July 1st
Toy Story 4
Never Look Away
Yesterday
High Life

I'm finally catching up on missed films, and what a worthy collection of films to return with. I enjoyed 3/4 of these almost to the max, even though scores are a little variable.  

Toy Story 4
Director: Josh Cooley
Length: 100 min

© Disney - simply delightful. A totally

touching story about belonging

It's nine years since the wonderful Toy Story 3 graced our screens. One always feels a tad nervous when further sequels are released, but fear not - this is yet another winner! We last left the toys when they began a new life with little Bonnie, who is about to start kindergarten where she makes herself a new, instantly loved toy out of an old fork (Forky, voiced by Tony Hale). The gang are all here with notables Woody (Tom Hanks), Bo Peep (Annie Potts) and Buzz Lightyear (Tim Allen). The plot soon takes the form of a road trip with Mom, Dad, Bonnie and the toys on board, many of them endlessly getting lost and Woody in great peril when a sinister doll Gaby Gaby and her ventriloquist doll henchmen want to steal his talking voice box. Yes, the film will appeal greatly to kids, but it also encompasses so many critical truths about life, love, loss and belonging. There is humour galore, much tugging of the heart-strings, and clever referencing of well-known adventure films. The film is simple, yet sublimely clever at the same time - overall a wonderfully crafted tale that will reward cinema goers of all ages.
4.5 - wholeheartedly recommended!

Never Look Away
Director: Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck
Length: 185 min

© Sony - sweeping, intense, thought-
provoking. Top shelf cinema

Young art student Kurt Barnert (Tom Schilling) is in love with Ellie (Paula Beer). Ellie's Father, professor of gynaecology, Dr Seeband (Sebastian Koch) is hellbent upon breaking up the relationship. But Ellie's and Kurt's lives are already intertwined through a terrible crime that was committed by Seeband just before World War II erupted. This is an epic story, spanning generations, historical periods and art movements. It begins with Kurt as a little boy, deeply attached to his Aunt Elisabeth, who was mentally unstable. At that time Seeband was a member of the Nazi party. I shan't give away any more of the film's complex plot, but I will say it is one of the most mesmerising films I've seen in a long time, despite its generous runtime. Nominated for Best Foreign Language Film and Best Cinematography at this year's Oscars it has a lot going for it. The German title means Work Without Author, and there is much to machinate over, including ponderings upon the nature of art as a commentary upon events, as opposed to an expression of the artist's inner self. But even without such esoteric musings, the film is a sweeping tale of a time both terrible in its atrocities, counterpointed with lives of aspiration, fulfillment and beauty. (P.S: there's quite a brouhaha over the loose basing of the plot upon the life of actual artist Gerhard Richter, who is upset with the finished product.)
4 - highly recommended!

Yesterday
Director: Danny Boyle
Length: 116 min

© Universal - for fans of Beatles music, this
coulld be unmissable. 

Jack Malik (Himesh Patel) packs shelves in a supermarket by day but is aspiring to make it as a singer/songwriter. When one night, inexplicably, the electricity supply of the entire world crashes out for 10 seconds, Jack is hit by a bus. When he wakes, the rest of the world has no knowledge that The Beatles ever existed. Jack launches himself back into music, armed with all the songs the Fab Four ever wrote, and he becomes an instant overnight world sensation. His childhood best friend and agent Ellie (Lily James) is replaced by hard-nosed Yank Debra (Kate McKinnon), but as Jack rides the wave of stardom, he is tormented by needing to confess to the fraud, as well as to his long-repressed feelings for Ellie. Here's another feel-good film the critics have been unkind to, and yes it is a bit simplistic in parts, and schmaltzy in others, but it is a total delight for any fans of a good love story, and the music of arguably the greatest song-writing team in pop history. With the real Ed Sheeran playing himself (as the muso who discovered Jack), Patel a terrific musical interpreter of the Beatles' songs, and plenty of British humour throughout, Yesterday is thoroughly enjoyable.
3.5 - well recommended!

