November 4th
Koko: A Red Dog StoryAlone
The Bay of Silence
Australia and the world loved the 2011 film Red Dog. This delightful follow up is part mockumentary, part real doco, with a sprinkle of animation thrown in. The doco traces the making of Red Dog, with particular focus upon its canine star, Koko. We see reenactments of how kelpie breeder Carol Hobday (Sarah Woods) came to lend her favorite dog Koko to the filmmakers. We follow the funny, touching story of what it was like to train Koko for his role, and how the dog inexplicably became attached to producer Nelson Woss, (Felix Williamson) who was finally given Koko by Carol. Red Dog director Kriv Stenders is entertainingly played by Toby Truslove, and we also hear from the actual people involved in the hit film as they reminisce upon the entire challenging, but magical experience. With some fun background upon kelpies as a breed, and a look at the world of dog showing, there is plenty to enjoy in this movie that will delight dog lovers and movie lovers of all ages.
Jessica (Jules Wilcox) is grieving. Her husband has suicided and she is relocating her life to a remote area in the northwest of the country. En route, towing her life in a U-Haul van, she becomes aware of someone following her. What seems like a benign encounter with a nameless man (Marc Menchaca) at a service station, soon turns into something way more threatening, and Jessica will ultimately find herself running for her life. If you want a total diversion that will grip you from go to whoa, this could be it. Utilising evocative camera work to create threat and suspense, the director really knows how to keep an audience on the edge of their seat. Shots of towering forest canopies, dense woods, and headlights in the rear vision all help build the suspense. There is no heavy-handed horrific stuff; just a scenario that feels ultra real, and therefore all the more frightening. (Well, a few later scenes perhaps stretch credulity, but I'm cutting it some slack here.) Menchaca is perfect as Mr Unhinged, Wilcox plays fear mixed with resourcefulness, while a small cameo from Anthony Heald as a bloke in the wrong place at the wrong time, lends a much-needed pause for breath in what is a relentlessly nail-baiting story of the hunter and the hunted.
Will (Claes Bang of Netflix Dracula fame) gets the shock of his life when his wife Ros (Olga Kurylenko) seems to suddenly go mad, and runs away to France, taking her twin daughters and their baby son. Cue the delivery of a mysterious suitcase full of sleazy photos of Ros in her teen years, a dead baby, a false imprisonment for rape, and more other plot points than you can shake a stick at, and you have what could have been a tense psycho/sexual/drama thriller. Unfortunately it ends up more a muddled incomprehensible mess. Not even the brilliant Brian Cox (Succession) as Ros's creepy dad can lift the film. I love it when the critics go 50-50 on a film, and there are certainly a number on the Tomato-meter who praise it. To its credit the film looks terrific with impressive settings and cinematography. But for me the actors don't have the requisite emotion for the dramatic situations; perhaps the fatal flaw begins in the scripting. Disappointing, as it had potential.
This week's films are a varied collection. A heart-warming dog doco, a terrifying thriller, and a not-so-thrilling thriller.
Koko: A Red Dog Story
Dir: Aaron McCann, Dominic Pearce
Dir: Aaron McCann, Dominic Pearce
Length: 78 mins
Available from Umbrella home entertainment
Trailer: https://youtu.be/IRuC-gkCNJY
 |
| © Umbrella - never work with dogs or children, unless the dog is Koko. |
Alone
Dir: John Hyams
Dir: John Hyams
Length: 98 mins
Available to rent NOW via Foxtel and Fetch
 |
| © Rialto - alone on a country road at night . . . harmless fellow traveller or ...? |
The Bay of Silence
Dir: Paula van der Oest
Dir: Paula van der Oest
Length: 93 mins
Available on DVD and various VOD platforms
 |
| © secrets from a woman's past are unearthed after tragedy strikes |
No comments:
Post a Comment