May 8th
Hearts and Bones - VOD release
Blood - series Acorn TV
Hostage - VOD release
Color Out of Space - VOD release
ET - Foxtel
Jurassic Park - Foxtel
Pandemic/apocalyptic/lockdown films

This week is a grab bag of liquorice allsorts (yum - haven't had them for years) - a selection of films releasing on demand, along with an excellent Irish series, and a couple of golden-oldie memory-lane blockbusters. I'm sticking fairly rigidly to the "five-minute review" idea and mostly avoiding great depth. Just brief impressions of things you may like to watch while grappling with the ongoing trainwreck of our lives!

Hearts and Bones
Director: Ben Lawrence
Length: 111 min
Available on many platforms: iTunes, Google Play, YouTube, Sony Playstation, Telstra & Fetch TV. DVD out on June 3rd 
Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kNaSt0_UUcc

 © Madman - Weaving is wonderful in this deep

story of trauma, secrets and friendship

Dan Fisher (Hugo Weaving) is a war photographer who has returned home and is suffering PTSD. His wife announces she is pregnant. Preparing for a gallery show, Dan is approached by a Sudanese refugee Sebastian (Andrew Luri), who requests that a certain photo not be included in the exhibition. As a friendship grows between the men, it becomes clear that both men have traumatic pasts (and secrets) that need to be dealt with. As a portrayal of shared humanity, this is a thoughtful and worthy film, anchored, as always, by a top notch performance from Hugo Weaving. The plot strands are subtly interwoven, and the whole is satisfying and resonant to many aspects of our lives and moral dilemmas. 

Blood
Director: Sophie Petzal
Length: Series 1: 6 x 1 hr

Streaming on Acorn TV: https://au.acorn.tv/

Cat Hogan (Carolina Main) has always been the black sheep of the family. When she returns to her village in Ireland for the funeral of her mother, she becomes convinced her father (Adrian Dunbar) is implicated in her mother's death. So begins a dramatic and gut-wrenching emotional journey of uncovering secrets, truths, and the "real story", which is only revealed in the wonderful final episode. This is strongly scripted, well acted, and something quite fresh, in terms of its many unfamiliar actors, except Dunbar, familiar from Line of Duty. If you like a good mystery, family convolutions, and lovely Irish scenery this could be one to check out.

Hostage
Director: Frank Shields
Length: 93 min
Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?reload=9&v=XsRnbqNKUWc

Umbrella Film - streaming on demand: https://www.umbrellaent.com.au/310-on-demand

© Umbrella  - Mr Handsome here is not what he seems

This film is based on the true story of Christine (Kerry Mack), a 16-year old sideshow worker who falls in love with handsome German, Walter Maresch (Ralph Schicha). After he whisks her away to Germany she discovers he is a sadistic controlling neo-Nazi. Made originally in 1983 this film has been meticulously restored. With its sex, melodrama and predictable tropes, it sits firmly in the genre of  Ozploitation - low budget Aussie films made after 1971 when the the R rating came in. This is nevertheless a fascinating piece of film history which critic Adrian Martin described (about three decades ago) as "one of the most explosive, enduring and significant movies of Australian cinema in the '80s".  Indeed it still packs a punch with its relevance for today's world, where brutality to women, abusive men, and fanatical groups are important issues to be grappled with.

Color Out of Space

Director: Richard Stanley

Length: 110 min

Available from Umbrella Video on Demand

 © Umbrella - prepare to be weirded out, 
even grossed out - but entertained

Nathan Gardner (Nicolas Cage), his wife Theresa (Joely Richardson) and their three kids have headed to the countryside to escape the city hubbub and live a tranquil rural existence on an idyllic New England property. Nathan wants to farm alpacas (so cute, stars of the film), Theresa is recovering from cancer, and the kids are a weird bunch, daughter Lavinia a self-styled witch, son Benny a stoner, and youngest Jack a cute oddball.  Life is disrupted when a meteorite crashes into their yard. The meteorite "evaporates" overnight, but some strange alien life force or pathogen begins to cause havoc - coloring the air, creating lurid flowers, and infecting everything it contacts - including Nathan and his family. Based upon a short sci-fi story by HP Lovecraft, this is one of the oddest films I've seen in a while. The opening scenes are mesmerisingly beautiful, with towering, (but slightly menacing) trees. Overall, the cinematography is stunning, and Cage (love him or hate him) gives one of his most crazed, out-there performances, which, unfortunately, towards the end runs the risk of becoming laughable, though it does capture one's attention! The film gets more horrific (think body horror) and bizarre as it goes along, but I guess this goes with the genre. However, I can't say I was bored, and I suspect for fans, it has the potential to become a cult classic. It may not be everyone's taste, but it's definitely for Cage-o-maniacs and alpaca fans.

Let's go Spielberg retro

Having recently watched a wonderful three-hour doco on Foxtel about the iconic director Steven Spielberg, I decided to indulge in a couple of his blockbuster entertaining films. I'm here to report the two I chose were mega-entertaining, and absolutely worth a second viewing (or first, if you've never seen them).

 © ET is so ugly, he's absolutely cute. 

The film is a delightful heartwarmer. 

E.T. the Extra Terrestrial (1982): The little alien who gets left behind when his spaceship makes a hurried exit from earth, is befriended by a lonely boy, Elliott. For me this sweet (at times saccharine-sweet) story doesn't really date; it is a celebration of children's dreams of belonging, and of family, and of magic. There is much to make you laugh and cry, and it's great to see the tiny Drew Barrymore early on in her career as Elliott's sister Gert. 

 © Gotta love this T-Rex!

Jurassic Park (1993): For dinosaur fans it's unmissable, this exciting story of the theme park that goes dramatically pear-shaped, when the giant reptiles get loose. With an all-star cast featuring Sam Neill, Laura Dern and Jeff Goldblum, this is popcorn entertainment par excellence. The special effects were ground-breaking at the time, and some of the memorable scenes have gone into movie legend. 

Top films for lockdowns

I don't feel inclined at this moment to stress myself further with too many films of dystopian scenarios, but there are a lot of lists out there at present of people's favorite pandemic/end-of-days movies. My friend Jennifer Henry has sent me her list:

• Contagion
• The Road
• A Quiet Place
• Passengers
• The Last man on earth (actually a TV series)

I remember Outbreak, (1995), giving me a 10-Panadol headache, while 12 Monkeys (1995)  and 28 Days Later (2002)  were also worthy candidates for stress-inducing films.

What are your favorites, dear readers?