Love and Other Drugs

Jake Gyllenhaal and Anne Hathaway reunite after 2005’s Brokeback Mountain for a more light hearted film in the Hollywood rom-com; Love and Other Drugs. Jamie (Gyllenhaal) is a pharmaceutical rep or in other words a door-to-door salesman for hospitals, GP’s, health clinics etc. By chance he meets a patient, the beautiful Maggie (Hathaway) and is instantly intrigued by this woman. The two characters present a confident front; Jamie is charming while Maggie is honestly blunt and they both LOVE to have sex. Once they hit the bed for the first time the sex does not stop, the first half of the film is spent with the two leads naked…there are no complaints coming from the audience however.
The film is not just sex. The characters are not just about sex, instead they use the sex to hide from their insecurities. The leads are amazing in their roles, the onscreen relationship is very believable and the film is filled with some touching moments. Like all rom-coms there are quirky supporting characters, most memorable is Jamie’s brother. While the film may not be as deep as some would like, it has more heart and earnest than most Hollywood rom-coms, not only that but it is filled with steamy sex by two of Hollywood’s hottest actors. That alone is worth the ticket price.
3.5/5 Rating

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

The Loved Ones

Meet Lola Stone. Outcast. Weird. Obsessive. Pink. MAD PSYCHO KILLING SLUT. And she's still in high school. - Yes folks this has been named Pretty in Pink meets Wolf Creek, or maybe more acceptable, Australia's answer to horror classic Carrie.
First time writer and director Sean Bryne brings this Australian horror comedy, The Loved Ones, to our screens - holding nothing back. The protagonist is young Brent (played by Twilight's Xavier Samuel) who is battling the depression of his recent father's death in a car accident, while Brent was behind the wheel. Meanwhile he has lost any connection with his mother who just sits at home all day with the blues, looking like a corpse.
Brent also has to worry about the upcoming end of year dance, celebrating his final year at a small Victorian country town high school. Enter Lola Stone. After Brent politely rejects Lola to be her escort to the dance, as already having planned to take his girlfriend, Lola seeks revenge.
And so the sick and gory tale begins, where Lola and her Father kidnap Brent and have their own, more bloody and glittery dance.
What works so well for this film is the fact that it spends time developing the characters, and more importantly it has a STORY! And unlike the Hollywood crap B-grade horror films, The Loved Ones soars above them with it's tongue-in-check humour and relentless ability to continually up the stakes.
The film's success was all up to the casting of Lola - if she was portrayed shit, the film would be shit. But thankfully actress Robin McLeavy portrayed Lola so fucking good that she may have created Australia's most scariest antagonist. The acting overall was incredibly well portrayed, what I especially liked was the fact that the film didn't rely on Hollywood corny dialogue, and a lot of the film was portrayed in the actions of the characters. Brent played brilliantly by Xavier Samuel has no lines for more than half the film, yet the audience is easily able to connect and sympathise with the character.
Yes this film is gory, very much like the Saw gore we have come accustomed to of late, the only difference is we care more for these characters. The mutilations of Brent feels very much like an attack on our own body as it is to his, which results in one amazingly fucked up experience.
What works well is the subplot of Brent's best friend and his journey to the actual school dance, which helps to break up the incredibly unforgiving gory parts. Thankfully the subplot redeems itself through the best friends date, who we later learn is dealing with her own grief caused by the crazy-killing Stone family.
The only real issue I had with the film was the fact that the eventual epiphany of "Brent must be at Lola's" was too contrived and wasn't properly setup. It could have been stronger if in the beginning of the film, Brent and his girlfriend actually notice Lola watching them, which results in the couple freaking out and Lola giving the excuse that Brent had left his book at school. The book could have been left in the car, and the girlfriend would have later found it, maybe with a love letter from Lola inside, triggering a more satisfying realisation.
I think the main reason this film works is the fact that it IS Australian and subsequently it is a film that has the ability to NOT take it self too seriously, which means that the audience is able to laugh in some moments contrasting with the 'squirming in the seat' action that occurs through the more intense parts.
Sure this not everyone's cup of tea, and to be honest, I am not one for horror films myself. But this film is amazingly wicked. My rating reflects its comparison to other horror films.
Go see it. And remember: DO NOT UPSET LOLA!

Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale

Blue Valentine

Last night I saw the Australian premiere of Blue Valentine, a new film starring Michelle Williams and Ryan Gosling. In the film they play married couple Cindy and Dean respectfully. The film crosses through time from the disintegration of their marriage to the beginning of their young relationship. It almost has a conflicting response from the audience seeing how unhappy their marriage is compared to how happy and cute they are together in the beginning of their romance. The audience doesn't really know what they want, whether they want the couple to resolve their differences or to accept that their marriage isn't healthy and divorce.
It could seem like a very cliche story but it is held together by the tremendous talent of the two leads. Both Williams and Gosling are amazing, and their chemistry in the flashbacks is undeniable. What I found most impressive was how Williams could make her character likeable through the flashbacks, when in the opening married scenes of the film she seems cold and heartless.
Their daughter Frankie played by Faith Wladyka only makes matters more intense as the couple determine how they should handle the situation. The little actress is another reason to see the film, her cute and naturalistic performance shines and doesn't fault against the two more experienced leads.
This film is all about the acting, and I bloody expect the two leads to be nominated at the Academy Awards. For a film that runs for two hours time passes by, as our eyes our glued to the screens seeing the very realistic performances of the leads unfold before us. I will warn anyone interested in seeing this film, that there is a somewhat confronting scene present, nothing gory, just very uncomfortable due to Williams realistic performance. Although this may not be everyone's cup of tea, the film is definitely worth seeing for the amazing performances.

The Social Network

And who would have thought a movie about Facebook would be so interesting? But naturally in the hands of director David Fincher, it’s nothing short of amazing. The Social Network centres around Facebook creator Mark Zuckerberg (Jesse Eisenberg) and how he created this website which now has over 500 million users worldwide. The tagline; 'You don't get to 500 million friends without making a few enemies,' is pretty much what the film explores - the betrayal, greed and revenge that accompanies a billion dollar idea. The film crosses between present time 2007 when Mark is involved in two lawsuits and flashbacks to the beginning of Facebook explaining the testimonies presented in the lawsuits.
I think perhaps the most powerful scene is the very understated ending, which sees Mark - the inventor of Facebook, being just like any other Facebook user. The film ends for Mark with the same desires that he was presented with in the beginning scene - desires of acceptance and friendship. Ultimately Mark, with his "500 million friends" and "world's youngest billionaire" title, is as lonely as anyone else.
The script is amazing, expect Oscar nominations, and the dialogue is extremely witty. Audiences may be surprised at how funny the film is. The performances of the young cast is also very good, Jesse Eisenberg standing out as the man "trying too hard to be an arsehole." As difficult as it is to say, but Justin Timberlake is also quite good in his role, thankfully his character is one that we can hate. And finally the direction of David Fincher is amazing, but what else can we expect from the man who brought us Fight Club, Se7en and Benjamin Button. Instead of logging onto Facebook, go to the cinema and check out how it really all began.

The Last Airbender

The Last Airbender is a live action movie based on the popular Nickelodeon cartoon series Avatar: The Last Airbender. (Due to obvious reasons they dropped Avatar from the title...thanks to James Cameron) The story is set in a world that is split into four regions; Air, Fire, Earth and Water. Certain people within the regions have the abilities to bend/manipulate the element with which they are born into. There is however one person, born again and again into a new being, known as the Avatar, who has the ability to bend all four elements. The story centres around the young Avatar, Aang (played by Noah Ringer) who after being accidently frozen for 100 years, is freed from two water tribe teenagers; Katara (Nicola Peltz) and Sokka (Jackson Rathbone). Aang awakes to find that the Fire nation has taken over the world, killing all other Air people in hope of locating the Avatar. For many years the Water and Earth tribes have been suppressed by the Fire Nation’s violence but with the reappearance of the Avatar, hope is reborn and a rebellion begins. Aang and his water tribe friends, set out on an adventure, so Aang can learn how to bend the other elements, however the banished Fire Prince, Prince Zuko (Dev Patel) is on a hunt to capture the Avatar.
Written in one paragraph, although maybe somewhat confusing, the plot seems intriguing, unique and maybe even fun, which is exactly what the film is NOT. Writer, director and producer M. Night Shyamalan, has created a terrible film. The writing is pathetic, everything relies on dialogue, it seems that Shyamalan has forgotten the number one screenwriting rule; that is to tell the story VISUALLY. The dialogue itself is beyond corny; it is stiff, unrealistic and downright laughable. He wrote narration into the film, which could seem like a smart idea but it actually adds nothing to the plot, it just further confuses the audience and doesn’t really move the story forward. One could say that the acting is terrible, and I’m not denying that, but I think that even the world’s greatest actors could not bring justice to this poorly written and directed film.
The only redeeming factors are the martial art stunts, the fairly good CGI, more specifically the awesome way they visualised the bending of the elements, and finally, Dev Patel. He was easily the best actor in the film, you may recognise him from Skins series 1 and 2 and more recently Slumdog Millionaire. He is the only actor who actually attempts to develop a character, despite being heavily, and I mean heavily, weighed down by poor writing and direction.
I would suggest staying away from this film and I would instead watch the TV series, which unlike the film, is amazing, which makes me think that if anyone else had written, directed and produced the film, it may not be as bad, because one thing is for certain; the 150 million that M. Night Shyamalan spent on this film is better used as toilet paper.

