December 26th
Jojo Rabbit
Sorry We Missed You
Portrait of a Lady on Fire
The Truth
Cats

A Boy Called Sailboat

So, you got my best for 2019 last week, and now it's time for the much awaited holiday releases. The days of hanging out for the next annual instalment of Lord of the Rings have long gone, but Boxing Day always brings a swag of fine films, and this year is no exception. 

Jojo Rabbit
Director: Taika Waititi
Length: 101 min

©  Fox/Disney - it's a bit suss to have an
imaginary friend like this one!

10-year-old Jojo Betzler (Roman Davis) has just joined the Hitler youth, is fanatical about Nazism, and his imaginary friend is none other than the Fuhrer himself (Taika Waititi). But Jojo is a softy at heart, and when he finds his mother Rosie (Scarlett Johansson) is hiding a Jewish girl  Elsa (Thomasin McKenzie) in the attic, he starts to examine his racist beliefs, beginning with making a book about Jews. Prepare for divisiveness with this one, as many people do not want to see Hitler or anything to do with the Holocaust as fodder for humour. That said, the film has won many audience awards at festivals, and has much critical acclaim (plus criticism). I for one laughed out loud at Waititi's audacious script, which manages to blend slapstick with a seriously intense anti-hatred message, and is  ultimately a very touching story. The two women are powerful, strong characters, Jojo is adorable, and the director's performance as Hitler is inspired. Adding to the lunacy is Sam Rockwell as Captain Klensendorf, the lackadaisical leader of the youth camp, and one of his side kicks Fraulein Rahm, played hilariously by Rebel Wilson. Blending a child's view with the realities of the ghastliness of the times works really well in a film that is smart, funny, looks great and simply leaps off the screen.
4.5 - wholeheartedly recommended!

Portrait of a Lady on Fire
Director: Celine Sciamma
Length: 119  min

©  Madman - prepare to sizzle with  this 
exquisite, erotic film. 

Set on the wild Brittany coast of France in 1760, this is the story of a painter, Marianne, (Noemie Merlant) who is commissioned to do a portrait of  Heloise (Adele Haenel) as a gift for the husband her mother (Valeria Golino) has arranged for her.  Heloise has come out of a convent, and has never agreed to pose for a portrait, but allows Marianne to paint her. The attraction between the young women is evident from the word go. By the time the portrait is complete, hearts will be broken. I haven't seen a film in a long while that is so slow, yet so exquisitely mesmerising and so lovingly shot. The physical act of sketching and painting plays a large part, but it is the slow-burn eroticism and sheer beauty of the women's relationship that will set audiences on fire. There is nothing salacious here; simply transcendent beauty. Both leads are strong female characters, as is the mother, and this brings an almost modern sensibility to a historical story. It is no surprise the film already has garnered 15 wins and 19 nominations in various festivals.
4.5 - wholeheartedly recommended!

Sorry We Missed You
Director: Ken Loach
Length: 101 min

©  Icon - gritty social realism in the tough story
of a family doing it hard.

Ricky Turner (Kris Hitchen) and wife Abbie (Debbie Honeywood) have been doing it tough since the GFC. Ricky decides to take an opportunity to improve their lives by buying into a franchise, where he is, in theory, self-employed, delivering parcels for a larger organisation. The hope soon turns sour, as Ricky's boss is a slave-driver, the couple's working schedules conflict, and their son Seb (Rhys Stone) gets into big trouble at school, causing turmoil (and expense) for the family. Daughter Lisa (Katie Proctor) tries her best  to be a stabilising influence. Whenever I hear Loach is at the directorial helm, I prepare myself to be both impressed and depressed. I'm quite blown away by this hard-hitting, close-to-the-bone portrayal of what it means to be constantly behind the eightball and struggling. Loach is, as always, masterful at portraying the gritty realities of everyday lives, yet there is a strong thread of warmth and compassion. Honeywood, in her role as mother, wife and carer for vulnerable folk, is a revelation in her first acting role. Her character's many challenges underscore serious problems in the caring professions, just as Ricky's work situation reflects the sort of exploitation that is so endemic in many workplaces today. The film won't entertain you, but it is surely important and impressive  watching. 
4 - highly recommended!