High Life
Director: Claire Denis
Length: 113 min
Nova exclusive

© Madman - is it a deep work of art, or a pretentious

unfathomable sci-fi? I'm at a loss.  

Monte (Robert Pattinson) is one of a group of death-row criminals launched into outer space on a never-to-return mission to see if energy can be harvested from black holes. Creepy Doctor Dibs (Juliette Binoche) is attempting a baby-breeding program with sperm she collects from the men to inseminate the women.This is one of the most perplexing, non-linear, fascinating, disturbing and infuriating sci-fi movies I've seen in a long time. Its plot unfolds in a totally non-linear way, so at the start we see that Monte already has his much-loved baby, and that he and the child are in fact the only survivors in the space ship. The back story gradually unfolds, the plot lurches back and forth, even back to times spent on Earth, while all the while a black hole looms closer and closer. Denis is a much respected auteur, and this is her first English language foray. Pattinson is a much deeper actor than his Twilight series vampire character would suggest, and Binoche is, as always, impressive. I'm at a total loss as to what to make of this film, but it is seldom less than intriguing.
2.5 - maybe! (or is it maybe recommended - beats me - plenty of award nominations and wins though)

June 20th
Surprise - no new reviews - DVD releases and SBS on demand screenings

A couple of (reputedly) wonderful films release this week: Never Look Away and Toy Story 4. The sad truth is that sometimes real life interferes with film previews and I just don't get out to see them in advance. Now that I am taking a small break, this means I have absolutely nothing new for you this week. Aghast!!! But . . . I didn't want to leave you empty-handed. There are several fabulous films just releasing on DVD, plus a number of terrific offerings from SBS (no they are not bribing me to mention this), so I thought, rather than give you nothing, I'd rerun a couple of past reviews of recent releases that you may be able to get your mitts on this week. 

Vice

Dir: Adam McKay

Length: 132 min

© E-One - Christian Bale has gone 
the whole hog to look like Dick Cheney

Already nominated for SIX Golden Globes, Vice is the story of President George W Bush's 2-IC - Dick Cheney. From Wyoming boy, to major White House power broker, Cheney was definitely the war-mongering power behind the throne, taking the US into Iraq while heading up large armaments company Halliburton. (That's integrity for you eh?)  The film is billed as a comedy, and in many ways it is - if the scurrilous doings were not so serious. McKay uses fabulous editing devices to create visual metaphors for what is going on, but the truly impressive aspect of the film is just how well the lead actors inhabit their roles. Bale, behind a pile of prosthetics and weight, has been subsumed by his character, while Sam Rockwell as Bush captures every nuance of the idiosycratic president's style. Steve Carell, who just gets better with every role he plays, is Donald Rumsfeld while Amy Adams plays Lynne Cheney. Dick's wife was definitely a force behind him, and the whole concept of a little power going to people's heads is amply displayed by both Cheneys. You don't have to be vitally interested in US politics to get a lot out of this film, both informationally, satirically and entertainment wise. For me, it's a winner.
4.5 - wholeheartedly recommended!

At Eternity's Gate

Director: Julian Schnabel

Length: 111 min

© Transmission - Dafoe could almost be
Vincent Van Gogh come back to life

Quite simply, this film traces the life of painter Vincent Van Gogh (Willem Dafoe), during the time he lived in the southern French town of Arles near the end of his life. Schnabel is trying to get inside the artist's head - to use film as a medium for expressing the intensity of Van Gogh's need to paint, and his amazing perception of color. The camera work is remarkable, swirling around the subject matter in the way Vincent's thick paint swirled on the canvas. Scenes of natural beauty within the film are as beautiful as paintings themselves. It's really something that needs to be seen, as did Loving Vincent, the film that animated Van Gogh's paintings to tell a similar story. Dafoe virtually inhabits his character and is nominated for a Best Actor award. Some people judge films like this as too slow - I see them as something to be relished - almost frame by frame - a true celebration of the life of a misunderstood, somewhat unstable genius.