Easy A

Easy A is one of the more memorable teen movies of late, with its incredibly witty quotes, filled with references from literature, films and even facebook. The film is centred on protagonist Olive, played by the sweet Emma Stone and her tough crusade of dealing with the rumours of her sexual exploits, more specifically her fake sexual exploits. You see we learn from the very beginning that Olive is very much a virgin, and through a little white lie of losing said virginity, the entire high school begin gossiping about what a big slut she is. This leads to Olive’s good will being taken advantage of, as she begins helping the males on the bottom of the social ladder by pretending to have had sex with them in return for gift cards, while also upholding her slutty alter ego. Naturally this becomes incredibly messy, the rumours get worse, and Olive becomes confused about whether she is in fact a tramp or not. It is a modern day twist on the Scarlet Letter, a novel which explores similar themes, and is heavily referenced and used as inspiration for Olive in the film.
The acting is quite good from the entire cast with Emma Stone being incredibly loveable as the protagonist. The highlight are Olive’s adoptive parents, something which by the way isn’t explained very well, who are played by Stanley Tucci and Patricia Clarkson; their witty upfront banter and relaxed yet loving parenting techniques being some of the funniest moments of the film.
I loved the very simply yet effective use of motion graphics in the opening and closing credits of the film, and also loved the technique of demonstrating, with the fast camera movements, of how quick a rumour can spread in high school.
The film runs at a fun pace, filled with many laughs and the odd emotional part. The crisis point definitely could have been better set up to allow for a more emotional loss for Olive, perhaps all we needed was a better introduction to the jerk at the Lobster shack.
The film payed off well at the end; if there was no musical number or no homage to John Hughes' classic teen 80’s films, as a mentioned wish of Olive’s of how life should be, then fuck, this film would have been getting one star.
It’s fun. It’s witty. It’s about sex, well the lack of sex, and it has a good heart. Watch it.

The Kids Are All Right

It turns out that the Kids are All Right, is in fact not so much about the kids, but instead whether the adults are alright. Of course the title also works off the fact that the kids are always right/correct which compared to how the adults act, is most definitely true. The kids, Joni (played by Canberra’s own Mia Wasikowska) and Laser (played by a grown and beefed up Josh Hutcherson) have a lesbian couple for mums; Nic and Jules, played incredibly well by Annette Bening and Julianne Moore respectively. The children are half siblings; same sperm donor father, different mothers.
The drama begins when the kids secretly decide to find out who their father is, who so happens to be hippy, organic restaurant owner, Paul, played by Mark Ruffalo. Naturally the mums find out and the family begins to adapt to a possible new family member. The dynamics of Nic and Jules' relationship are tested, as the alpha leader, Nic, feels threatened by this new male figure.
The film has some really touching moments, and is superbly acted by the entire cast. This one specific dinner scene is incredibly amazing with the gifted Annette Bening's simple internal reaction to a new found revelation; expect an Oscar nomination for her performance.
A very enjoyable indie family drama, which plays on the credibly side, without having to resort to a trashy over the top plot, instead creating a heart warming depiction of a very unique family setup.

