Producers: Craig Deeker, David Jowsey, Anita Sheehan
Written By: Shaun Grant, Craig Silvey (story)
Based on: the novel ‘Jasper Jones’ by Craig Silvey (2009)
Starring: Angourie Rice, Hugo Weaving, Toni Collette, Dan Wyllie, Levi Miller, Aaron L. McGrath
The purpose of a good film is to resonate with its audience and to change our perspective: Jasper Jones did just that for me and stuck around long after I left the theatre behind.
The story of Charlie’s coming of age is about the choices we make based on what we think we know and how sometimes misinformation gets confused with facts.
We tell ourselves our life story everyday, shaping our sense of identity, our purpose. To the point that only a catalyst event can set things straight.
The night Jasper Jones finds Laura’s body, he knows that would be the end of him. As a mixed race outcast, the town he calls home would find him guilty in the blink of an eye.
And so he reaches out to young Charlie, asking for help in the middle of the night. It is a move made out of desperation, as he fears for his life.
As the plot advances, we submerge into a time and place where gossip is the common currency and nothing is what it seems behind closed doors. Where Jasper, Charlie and Eliza embark on a courageous adventure to solve a mystery, while most of their community chooses to look away.
As director Rachel Perkins stated: ‘Stories, in the words of our writer Craig Silvey, exist to promote empathy, to test preconceptions and to transform opinions. The audience will ultimately be the judge if we have succeeded in that quest.’
Jasper Jones is a best-selling Australian novel by Craig Silvey. The novel has received broad critical acclaim and commercial success including being shortlisted for the prestigious IMPAC Dublin Literary Award 2011 and shortlisted for the Australian Miles Franklin Literary Award in 2010.
Producers: Michael De Luca, E L James, Dana Brunetti
Based on the novel by: E L James
Screenplay by: Niall Leonard
Soundtrack score: Danny Elfman
Starring: Dakota Johnson, Jamie Dornan, Kim Basinger, Marcia Gay Harden, Eric Johnson, Bella Heathcote, Rita Ora
The second film in the Fifty Shades series, based on the novel Fifty Shades Darker by E L James, is lame, tame and generally depressing, especially when compared with Fifty Shades of Grey, which had some lighter moments associated with the excitement of first love.
The second film was like watching a Mills & Boon telemovie with a wanna-be feisty heroine, brooding hero, and situations where the characters are forced to admit How Much They Mean to Each Other, set amidst a backdrop of obscene wealth (why are the heroes never accountants?).
Originally an e-novel loosely inspired by the Twilight saga, Fifty Shades of Grey ended with heroine Anastasia Steele (perky breasted Dakota Johnson) breaking up with gloomy yet ripped businessman Christian Grey (Jamie Dornan) because she couldn’t be the “submissive” he needed.
In Fifty Shades Darker she now claims “things are different”, deliberately teasing Christian and trying to seduce him in the Red Room, totally negating the strong stand she took earlier.
The Fifty Shades books and films have been criticised for glamorising domestic violence and abusive relationships. The books certainly depicted Christian as being oppressive, sexually deviant and overbearingly bossy, whereas the films portray him more as a once-victimised and still vulnerable person who has to be in control, and who probably just needs a good woman’s love to redeem him.
I don’t find the criticisms about emotional/physical abuse valid because Ana returns here of her own free will, makes conditions and often instigates the sexual interludes with Christian, who says that although he desires the kinky stuff, he needs her more. She seems compelled to test his resolve by deliberately encouraging him in sexual activities that are like awkwardly shot soft porn but curiously lack any arousing power, and which interrupt the actual story, such as it is.
Christian’s work life barely gets screen time (how does he make all that money?), while we’re supposed to believe Ana is a gifted business woman because she pitches one idea breathily at a board meeting to publish “new” writers instead of just established ones, which is received as though no-one had ever thought of it before.
