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!