Use Me (2020) - Movie Review

We’re stepping into the Aussie indie files once again, and you know that things are gonna get surreal when I see the guy who gave me the screener for this film within the first five minutes. A mockumentary-style thriller set within the underbelly of online humiliation fetishism, the film follows director Julian Shaw in his efforts to make a documentary about Ceara Lynch, a professional ‘humiliatrix’, and the finer details of her line of work. However, as he finds himself deeper and deeper in her world, what begins as an expose on fetishes turns into a much darker voyage into the unknown.

Palm Beach (2019) - Movie Review

With how often I’ve gotten into class divides and the frictions between the haves and have-nots in these reviews, I get the feeling I should have problems with this film right off the bat just on principle. Set in the titular Northern Beaches suburb, basically one of the poshest places in my section of the world, the story follows a group of relatively well-off older people and their struggles with growing old and the relationships they’ve made over their lifetimes. ‘Woes of the upper class’ is the kind of thing that should instantly set off my bullshit detectors, and yet, that wasn’t really a problem for me. If anything, I wish it was more egregious along those lines because that would mean actually getting a reaction out of me.

I Am Mother (2019) - Movie Review

A woman is born in an underground bunker. It is the only life she’s ever known and her caretaker, a robot named Mother, is the only other being she’s ever encountered. Enter another woman from the outside world, one ravaged by an extinction-level event, who finds her way to the bunker. As the two humans interact, what is shared between them makes the first woman question what Mother has been telling her. In light of this dilemma, what does the first woman do?

Sweet Country (2018) - Movie Review

Australia doesn’t have the best track record when it comes to dealing with non-whites. Our country is responsible for some of the worst human rights violations in the Western world, both past and present, and nowhere is that more evident than in the historical treatment of Aboriginal Australians. The people we classified as native fauna long before we ever deemed them human, with our predecessors doing their damnedest to breed them out of existence to try and erase any evidence that we weren’t the first people to inhabit this land. This open sore in our history, one that most seem determined to ignore into absolution, ends up serving as a brilliant backdrop for this Aussie take on the Western cinematic genre.

The School (2018) - Movie Review

 

Always a good sign when you go into the cinema, and the only other people in attendance are cast members for the movie and even they’re surprised that anyone else bothered to show up. Yep, we’re in true-blue local Aussie film territory with this one, meaning that a large amount of those reading either won’t be able to see it or just plain won’t see the fascination in productions like this outside of some possible local colour. Which is really a shame because this is a film that definitely deserves some recognition.

Book Week (2018) - Movie Review

The plot: Nick Cutler (Alan Dukes) is a struggling English teacher and even harder struggling author. However, when his latest novel catches the attention of a publisher, he sees a chance to redeem himself for the cock-up he made during the publicity for his last book. As he tries to keep himself out of trouble, rowdy students, romantic entanglements and a whole lot of booze stand in the way between him and some sense of redemption.

1% (2018) - Movie Review

The plot: While the president of the Copperhead motorcycle club Knuck (Matt Nable) has been in prison, Paddo (Ryan Corr) has been keeping things in order as best he can. However, when Knuck is released and sees the expansions Paddo has made, he makes it clear that the club is his. As Knuck gets back into the swing of things alongside his wife Hayley (Simone Kessell), Paddo is goaded by his wife Katrina (Abbey Lee) to take the club for himself. No matter who wins this war, there will be blood.

Harmony: The Five Frequencies Part 1 (2018) - Movie Review

The plot: Harmony (Jessica Falkholt) was born with the ability to take away people's fear and darkness. As she struggles to survive homeless on the streets of an unforgiving city, a chance encounter with psychiatrist Beth (Jacqueline McKenzie) leads her to meeting Mason (Jerome Meyer), the first person Harmony didn't detect any fear within. It seems that these two have more connecting them than they realise, and as a dark storm approaches, they might be our only chance for salvation.

Maya The Bee: The Honey Games (2018) - Movie Review

The plot: After an unfortunate encounter with the Empress of Buzztropolis (Marney McQueen), country bee Maya (Coco Jack Gillies) is given an ultimatum: Unless she can beat the Buzztropolis team at the upcoming Honey Games, the Empress will take all of the honey from Maya's hive. Teaming up with her best friend Willy (Benson Jack Anthony) and a group of bugs from her home in Poppy Meadow, they will have to work together if they want to save the hive.