Fifty Shades Darker has quality production values, beautiful cinematography (by John Schwartzman) of mountains and rain-slicked city streets, and a bopping soundtrack. There are established actors in minor roles, including Christian’s adoptive mother (a dignified Marcia Gay Harden), and his former Dominant, Elena (a well preserved but wasted Kim Basinger), but other characters from the first film barely register.
A former Submissive (Bella Heathcote) stalks Ana and appears to pose a threat that is resolved too quickly. The villain here is Ana’s former boss Jack Hyde (Eric Johnson), who in one hilarious scene produces a printed photo of one he took earlier on his phone, just so he can evilly burn a hole through Christian’s face as a sign of future revenge in the third film.
Subtlety, credibility and entertainment are not hallmarks of this film, although there are some unintentional laughs. For sexual titillation watch the Sylvia Kristel version of Lady Chatterley’s Lover (1981), while for brooding romance you can’t beat Jane Eyre (Orson Welles version, 1943).
Producer: M. Night Shyamalan, Jason Blum, Marc Bienstock
Executive Producer: Steven Schneider, Ashwin Rajan, Kevin Frakes
Starring: James McAvoy, Anya Taylor-Joy, Betty Buckley, Haley Lu Richardson, Jessica Sula
Director and writer M. Night Shyamalan (Sixth Sense (1999), Unbreakable (2000), The Visit (2015)) is back with his unique, sometimes tongue-in-cheek style of horror thriller, this time featuring Kevin (James McAvoy): a man suffering (or is he suffering?) from DID (Dissociative Identity Disorder).
After the kidnapping of three young girls, the audience is given a taste of the 23 different personalities inhabiting Kevin’s body.
Shyamalan together with clever camera angles (from cinematographer Mike Gioulakis) use the change in personality to amp up the horror the kidnapped girls experience when they realise their captor is using completely different voices to have a conversation, with himself.
It’s Kevin’s psychiatrist, Dr. Karen Feltcher (Betty Buckley) who speculates whether DID caused through trauma is a weakness or a strength. And whether the Split is a way of tapping into the plasticity of the brain, creating pathways into parts unknown.
An interesting premise and the main thrust of the film.
Shyamalan really takes the idea of tapping into the power of the mind as far as he can. The result being a thought-provoking horror with a bit of dark humour thrown in the mix.
Thankfully, the few snorts of laughter I had were meant to be provoked, but jeez, there’s a real push of that suspension of belief, the suspension achieved through the believable and truly phenomenal performance of James McAvoy as all those differing personalities.
McAvoy’s great at those parts that require equal measures of
nice guy versus evil. I kept thinking back to the character from the film: Trance (2013), another thriller that delves into the mind.
And Anya Taylor-Joy was well-cast as the, well, out-cast, Casey Cook. Anya looks different here, compared to her unforgettable performance in, The Witch (2015), but you can’t miss those sanpaku eyes…
I think people will either swallow the story and enjoy the film, or they won’t. There’s certainly a unique flavour here.
I liked the exploration into the realm of neuroscience, the idea that thought and belief can change the organic. To make imagination into reality. And I enjoyed the interaction between the personalities of Kevin and Dr. Karen Feltcher, the sessions giving much needed authenticity through the grounding dialogue.
However, I found myself wanting to get sucked in then jolted out of the film with that weird sense of humour that’s all Shyamalan.
SPLIT is something different to watch, that reaches for those edges. And if you don’t mind a bit of weird you’ll be rewarded with a unique story well executed.
Starring: Sandra Hüller, Peter Simonischek, Michael Wittenborn
Family is one of the few things we do not choose in life.
We can change jobs, we can move to another country. But family is the one thing we cannot get rid off. No matter how hard we try.
The talented Maren Ade masterfully delivers an emotional story while criticising the corporate world in Europe and the ruthless German approach to ‘assist’ countries much less favoured economically, such as Romania.
But I am not into politics myself. As a European, I’ve had enough of that.
Watching Toni Erdmann took me back to a few months ago when my father came to stay with us. To me, he was relentless, embarrassing and short-sighted.