Salt

Who is Salt?
A hero or a villain?
Russian or American?
All these questions are raised from the early catalyst in Australian director, Phillip Noyce's new action film Salt. Angelina Jolie plays CIA agent Evelyn Salt, who is accused by a ‘walk in’ Russian renegade, Orlov, of being one among many sleeper Russian agents within the USA. And so the chase begins, as Agent Salt escapes being taken into custody by the CIA, on a mission to prove her innocence or perhaps to complete her Russian mission? She is chased by CIA partner Ted Winter (Liev Schreiber) and ONCIX agent Peabody (Chiwetel Ejiofor) and escapes under extreme, inventive action scenes.
The plot is fast paced, they don’t waste a second on unnecessary bullshit, and it builds to an exciting climax. The twists are fulfilling as everything slowly falls into place by the climax of the film. Thankfully it has been written in a way where the audience does not get annoyed about not knowing for practically the whole film, whose side Salt is really fighting for, but whether this is the direction or purely because no one will fault watching Angelina Jolie trail buildings, jump onto moving trucks and even dress as a man, who knows? The film ends appropriately, without having a terribly contrived happy ‘fairy tale’ ending, leaving enough room for a possible sequel...
The action scenes are handled with care and precision, it is easy to see exactly what is happening, and the audience is not lost compared to the modern action technique of shaky handheld camera work.
It’s definitely not the greatest action film, but it might possibly be Angelina Jolie’s best. So if you want to sit down and be entrained on a heart pounding adventure ride, which contains the right level of intelligence; then go see Salt.

The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo

Swedish film Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is based on the best selling novel by Stieg Larsson. It follows journalist Mikael Blomkvist (Michael Nyqvist) as he is hired by an aging industrialist tycoon to uncover a 40 year old mystery of a missing girl, with the help of ultra cool computer hacker Lisbeth Salander (Noomi Rapace).
I was actually quite surprised at how much details were still evident from the novel. Naturally all subplots were taken out, and the focus was purely on finding out what happened to the missing girl. The storytelling was beautiful in the fact that they made sure that they visually showed the information through old film footage, photos and the odd flashback. This meant that the film wasn’t bulked down in dialogue, simply telling the audience what had happened instead of showing.
The changes that they did make with the original plot points from the novel, while only minor, I felt actually worked a lot better than the book, as it helped build a stronger, three dimensional character for Salander while giving the audience a sneak pick at the mystery that will be explored in the following film.
The film is just as violent as the book creating a very disturbing atmosphere, befitting to the themes explored, while creating a real sense of how fucked up people can be.
I really love the shared themes that are created between Salander’s horrific events in the beginning of the film and the details of the eventual uncovered mystery. This unity of themes helps to create a more impactful and meaningful film.
I love watching foreign films, especially when you get completely enthralled din the storytelling and forget that you have been reading subtitles for the past two hours. I recommend this film to anyone that loved the novel and to people that may have considered reading it but never got around to it. The whole trilogy has been made into three Swedish films, with a Hollywood remake due to come out next year, directed by David Fincher starring Daniel Craig. Hears hoping that they don't fuck it up.

