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Film Reviews. TV Reviews.

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Juno and Junk

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Mamma Mia! (2008) Review

July 14th 2008 05:36

Mamma Mia - Here We Go Again!

From the the trailer you expect this to be a fun movie! ABBA! What could not be fun about it? The cheeriness that is ABBA never fails to get my foot tapping and reminds me of my childhood when I used to put on my Mum's old records (That's right - that big black disc you play with a needle!) and dance around the loungroom.
This film had loads of potential and I must admit I was expecting alot! Maybe that's the reason, but it just didn't pull it off completely. Going from stage to screen can be a difficult task, and for me it didn't translate as well as it may have. All actors did a fairly good job at the stuff they were given (Apart from former 007 Pierce, who I got embarassed for when he started singing - Oh and the close-ups with the wobbling eyes!). But the characters were rather one dimensional, and the lack of plot showed enough to be a problem, no matter how many Abba songs they threw in there! Fair enough, I know it's all about the music, but sometimes things were evenly spaced enough for me. It didn't explore the characters enough for me to care about a single one of them. The men were cardboard cut-outs, and the only reason I wanted one of them to be the father of Sophie was because I am a fan of his to start with (Firth! He he). In my saying this, it is a fun movie, lighthearted and funny, but I feel it could have been done better. Throw away some songs and spend some time on the characters - how they feel, who they are bonding with, how they react to maybe being a father to a daughter they were never told about. Each of them took it a little to calmly for my liking. I was severely disappointed in the male characters, Sophie's fiance was a two-dimensional, lovely, caring, unrealistic boy, and not once did I get the feeling that Sophie didn't actually want to get married. Makes we want to sit down and rewrite the whole thing. (sigh) It had so much potential!

The great things about this film were the two best friends of Donna (Streep). They were funny, unique and lifelike. And the dance numbers with groups were lots of fun. Classics like "Dancing Queen" and "Mamma Mia" and even the hens party with the three fathers getting tied to poles and tables while "Gimme Gimme Gimme (Man after Midnight)" played behind them was great to watch. (Yet maybe that's my fantasy - tying Colin Firth to a table? Okay, not the place )
While watching a flim like this it takes a while to get into the 'musical' headspace, the place where it no longer feels awkward that people are just suddenly bursting into song. Some songs were a little to drawn out ("Winner Takes it All) where Pierce just stands there listening to Streep go on and on about how she lost out. (You got a daughter out of it! You never told him! Get over it!) They should have cut that out half way through. And with "SOS", one of my favourite ABBA songs, the scene was a little obscure and I understand the symbolism but it just looked a little strange.
I know this looks like I have nothing good to say about this movie, but that's not true. I had fun, and that's more I can say about a lot of films. I enjoyed it and could watch it again. It's a film that makes you feel good, I just wanted so much more out of it. I wanted to connect and be involved with the characters, with actors that looked like they had so much fun making this film, so that's why this review is a little deflated.

Who's your Daddy?

One thing I was thinking all through the film was that, no matter what, no movie will beat the incorportation of ABBA's music like that of 'Muriel's Wedding'. Now classed as a classic Aussie film starring Toni Collett and Rachel Griffiths, the use of ABBA songs within that film blended perfectly with the emotional investment and the mood of the whole movie, and I just couldn't stop comparing. Comparing the real ABBA musical with a small budget Aussie flick. Seriously!

Okay, that being said I do recommend this film. Relax, eat popcorn and just be taken along on the toe-tapping ride. But that's it.

101

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Look Both Ways (2005) Review

July 1st 2008 02:17

Look Both Ways (2005)

Starring: William McInnes Justine Clarke

Life just happens.

Accidents happen. Without any reason or agenda, sometimes life just happens. Is there a reason why a perfectly healthy young man is run over by a slow moving train? Could that ever be 'just an accident'? Which bids the question, is there ever such thing as just an accident? Is there any reason as to why there is so much destruction and suffering in the world? Suffering that becomes so second nature and is in our faces 24/7 that it makes us too scared of even walking out our front door in case we become victim to one of those accidental mishaps.
This movie takes place over a scorching weekend. Here we meet Meryl, a woman who constantly pictures the worst. From getting eaten by sharks to getting swallowed up into the earth, if it could happen to other people, why could it not happen to her? And then there's Nick. A photojournalist who has had a very bad run of luck, and Andy, a bloke who believes there must be a reason behind everything, who has to deal with an accident of his own in a world where he believes that everyone has a hidden agenda.