I could see myself in Ines. I could feel her struggle as she deals with her father.
The constant façade that she builds to prove that she can do better.
Her father’s transformation, an invasion of privacy at first, slowly becomes a fierce fight to recover his daughter by taking over a new persona. Toni and Ines’ story is a plea for coming clean, to reconnect with our family despite our differences.
Toni Erdmann is much more than a film made for entertainment sake.
I laughed, I cried and it made me think. And that is as much as you can ask for.
Maren Ade is a resourceful writer, director and producer. She founded the production company Komplizen Film with producer Janine Jackowski.
In 2015, Komplizen Film was honoured with the Award for Outstanding Accomplishments in German Film by the DEFA Foundation.
Producers: Scott Stuber, Dylan Clark, Mark Wahlberg, Stephen Levinson, Hutch Parker, Dorothy Aufiero and Michael Radutzky
Screenplay by: Peter Berg, Matt Cook and Joshua Zetumer
Based on the book: ‘Boston Strong’ by Casey Sherman and Dave Wedge
Soundtrack: Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross
Starring: Mark Wahlberg, John Goodman, Kevin Bacon, J. K. Simmons, Michelle Monaghan
Based on true events surrounding the 2013 Boston Marathon bombings, Patriots Day details the hours leading up to, during and immediately following the attack which killed three people and seriously injured over 270 bystanders, sixteen of whom lost limbs.
Director Peter Berg and star Mark Wahlberg previously collaborated on the disaster flick Deepwater Horizon (2016), and their combined talents have enabled them to effectively recreate the Boston Marathon bombings with gritty realism.
Shot in a semi-documentary style, using hand-held cameras to capture the raw immediacy of events, the film effectively incorporates archival footage from the 2013 marathon. I think of this style as “shaky cam” and by the three-quarter mark of this 133-minute feature I was feeling very queasy, so if you prefer smoother camera work it might be best to sit far back from the screen. The synthesizer soundtrack music became repetitive and intrusive at times and a bit distancing, where silence might have worked better.
The actual bombing sequence wasn’t a surprise because most people know it happened, so the first half of the film focussed on establishing who would be directly affected by the bombings and allowed the audience to become attached to these people. The explosions were effectively staged and edited, and quite graphic without dwelling too much on the gruesome severed limbs.
After a slow patch the tension increased during the second half when the police and FBI manhunt turned to identifying and tracking down the perpetrators of the bombings.
Star Mark Wahlberg portrayed a fictional police officer, an amalgamation of several actual officers, and I felt he was the weakest link because he wasn’t based on a real person and his backstory was largely irrelevant. The sequence where the FBI call on his extensive knowledge of Boston streets to retrace the two bombers’ steps with technicians who then scroll through CCTV footage to find the culprits, really challenged credibility. Surely there would be effective IT software to achieve this without relying on the memory of one sleep-deprived man!
The home-grown terrorists (brothers) were not given much obvious motivation for their actions, aside from a short conversation with the owner of a hijacked car. The first shoot-out with the two terrorists when one of them was critically injured and captured seemed quite over the top with extensive gun fire, home-made bombs exploding and general mayhem ensuing, but a check of the facts indicates it really happened this way.
Boston and its people came across as the real heroes of this inspiring film, with the term “Boston Strong” becoming a rallying cry of hope and love in the face of horror.
What really got to me, however, was not the capture of the remaining terrorist but the photos of the three victims who had died at the scene, particularly the eight-year-old boy, whose sheet-covered body had to be left in situ until all crime-scene forensics had been completed.
That heart-rending photo of innocence really brought home the sheer waste and tragedy of this horrific event.
Starring: Ben Affleck, Elle Fanning, Brendan Gleeson, Chris Messina, Sienna Miller, Zoe Saldana, Chris Cooper, Matthew Maher, Miguel J. Pimentel, Max Casella.
Joe Coughlin (Ben Affleck) is a man recently home from WWI.After seeing so much wasted bloodshed, he refuses to believe in a system that applies no value to the people it governs.