The Truth
Director: Hirokazu Kore-eda
Length: 106 min

©  Palace - can mother and daughter reconcile 
their conflicts?  

Fabienne (Catherine Deneuve) is a celebrated French movie star, currently shooting a sci-fi pic. Her estranged screen-writer daughter Lumir (Juliette Binoche) visits from the US with her husband Hank (Ethan Hawke) and daughter Charlotte. Conflict sets in as Lumir reads her mother's memoirs which seem riddled with untruths, and the already uncomfortable mother-daughter relationship worsens. Can it ever be repaired? I'm a huge fan of the three leads. Deneuve is terrific as the self-admiring chain-smoking grandmother, but I never seem to get a handle on Binoche's character, and Hawke has precious little to do in terms of the script. The film-within-a-film device doesn't get me in, seeming rather self-referential and indulgent. The sad fact of it is, although I wanted to love The Truth, I found it unmemorable. Kore-eda, who directed the fabulous Shoplifters, wrote the screenplay, perhaps wanting to examine family relationships in a film-world context. But he is is filming in French, a language he doesn't speak, using translators, so something I think has been lost in translation, and a great opportunity lost. However, for fans of Deneuve, it's probably worth seeing just for her.
2.5 - maybe!

Cats
Director: Tom Hooper
Length: 110 min

©  Universal - feline friends out on the mean 
streets, in this film version of the much-loved
musical

Street cats meet on the night of the so-called Jellicle Ball, to choose one of their number who will "ascend", and be given a new cat life. Mean moggie, Macavity, wants to be chosen, and disrupts the proceedings, causing various other cats to disappear. Outcast cats Mistoffelees and Grizabella will get their time in the sun. Upfront: I'm at a bit of a loss as to how to review this one. It's amazing that a theatrical show was ever created in the first place, based on a bunch of poems that T.S. Eliot wrote about felines back in 1939. Yet this thinly plotted musical, written by iconic Andrew Lloyd Webber, wowed a world of fans, and the smash-hit song Memory refuses to fade. (It is rather lovely.) Now director Hooper (of The King's Speech fame) helms an all-dancing, all-singing film that may or may not enchant viewers, probably depending on whether they liked the stage version. The production is certainly remarkable, with impressive sets - oversized to see the world through a cat's eye -  and a great cast. British ballerina Francesca Hayward plays Victoria, a wide-eyed sweetheart, and her dance sequences are lovely. Idris Elba is suitably villainous as Macavity, while Dame Judi Dench looks most like a cat as an old ginger, Deuteronomy. Jennifer Hudson as Grizabella lends her big voice to a fine rendition of the main song. Ian McKellen is scruffy theatre cat Gus, while Taylor Swift performs a terrific burlesque type number. Add to the cast Rebel Wilson, James Corden, Ray Winstone and Jason Derulo, making for a lot of star power. Advanced digital effects impose the furry feline coverings on the actors' bodies, while a few characters have actual costumes. There is something very "naked" about these human/cat hybrids making them a little creepy, but overall, for fans of the musical and of dance, this could prove an entertaining experience.
2.5 - maybe!

A Boy Called Sailboat
Director: Cameron Nugent
Length: 92 min
Exclusive to Cinema Nova

©  Universal - quirky and sweet, the story of 
a little kid who writes "the best song in the world"

Just out of town, in a drought-stricken area of New Mexico, a family of three live in a ramshackle house propped up by a post. Meyo (Elizabeth de Razzo) and Jose (Noel Gugliemi) have a shy little boy called Sailboat (Julian Atocani Sanchez), who comes home one day with a ukelele (which he calls the little guitar). The boy promises to write a special song for his ill grandmother, and somehow that song attracts folks to come from all over to listen to Sailboat sing, and to invest the song with whatever emotions they need to. We, the audience, never hear the song, only observe the listeners' reactions, but in the context of the story, it is considered the greatest song ever written. This is a quirky and sweet film, with some remarkable child acting. As well as the mega-cute Sanchez, there is a debut from Keeanu Wilson as Peeti, a soccer-obsessed boy with eye problems and Zeyah Pearson as Mandy, a confident girl. wise beyond her years. Their teacher Bing (Gary Busey) is dumbly larger than life, while a special appearance by JK Simmons as a spruiking car salesman is a winner. There's something Wes Anderson-esque about the style, although at times it tries too hard to be ultra quirky, with some scenes and motifs becoming repetitive and a bit too much voice-over from Sailboat. Nevertheless there is a freshness to this film, some wonderfully unexpected narrative twists, impressive cinematography and an awesome soundtrack from the brilliant Aussie guitarists Slava and Leonard Grigoryan.
3.5 - well recommended!