Tomorrow, When the War Began

Australian action film, Tomorrow, When the War Began; based on John Marsden’s novel of the same name premiered on August the 8th and I was lucky enough to get some tickets.
The story follows Ellie (Caitlin Stasey) and her friends; Corrie (Rachel Hurd-Wood), Fi (Phoebe Tonkin), Robyn (Ashleigh Cummings), Homer (Denzi Akdeniz), Lee (Chris Pang) and Kevin (Lincoln Lewis) as they venture into the Australian wilderness for a summer holiday camping trip, where they find a secluded location in the base of steep cliffs and rocks, known to the local Wirrawee country town folk as ‘Hell.’ After a couple of nights bonding and having fun, the group make their way back home to discover that what they had once thought was a safe, free Australia, was now occupied by an invading country – which is never named. The audience is propelled into an intense, nail biting crisis as the gang try to discover what happened to their imprisoned families, leading to an epic climax that is sure to get the heart pumping.
Writer and director Stuart Beattie made the wise decision to higher the stakes in the film, so even the fans of the novel are able to be surprised during the action scenes. The story isn’t like many other Hollywood action films, as it questions the morals of war, and the strength of friendship versus an enemy threat, who are literally trying to kill them. This is credited to the original story by author John Marsden who since 1993 has written a whole Tomorrow Series focusing on the perils of Ellie and her friends. Although the film explores some heavy material and is incredibly intense, the Australian humour is still strongly evident in the dialogue, showcasing the fact that our culture can still joke and try to make each other laugh even under extreme circumstances. There was a surprising amount of imagery used in the film, creating layers of subtext not found in many Hollywood actions. An important factor to the film was that each character had a clear physical and emotional journey evident in the story, which was not as obvious in the novel as it was all in Ellie’s point of view. Another change that I loved was the fact that they gave a reason for Ellie’s voiceover instead of merely writing in the script her spoken internal thoughts.
The casting could be questioned due to the fact that a lot of the actors have simply appeared in Australian soaps, but I can say you will be pleasantly surprised. Caitlin is very impressive as Ellie, she becomes the character and can definitely hold her abilities against other more experienced and renowned actors. The other actors are relaxed in their roles; there are a few forced scenes, Lincoln Lewis being one that was still stuck in his ‘soap acting’ habits. However, overall the casting matched perfectly with the films representation of each character.
For a budget of only 20 million the CGI was rather impressive, although the blue screen work was a little dodgy, more so towards the end. However where it mattered the CGI was effective and helped create a satisfying climax. The aerial shots of the Australian bush; the cliff into Hell, was especially beautiful, showcasing our unique landscape. The cinematography and editing was easy to follow in the action scenes, overall the construction of the mise-en-scene worked well, although in one particular shot, I wanted to die, everything about it was wrong – the framing of the actor, the bare walls, the lighting; crap.
For anyone that has read the books, you will not be disappointed. To everyone else you shall be extremely satisfied. Everyone can relate to the theme of friendship making it easily accessible, while it plays off everyone’s fear of losing their freedom. And only in an Australian film can the dialogue mock novel to film adaptations, that scene alone is worth the ticket price. Fuck Baz Luhrmann’s Australia, this is a film that should bring the nation together.
It is being nationally released on the 2nd of SEPTEMBER. SEE IT!

Inception

One of this year’s most anticipated film releases is Christopher Nolan’s Inception, director of Memento, and the new the Batman Series, i.e. Batman Begins and The Dark Knight.
Inception like most of Nolan’s work, promised to be epic, with inventive action scenes, an engaging storyline, moving performances and twists galore; and on most part Nolan delivered this and more.
In the world of Inception, there is this device that enables people to share dreams with each other, this device is used by protagonist Dom Cobb played by Leonardo DiCaprio, as a way to infiltrate a target’s subconscious, stealing information from them, for paid clients. In all tense and purposes he is a thief, extracting information out of people’s dreams. The catalyst occurs when Cobb accepts the challenge of implementing the near impossible task of inception; the concept of planting an idea into someone’s subconscious as if it were their own. The target of the planned inception is Robert Fischer, (Cillian Murphy) heir to a massive empire. The plan is to plant the idea of destroying his father’s empire deep into his subconscious. And so like any other heist film, the leader, Cobb, assembles his team, including; Cobb’s trusty sidekick Arthur (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), dream architect Ariadne (Ellen Page), forger/ shape shifter Eames (Tom Hardy), chemist Yusuf (Dileep Rao), client Saito (Ken Watanabe) and tagalong Mal, (Marion Cotillard) Cobb’s wife. And so begins an intense adventure travelling far away from reality; deep, deep into the limbo of ‘subconscious-ness.’
All the performances are incredibly solid, and each actor has a great understanding of what they are doing/talking about, this confidence allows the trusting audience to suspend belief and be entrapped in this exciting new world.
The story is incredibly inventive and intellectual but at the same time it is really easy to understand and follow. Yes, the story is really intricate, there is layer upon layer of details and we could sit here all day debating about what happens in the film, but even though it is so in depth, the screenplay has been structured so well that the film is easy to follow. But because of this solid structure, and the pattern that the film builds throughout the crisis points, the story becomes slightly predictable. After the first viewing the story did not leave me with a satisfying feeling of surprise, none of the twists were really hidden, and compared to The Dark Knight, there wasn’t as much shock value evident. However on the second viewing I instantly fall in love. There is this moment after the beginning action, where Cobb say’s that he “hates trains,” and instantly I knew I was going to love picking up on all the subtext and knowledge hidden deep in the screenplay.
Naturally the action scenes are amazingly inventive; one particular scene of a gravity-free fight is incredibly impressive, and along with the amazing use of CGI and the beautiful cinematography, results in the film becoming a visual masterpiece.
This is a film that will always bring new levels of understanding to each viewing, and I definitely recommend seeing this film more than once. It really makes you question what we perceive as reality or instead what we perhaps may/should perceive as reality, and I will agree without a doubt that Inception is one hell of a dream ride.
Ps. To the 16 year old fools standing outside of the cinema that said Inception was boring, and that the only good scene was the gravity-free fight; EITHER grow a brain to be able to comprehend the sheer intricate awesomeness of the story OR die.

