Tag Archives: Drama

The Rooster – Movie Review

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TL;DR – A powerful meditation on the intersection of masculinity and loneliness.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Post-Credit Scene – There is no post-credit scene.

Disclosure – I paid to see this film

Warning – This film contains scenes that may cause distress.

Gum trees creak overhead.

The Rooster Review –

Loneliness and masculinity are two intersecting topics that are important to explore, but I rarely see it done well. I think it is challenging to have honest conversations about this topic when we still live in a world where mental health is seen as a taboo topic. Whatever the case, I am glad that the film we are exploring today is taking the time to jump into this topic.

So to set the scene, we open with Dan (Phoenix Raei), who is tormented by the same dream every night. He lives alone in a forested rural region of Victoria and is one of the town’s only police officers. His is a quiet life, only punctuated by the struggle to feed the rooster each morning who only wants to attack Dan. However, this peaceful life is ripped asunder when his friend Steve’s (Rhys Mitchell) body is found. This is a fulcrum moment, leaving Dan unable to cope with the world. But as he tries to drink his sorrows away, he discovers a Hermit (Hugo Weaving) living alone in the forest who might be a kindred spirit with a ping-pong table.  

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Bring Him to Me – Movie Review

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TL;DR – An oddly tense film about bringing a man to his coming fate.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

Post-Credit Scene – There is no post-credit scene.

Disclosure – I paid to see this film.

A masked man with a gun.

Bring Him to Me Review –

One of the perks of being a film reviewer in Australia is watching Aussie films make it to the big screen. Even more so when they have filmed the movie around where you live, and you get to play the game ‘Wait, I know that bridge’. Well, today we get to review that hits both these marks as it galivants pair towards danger.

So to set the scene, we open in on a robbery in progress, where a money cleaner (Sam Neill) is very put out by having his night ruined. Even more so when they threaten his son (Zac Garred). The next day, the Driver (Barry Pepper) is called by his Boss (Rachel Griffiths) because everything went wrong the night before. Something has to have caused it, so the Driver needs to pick up one of the other members of the robbery, The Kid (Jamie Costa), who stuffed it up and, as the title implies, bring him to her.  

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Uproar – Movie Review

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TL;DR – An emotional punch to the face as it explores the power of finding your identity.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

Post-Credit Scene – There is no post-credit scene.

Disclosure – I paid to see this film

A sign that says "Justice for Black South Africa, Justice for Brown New Zealand would be nice to!"

Uproar Review –

At the time of writing, we are in the middle of the Brisbane International Film Festival or, more affectionately, BIFF. So many films were on offer that you needed to sort through all the entries before being paralysed by indecision. For me this year, I decided to prioritise Aussie and Kiwi films, and with that in mind, you will see a couple of these entries over the coming days. Our first entry from BIFF explores the need to find your identity and how that shapes us as people.

So to set the scene, it is 1981, and the South African Rugby Team, the Springbok, are currently touring New Zealand. Given an intentionally racist Apartheid political system that still runs South Africa, this tour is quite controversial, and there are protests everywhere the team plays. It is within this world that Josh Waaka (Julian Dennison) is trying to find his voice. He is surviving High School by hiding in the library each lunchtime, but he is not thriving at any level. Much of his out-of-school time is spent on odd jobs helping his mother Shirley (Minnie Driver) and the family survive and assisting his brother Jamie (James Rolleston) in his physical therapy recovery from an accident. But as these protests cause a reckoning in the country, they also force Josh to reflect on his own identity.  

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The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar – Movie Review

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TL;DR – A fascinating literary turducken that captivates you.  

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Post-Credit Scene – There is no post-credit scene.

Disclosure – I paid for the Netflix service that viewed this film.

A writers writing room.

The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar Review –

In the last week, we have looked at first The Rat Catcherand thenPoison, two fascinating adaptations of Roald Dahl’s short stories by Wes Anderson. It was at this point that I discovered that they were from a group of four that were released, and I had missed the first two. Well, that can not do, so we got back to the start with The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar, which may have given some critical context for the ones that followed.

So to set the scene, we open with ‘a writer’ (Ralph Fiennes) explaining their process of getting ready to write when he introduces us to Henry Sugar (Benedict Cumberbatch). Henry is a rich man and one of the many useless rich people floating around like seaweed in the world. But Henry liked to bet. So, on one wet and dreary day, he drifted through a grand house till he came across a peculiar book in the library, A Report on Imdad Khan: The Man Who Sees Without His Eyes by Dr. Z.Z. Chatterjee, dated December 1935, Calcutta. Henry was immediately engrossed with the tale.  

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The Eight Mountains (Le Otto Montagne) – Movie Review

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TL;DR – A profound exploration of a deep plutonic friendship that lasts through the ages.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Post-Credit Scene – There is no post-credit scene.

Disclosure – I paid to watch this film.

The Sun rising over a mountain top.

The Eight Mountains Review –

Cinema has a long history of being able to chart romantic or sexual relationships. Indeed, we have entire genres dedicated to their exploration. But what we don’t see engaged with as often is close platonic relationships. Which is odd because everyone has them, but rarely do they become the focus of a film. Well, today, we explore a film that cuts to the heart of just such a relationship as two wayward souls crash into each other and spin apart.

So to set the scene, Pietro’s (Lupo Barbiero) family decided to get out of the clawing bustle of Turin in the summer and escape into the mountains. They picked a town almost abandoned by people leaving to find work to rent a house, which is where he meets Bruno (Cristiano Sassella). It would have been hard for them to miss each other as Bruno was the last child left in the village, but they soon became inseparable. But Pietro is just there for the summer, and Bruno is there for life, which sets them on two very different paths.