December 19th

Star Wars
Top Films of 2019

With only one new release reviewed this week, the long-awaited Star Wars finale, I may as well go with my rundown of my top ranked films for the year. 

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker
Director: J.J. Abrams
Length: 141 min

©  Disney - 

I am simply not the person to give you recommendations about this film. Generations of Star Wars fans, from the saga's inception in 1977, have, yesterday, either been grievously disappointed, or delighted by the conclusion. On that much-noted barometer of opinions, Rotten Tomatoes, the consensus comes in at 58% favourable, meaning the critics are almost split down the middle. The fans have had much to say on social media. As someone who must confess to seeing most, but not every, film in the nine-movie (three trilogies) series, I just don't know the ins and outs of the complex plotting and countless characters. What I can tell you is this - if you're a die hard fan you MUST see it regardless and put your two-bob's worth in. If you're not then it's a maybe. The plot thunders and zooms through space at light speed, with countless light-sabre fights, attacks and counter attacks on planets and star ships, and the usual angst as to which of our beloved characters may be obliterated. Rey (Daisy Ridley), the fearless kick-arse Jedi heroine of the Resistance, goes into the final battle against the evil First Order, accompanied by Po (Oscar Isaac), Finn (John Boyega), and the beloved Droids BB8 and C3PO. Adam Driver puts in a great performance as Kylo Ren, and possibly steals the show. Digitally resurrected Leia (Carrie Fisher) features, along with more familiar characters than you can shake a stick at. I was entertained, and touched by the ending, finding it very acceptable, though I doubt I will find it memorable. It must be said, the special effects are simply brilliant.
3 - recommended!

And now to my top-rated films for the 2019. 
I've created a few random categories, and my choices are not really in a hard and fast order, though generally my preferred favourites are near the start of the lists. Three of the films won't release until Boxing Day, so stay tuned for my reviews next week. 

Best film:  The Nightingale, JoJo Rabbit; Once Upon a Time in Hollywood; Portrait of a Lady on Fire; Buoyancy; Joker; Caphernaum; By the Grace of God; The Irishman, 1985

Honorable mentions: Pain and Glory; Green Book; Ford vs Ferrarri; The Hate U Give; Toy Story 4; Sorry I Missed You

Best Documentary: The Australian Dream; 2040; Be Natural - the Untold Story of Alice Guy Blache; Apollo 11; Pavarotti;  Free Solo; 

Best Australian Film: The Australian Dream, The Nightingale, Buoyancy, Judy and Punch, Hotel Mumbai

Best Actor: Joaquin Phoenix (Joker); Antonio Banderas (Pain and Glory); Leo de Caprio & Brad Pitt (Once Upon a Time in Hollywood)

Best Actress: Aisling Franciosi (The Nightingale); Renee Zellweger (Judy) Amandla Stenberg (The Hate U Give)

Best Director: Jennifer Kent (The Nightingale); Quentin Tarantino (Once Upon a Time in Hollywood); Todd Phillips (Joker); 

Best Music film: Rocketman; Amazing Grace; Fiddler: A Miracle of Miracles (from JIFF); It Must Schwing: The Blue Note Story (from JIFF); Amazing Grace

Best Cinematography: Wild Goose Lake; Portrait of a Lady on Fire; Ford vs Ferrarri

December 12th

The Ideal Palace
Marianne and Leonard

Not so many this week. I review a wonderful doco, fresh out of JIFF and paying homage to one of the world's most revered songwriters, is released this week, along with an unusual and touching French film, based on a most unlikely true story. 