William McInnes and Justine Clarke

This is a beautifully told Australian film about life and it's ability to 'just happen'. About perfect strangers who sometimes just need each other. This script is understated and the movie is beautifully shot. The pace can be a little slow, but compared to its American counterparts, Australian films have an appealing, earthy, raw edge. It has a wonderful soundtrack with understated acting and does Australian cinema proud in a time when we are overloaded with U.S produce.
Dealing with serious issues like life and death and how we handle them without turning around and wondering what the point of it all is, it can be seen as a little heavy, but it raises interesting questions and does not shy away or sugar coat the harshness that is reality. It's a mirror of ourselves, and the question it raises is are we willing to look?
It also captures the Australian psyche particularly well, with its understated reactions and its inability to say the right thing at the wrong time; with the male ineptness to articulate emotions and thoughts. Replacing the 'Oh my God, are you alright?" with a humourous diversion and an awkward silence or just a "Christ!". That's right, as opposed to our American counterparts we rarely have anything good to say in those circumstances. It came off particularly real. It's not polished, its rough and raw. International audiences sometimes mistake this as 'cheap'. Not so. Just a different way of storytelling.

Nick is wonderfully portrayed by William McInnes (formerly of Blue Heelers and Seachange) a man struggling to come to terms with the end of his own life while witnessing nothing but death all around him. Justine Clarke is Meryl, a struggling artist whose friends just want her to find a man while she is more concerned about dealing with the destruction that is the world today. The movie is centred around a freak accident and the consequences the death of this total stranger have on the community around him. It's touching, raw.

Rating 3/5

The pace was a little slower than I was used too, but this may be from watching to many formulaic US movies. But once the characters start to unravel, you will be hooked.

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Sex and the City - The Movie

June 15th 2008 23:49

True to life turns to fairytale?

I was just like every other woman in Australia dying to see the movie of the hit TV series Sex and the City. I too wanted to see what the girls were up too, how their relationships panned out, with any other traumas that they were having.

Let's just say I was a little let down. I know Carrie was always the main character, but the other girls were just as central, or maybe even more so, when it came to pulling in viewers. I mean, everyone knows someone who is like one of the characters on SATC. There’s always a cynical Miranda, innocent Charlotte and a slutty Samantha. So, when I sat down with my popcorn I expected something huge.
It’s not that it wasn’t a fun ride. The movie is highly enjoyable, but I doubt it would be able to stand on it’s own if you hadn’t watched at least the last season of Sex and the City. And though we were all interested in Carrie and Big, I found the other girls and their men pushed into the background. The gritty story between Miranda and her other half pushed into the background while Carrie dealt with her issues. And the fact that Charlotte was having a baby was as if it was a minor plot point that was just there to give her her happy ending. They missed out on some major showing between the other women and their men when it came to major plot points. It was as if they were glossed over and Carrie and Big were the main plot. The thing about the series was that it was nearly evenly spread between the four women, where as the movie was a big chunk of pie that left me empty with wanting to see more of Miranda, Samantha and Charlotte and how they deal with their issues.
The message it sends out to women could be seen as a negative one. Yes you want them to get their happy endings, and I won’t spoil it as to what happens, but I found my overload of corn, both of the Pop and the onscreen varieties a little sickening after a while.
All in all, it’s a fun movie, with the same girls you know and love. But one feels like it was just like three episodes put together, and for being about 2 hours long I found it a little too drawn out. They could have cut half an hour out and I would have been happy.

The girls find their way into their 40’s changed women with new outlooks.

109

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Changi - Miniseries - ABC

May 29th 2008 01:30

It’s a story of humanity, and the lengths one will go to survive the horrors we as humans put each other through.

I've loved this T.V mini series for years and out of the blue I've had a sudden urge to watch Australian films. Australian stories are unique but sometimes few and far between when it comes to the money and publicity of our overseas counterparts. Australians are constantly bombarded with war stories from America and Britian and about how they win these wars. Numerous times I've watched the film where the U.S.A saves the day and there is some big patrotic hoo-haa and after a cry for their fallen patriots, all is well again. Unfortunately, Australian war stories rarely go international, and compared to dumbed-down American films, Changi won my heart. Not just because of it’s Australianess, but it's universal themes of humanity and survival. Not new themes in war stories, but this isn't about fighting for ones country. It's just about fighting for life, no matter what flag you stand under

