Broken City

IMDB
First time viewed: Yes
Current Release: Yes
Watched With: Belinda

They've managed to make a thriller with very little thrills. Actors are all great, it's technically well put together and the story is alright but again most of the twists and turns were to telegraphed or easily suggested in the trailer. So perhaps if you haven't seen the trailer yet you might get more out of this than I did.

I did enjoy it though, I just wished they cranked up the urgency a little quicker because the whole first half felt like a standard detective procedural. The climax builds to a bit of a catch 22 and I like the way they resolved it, I guess that's what makes the film stand out from the crowd.

You'll enjoy it while you watch it. There are a few thrills and one or two jump scares added in for good measure but never hits as high as it should to make it memorable.

Mt. Zion

IMDB
First time viewed: Yes
Current Release: Yes
Watched With: Tyler

The trailer tells you everything you need to know. This film didn't do much for me at all.

Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons

IMDB
First time viewed: Yes
Current Release: Yes
Watched With: Belinda

Super cool that this has been released here, even if I did only have the option of seeing the Cantonese dubbed version. But ultimately, and as a Stephen Chow fan, the film was a little disappointing. It certainly has the cartoonish action, humor and fun of his films though.

Firstly though, what the film is NOT is pretty much anything to do with the Journey to the West story we've all come to know and love in Australia, mainly through the english dubbed Japanese television series Monkey from the late 70's and early 80's. The Monkey King is re-imagined as a demon, and there is a pig demon and a water demon, not exactly in the form you know from the original story. We follow a young and eager demon hunter, who catches the eye of a much more experienced female demon hunter. Cartoonish shenanigans follow.

And they really are wild sequences. The cg effects aren't all the great and unfortunately they take precedence over the physical action, but the small few bits of actual fighting we get are neat. My favourite sequence was actually the opening of the film, where a water demon attacks a small fishing village. It was beautifully staged, the action beats and comedy timing were great and there were one or two moments involving children that you would NEVER get away with in a Hollywood movie. Jeez, they are harsh. Certain bits in this section were very reminiscent of The Host.

The rest of the film doesn't really live up to the promise of that opening. The quirky love story didn't really work for me but I did love that their meet-cute involved a guy with a constant geiser of blood bursting out of his neck. So much hilarious gore for what is supposedly a family film.

The 3D was post converted and not that great.

Some really great moments, a lot of fun times but the whole affair is very uneven. But I did appreciate the end, which establishes where this story is set in amongst the Journey to the West timeline.

Great Expectations

IMDB
First time viewed: Yes
Current Release: Yes
Watched With: Belinda, Naomi

Another day, another classic re-adapted to the big screen. This time Mike Newell tries his hand and he brings half the cast of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire with him for good measure. Again, he shows that he excels at the whole young love bit, easily the most engaging section of the film for me. But the film speeds past that so quickly just to get to the older Pip who isn't nearly as engaging. He's a look though, I'll give him that.

Helena Bonham Carter's Miss Havisham is nice a kooky. She burns real good too. 

The film has some cool moments and a lot of in between. I grew up with Alfonso Cuarón's modern take which probably isn't to everyone's liking so I'm sure they'll be happy with this more traditional setting. It is pretty good I guess. 

Blue Like Jazz

IMDB
First time viewed: Yes
Current Release: Yes
Watched With: Belinda

Another coming of age college story, this time with a christian bent. It's the first crowd funded film I think I've seen and although it's barely playing on one screen here in Perth I thought it was worth a look.

The film never gets too preachy, it's a little rough around the edges to be sure but the good intentions shine through. A little odd getting used to Justin Welborn not being in a horror film.

The ABCs of Death

IMDB
First time viewed: Yes
Current Release: Yes

The perfect film to close MonsterFest. 26 short horror films, each based on a word with a different letter of the alphabet, all starting and ending with a red frame. A very impressive list of directors and writers from all over the world and the variety of styles and subgenera is great. Some are terrifying, some are hilarious, some are animated, some are abstract and the ratio of ones I like greatly outnumbered the ones I didn't.

One of my favourite ideas was not having the title of the short until the end of each segment, so you also end up trying to guess what the word is they based the short on. A genuinely enjoyable mixed bag of horror and I love that I got to see it on the big screen with a crowd but will definitely be picking this one up when it gets a home video release later in the year.

American Mary

IMDB
First time viewed: Yes
Current Release: Yes
Watched With: Kate

Another MonsterFest title, been great so far, I hope they do it again next year. This title had good word of mouth, I missed it the first time it screened last year but was lucky enough to catch it on the big screen tonight.

Body Modification huh? A subject I was not particularly familiar with before. And a great topic for this kind of horror/drama. The film had a fantastic premise and I was enthralled throughout the first half. The story never quite knows where to go though and seems to finish just before we get to a climax or resolution, which was very disappointing because up until then it had been an intriguing and well acted and shot drama with some very twisted imagery.

I'll definitely be keeping an eye out for whatever the Soska twins do next, hopefully something as well made but that feels more complete.

Cloud Atlas

IMDB
First time viewed: No
Current Release: Yes
Watched With: Jess, Jim, Cicely, Belinda, Tyler, Kate, Robert, Tara, Aaron, Kelly, Clint

Write Up.

Seeing the film with a large group of people showed just how divisive it really was. Some good discussions after. And some wildly different reactions. Soylent Green is people indeed...