The Runaways

A Cherry Bomb explosion of 70’s rock 'n roll, indulged with neon lights, retro fashion, drugs, alcohol, sex and even masturbation; forms the extreme elements of The Runaways. Based upon the 70’s all girl rock band of the same name, the film explores the beginning dynamics between the band, focusing on favourites Joan Jett and Cherie Currie, played by Kristen Stewart and Dakota Fanning respectively. It features the very intense working relationship with their producer Kim Fowley played creepily well by Michael Shannon. We learn how they got signed to a record label, the intense fame that soon occurred afterwards and the eventual downfall and departure of lead singer Cherie Currie.
One of the films highlights was naturally the 70’s music featuring artists like Suzi Quatro, David Bowie, Sex Pistols and of course The Runaways.
The cinematography was effective in the way that it captured the 70's era and the look of the music video clips of the time. However once or twice some of the shots were annoyingly grainy due to the lack of lighting, and the focus on occasion seemed to be focused on the wrong actor.
Performances by Kristen Stewart and Dakota Fanning were naturally superb, more impressive was the fact that they actually sang really, really well. I felt Dakota Fanning however almost went borderline melodramatic in her performance on rare occasions, mainly during her fucked up drug moments, but we can perhaps account that to the fact that she would not have had such previous life experiences to work from. I will agree that both actresses embodied the portrayed characters, and their odd love relationship was very authentic on screen. Kirsten Stewart delved far away from the world of Twilight showcasing that she is still an amazingly capable indie actress.
Shannon's portrayal of music producer, Kim Fowley was another highlight of the film. His dialogue was memorable with his blunt, cruel, sexist way of bullying the band to perform better.

“..fuck you, fuck authority - I want an orgasm! Now, growl! Moan! This ain't women's lib, kiddies - the is women's libido! I wanna see the scratch marks down their fucking backs! Now, do it again. Again. Like your boyfriend just fucked your sister in your parent's bed. LIKE YOU WANT A FUCKING ORGASM!”

And like Fowley’s metaphor of how to make good rock 'n roll music; this film is one fucking orgasm!