The Ideal Palace
Director: Nils Tavernier
Length: 105 min
Exclusive to cinema Nova for 3 weeks, then screening more broadly

©  Vendetta -The true story
of a French postman, who takes up building 
as a passion. 

France 1879: Postman Joseph Cheval (Jacques Gamblin) is a quiet unassuming man (possibly he has Aspergers). He has just buried his wife and sent his small son Cyrille to live with relatives. As a rural postman he trudges countless miles each day. On his rounds two extraordinary things happen - 1) he meets widow Philomene (Laetitia Casta) and quickly marries her. 2) he stumbles upon a rock which inspires him to build a palace, which he dedicates to his new daughter Alice (Zelie Rixhon). Even more extraordinary is that this is a true story. Joseph built tirelessly for 33 years, despite being totally untrained in masonry or architecture. This is a most unusual and enchanting film, which moves slowly, building up its emotional clout, to become truly affecting by the end. The quiet relationship between the strange man, who lives in his imagination, and his faithful wife is touchingly drawn, while the progressive architectural works, reminiscent of a Hindu temple, are stunningly recreated. Cheval's initial inability to cope with children, and the changes he undergoes, will tug your heartstrings, while the cinematography of the French countryside is awe-inspiringly beautiful.

4 - highly recommended!

Marianne and Leonard: Words of Love
Director: Nick Broomfield
Length: 102 min

©  Universal -  love blooms on the 
idyllic Greek island of Hydra. Then Leonard
Cohen hits the big time as a song-writer. 

Leonard Cohen was one of the greatest poets and songwriters of his era. For eight years he was intensely involved with Norwegian woman Marianne Ihlen, and they lived on and off on the idyllic Greek island of Hydra which had a vibrant bohemian artistic scene. Later their lingering relationship became more sporadic, and crossed continents with Leonard involved with many other women between returning to Marianne. She was considered his muse, but life in that role was no bed of roses. In this warts and all doco, using the love story as its anchor, we discover Leonard in his varied guises - tortured genius, intense lover, depressive, and, according to some, at times very funny. It is also a window into a time, when authors and musicians lived the hedonistic life (don't they still??) and used everything as fodder for their creativity. Featuring some terrific footage of the great man performing live, and other singers like Judy Collins adding their insights, this is a fascinating tribute to an incredible artist, and not to be missed by Cohen lovers or indeed any music lovers.
4 - highly recommended!

December 5th

The Two Popes
Ask Doctor Ruth

The Wild Goose Lake
The Good Liar

No sooner do the last festivals for the year end, than we get into the run-up to the films for release over the holiday season. Then the run-up to the Oscars . . . and so it goes and never ends. But what fun, and as always, a whole new crop of terrific films!

The Two Popes
Director: Fernando Meirelles
Length: 125 min
Elsternwick Classic, Lido Hawthorn and Cameo Belgrave - then to Netflix

©  Netflix -  top performances from two 
powerhouse actors. 

Jorge Bergoglio (better known as Pope Francis, and played by Jonathan Pryce) went from being a superior in the Jesuit order in Argentina in the mid-1970s, to the position of cardinal, and ultimately Pope in 2013. This extraordinary film looks at Jorge's story, with the focus upon his meetings with his predecessor, Pope Benedict (Anthony Hopkins). Together the men discuss the future of the church, and reveal their misgivings to each other. A dark part of Jorge's past is revealed, concerning the time of the military dictators in Argentina, and Jorge's alleged complicity with them. I didn't expect to love this film as much as I do, but with searing performances from two brilliant actors, and a story full of compassion, many moments of humour, and important moral questions, what's not to love? There's no stuffiness or stodginess here; the true story encompasses several time periods, maintaining interest, giving intriguing insights into Argentinian history, its poverty and brutality, as well as a sneak peak into the interior of the Vatican. Even if you eschew religion, you cannot help but be impressed by the basic humanity, (even moments of ordinariness), displayed by the popes, along with great humility and wisdom. This is a rare insight into the inner workings of a faith followed by 1.2 billion of the world's people, and how its leaders are trying to keep it modern and relevant.
4 - highly recommended!