The son of Boston’s Deputy Superintendent, Thomas Coughlin (Brendan Gleeson), a good cop and a cop who loves his son, Joe goes about life without regard for the law. He robs banks and falls in love with a gangster’s Molly, Emma Gould (Sienna Miller).
Joe wants to be free.And he is free, until the Italian Mafia decide they want the Irishman on their side.
Live by Night isn’t one of those gangster revenge films full of sociopaths and relentless shoot-outs. This is a film shown beautifully through the authentic setting of those 1920s streets of Boston and the vast skies reflected in the snake-like curving rivers of Miami.
It took a while but I was eventually absorbed by this story based on a novel written by Dennis Lehane (winner of the 2013 Edgar Award for Best Novel of the Year). The screenplay written by Ben Affleck has the benefit of well-thought characters and a ring of truth about the era: Prohibition and the underground rum trade in Tampa, racism, the fight for the American Dream. But what is The Dream? Girls, money, power, love?
Freedom?
There was a complexity here. This is a story about a man who wants to survive. But not at any price, not while there’s still a piece of heaven here on earth.< With an adaptation of a novel, it’s not easy to convey all without glossing over moments that would have been given more depth in the text. Although each character was portrayed so the fierceness, evil and beauty was shown in the dialogue, some extra seconds of those facial expressions would have conveyed more.
Offsetting the lack of depth was the beautiful camera work by Robert Richardson, giving access to the film through the depiction of setting.
I imagine it must have been difficult for Ben Affleck to act and direct in the same film. To be the one to portray what you have written, to show the vision of the story must be a hard task. And it shows. Ben being the least impressive actor in the film. I’m not saying his acting was bad, I’m just saying it wasn’t as believable as the performance of say, Sienna Miller or Matthew Maher (as RD Pruitt). Thankfully, the rest of the cast are phenomenal, given direction by the screenwriter, Ben. A headful, I know. And a hint into the space that is Ben Affleck. What an achievement.
Overall, Live by Night is one of those quiet movies that creeps up on you, a slow absorption into the point-of-view of Joe that doesn’t smack you in the face because that’s not in his psychological make-up: ‘I don’t want to be a gangster. I stopped kissing rings a long time ago.’
Produced by: Alede Romanski, Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner
Starring: Alex Hibbert, Ashton Sanders, Trevante Rhodes, Naomie Harris, Janelle Monáe, André Holland and Mahershala Ali.
An emotionally charged, poignant film brought close to the audience through beautiful camerawork and the direction of open and honest performances making the story all the more real.
Moonlight follows the life of Cheron as he grows up in the Projects of Miami.
The story follows as he grows from Little (Alex Hibbert), just a kid already running, to Cheron (Ashton Sanders) in the midst of adolescence, to Black (Trevante Rhodes), the man he is destined to become. Each step of life is depicted by a different actor, yet the resemblance of the three is astounding.
Moonlight reveals the life of a boy as he struggles to grow through his mother’s drug addiction, loneliness, racism and his sexual identity. But this isn’t an in-your-face film that confronts and rips your heart out, this is a story shown with genuine artistry through beautiful shots of people and light and an openness where you can see the character up close, like the whisper of a secret.
The soundtrack (composed by: Nicholas Britell) is quiet and used to turn the tide of tone, carefully. The music making or breaking the mood of a film and the support of the soundtrack here essential as the story is shown through the subtle.
And that’s what makes the film resonate so loudly: the small movements, the way a head turns or the light as those eyes flick. All those awkward movements felt and shown, known.
We’ve all been there at some point: the fool, the humiliated, the hated. We’ve all felt the quiet. Yet the film shows love too, like kids sprinting then laughing because they feel the joy of the blood pumping, like kids do.
The authenticity of the story comes from the script based on a project written by Tarell Alvin McCraney: A Forging of Cinematic Identity of Miami, with director Barry Jenkins (Medicine for Melancholy) broadening the script and adapting for screen.