The Twilight Saga: Eclipse

It seems you either hate the Twilight Saga or you love it. I come under the latter category, however I will admit that the films are far from any sort of masterpiece including Eclipse. Yes, maybe the plot development can seem tedious to some but the source material doesn’t really contain much action. The Eclipse novel however, written by Stephenie Meyer, contains the most plot points and action, enabling the movie to run at a steadier pace. New director to the Twilight Saga, David Slade starts to build the tension right from the opening scene and with Screenwriter Melissa Rosenberg, they have contained a strong amount of threat throughout the film. This vampire film may not be as intense as David Slade’s previous work directing 30 Days of Night, but what Eclipse lacks in blood and gore, it makes up in characterisation and a stronger sense of story.
The film pretty much picks up where we left off at New Moon; Bella played by Kristen Stewart is still human trying to convince her lover, Edward (Robert Pattinson) to change her into a vampire, while Edward is still adamant on marriage. Then there is third wheel Jacob (Taylor Lautner) who is still upset at Bella for choosing a vampire over his werewolf self. The crisis is evident from early on in the film when it comes to knowledge that there are uncontrollable newborn vampires killing freely in Seattle, threatening the safety of the Cullen’s hidden identities. The presence of old foe Victoria (Bryce Dallas Howard) is still at large, later she is unsurprisingly revealed as the leader of the Seattle newborns. Victoria is still strong on the revenge game, and the safety of Bella is the main task of the film yet again, this time she receives protection from both the Cullen Vampires and the Quileute Tribe Werewolves. However the main question the audience will be asking has nothing to do with Bella’s safety and everything to do with her decision: Love a Vampire or a Werewolf?
There are three flashbacks in this film, giving the audience an insight into the pasts of both the Cullen family and the Quileute Tribe. We learn about the origins of the Quileute tribe as well as the back-story of Jasper and Rosalie Cullen’s human life and how they became vampires. Two of these flashbacks are important to the outer (action) journey of plot and are literally mirrored in the story, while the third flashback and its reasoning is important to the inner journey for protagonist Bella, and gives us a hint of the crisis explored in Breaking Dawn.
The acting throughout the film was generally very good. The three leads were solid as usual and embodied each character perfectly. My favourite performance would perhaps have to be Bella’s Mother, Renee, played by Sarah Clarke, who has such a natural presence on film. There were some genuinely funny moments too, the sex talk being one of the more memorable. The film boasts more action scenes, as well as the most raunchiest scene of the saga yet.
Technically the film was good, the cinematography was great, as David Slade has a nice eye for what composes a shot well. There were however some focus pulls that I feel didn’t really work. The CGI was adequate while the colour of the film really helped to highlight the mood of particular scenes.
Anyone who is a fan of the novels, who also has a realistic view on how the source material changes when adapted to the screen, will definitely have fun with Eclipse. The film embodies the novel, sure the less important parts were left out, but they didn’t change anything, (ie. they didn’t do anything like the burning of The Burrow in Harry Potter 6.) If anything the film helped add to the essence of the story, as it was able to explore the Seattle newborn vampires and the Volturi story lines.
As a film it deserves 3 out of 5, but the fan inside of me has to give it an extra half because it truly embodied the novel.

Toy Story 3

My initial thoughts when I first heard that Pixar would be making Toy Story 3 was of excitement, but reality eventually sunk in... Could Pixar possibly get lucky a third time and create a film that surpasses its predecessors like Toy Story 2 surpassed the original? After watching this film, I decided I shall never again doubt the wonders of ‘Animation Studio Heroes’ Pixar. It’s not luck that their films are constantly challenging the art of animation while being original, creative, fun and emotional – it’s pure gold talent.
It’s been just over a decade since we last saw our favourite toys, a lot has changed in our world as well as theirs. Toy owner; Andy, is now about to begin college, having to pack up his life and move away from his family and his almost forgotten toys. So the question arises; what will the future entail for lovable Woody, Buzz, Jessie and the other selected few toys that made it through Andy’s teenager years. Through a couple of mistaken events, the toys end up being donated to the local day care centre, a place where the gang believe they can be loved by children once more. Of course the day care centre isn’t as ‘groovy’ as the gang would like, and the true intentions of the ‘day care toy leader’ is revealed. (Moral: Do not trust strawberry scented teddy bears.) Naturally an escape is planned in true Toy Story style, leading to an epic crisis that looks similar to the fiery depths of Mordor, played against a track that reminds us of the finale to Terminator 2.
The film is one epic crisis after the other, and the audience can easily sit there thinking that nothing is working for the gang and maybe toys are truly nothing but disposable rubbish. At one certain point the audience, along with the toys, all believe that there can be no happy ending. But Pixar knows that the story has to be truly epic for it to compete against the genius of the first two films, and so Toy Story 3 has to take it to the next level and has to create higher risks that the toys have never seen before... This leads to a very rewarding film with an extremely beautiful ending that is sure to get the tear ducts working.
We could sit here debating which of the three films is the best, but instead I think we should be grateful for the humour and moral lessons that we gather from each separate film and value them as a great trilogy masterpiece.
And so we say goodbye to Andy’s toys, a trilogy that has been celebrated by generations alike. And now we sit and wait, quietly hoping that they make a new trilogy based on Bonnie’s Toys. We shall have to wait and see...