Ask Dr Ruth
Director: Ryan White
Length: 100 min

©  Rialto - how could you not love her? She loves life . . .
and talking about sex

This spritely, diminutive 91-year-old  German woman is an unlikely candidate to be America's most well-known celebrity sex therapist. Through her TV and radio shows, Ruth Westheimer, aka Dr Ruth, totally changed the conversation around every aspect of sexuality. This uplifting doco tracks her life and her amazing career. Her privileged childhood in Frankfurt was cut short by the rise of Nazism. Sent by her parents to Switzerland to escape, she never saw them again. After emigrating to Palestine and then America, Ruth studied psychology and started speaking out about the need for education on issues of contraception and abortion. The rest is history. With excerpts from her many TV and radio shows, as well as some beautifully crafted sketches that illustrate her sad childhood in Germany, this is both entertaining, uplifting and absolutely inspiring watching. Ruth hasn't lost an iota of enthusiasm for life, (and talking about sex), and her bubbly approach to all things, especially sex, is infectious.
4 - highly recommended!

The Wild Goose Lake
Director: Diao Yinan
Length: 117 min

© Umbrella - Chinese noir? A most unusual and 
rewarding gangster tale, with stunning cinmatography

It's raining and dark, and a young woman Liu Aiai asks a beaten up Zhou Zenon (Hue Ge) for a light. This classic noir scene precedes the flashback in which Zhou, a gang boss just out of prison, tells her the reasons he is being hunted by both the police and other criminals. Gang brawls, a dead cop, squalid tenement dwellings, grimy noodle shops, motor cycle chases, and "bathing beauties" (the pseudonym for the prostitutes who work down by the lake) - all the ingredients are there for a film that is thrilling, stylishly violent, and at times frustrating. The plot feels in parts murky and obscure, but the tension never abates. But what really impresses is the extraordinary cinematography which employs color and lighting like I've never seen in any nighttime shots. It is sheer beauty, despite the sordid subject matter. Under all the sleaze, there is a softer element; that of sacrifice, as Zhou makes some hard decisions to protect his wife. It won't be to everyone's taste, but this is certainly a very different film gangster experience from the American mainstream one, and a film that has already won several awards for its audacious approach.
3.5 - well recommended!

The Good Liar
Director: Bill Condon
Length: 109 min

© Roadshow - another two members of acting
royalty strut their stuff in a fun thriller. 

With a deliciously devious plot (no it is not totally as you would expect from the shorts), this is a chance to watch yet more of the finest actors today strut their stuff. Helen Mirren plays Betty, a gentle-natured widow who goes on a dating site where she meets Roy (Ian McKellen), also widowed. The relationship takes off pretty quickly, much to the alarm of Betty's grandson Stephen (Russell Tovey), who smells a rat and suspects Roy is not what he seems. Most women viewers may well squirm and fear for the seemingly gullible Betty. Mirren is her usual fabulous screen presence. McKellen, so well known and loved as the kindly wizard Gandalf, shows his brilliance yet again. He lurches from sweet old codger Roy, loving and paternal, to steeling conniving conman - and worse! Just the change of expression in his eyes and his demeanour make him a treat to watch. The less said of the plot the better, but it's a good fun ride, even if the premise relies on some very circumstantial events to make it at all credible.
3.5 - well recommended!

November 28th
By the Grace of God
Mrs. Lowry and Son
Knives Out
Martha: a Picture Story

Here's an interesting week that makes me ponder how everyone's perception of a film is so very personal. While I loved Mrs. Lowry and Son, some critics have been unkind, finding it "boring". While other critics are over the moon about Knives Out, I find myself, despite being mildly entertained, somewhat critical of it. Ah, well, thank heavens for  divergent thought, or there'd only be one sort of film for us all to watch! I truly believe most films have something to offer to someone, and very few can be totally dismissed as worthless.

By the Grace of God
Director: Francois Ozon
Length: 137 min
Exclusive to Cinema Nova

©  Sharmill - moving, insightful, stunningly 
executed film about sex abuse by the church. 

