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.