Dance Academy (2017) - Movie Review

Since I’m in the middle of my traditional Autumn/Winter rut and I’m starting to fall ridiculously behind with my review output, I don’t think anyone will mind if I skip the pleasantries and just get into the film already.

David Stratton: A Cinematic Life (2017) - Movie Review

Even in the world of Internet criticism and the democratisation of opinions about media, there is still one name and one name only who is the most important film critic in Australian history: David Stratton. The Oceanic answer to Roger Ebert, gaining mainstream attention through the Australian version of At The Movies with fellow critic Margaret Pomeranz, he basically embodies everything I both love and hate about the typical newspaper film critic. He has a very evident love for the medium and helped build up the Sydney Film Festival, but he also employs a lot of the faux-profundities and literary snootiness that I have railed on many times before. Still, regardless of all that, I find myself almost required to show respect where it’s due because of his importance to the industry. Have to admit, I wasn’t exactly anxious to check this film out, given how this is the sort of critic I usually try to avoid out in the wild, but considering how this year has been for Aussie cinema already, I reckon it’s worth being given its time in the sun on this blog.

Jasper Jones (2017) - Movie Review

Ah, Levi Miller; it takes something truly special to cause a feedback loop between my willingness to promote child actors and my propensity for labelling Australian actors as warning signals that a film they are attached to will be garbage. To be fair, I doubt anyone could make “my first lead role was in Pan” sound like a promising start to a career; even the established actors in that thing barely escaped with their livelihoods intact. But once you follow that up with the truly lacklustre follow-up to an Aussie classic that is Red Dog: True Blue, things start looking a little dicey. I mean, we’re supposed to be good at supporting our own burgeoning talent and even we’re struggling with this kid. Well, maybe today’s film will be different… and by that, I mean that I am sincerely hoping that today’s film will be different

Teenage Kicks (2017) - Movie Review

With the Mardi Gras Film Festival well under way around here, it’s indie LGBT time again! You know, I’d probably be a lot more enthused about this if I hadn’t already discussed several rather taxing and emotional films over the last few days. Given my history with this sub-genre, with films like Drown, I could already feel the burnout before I even set foot in the theatre. But it’s like I keep saying around these parts: I welcome the chance to be proven wrong. Of course, when I usually say that, it’s in the sense that I don’t like it when my intense pessimism involving certain releases turns out to be founded: It may be therapeutic to a degree but that I doesn’t mean that I actually enjoy watching crap movies. This time around, “being proven wrong” turns out to be accurate in a completely different way. Let’s dive right in and I’ll explain how.

Drown (2016) - Movie Review

There isn’t a day that goes by where I’m not grateful for the environments that I was raised in. A supportive family that I could literally tell anything to, the right friends (mostly) who are willing to lend an ear if I need to vent or vice versa, a country that’s a mongrel patchwork of pretty much every civilization that has existed in the last two centuries; not gonna lie, I lucked out in that regard. And in no other regard am I more thankful than when it comes to LGBT issues.

My own place within that spectrum is still being sorted out, mainly out of trying to understand its various nuances to find my exact place within it (if there even is one), but I grew up around people who were more than willing to accept it. Hell, when I came out at my Year 12 formal (in response to a gay joke, no less), there was a mixture of silence, giggles and relieving smiles that showed me that there is a place for me in this world with that in mind. However, there is a part of me that feels somewhat guilty of my own gratitude, as I know for a fact that not everyone is as fortunate when it comes to what people understand. Sheltered childhood for the win, I guess? Anyway, I bring all this up to bring my own perspective to the forefront because… wow, this is a bit of a tough one to dissect.

Spin Out (2016) - Movie Review

Just to be clear, I don’t inherently hate Australian cinema. As much as my previous rantings concerning the film scene over here may argue, I don’t see a massive issue with our collective output. There’s not nearly enough of it, don’t get me wrong, but what we do come out with can and often is very good. We have a penchant for cultural self-examination and down-to-earth humour that filmmakers would sell their livers to get such a consistent hold of, and a pedigree of actors that stands shoulder-to-shoulder with anywhere else on Earth.