Animal Kingdom

Animal Kingdom, an Australian film written and directed by recent newcomer David Michôd is a thrilling journey into the makeup of a Melbourne criminal family. The film is seen through the eyes of the youngest family member; 17 year old ‘J’ played amazingly by James Frecheville, as he is propelled into the web of deceit, hate and murder which surrounds his estranged family. So begins a tense and thrilling two hours.
Faces that you will recognise include Guy Pearce, Joel Edgerton and Ben Mendelsohn. Mendelshon’s performance was naturally amazing as always, his depiction of an unravelling criminal leader left an everlasting creepy impression. But the scariest character was without a doubt the mother of the crim’ family, Janine ‘Smurf’ played chillingly by Jacki Weaver. I can think of only two words to describe her. Devil. Woman.
The standout performance was by the young lead who perfectly created an emotionally withdrawn teenager unsure of pretty much everything in his life, especially where he belonged. For less than half a minute we were witness to his only emotional breakdown in the film which later reinforced the decisions surrounding the film’s final outcome.
The cinematography was another thing to love about this film, the composition of every frame was basically perfect and overall the cinematography greatly assisted in telling the story, instead of being just artful filmmaking.
Everything seemed to work for Animal Kingdom; the script was amazing, the performances were extraordinary, the cinematography was to be marvelled and finally the music beautifully captured the sense of the film.
This has to be one of the best Australian films I have seen and is definitely, from what I have seen so far, the BEST film of 2010. From the opening scene you will be left guessing the outcomes of the thrilling story. A must see.

(500) Days of Summer

I watched this film on DVD last night, after having seen it in cinemas last year, and I have to say that it is possibly my favourite film of 2009. It is a refreshing look at the romantic comedy genre. It follows the love trials of Tom played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt while he searches for the girl of his dreams; then enters Summer, played by the beautiful Zooey Deschanel who Tom instantly realises as being the one. It was a film marketed as “not a love story” but a “story about love.” From the very beginning of the film, a narrator tells us that Tom and Summer will not end up together, but as we watch it, we can’t help but hope that they do live happily ever after.
This film is nothing without the brilliant script, which tells the story with a nonlinear narrative, crossing through time, pin pointing important days in the period of 500, in no particular order. The script really is the heart of this film, there is plenty of laughs, heartfelt moments and anguish present, along with inventive ways of filmmaking, not often presented in film; an example of this is when the screen is spilt in two, the left showing Tom’s expectations and the right showing the actual reality of this certain party scene. The performances by Gordon-Levitt and Deschanel are amazingly realistic as they beautifully bring the script to life. I can’t wait to see the future projects that they are involved in – specifically Gordon-Levitt’s upcoming film, Inception, also starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Ellen Page.
This easily gives When Harry Met Sally a race for its money for my favourite Romantic Comedy, (500) Days of Summer possibly takes the lead...
A must see for all film lovers.

Robin Hood

As one would expect from Ridley Scott, Robin Hood was entertaining epic fun, with just enough emotional feeling to set it apart from other Hollywood adventure films. It is a prequel to the Robin Hood story, it gives us a back ground to the vigilantly hero and how he becomes an outlaw, played by Australia’s own Russel Crowe. Along the way we meet the band of Merry Men, along with Robin Hood’s love interest Lady Marion, played by Cate Blanchett. The film ties in the fall of King Richard and the rise of his brother King John, Robin Hood’s eventual enemy.
Yes I’ll agree the film does not exactly go anywhere new; the action scenes evoke déjà vu while Crowe embodies his Gladiator character and Blanchette embodies her Elizabeth character. Do not get me wrong though, both performances are naturally amazing, and I would hate to think how bad the film would be without the casting of these two leads. The chemistry between the two is credible enough, one problem I had with it though was the fact that the film seemed to glide over the ‘falling-in-love’ part of their relationship, and all of a sudden the audience was forced to believe that they were soul mates. This of course could be due to the fact that the writers knew that the audience knows the eventual outcome of their relationship but I feel their love was forced to quickly upon the characters. The one performance that I thought stood out from the rest, was Oscar Isaac’s portrayal of the cowardly, desperate and greedy King John – a character we love to hate.
The action scenes might as well have been copied from Brave Heart or Gladiator, and I feel that they didn’t really utilise Robin Hood’s great archery abilities. His abilities again were assumed, without giving the audience enough evidence of his amazing capabilities at the opening of the film. If they had done this, then perhaps the climax in the final scene would have been more rewarding.
The filmmakers naturally left enough room for a sequel to be created, and although this film will not be nominated for Best Picture categories, it is possible that it could become a healthly franchise – only time will tell.
So if you want to sit down and be entertained, choose Robin Hood, you can definitely do a lot worse; ie. The Losers.