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Poison – Movie Review

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TL;DR – Tense, engaging, and captivating.    

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Post-Credit Scene – There is no post-credit scene.

Disclosure – I paid for the Netflix service that viewed this film.

the bungalow.

Poison Review –

After watching The Rat Catcher last night, I discovered it was not just a one-off, with Wes Anderson producing several of Roald Dahl’s short stories. With that in mind, I needed to see if they were all as absurdly compelling as the first, and I jumped into Poison.  
                          
It was midnight when Timber Woods (Dev Patel) drove home, trying not to wake his roommate. He should not have bothered because Harry (Benedict Cumberbatch) was still awake. Perplexed, Woods stuck his head in to see how he was when a barely audible whisper sang out ‘Help!‘.  

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The Rat Catcher – Movie Review

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TL;DR – An uncomfortable tale that draws you in, holds you captive, and then leaves you thinking.    

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Post-Credit Scene – There is no post-credit scene.

Disclosure – I paid for the Netflix service that viewed this film.

Richard Ayoade

The Rat Catcher Review –

As I sat down to wonder what I would watch as the weather wandered by and the well-lit day wound to a weary – what the word for end is that starts with a w would be that I can’t think of at the moment even though I scoured my mind looking for one. I looked at Netflix to discover that there is a Wes Anderson production of a Roald Dahl short story, and that is a combination you don’t say no to.

So to set the scene, one morning, an editor (Richard Ayoade) tells us of the life of a Rat Man (Ralph Fiennes) who has come on behalf of the town to a local garage run by Claud (Rupert Friend). He is a peculiar man who looks much like the prey he hunts. But then you see, rats are clever prey, as they are watching you as you pursue them.    

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Jay Ho (जय हो) – Movie Review

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TL;DR – This is a frustrating film because you can feel there is a good narrative in there, but it is held back by a love triangle that doesn’t work and production issues that pull you out of the film.

Rating: 2.5 out of 5.

Post-Credit Scene – There is a mid-credit scene.

Disclosure – I paid to watch this film.

Photos in the mountains.

Jay Ho Review –

Today, I went to my local cinemas and decided to pick something I knew nothing about, and one of the films on offer came from Nepal. I have never reviewed a Nepalese film before, so this was my entry, which made it frustrating when the film was a bit of a mess at times.

So to set the scene, Sajina (Keki Adhikari) is struggling. Her now ex-boyfriend Ashok (Arpan Thapa) started showing off his new woman only two weeks after the breakup. Her parents are constantly fighting to the point when they don’t even realise that she has left the car they are in and some creepy guy was taking photos of her without her permission. This leads her to the bottom of several bottles, and Sajina tries to get a bus in the middle of the night. Taking pity on her, a couple on their way to Mustang for their wedding pick her up to make sure she is fine, where she discovers the other passenger is their photographer Jay (Salon Basnet), who was the dude with the camera and that getting away from the city might be the best thing for her.

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The Moon (더 문/Deo Mun) – Movie Review

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TL;DR – A film that is fundamentally frustrating, but even with all that, you can’t help but get caught up in the emotion.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

Post-Credit Scene – There are mid-credit scenes.

Warning – contains scenes that may cause distress.

Disclosure – I paid to see this film.

Hwang Sun-woo on The Moon.

The Moon Review –

Today we have a fundamentally exciting film because it strikes two vast divides. On the one hand, it was a compelling work of fiction that captured my imagination and emotions. However, it was also an entirely frustrating endeavour at times. These two halves should not work in the same film, but today we see an example where it does.

So to set the scene, in 2029, five years after South Korea decided to strike out on their own in the space race that led to their first mission exploding and killing all three astronauts, they are back for a second attempt. Everything has gone well as the craft approaches the Moon until a large coronal explosion from the Sun fries everything onboard. Lee Sang-won (Kim Rae-won) and Cho Yoon-jong (Lee Yi-kyung) have exited to fix the ship when tragedy befalls them, and Hwang Sun-woo (Doh Kyung-soo) is left alone on a failing vessel where no one can help.   

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Jesus Revolution – Movie Review

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TL;DR – An interesting exploration of the founding of a movement, but for all its strengths, it did feel like a shallow experience.

Rating: 3 out of 5.

Post-Credit Scene – There is no post-credit scene.

Disclosure – I did not pay to see this film.

Chuck Smith gets surprise hugged by a hippie.

Jesus Revolution Review –

Those not living in America might not know that an entire independent-ish scene of Christian-themed films is being produced. While I often get requests for reviews, I tend not to go down that road because there is a whole cultural conflict component that you must wade through, and also, they just tend not to be any good. Much like animation for young children, quality is unnecessary when you can guarantee people will watch it through church networks. But today’s film caught my eye because it has some studio polish behind it, and it also was able to recruit Kelsey Grammer, which was enough to intrigue me.

So to set the scene, it is the 1970s in southern California, and the world is full of the generational divide, war, sex, drugs, and a touch of Rock and Roll. Greg Laurie (Joel Courtney) is in a Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps questioning the military mantra that is being fed to him when he sees a girl named Cathe (Anna Grace Barlow), who leads him into the world of counterculture through the medium of a Janis Joplin concert. Meanwhile, in Calvary Chapel, pastor Chuck Smith (Kelsey Grammer) looks out at his dwindling congregation and laments that he struggles to reach the youth who he no longer understands. Well, one day, his daughter Janette (Ally Ioannides) fixes that problem when she gives a lift to Lonnie Frisbee (Jonathan Roumie), a hippie and a gateway to a world Chuck is not ready for.   

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