Lyon, France: Alexandre Melvil Poupaud), 40-year-old family man with five kids, can no longer keep silent about his abuse as a child at the hands of local priest Fr Preynat. As he seeks out others who were also victims of the same priest, a movement gathers momentum. Francois (Denis Menochet), Emmanuel (Swann Arlaud) and Gilles (Eric Caravaca) join the fight for justice. This brilliantly executed film joins the likes of Spotlight, as we continue to read about child sex abuse scandals at the hands of priests in many countries. (In fact, the upshot of this case was reported in the Vatican news as recently as July of this year.) Ozon surprises greatly, as many of his previous films have had lighter themes, often with a gay orientation; this one cuts to the heart of the psychological cost of child sex abuse, and the battle to make higher-ups in the church accountable. The pain of the victims is palpable; the defensive machinations of church figures like Cardinal Barbican (Francois Marthouret) are despicable. The acting by all these men is flawless. This film works superbly in its straightforward, intensely humane, approach, that takes into account so many complex aspects of these cases - parents' refusals to doubt the church, the church's desire to protect itself, the sickness of the perpetrators, and ultimately the incredible courage of the victims to speak out and seek support from others. There is no sensationalism; the actual crimes are briefly hinted at in flashbacks, and in a way to make their repulsiveness progressively powerful. This film is gripping in its intensity, and vitally important in its subject matter.
4.5 - wholeheartedly recommended!

Mrs. Lowry and Son
Director: Adrian Noble
Length: 91 min

©  Rialto - it's very hard for this son to please
his difficult mother. An excellent portrait of 
an oppressed artist. 

Lawrence Lowry was an English artist, born in the late 1800s and living for 40 years in an industrial area of Lancashire, England. Though he was not traditionally trained, and worked by day as a debt collector, he ended up in later life (he lived until the 1970s) being much sought-after for his works depicting life in his depressed area of the world. This film is a snapshot of a small period in his life, which was spent entirely looking after his depressed, neurotic, manipulative mother (Vanessa Redgrave). I see unkind reviews from some other critics; why I'm at a loss to know. This is one of the best two-handers I've seen in a long time, with little happening, and yet the relationship between mother and son is so mesmerisingly awful that I was captured. With clever cinematic devices, the director captures the look of the actual artworks in some of the film's imaginative sequences. Spall, with his hang-dog look, delivers a star turn as Lawrence, while Redgrave shows just why she is acting royalty, as she loses no opportunity to put her son down, while attempting to elevate herself in her own eyes. She is snobby, hypocritical - yet vaguely tragic as she dreams of her lost youth and ambitions to have been a pianist. If you exercise patience with this film, you will be rewarded.
4 - highly recommended!

Knives Out
Director: Rian Johnson
Length: 130 min

©  StudioCanal - some funny moments in a good-
looking, but ultimately disappointing film

Famous crime author Harlan Thrombey (Christopher Plummer) is found dead in his study with his throat slashed, just after his 85th birthday party. An anonymous call brings in the services of famed detective Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig), who starts investigating possible motives for the crime. Each member of Harlan's highly dysfunctional family has good cause, and Blanc must wade through mountains of red herrings. The film, a homage to Agatha Christie style mysteries, sports an all-star ensemble cast - Toni Collette as the daughter-in-law, Don Johnson, Michael Shannon and Jamie Lee Curtis as Harlan's adult children, not to mention the gorgeous Ana de Armas as Harlan's trusty companion and nurse. The film opens with promise - a stunning and stylish setting, enough witty remarks from the various characters, and a plot that jumps back and forth in time to intrigue and confound. Unfortunately when the ultimate "big reveal" comes, it is so convoluted and anti-climactic that my feelings of amiability towards the film tended to evaporate. I enjoyed the performances of all the aforementioned cast, with the exception of Craig who I feel is miscast. He is no Hercule Poirot, and I feel he needed more bite and pizzazz to be a memorable character. I can't say I wasn't mildly entertained, just disappointed that it could have been so much better. That said, I think there will be an audience, eager for light frivolity, that will be pleased by Knives Out. (Consensus on certain internet sites is VERY positive.)
2.5 - maybe!

Martha: A Picture Story
Director: Selina Miles
Length: 82 min

©  Umbrella - fans of graffiti and subway sub-culture
should enjoy this one. 