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Australian Telly

May 6th 2008 23:34

Australian Television has had something of a makeover lately. It's not a bad thing. I'm quite pleased with the abbundance of Aussie shows now making it onto our own screens, and the quality is surprisingly good - well shot, great actors and great stories. There is something of a difference between Aussie and US shows I've noticed. Shows like Underbelly and Canal Road are all very graphic with no sugar coating anywhere. There is no American flashyness. You can tell that the budget is slightly lower compared to our yankee counterparts, but that doesn't mean it should be written off. More money doesn't neccessarily mean better quality. Lots of American sitcoms lately I find are below par (if I have to watch one more sitcome about and old married couple and a newly engaged couple then I will shoot them both) Underbelly was a fantastic, gritty, something of a shell-shocking miniseries about the underworld of Melbourne, and with the controversy caused it to grab even more raitings.(It was not allowed to air in Victoria for fear of prejudicing the jury on trials that are still taking place) And now Canal Road has taken over, and hopefully the stories remain just as tight.
There is no glossing over the sex, the language or the people. Everything is shown as rough, and dirty, and harsh. And there's nothing better than hearing a real Aussie accent with real language - our script writers should be applauded. The writers strike in the US did us an enourmous favour by letting us have a chance to get back in our own market

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Serving Sara (2001) Review

March 30th 2008 06:25

Stars: Matthew Perry - Joe
Elizabeth Hurley - Sara Moore

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'Numb' Movie Review

March 28th 2008 02:22

Stars: Matthew Perry - Hudson
Lyn Collins - Sarah

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Dan in Real Life (2008) Review

March 16th 2008 06:08

Sugar, anyone?

A romantic comedy with well known comedian Steve Carrel. A story about a man, Dan (Carrel) an advice columnist who, even with the best intentions, can't seem to find the right balance in life. He's a family man, a widower struggling to understand the growing needs and attitudes of his three daughters

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Waitress (2007) Review

March 13th 2008 01:51

'Trying To Be Happy Enough' Pie

“I don't expect much. I don't get much, I don't give much. I generally enjoy whatever comes along. That's my answer for you, summed up for your feminine consideration. I'm happy enough.”
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Juno and Junk

March 12th 2008 01:47

Teenage pregnancy. A touchy topic. A little taboo. In a movie sense the pregnancy theme has become a tad generic. I’ve been reading a lot of reviews about Juno lately and have been totally surprised by some of the comments. Most have been positive, which I agree with because not once was I bored in this film. It was different, it had a lot of heart and I could relate to the fleshed out, human characters. The thing I found most interesting in all these reviews was how many people were offended by the use of coarse language when it came to the reference to sex within the first half on the film. I laughed at my computer screen, and I'm sure my computer laughed too. Come on, you’re going to see a movie about teen pregnancy, that usually means sexual references and teens talking about sex -- unless you still think the stork does the dirty work and therefore maybe I should go out and check my cabbage patch. And, in case you didn’t know, teenagers talk about sex (gasp! ) and don’t usually use the anatomically correct terms. That’s right.. I know, shock to the system, right? Referring to sexual organs as ‘junk’ is one of the nicer ter

Jason Bateman and Ellen Page

ms. Honest to blog! It's interesting to find that this movie is being criticised for using realistic dialogue and banter. If the kids were talking like those Dawsons Creek morons then it would be criticised for dialogue that sounded too trite and unconvincing. Well excuse me if nobody can win! The thing is, many Hollywood teen movies are far cruder than Juno, and do not delve into serious topics, they just use sex as an easy laugh. The fact is that this movie had heart and realistic dialgue while touching on a very serious topic without preeching or hitting you over the head with it's moral stick.
On the other hand, the movie came up with some unexpected twists. I liked the bond between Juno and Michael Lorring. It was a different dynamic, you weren’t quite sure where it was heading, but was sort of nice because you find out that she is more mature than him, when he should be the one looking out for her.
Juno took us on a journey exploring one topic with different perspectives. It wasn’t typical, but it was lovable. We loved Paulie’s total inadequateness, a sweet kid caught up in a situation that was way over his head. Juno is a girl trying to be grown up, but on her way to becoming an adult showed us what happens when grown-ups are still kids. It's about connecting people together while dealing with a situation completely out of their control, showing of course how close people can be and how unpredictable they are

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July 2008

2 Posts

June 2008

1 Posts

May 2008