By coincidence both McCraney and Jenkins grew up in the Liberty City housing projects where most of the film is set. And the experience shows in how and where the film was shot.
This isn’t the Miami you see on TV. Yet the feeling of Miami is still there in the palm trees, the beach and the sea breeze.
The soundtrack, the setting, the camera work is all used to support the amazing performances of the cast. As Cheron grows into a man the performances are so open and honest I felt I could see into the soul of the man he becomes.
Moonlight is unique in that it’s both raw and subtle, creating something else, a feeling that stays with you that’s beautiful because it’s laid bare. What a rarity and an experience you won’t soon forget.
Starring: Jennifer Lawrence, Chris Pratt, Michael Sheen; Laurence Fishburne.
A love story set in space.
I saw the spaceship and the fantastic attention to detail (by award winning Guy Hendrix (Inception)) where each part of the ship is designed to take the audience into a place where androids like Arthur (Michael Sheen) tend bar and people are put to sleep for 120 years so they can migrate to a distant planet.
But more than anything, Passengers is a story about journalist Aurora (Jennifer Lawrence) and mechanic Jim (Chris Pratt), falling in love.
I’m thankful the two lead characters were well-cast and well-beautiful because Passengers is a cheese-fest.
Sci-fi fans will be disappointed with the focus on a love story and I was disappointed because the story was a simple one.
On his way from immigrating from Earth to Homeland II, Jim is woken up from his hibernation 90 years too early.
The film asks the question, What would you do if you were alone in space for the rest of your life?
When Jim meets Aurora, they fall in love (of course). Two people stranded together isn’t so bad when they have each other. Until they realise there’s something critically wrong with the ship.
If bodacious bodies are your thing, Jen and Chris give you an eyeful. And I
really have to find out who the clothing designer is because the outfits and shoes are to die for. See here for interview with designer Jamy Temime. Not that the character, Aurora is happy about being on a floating prison where the destination will never be reached because she’ll be dead by then.
But you can see where I’m going with the description: it’s all about the visual aspect. And the love story. I kept on thinking, what if she gets pregnant?
Although a visually stunning film, Passengers fell flat when the storyline became a run-of-the-mill romance.
Starring: Will Smith, Edward Norton, Kate Winslet, Michael Peña, Helen Mirren, Naomie Harris, Keira Knightley; Jacob Latimore.
Who doesn’t love watching an intricate set of dominoes fall? But when I realised this was the disintegration of Howard’s (Will Smith) heart, the final crash of those dominoes took on a new meaning.
After the death of his daughter, Howard is falling apart. He does nothing but set up those dominoes only to watch them fall.
Once a successful advertising guru, the company is starting to fail because advertising is built on relationships so when the guru falls, so does the company.
Howard exclaims in a speech at the beginning of the film, the 3 truths of life: Death, Love and Time.
So when his daughter dies, it’s the 3 truths he writes to – posting a letter to each, expressing grief and anger that his daughter has been taken from him.
I don’t know why I always go into a Will Smith film with a cringe. I know he has that frank, openess that has a way to pull the heart strings, and the cast had to be amazing to pull this script into a realm of belief. And you just know you’re going in for a tear-jerker which I’m not a fan of. But at this time of year when maybe you’ve had a health scare, or the family’s not quite right, it’s nice to go into that suspension of reality.
I haven’t seen Edward Norten in a film for a while and have to say I was worried when he showed up in khaki pants. However, I bite my tongue because it got to me, this film about death and fear and love and loss and the great equaliser, time.
The soundtrack had something to do with this. And the all-star cast. Who else could pull off Death but Helen Mirren?
And notice I’m not going on about the directing, cinematography, costuming (although I had a few issue here with those fake blue contacts and khaki pants!) – it’s just not noticeable.
I was absorbed at the beginning with the fall of those dominoes and then held watching well-known actors dealing with stuff we all have to tackle, at some stage.