I’ve always maintained that, if anything, the issue starts when the critics and marketing departments get their noses into everything, combining cultural mandates with laughable tone-deafness to create a landscape more than capable of great content but also blind to what should be done with it. At least, that’s how it usually goes. Then come along films like this that throw the occasional rusty spanner into the works by actually getting all of us to agree on something. Namely, that said product is outright garbage.

You're Not Thinking Straight (2016) - Movie Review

When you’re someone who obsesses over films as much as I do, finding films purely by accident just doesn’t happen to me anymore. I mean, I follow the release schedules of my local cinemas quite closely; lord knows I need to know just how long it will be before the next film comes out that actively makes me question my sanity. Today’s film is a bit different, even within its boundaries of Australian independent cinema which I have covered on this blog a few times before. Basically, the guy who wrote/directed this film is a friend of friends and the Facebook page for his film just cropped up on my timeline a few weeks ago out of the blue. Since I will always look forward to witnessing a new Lead Me Astray and seeing something produced locally that is worth championing beyond national pride, I went along to the screening. But how is the film itself?

My first officially published article!

So, a few months back, I did some work experience over at the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. I wrote up a few lists for them, mainly focusing on highlighting prominent Australian actors and their best respective work, and one of them actually got published on their website Australia Plus.

Words can't really express how amazed I am by this response. I started this blog out as a kid with no formal training in anything to do with films or filmmaking, just rambling about the many sometimes-contradictory thoughts I have about whatever new film I've seen. Now, things are getting more serious. I am deeply thankful to the people at ABC International for giving me the opportunity to write for them, as well as to all of you fine readers whom have stuck with me for all this time.

So, here's my take on the best film roles by perennial Aussie legend Hugh Jackman.

Felony (2014) - Movie Review

After looking through the last remnants of Sarah Snook’s filmography (that fall under my purview, at least), it seems that this uncharacteristically patriotic stint hasn’t left me just yet. So, with that in mind, let’s take a look at another Aussie talent who has a permanent fixing on my radar: Joel Edgerton. Since The Gift is still well and truly ingrained in my memory, and with the finale that film contained it’s unlikely to leave me at any point ever, I figure I’d go back and look into something else that had Edgerton attached behind the scenes. This also means that we’ll be checking in with another regular target in these parts, only for far less positive reasons: Jai Courtney. Between the two of them, this film could go either way, so let’s just hold off on the scepticism for once (stop laughing) and dive right in.

Not Suitable For Children (2012) - Movie Review

We’re dipping into the Sarah Snook pool again, and since looking at her American productions last time didn’t turn out so well, I figure we should head back to the home land this time around. And since we’re already talking about an Aussie actor that I sincerely hope gets more work internationally, it looks like we’re heading for a trifecta with today’s subject. Alongside Snook, we also have Ryan Corr who long(er)-time readers will remember as having tremendously impressed in Holding The Man and emerging from the muddied Water Diviner as the best part of the entire film. And then there’s Ryan Kwanten, whom I’ve also discussed before but not exactly in the most prime circumstances. I mean, I seem to be in the minority when it comes to Blinky Bill: The Movie, and Kidnapping Mr. Heineken didn’t seem to do anyone any favours on either side of the screen. Another minority opinion though, but I thought he was alright in Dead Silence, so we’re three-for-three in terms of people I want to succeed. But when they’re all together, do they actually succeed?

Holding The Man (2015) - Movie Review

 

On June 26^th of this year, a legal decision shook the majority of the Western world when it was decided that same-sex marriage would be made legally recognized for the entirety of the United States. In the ensuing months, the debate for similar legislation here in Australia has constantly being brought up and shot back down again with equal vigour. It would eventually reach the point where, even without having officially solved anything, the matter would fall away from the public eye like so many other “important” issues of the past. Given how much of an impact this had on how the rest of the year would shape up, I would be remiss if I didn’t bring up as we come to a close on what was a particularly interesting and eventful year. As such, we come to the last film in my list of releases that slipped by me the first time through. This is Holding The Man.