Martha Cooper is an acclaimed photographer, noted for bringing New York's urban  scene, with its poverty and especially its graffiti, into the limelight. Now 75 years old, she began her career hoping to be a National Geographic photo-journalist, but when she first saw trains covered in graffiti, she fell in love with the underground art scene that centred around early hip-hop and the creation of "pieces" (which I tend to perceive as vandalism). Today she still documents the graffiti art movement on trains and in subways all across the world, and is a much loved and revered person to graffiti artists. I find it very hard to separate my personal feelings about this art form from my perception of the film. While I find the film would benefit from a bit more incisiveness to its style, it certainly gives a voice to a sub-culture that is often dismissed. Some of Martha's socially aware photos that document various "corners of life" as she calls them, like the Puerto Rican part of town, make for excellent viewing on the big screen. Most of all, Martha's enthusiasm and dedication to her art, as she literally runs with the graffiti crew, is inspiring to see. (Again, consensus on certain internet sites is VERY positive.)

2.5 - maybe!

November 21st
Judy and Punch
Suzi Q
Official Secrets
The Report
Farming
Japanese Film Festival

Another week of many new releases, and one more festival. My picks of the week would have to be the Aussie made, left-of-centre Judy and Punch, along with the rocking doco on the leather-clad lady of the 60s, Suzi Quatro. 

Judy and Punch
Director: Mirrah Foulkes
Length: 105 min

©  Madman - creative film-making with fine
perfs by our Aussie leads

In the mean-minded, witch-stoning fictional town of Seaside, (exactly when and where  is not spelled out) a pair of puppeteers put on their successful marionette show. Punch (Adrian Herriman) and wife Judy (Mia Wasikowska) hope their earnings will enable them  to escape the town with their baby. However, thanks to Punch's drinking, womanising, aggression, and a tragi-comic day of ghastly incidents, everything goes horribly wrong. Director Foulkes says she wanted to use the inspiration of a "fairy-tale" story to explore the current obsession with violence and misogyny in our society. So, just as the classic puppet show relies upon endless violence, so this film runs with that theme. Foulkes achieves a delicate balance between comedy (at times bordering on slapstick), and tragedy, all underpinned by a beautifully crafted and unsettling backdrop of a village of bigots and religious nutters. This highly inventive and unusual film will not be to everyone's taste, but it knows how to get its message across. Wasikowska and Herriman shine in their respective roles. The final scene of children watching an old puppet show is a salutory and fitting end to an unusual and impressive movie experience. 
4 - highly recommended!

Suzi Q
Director: Liam Firmager
Length: 104 min

©  Label Distribution -  rock on Suzi! Still going
strong at nearly 70!

Suzi Quatro was born in Detroit in 1950. From the age of five, when she saw Elvis on TV, she knew she wanted to be a rock'n'roller. Forming a girl band with her sisters in her early teens, she then left home young to seek solo fortune in London, and soon was topping the charts with her wild brand of rock and her thumping bass guitar. She's been in movies, TV shows, and musicals. Now, nearly 70, she is still writing songs and performing. This terrific upbeat doco uses archival footage, features more than 40 songs, interviews with Suzi then and now, and commentary from those people who have witnessed or shared her amazing journey - her family, Alice Cooper, Joan Jett, Deborah Harry and more. In a time where it was thought only men could get anywhere in the rock world, Suzi proved them all so wrong. I get the impression that underneath the leather jump-suited high voltage performer lay (and still lies) an unassuming person who simply loves what she does, never puts on too many airs and graces, but has the Detroit toughness and determination to make of her life exactly what she wanted. You don't have to be a fan to really enjoy revisiting the time of glam rock, getting to know this woman, who demonstrates that age is no barrier to rocking on.
4 - highly recommended!

