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Reviews
Suburban Mayhem (2006)
Suburban... Hissyfit?
Hmm... I am actually in this film, I went to the "premiere" screening tonight in Newcastle (after the film had already been in the can for several months now). This also coincides with the announcement for the AFI awards. It didn't surprise me that this film wasn't nominated for best picture. I know we've had some absolute stinkers of late, but honestly, this failed to live up to my expectations. I read another comment on this page saying how it was a "high-octane thrill ride". Well, honestly, this should serve as a reminder not to mix ethanol with your screenplays unless you're going to burn them.
I feel for Alice Bell. I know she's been told by a lot of people that this film is brilliant, but honestly, her vision of a cat-out-of-hell Corman-esquire tyrade has been painfully dissolved by Goldman self indulgent directing. Firstly, the talking heads documentary. Why do it unless you had a lot of screen time to fill. We know what's going to happen in the end. It seems to me that if you're going to have a "high-octane thrill ride", shouldn't you at least be living in the now and the present? I mean, isn't all this just past tense. We know she makes it, we know Rusty makes it, we know someone dies. I mean, if you're going to set your structure up in such a house-of-cards way, you may as well just film it as a segment for A Current Affairs afterall.
Structure is the most important in storytelling. All the flashy shots, no matter how elaborate, are meaningless if you can't justify your plot. This seems to be the problem with Australian films of late. Our funding bodies just seem to be giving our tax money to the same old people to create the same old films. Trust me, three years from now, this movie will be on some shelf in a DVD shop with a fifty cent pricetag on it.
Let's making something lasting and resonant. Play with your camera's and digital floating mailbox effects with your own time. Once more, I say, decent idea, sadly subverted, poorly executed.
Alice if you're reading this dear, don't let my words get you down. Please try, try again.
Two Twisted (2005)
A little bit... twisted? *Spoilers*
Ten years ago we had "Twisted Tales", a program that in hindsight was more famous for launching the careers of several now prominent writers/directors rather than for its story lines. When this show first aired all those years ago, it started out strong and bold, and a lot of viewers expected great things from it. But sadly, as happens so very often, each successive week's viewing became successively weaker. And so now there's a ratings war. And Mr Brown, the FTO and AFC have combined their resources to make this.
This retread of a retread of a retread.
Where the Twilight Zone was RELEVANT, Two Twisted is a MISH MASH OF POP CULTURE. Where The Outer Limits was ASTOUNDING, Two Twisted is DUMBFOUNDING. Where Alfred Hitchcock Presents was SUSPENSEFUL, Two Twisted is SELF SERVING.
I admire any production that boasts a range of acting and directing talent like this. But not in this way. Do we really live in a generation where "It turns out the chick who lived here a year ago had her leg and head bitten off by a shark" actually makes a lot of sense? Compare it to episodes of the Zone such as "The Monsters Are Due On Maple Street", "To Serve Man", "Nightmare At 20,000 Feet" and "Time Enough At Last" and you will honestly feel short-changed.
This is what your film funding bodies spend their money on people. I've read several of the scripts that were submitted for this program and some had a lot of potential. Were these stories chewed up and spat back out? All I'm saying is, once again, this leaves a bad taste in my mouth...
Leningrad Cowboys Go America (1989)
this movie is 100 times better than the "Blues Brothers".
at first i thought what is this? then you let the leningrad cowboys take you along and the movie just gets better. the music is an obvious highlight all through the movie but that is just one of many. it is the costumes and hairstyles that make this movie perfect. the lost cousin is a brilliant plot twist and picks the music up and the viewer as well. keep an eye on the bass player, that is all i will say about him. a genuinely funny movie that is so far left of centre it is unbelievable, but when you watch the movie, no, this is all very believable. watch it as many times as you can. i was the only person to rent it from the video shop so they sold it to me cheap. the best buy i ever made.