4 - highly recommended!

Available on SBS On Demand

All three come wholeheartedly recommended from me. 

Brooklyn
Director: John Crowley
Length: 112 mins
Released 2015

Romantic and simply beautiful!

This exquisite film tells the story of Irish lass Eilis (Saiorse Ronan) who emigrates to New York in search of a better life. After initial homesickness, things take a turn for the better when she meets Italian-American Tony (Emory Cohen). But when circumstances lead her to return home for a while she finds herself caught between two possible lives and two men. Everything about Brooklyn works - from the spot-on period recreations and glorious cinematography, through to the heart-wrenching story which seems as fresh today as in the 1950s where it is set. Ronan's central performance is a revelation, and every small role sits perfectly around her. There's romance, sadness, social history, humour - and a calm, measured beauty about every aspect of this stunning film.

Beginners

Dir: Mike Mills
Length: 105 mins
Released 2010

A tender father son story, with a great
doggy performance

Oliver (Ewan McGregor) is shocked when, after the death of his mother, his father Hal  (Christopher Plummer), now 70 years old, comes out as gay. Somehow I remember this film so fondly from nearly a decade ago, mostly because of the tenderness of the father-son relationship, and the film's overall felling of love and loss, then a coming to terms.  Both men give terrific performances (Plummer is always a joy to watch) while Melanie Laurent is a sweet love interest for Oliver. It's nice to have a coming out film from so far back, before the theme became very mainstream, and to see older people in the limelight instead of always the young gorgeous ones. 

Eye in the Sky

Director: Gavin Hood
Length: 102 mins

Released 2015

Helen Mirren is wonderful, as usual

This vision of modern warfare, though fictional, is totally relevant to today's fraught world of war-torn countries and terrorist attacks. Helen Mirren plays Colonel Katherine Powell who has been tracking a cell of Kenyan-based terrorists affiliated with Al Shebab.Among them is a Britishwoman who has converted to radical Islam, whom Powell hopes to capture alive. Through drone surveillance, Powell sees that a suicide attack is imminent and orders a missile strike. Land-based drone pilots Steve Watts (Aaron Paul) and Lucy Galvez (Kim Engelbrecht) are set to go, when a small girl selling bread parks herself outside the target house throwing the mission into chaos. So ensues a nightmare of administrative chains of command from England to the USA to Africa, with no-one wanting to take responsibility.

The film explores the serious moral issue of killing by remote control, and making fraught decisions as to who should die in the interests of the greater good. The film is flawlessly executed and is a nail-baiting movie experience.Sadly, this is the last screen performance of Alan Rickman as General Frank Benson.

June 13th
Tolkien
Wild Rose

Two worthy offerings this week. For those who've wondered where Tolkien came up with some of his amazing writing ideas, the new film may have some answers. For fans of a meaty Glaswegian story of a mother, a daughter, her kids, and her love of country music, Wild Rose will satisfy.  

Tolkien
Director: Dome Karukosi
Length: 112 min

© 20th Century Fox - a lovely period piece with
insight into the mind and traumas of a genius

The director asks, "How do you express the mind of a genius visually?" The answer is with a film like this, which tries to fathom the mind of a genius writer who gave readers The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings. We meet JRR Tolkien (Nicholas Hoult) as a young and already imaginative child. When his beloved mother dies, he is sent to boarding school where he meets a group of supportive and like-minded fellow students. Later, during his university years, war breaks out and Tolkien enrols in the army. During horrific and traumatic trench warfare at the Somme he hallucinates and envisages many of the concepts that he later weaves into his brilliant novels. Meantime he pursues the love of  his life, Edith Bratt (Lily Collins), but must make serious choices when he is forbidden by his stern guardian to see her. There's an old-fashioned sensibility to this film, but not in a bad way - just good solid story-telling that is insightful, moving and entertaining. The feel of the "frightfully British" boys club is reminiscent of Dead Poet's Society, while the war scenes are visceral and disturbing. The love affair is beautifully portrayed with strong chemistry between Collins and Hault. A cameo appearance by Derek Jacobi as a linguistics professor who recognises the young Tolkien's genius in constructing new languages is a welcome surprise. Again, many critics are unkind, but I really enjoyed it.
3.5 - well recommended!