Muirhouse

IMDB
First time viewed: Yes
Current Release: Yes

Another MonsterFest title, the Indie Australian horror that looks like our answer to Paranormal Activity.  After a terribly ineffective start that doesn't add to the films credibility at all and a a character that feels comically out of place educating us on the ghost hunting profession we finally get to the famed Monte Cristo house. From there we spend the film following ghost hunter Muirhouse wandering around in the dark listening out for spooky noises and waiting for jump scares that never come. And much like the Paranormal Activity films, the film just ends. Didn't do much for me.

I Give It a Year

IMDB
First time viewed: Yes
Current Release: Yes

A middling romantic comedy with what feels like a really terrible message. If things aren't working out just give up and move on to something else. The ol partner swapping ending it telegraphed from the start, hell even in the trailer you can figure out what needs to happen. There are a few funny bits in the middle but overall this didn't do much for me. Still it could have been a lot worse I suppose. Meh.

Side Effects

IMDB
First time viewed: Yes
Current Release: Yes

The prolific Steven Soderbergh has another film out already, seemingly out of nowhere. And if things are to be believed, his last theatrical feature before his self-imposed retirement. This saddens me.

Scott Z. Burns has written another pretty typical thriller cloaked in veil of very intelligent sounding dialogue and fast moving scenes. It's quite a cold and clinical film but there are still some thrills to be had.

The cast are all on top of things and Soderbergh films is beautifully. I just wished it were a little more empathetic. The thrilling twists and turns ended up making me feel a little more cheated than rewarded but the film went for the more flashy entertaining route than the dramatic. 

I did enjoy the film though, but if this is to be Soderbergh's last, I wish it was a bit more of a high note.

Cloud Atlas

IMDB
First time viewed: No
Current Release: Yes
Watched With: Mum

Here's my non-write up. The first time I saw it had had just stepped off a plane from Perth to New York and gone straight to Time Square to watch movies and this was a priority. As delirious as I was I still loved it and rated it pretty highly on my 2012 list. Now it's finally hit our shores and I have the chance to watch it again and do a proper write up while I'm less sleep deprived and overstimulated.

This is all the movies. It's a cinematic playground. I think even if you don't like all of the film there's something enjoyable in here for everyone. It's certainly ambitious and I love the big risks they took. While some definitely work better than others, overall the film totally works for me. It feels like a symphony that plays out in sections that rise and fall with action, drama, suspense and humor across all the stories. The structure is intricate but on a large scale ends up feeling pretty natural and while you're aware that the film is long it never drags or looses its drive.

The pairing of directors and material makes for some great visuals and the score is just beautiful and vital to the stories being told. The tone varies greatly from story to story but they all feel of a piece. I loved watching this again and picking up certain extra connections that I missed the first time through. I particularly loved Tom Tykwer's segments with the ever engaging Ben Whishaw as a composer and another with Halle Berry in a 70's conspiracy thriller. And being the sucker for sci-fi that I am, the Wachowski's Neo-Seoul segment was a lot of fun too.

It's a very divisive film and the cause for much discussion, much more than I have time to write about at present but do seek it out and see what you make of it.

IMDB
First time viewed: Yes
Current Release: Yes

This is the 3rd different outdoor cinema I've been to in a week. Perth has a lot of outdoor cinemas. And it was worth the long trip to see this oscar nominated film. Or just to stare at Gael García Bernal for 2 hours.

Like another film I saw today, The Paperboy, this was shot using camera of the period, to help sell the reality. It's not often you'll see  films being shot on video in 4:3. It certainly look authentic and the sound recording is top notch which, while incongruous with the images, is much appreciated. And it becomes hard to tell which parts are skilful recreation and which parts are just archival footage, it all blends together very well.

You can pick up the main story beats from the trailer, but the characters and mounting tension keep you invested. No surprise to find this was based off a play. In the end it's also a slightly depressing look at an industry I'm just learning I am now a part of, making television commercials for clients. Hits a little close to home there, but thankfully we've never had to overthrow a dictatorship whilst being followed and threatened.

Good stuff, check it out!

Save Your Legs!

IMDB
First time viewed: Yes
Current Release: Yes

This film had a few things going against it. For one it's an Australian comedy, which, let's be honest, usually means it's terrible. It's about cricket, which makes me fall asleep just thinking about it and it has a Bollywood number in it which just makes me cringe ever since some bad experiences doing an assignment on the subject at university *cue nam-like flashbacks*.

However these are all personal tastes, and even with all these strikes against I have to admit, while it didn't do anything for me, it was a perfectly crowd pleasing film and far from the cringe-worthy terribleness the trailer would have you believe.

Some fancy editing too.

The Paperboy

IMDB
First time viewed: Yes
Current Release: Yes

Lee Daniels' follow up to Precious is a very odd film and one that consistently succeeds in making the audience feel uneasy. Like his previous film it throws you in to a very realistic feeling setting with downtrodden characters we'd all rather pretend didn't exist.

And the 16mm photography and stylised editing really makes this feel like it was made in the period it is set. It looks great.

The film has an amazing cast that are all not afraid to get down and dirty with their roles. Nicole Kidman and John Cusack are especially confronting.

The story is somewhere between a coming of age character drama and a mystery and the structure seems a little muddled at times, it doesn't exactly have a logical flow and the naturalistic style of filming and acting can sometimes leave you unsure of what the focus of any one particular scene was meant to be. 

But those moments are outweighed by the interesting characters and performances. I'm still not exactly sure what to make of this one but I did like the look and its subversive nature.