Director: Stephen Frears
Length: 103 mins
We've already seen the doco on sport's big liar Lance Armstrong, now here's the feature film. Ben Foster is compelling as the infamous seven-time Tour de France winner who swore over and over that he'd never been found taking performance-enhancing drugs. Also strong is Chris O'Dowd as the dogged journalist who doesn't believe a word of it, and uncovers Lance's fraudulent nature. The film has some terrific recreations of the actual race, set in the glorious French countryside. In the early sections the film feels at times a bit rushed and like it's telling the narrative by numbers - but as the tension ramps up to Armstrong's public disgrace, it becomes quite gripping, and ultimately does justice to a shocking story of a fallen sporting hero.
Worth a look!
For my full review:
http://www.cinephilia.net.au/show_review.php?movieid=5913We've already seen the doco on sport's big liar Lance Armstrong, now here's the feature film. Ben Foster is compelling as the infamous seven-time Tour de France winner who swore over and over that he'd never been found taking performance-enhancing drugs. Also strong is Chris O'Dowd as the dogged journalist who doesn't believe a word of it, and uncovers Lance's fraudulent nature. The film has some terrific recreations of the actual race, set in the glorious French countryside. In the early sections the film feels at times a bit rushed and like it's telling the narrative by numbers - but as the tension ramps up to Armstrong's public disgrace, it becomes quite gripping, and ultimately does justice to a shocking story of a fallen sporting hero.
Worth a look!
For my full review:
Indievillage Doco Film Festival
Indievillage is a short documentary film festival screening over three days at the Lido Hawthorn and the Cameo Belgrave from Friday 4th to Sunday 6th of December.
It's great to get a chance to view docos that don't reach the mainstream, but are of high quality with strong subject matter. I've caught a couple of worthwhile offerings:
The Dark Side of the Chew: An unexpected look at the dark side of chewing gum, from health problems through to water pollution and the major ecological costs of clean ups! Informative and amusingly presented.
The Visit: Thought-provoking look at the implications of what could happen if earth was visited by extra-terrestrials. Scientists and other commentators put themselves in the hypothetical position, and the whole thing ends up being quite an alarming indictment of the human race.
The Chimpanzee Complex: Despite having some shonky camera work and being at times repetitive, this is an intriguing look at a Dutch facility, where volunteers and medical specialists help to rehabilitate traumatised chimps. I really felt like I was in the cage with the creatures, and for any chimp aficionados, this doc should be compulsory viewing.
Decidedly worth a look!
For full details and session times:
http://www.indievillagedocofilmfest.com/
The Dark Side of the Chew: An unexpected look at the dark side of chewing gum, from health problems through to water pollution and the major ecological costs of clean ups! Informative and amusingly presented.
The Visit: Thought-provoking look at the implications of what could happen if earth was visited by extra-terrestrials. Scientists and other commentators put themselves in the hypothetical position, and the whole thing ends up being quite an alarming indictment of the human race.
The Chimpanzee Complex: Despite having some shonky camera work and being at times repetitive, this is an intriguing look at a Dutch facility, where volunteers and medical specialists help to rehabilitate traumatised chimps. I really felt like I was in the cage with the creatures, and for any chimp aficionados, this doc should be compulsory viewing.
Decidedly worth a look!
For full details and session times:
