Film Stuff 11th June 2015

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FILM REVIEWS

Jurassic World ✪✪✪  (Opens 11^th June most cinemas)

   

   In 1993, Steven Spielberg realized Michael Crichton’s imaginative novel Jurassic Park on the big screen, employing CGI technology that had us slobbering over our movie tickets to see the film. In the lead up to it’s release, countless news features, with accompanying video, on the amazing imagery from the upcoming film played on our small screens endlessly. The film didn’t disappoint. Even last year the re-released Jurassic Park, re-engineered in 3D, was just as entertaining, standing the test of time.

   Twenty-two years later, with our advances in technology you would imagine a rebooted Jurassic Park would be edge-of-the-seat thrilling and fantastic entertainment. Seems scriptwriting has not evolved at the same pace as technology. You can’t dress up a poor script in CGI. Second-time director Colin Trevorrow (Safety Not Guaranteed) seems unable to bring his characters any further than clichés of the originals.

   Introducing (or let’s say re-introducing), the billionaire park owner (Irrfan Khan) who hasn’t got a clue—how did he get to be so rich, when he’s so dopey?; the manager of the park (Bryce Dallas Howard) who won’t shut down the park no matter what—and for the love of Jimmie Choo shoes, how does she run through the jungle and from a T-Rex while wearing high heel shoes most couldn’t even walk in; the bad guy (Vincent D'Onofrio) who wants to use the dinosaurs for military purpose—Really? So original; hero (Chris Pratt)—who nobody listens to, even though he makes the most sense—who can wrangle raptors and is all about the people eating, dangerous animals; the two kids—there always has to be two kids—whose mother allows them to go to an island for the weekend to visit their aunt—alone!—whom she hasn’t seen for six years, and she knows is self-centered and unreliable.

   Not bringing anything new to the franchise, it’s almost a paradoy of the original. If you can get past all the dumbness, it does have some saving graces. There’s no swearing and the posters are awesome. There are a few cool nods to the original, and we get to see what happened to the old park and hotel. Kids from around ten to fourteen will probably love it. If you are a fan of the Transformer style film where giant, long-winded, over-the-top battles matter more than solid character and plot development, then you will enjoy. If you are not in these categories, might I suggest a night at home with the popcorn and the original Jurassic Park (or you could even read the book). Least that way, you won’t be left wondering how Bryce Dallas Howard managed to sprint in heels. My vote is they’re some new Nike shoes they’re testing.

Film Blurb 

   Twenty-two years after the events of Jurassic Park, Isla Nublar now features a fully functioning dinosaur theme park, Jurassic World, as originally envisioned by John Hammond. After 10 years of operation and visitor rates declining, in order to fulfill a corporate mandate, a new attraction is created to re-spark visitor's interest, which backfires horribly.

WALKING THE CAMINO  ✪✪½        (Opens 11^th Luna cinemas)

   In 2010 Martin Sheen starred in a small film The Way. In it he flys to Spain to recover the body of his estranged son who died while traveling the "El Camino de Santiago." Once there, he decides to take the five hundred mile pilgrimage himself. The Way was a touching film evoking the life transformation of embarking on what most people imagine is a walk that is akin to craziness. The Way worked beautifully as a homage to the beauty of the countryside and the spiritual awareness of stripping down life to placing one booted foot before the other, day after day, week after week.

   Walking the Camino: Six Ways to Santiago is a documentary of six people from various countries, lifestyle, and age groups who do exactly what the Martin Sheen character did, but without the burden of having just buried a child. Maybe it’s because The Way was so emotional and so darn good that, in comparison, this film feels a paler version. Even the countryside, which I am sure is stunning, doesn’t shine through. The people director Lydia B. Smith chooses to follow seem completely self-absorbed and don’t appear to have changed much by the time they complete the journey. Probably the mistake was in following six different characters, so we never really get to know any of them very well.

   The film blurb suggests after seeing this film you will want to take the Camino pilgrimage yourself. In a way, I’m pleased that it didn’t strike a chord with me. I didn’t feel the compulsion to blister my feet for five hundred miles if this was an example of the type of people you meet on the way.

Film Blurb 

     Walking the Camino: Six Ways to Santiago, is the extraordinary, award-winning documentary film by American Director and Producer Lydia B. Smith.

   Since the ninth century, millions of world travellers have embarked on an epic pilgrimage across northern Spain that is known to be profoundly enlightening, spiritually nourishing, and physically challenging. Today, several hundred thousand people a year embark on this mostly unpaved path with little more than a backpack and a pair of boots.

   Through Walking the Camino: Six Ways to Santiago, we are able to journey into the hearts and minds of six modern-day pilgrims as they cope with blisters, exhaustion, loneliness, and self-doubt to triumph over fears and prejudices that have become roadblocks to living a fulfilled life. Find out why audiences everywhere are raving about the film that Martin Sheen, star of The Way, calls a “brilliant documentary.”

    WIN A trip for two to Spain Promotion sponsored by Raw Travel and Umbrella Entertainment (Valued at $6,200) When you see ‘Walking the Camino’ at a cinema near you incl. Luna Leederville.

THE MARTIAN FIRST TRAILER & VIRAL VIDEO

   THE MARTIAN is the movie I most want to see this year. This week the first trailer for the highly anticipated Ridley Scott sci-fi adaptation of Andy Weir’s novel THE MARTIAN was released. It was accompanied by the release of a viral video of Matt Damon as Mark Watney showing us around the ship and introducing the crew of Ares 3 before it’s take off for Mars. Later on Mars, Mark Watney, a botanist and mechanical engineer, is left stranded when the crew are forced to abandon their surface mission and believe he is killed as they make their way back to the ship. I read this book last year and it is one of the most thrilling, absorbing science-fiction novels I’ve ever read. You feel as though you are on Mars. I could barely breathe in the cliff-hanging moments. My advice: Click on this link.  Read the book first:

SPECIAL EVENTS

SYDNEY FILM FESTIVAL PRESENTS

STRANGERLAND

Strangerland is Australian director Kim Farrant’s feature debut. Nicole Kidman makes a welcome return to Australian independent cinema in this striking film. The teenage children of Catherine (Kidman) and Matthew (Joseph Fiennes) mysteriously disappear from the outback town the family has recently settled in. When local cop Rae (Hugo Weaving) tries to solve the case, he uncovers a dark history that has repercussions for him too.

   Part thriller, part psychological drama, Strangerland erupts with talent and confident storytelling. It operates at such a high level, it is nearly impossible to believe this film is director Kim Farrant's first feature. Enlivened by a phenomenal cast, including Nicole Kidman, who delivers one of the strongest performances of her career, Strangerland joins the ranks of Australia’s recent wave of stylish, “Elevated Genre” films and marks the emergence of another massive directing talent.

La Donna Del Lago - The Met Opera

Date: Saturday 13 June 2015 11.30am

Time:  Sunday 14 June 1 pm

Location: Luna Leederville               
Details and Booking

    Met premiere production conducted by Michele Mariotti. Bel canto superstars Joyce DiDonato and Juan Diego Flórez join forces for this Rossini showcase of vocal virtuosity, set in the medieval Scottish highlands and based on a beloved novel by Sir Walter Scott. DiDonato is the “lady of the lake” of the title, and Flórez is the King who relentlessly pursues her, their vocal fireworks embellishing the romantic plot.

Going, going…

These films will be leaving our screens shortly, so catch them this weekend if you don’t want to miss out.

TESTAMENT OF YOUTH (Windsor Cinema)

BOYCHOIR (Windsor Cinema)

CINDERELLA

DVD Releases

BIRDMAN   ✪✪✪✪✪      Click here for review  

THE THEORY OF EVERYTHING   ✪✪✪✪½     Click here for review

THE INTERVIEW   ✪✪½     Click here for review