Official Secrets
Director: Gavin Hood
Length: 112 min

©  Universal - a top performance from Keira

Katharine Gun (Keira Knightley) works with British Intelligence, screening incoming classified information. Just as America is plotting to get Britain on board for the invasion of Iraq, she stumbles across an explosive memo: the US is garnering info on members of the United Nations Security Council to blackmail them into voting in favour of the forthcoming Iraq invasion. Feeling compelled to blow the whistle, Katharine leaks the memo to the press. Her freedom, and that of her refugee husband Yasar (Adam Bakri), are soon under threat as she is accused of breaching the Official Secrets Act. This tense thriller examines the legality of war when there is no sanction from the UN, and the personal convictions of a woman willing to risk it all so that the public know the truth. This is possibly one of Knightley's best performances to date, and she is well supported by the likes of Ralph Fiennes as a lawyer with the Liberty human rights organisation, and Rhys Ifans as a journalist. There are sequences of extreme tension throughout, although the ending is quite abrupt and unexpected. But since it's a true story, that's life!
3.5 - well recommended!

The Report
Director: Scott Burns
Length: 120 min
Out now, coming to Amazon Prime on Nov 29th

©  Transmission - important subject matter, great
performances, but a little dry. 

It seems like films exposing wrongdoings and cover-ups  from governments and churches are the flavour of the month. In this, another true story, US Senator Feinstein (Annette Bening) heads up an inquiry into the CIA's torture of terrorist suspects in the wake of 9/11. Staffer Daniel Jones (Adam Driver) leads the investigation which lasts years and has thousands of pages. In principal I'm partial to films which expose wrong-doings by the "big guys". This one does it methodically and painstakingly, for me a little too detailed, making it somewhat dry. Certainly the lead performances are terrific (Driver is also the flavour of the month) and of course the subject matter is important. Without showing too much, the film-maker still manages to convey the inhumanity and hypocrisy of the US government in regard to its treatment of prisoners. I like my political thrillers with a little more pizzazz, but many of my colleagues really loved it. 
3.5 - well recommended!

Farming
Director: Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje
Length: 100 min

©  Icon - truth is stranger than fiction in a story of 
self-hatred, identity and skin heads. 

Based upon the true story of the director's childhood, this confronting film tells of a scurrilous practice in Britain in the '60s and '70s whereby Nigerian parents "farmed" their children out to white British families so they could work or study. Enitan (Damson Idris) is fostered out at six weeks old to Ingrid (Kate Beckinsale) who has several black kids in her care. After a few years in Britain, and a short-lived return to his Nigerian family (where the unfamiliar African customs traumatise and horrify him), Enitan is returned as a young teen to Ingrid's care, but lacking self-esteem and discriminated against, he hooks up with, of all things, a white skinhead gang. This story beggars belief, but is possibly a classic psychological case of externalising self-hatred. This is an intriguing story, with important resonance for a world where racial discrimination is alive and well. Unfortunately it is presented in an unsubtle, blunt and violent way, which focuses too much on the horror of the skinhead gang, and the racism, rather than allowing audiences to absorb the message. Raucous music doesn't add anything to the lack of subtlety. However, Beckinsale is excellent, as are all the young male leads, while much awarded young actress Gugu Mbatha-Raw is fine as Enitan's teacher, the one person with a shred of compassion in a film that is pretty bleak (except for the 3 years later epilogue.) The level of violence and gruelling humiliation will make it hard for many audiences to watch.
2.5 - maybe!

Japanese Film Festival
21 Nov - 1 Dec
For other states and times, film synopses, ticketing and venues, visit https://japanesefilmfestival.net/

This is the 23rd year for the Japanese Film Festival which will feature 45 films in four program streams: JFF Main Program, JFF Regional, JFF Classics, and JFF Fringe. Not many Japanese films seem to make it to our mainstream cinemas, so here's a great opportunity to get up close and personal with a fascinating culture. 

Melancholic: Here's one for fans of a quirky Yakuza story. Kazuhiko is an aimless guy despite having a uni degree. He takes a job at a local bathhouse, but the cleaning up is something a lot more sinister than he imagines, as the place is an execution site where Yakuza (Japanese mafia) bring their victims. Though the deeds Kazuhiko and his sidekick must perform are horrific, the film manages to maintain moments of humour and warmth, and by its unexpected denouement, even some heart-warming moments. That's what I like about Japanese film - often the unexpected, and often a deep sense of humanity in the face of difficult situations.