Wild Rose
Director: Tom Harper
Length: 101 min

© Universal - an unlikely friendship for a working

class gal with big aspirations

Rose-Lynn (Jessie Buckley) is a young mother of two. Upon her release from a year in prison she reconnects with her two kids who have been cared for by her mother Marion (Julie Walters). Highly talented, Rose has previously worked successfully as a country singer in a Glasgow venue, but now takes work as a cleaner at the home of wealthy Susannah (an excellent Sophie Okonedo). But her deepest ambition is to go to Nashville and try her fortunes, but at every turn she is beset by the fraught decision of how to balance her life's aspiration with her duties as a mother. This is stirring stuff, feeling a bit like a Ken Loach working class, social commentary crossed with a Hollywood genre like A Star is Born. The plot is meaty and chock full of important themes from personal ambitions, to mother daughter relationships, general parenting and risk-taking in life. Buckley is a major talent who simply soars off the screen with a brilliant voice, and mesmerising screen presence. If you didn't like country music before, this film could convert you.
4 - highly recommended!

June 6th
Red Joan
My Big Gay Italian Wedding

With a looming long weekend I would have hoped for more inspiring musical fare. Stick with Rocketman (reviewed last week) if you still haven't seen it. 

Red Joan
Director: Trevor Nunn
Length: 101 min

© Transmission - two strong performances 
fail to make the film soar

No still picture will show both actresses who play this role, as the film toggles between two time periods. Sophie Cookson  plays Joan Stanley, a young scientist who gets involved with communists at university in the 1930s, and who is arrested in her old age as having been a former spy who passed nuclear secrets to the Russians. Judi Dench plays the aging Joan. I love Dench and had high hopes for this film but find myself somewhat disappointed. Sure, the actual plot (loosely based on a true story) is intriguing, and both the lead women give strong performances, but we see so little of the great Dench who spends most of her time looking sad and vaguely regretful. Yes, the recreation of the 30s is fine, but the formulaic way of telling this tale prevents it from ever soaring and actually feeling like a thriller. The rather naive excuses Joan gives for doing what she did sound trite, and her two boyfriends, committed commie Leo (Tom Hughes) and her employer Max (Stephen Campbell Moore) are a bit like cardboard cut-out characters. If you're a die-hard Dench fan it cold be worth a look.
2.5 - maybe!

My Big Gay Italian Wedding
Director: Alessandro Genovesi
Length: 90 min

© Palace - lightweight love story, with a very
positive approach to same-sex marriage

Antonio (Cristiano Caccamo) and his boyfriend Paolo (Salvatore Esposito) live in Berlin. When Antonio proposes to Paolo, they travel back to Italy to meet the parents and hopefully marry in the quaint village of Antonio's birth. Tagging along is their long-term flatmate Bernadetta and new aspiring flatmate, the totally insecure Donato, who likes to dress as a woman. While Antonio's Mum (Monica Guerritore) is accepting, his Dad, the town mayor (Diego Abatantuomo) takes some convincing. Trying to put a spoke in it all is Antonio's one-time girlfriend Camilla. This is super-light fare, not unpleasant, but not incisively witty. It has a good heart and some fun gender-bending attitudes (especially from the priest, who is unexpectedly pro-same-sex marriage.) Sudden changes of heart of certain characters are all too abrupt and unexplained, as is the silly musical ending. Its biggest recommendation is its setting - a stunning medieval village high on a clifftop.
2.5 - maybe!