This isn’t my favourite type of film, but if you’re in the mood, Collateral Beauty is a wonderful escape.
It’s a mixed bag of top 10 films this year, with a top-heavy favourtism for the thriller! From the funny-sweet, Hunt for the Wilderpeople to the ultimate crime thriller, Sicario *
I have to say the biggest stand-out for 2016: Director Denis Villeneuve. More Denis, we want more!
Coming in at number 10 is the New Zealander Comedy / Drama that stole the world’s heart: tongue-in-cheek and heartfelt where the characters are able to take a laugh at themselves ‘cause it’s all heart bro.
At number 9 is a local Drama based on a day-in-a-life in the Melbourne suburb of Footscray.
It would have been easy to get bogged down in the melancholy, but there’s humour here, the focus on the good: a poem written to a beautiful girl in a bookshop, drummers tapping out a heartbeat with the dance of a local in appreciation, the expression of graffiti and the love of a dog.
Pawno shows life in all its complications with the simplicity of a leaky kettle or a favourite mug.
Where Leonardo Di Caprio finally won his first Oscar, and for good reason.
There is a real authenticity here, thanks to Di Caprio, but director, Alejandro has given the film something almost mystical. Nature untouched, is a bit like magic. The Native Americans believed in the will of the trees and the wind, and I think Alejandro managed to capture some of this magic. Not an easy feat and worth watching.
My favourite director of this year Denis Villeneuve has given his Midas touch to a film that really could have fallen flat. The insight Villeneuve has managed to show of Dr. Bank’s character is astounding. If only for this aspect, I enjoyed the film. Then combine the incredible story, soundtrack and pace with that extra flavour that makes the characters so believable, you’ve got a winning film.
I can understand how this documentary, directed and produced by Roger Ross Williams, has won so many audience awards: Telluride Mountainfilm Festival, San Francisco International Film Festival, Full Frame Film Festival and the list goes on…
I laughed, I cried, I smiled and I learnt something not only about Owen and his battle with autism, I also found an opportunity to reflect on my own life journey.
Set in Inebolu, a Black Sea village 600 kilometres from Istanbul, Mustang is about the freedom of five young sisters with wild hair trailing down their backs, with a glance and an innocent smile that can lead to so much trouble.
As her first feature film, Deniz Gamze Erguven has given us a story that feels like it should already have been told, and I congratulate this fresh view of life that is usually hidden behind closed doors.
Director James Wan is genius in his use of not only the soundtrack, but also the trickery of shadows, slips in time, old toys; a focus on the eyes or a terrifying portrait brought to life. Seemingly simple devises, but used so well.
There’s a journey here. An invitation to take hold of a hand – a, Gotcha,then I’ll let you go a bit… then, I gotcha again: This time, I gotcha good.
I liked this film because it went beyond all expectations. The story just kept unfolding to its bloody conclusion. I couldn’t look away: cringing, gasping, hoping and ultimately smiling contently at a well thought-out conclusion. Love a good crime thriller!
There’s not a lot of action here. But the dialogue between the characters is hugely entertaining. The depth of thought put into the characters: Samuel L. Jackson as Major Marquis Warren, Walton Goggins as Sheriff Chris Mannix and Jennifer Jason Leigh as Daisy Domergue was particularly impressive. And the not so subtle gallows humour and O. B’s bad luck is gloriously funny. I had a ball watching this film – good fun!
I couldn’t fault this film. The story, characters, soundtrack, cinematography and editing all combined to create tension and to keep the audience guessing.
If the violence didn’t add to the story, then it wasn’t included. Clever devises used by director Denis Villeneuve used the imagination of the audience to piece the action together giving this film it’s true brilliance. If you haven’t already, watch this film! You’re in for a real treat.
* I know, I know, Sicario was released end of 2015, and I do ask for poetic license being my first ‘best of the year’ list for the website. Being my first reviewed film to earn 5 stars, I couldn’t resist Sicario, at the top, in all its crowning crime-thriller glory.
