delights of the culinary scenes and I especially enjoyed Meryl Streep feeding herself with such abandon and delight, I did find myself thinking about the time about two thirds in and that’s not a good thing! Movies should leave you gushing for more and I was simply just satisfied with this one and happy to leave once it was over. So in all, entertaining but another forgettable film: 2 & ¾ /5.
PS if you object to my giving quartely increments of points, please let me know. I've had 1 objection to date so am taking this very seriously!

Tuesday, December 22, 2009

The Informant


I really do love it when a handsome actor allows himself to be frumpy and daggy, and I'm not talking about Russell Crowe. While he's made a career out of elephant like characters, he's certainly not one of my favourites! I'm talking about Matt Damon. My good friend Rob asked me this morning if he's ever done a bad film. While I was able to conjure up the film he starred in with Greg Kinnear as co-joined brothers (which actually was watchable to the end but please don't rush out to get this from the weekly shelf too soon!), Matty is really consistent and always so good in the roles he plays. I knew I'd enjoy this flick - as I tend to really like office type dramas/comedies with a twist - see All the Presidents Men and the more recent Shattered Glass for two good ones. I loved the styling of this film, very early 90s drab glam. And the music was whimsical and silly but that totally matched what we were seeing on screen. I don't want to give too much away as it's really worth seeing and now I'm compelled to google this chap who certainly got himself into a lot of hot water by trying to do what he thought was the right thing. Pretty forgettable overall, but like the road-trip Maccas burger and fries - a reliable pleaser that's not too heavy if you're in the right mood. 3/5.