August 4th - imminent releases
23 Walks - in cinemas now 
Echo in the Canyon - digital release August 5
Deerskin - in cinemas from August 6
One Man and His Shoes - available from Aug 6 on DocPlay
Blood Vessel - available On Demand and DVD from Aug 5

How strange to now live in a land divided - those states that have cinemas open and those that don't. Sorry Victorians, you may have to wait to see some of these, but I'm recommending you to a few films that are available online, so you won't miss out. A reminder for those in the lockdown that as well as all the wonderful programs available free from SBS On Demand and ABC iview, you can access Kanopy free with your library card. Fans of documentaries should definitely get themselves a very affordable subscription to DocPlay, chock full of the world's best docos.  Stay tuned later in the week for an extra edition showcasing the Melbourne International Film Festival (MIFF), online this year, with opening night on Thursday August 6th. 

23 Walks
Dir: Paul Morrison
Length: 103 mins
Now showing in many cinemas in all states except Victoria (sniff!!)

© Rialto - touching and heart-warming story
of love in later years

Dave (Dave Johns) and Fern (Alison Steadman) meet by chance in a park walking their dogs Tilly and Henry. Gradually casual friendship starts to blossom into romance. But each is not totally truthful with the other, threatening their connection. Johns was amazing in I Daniel Blake, and here he is absolutely truthful in his portrayal of an older guy, not quite knowing how to make the right moves, and not realising the ramifications of being deceitful by omission. Steadman is perfect as Fern, the woman too burned by her past to be comfortable with a new friendship with a man, let alone anything more. It's great to see a film handling love in older years, though the issues they face could apply to many age groups. Set along glorious English walking tracks and in verdant parks, and featuring two captivating canines, one huge and one tiny, this is a sweet film which hits all the right notes and never gets overly sentimental. 
4 - highly recommended

Echo in the Canyon
Dir: Andrew Slater
Length: 82 mins
Available for purchase on Apple, PSN, Microsoft, Google and Fetch. 

© Echo in the Canyon - LLC - Universal -
Jakob Dylan chats with Dave Crosby

This is a real nostalgia trip for boomers who reveled in the music of the mid 60s, specifically that music associated with Laurel Canyon in Los Angeles. Jakob Dylan, (Bob's son) takes us on a journey through present and past, featuring legendary artists such as The Byrds, The Buffalo Springfields, Crosby, Stills Nash & Young, The Beach Boys, The Mamas and Papas and more. There is a blend of wonderful clips of the original artists and their songs, plus the rehearsals for, and the final concert, which pays tribute to that seminal music era and features the likes of Jakob Dylan, Norah Jones, Beck and other current artists discovering the past. Such musicians as Dave Crosby, Jackson Browne, Michelle Phillips and Ringo Starr put in their two bob's worth with vibrant anecdotes and reminiscences, and there is much about how the Beach Boys and the Beatles influenced each other. Some critics are peeved about what has been left out, but the songs that are in here all stand the test of time, and are still inspiring to current songwriters. This music defined an era of freedom and hope where people felt they could do anything. I danced my way through much of the film - riveted, and with a fervent desire to return to the era.
4.5 - wholeheartedly recommended

Deerskin
Dir: Quentin Dupieux
Length: 77 mins
Available in selected cinemas in states other than Vic

© Umbrella - things get out of hand when Georges
becomes obsessed with his jacket, and his film-making

Jean Dujardin who you may know from The Artist, plays Georges, a middle aged divorcee, who buys a second-hand deerskin jacket from an old codger who throws in a hand-held video camera.  Georges heads off to a remote French alpine village. He soon becomes obsessed with the jacket, imagining it talks to him, and then he adds to his deerskin look with hat, boots and trousers. When he meets local bartender Denise (Adele Haenel, from Portrait of a Lady on Fire), he somehow misrepresents himself as a film-maker, and appoints Denise his editor. But in the search for cinema verite, things start to go in a direction that is definitely not as one would expect. This film is a piece of lovely lunacy - never making a whole heap of logical sense, but never boring me. Dujardin is always a terrific screen presence, the minimalism of the settings and story are intriguing, and the oddball twists near the end make for an unexpectedly surprising cinema experience.
3.5 - well recommended

One Man and his Shoes
Dir: Yemi Bamiro
Length: 82 mins
Available from DocPlay: www.docplay.com

© Madman/DocPlay - shoes ain't shoes man - they
are status symbols, and something to kill for.

Basketball fans, particularly lovers of Michael Jordan, will adore this film, but even if you're not a follower of that sport, there is plenty of interest in this latest offering from DocPlay. There is much more than initially meets the eye here. It starts a bit like a plug for Nike, showing how once Jordan was signed up, the entire marketing machine took off, with the new sneaker, the Air Jordan, becoming a status symbol, a collectors' item, and something worth killing for - literally. The advertising campaign was a huge success, thanks in part to director Spike Lee. Jordan himself represented a turning point, in which a black man could take his place, front and centre, in broader society. Hence the cultural and racial significance of those sneakers makes them movie worthy. However, the story takes a darker turn when some young people were killed for their sneakers and neither Jordan nor Nike spoke up. The doco is an informative and sobering look at the power and danger of marketing, plus another  perspective on Black American history. Plus, it's a good-looking film with well-paced use of fast-moving, up-to-the-minute visuals.
4 - highly recommended

Blood Vessel
Dir: Justin Dix
Length: 90 mins
Available from DVD – JB Hi Fi and Sanity and Video on Demand:  iTunes/Google /Fetch/Foxtel Store/Umbrella Entertainment

© Umbrella  -  great to see Nathan Phillips back in
a cracking action/horror .

Six people are adrift on a life raft after a World War 2 hospital ship has been torpedoed by the Germans.  Nathan Phillips plays Aussie Sinclair; the rest of the motley group include Russian Teplov (Alexander Cooke), Jane Prescott (Alyssa Sutherland), a smug Yank, a scared Brit and an Afro-American engineer. Grappling their way onto a passing German destroyer (as you do!) they find no-one on board, except a small child (Ruby Hall) speaking Romanian and covered in blood. It soon becomes evident an ancient horror is resident on the ship. Who will survive? This is actually a lot of grisly fun for those who enjoy a strong genre movie. Shot in a (sometimes too dark) black and red color pallette, and full of genuinely scary special effects, the film barrels along at a cracking, throat-ripping pace, with classic tropes of secret treasure, skeletons, bat-faced demons, ancient books, creepy dolls, loads of blood, and a wonderful twist in the final moments.
3.5 - well recommended for fans of the genre