I'm very croaky this week on the podcast. My whole family has come down with the coughs and cold going around here in Perth. I'm off next week on holidays, cruising up the West Australian coast to Broome on a big liner, Pacific Eden. Hopefully, we will all be well by Sunday. So I will see you the week after.
TARZAN ✪✪✪ Opens July 7 Most cinemas
I actually enjoyed this film while
I watched. My husband and my friend and her two sons (13 and 11) thought it was
okay. As I write this, the next day, my like of it has waned. It’s about as
good as the trailer makes out. So if that swings your monkey, then go see this.
It’s polished and the acting is fine. The CGI animals are extraordinary in
their lifelike appearance (although all CGI wildlife is pretty good nowadays),
and the two leads (Margot Robbe & Alexander Skarsgård) are just stunning to watch, but it’s a bit slow in parts.
There seems to be scenes missing. Sometimes the story will jump,
especially at the end, to another scene and it makes no sense how it happened.
It’s trying to modernize Tarzan the way Sherlock Holmes has been modernized
starring Robert Downey Jr., but Tarzan doesn’t suit modernizing. It’s such a
rock solid story in itself, it doesn’t need bells and whistles like this. Interesting that the director, David Yates
(II) is one of only two directors to helm more than one Harry Potter film and he is directing the upcoming Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.
He certainly knows how to polish something, but maybe sometimes we prefer our
rough diamonds.
Film Blurb
It has
been years since the man once known as Tarzan (Alexander Skarsgård) left the
jungles of Africa behind for a gentrified life as John Clayton III, Lord
Greystoke, with his beloved wife, Jane (Margot Robbie) at his side. Now, he has
been invited back to the Congo to serve as a trade emissary of Parliament,
unaware that he is a pawn in a deadly convergence of greed and revenge,
masterminded by the Belgian, Captain Leon Rom (Christoph Waltz). But those
behind the murderous plot have no idea what they are about to unleash.
MIKE
& DAVE NEED WEDDING DATES Opens July 7 Most cinemas
It was the pizza that made me do it. We were offered pizza and beer
before the preview of this film, and I thought, well, why not? As everybody
knows, I don’t like these films, so I
wasn’t planning to see this Mike & Dave Need Wedding Dates. I don’t find them funny and, many
times, they are downright offensive. I don’t understand either why a nice,
good-looking guy like Zac Efron, who had a great career ahead of him keeps doing
these dumb films and playing the dumb guy. He’s had a string of them this year with
Dirty Grandpa, Bad Neighbors II, and now this.
I’m not the demographic, so I did take a teenager along who said it was
funny, and she would give it a 3 ½ out of 5. If you’re over twenty-five, I think
you might look for a different date.
Film Blurb
Hard-partying brothers Mike (Adam Devine) and Dave (Zac
Efron) place an online ad to find the perfect dates (Anna Kendrick, Aubrey
Plaza) for their sister's Hawaiian wedding. Hoping for a wild getaway, the boys
instead find themselves outsmarted and out-partied by the uncontrollable duo.
GOLDSTONE (not reviewed) Opens July 7 Most cinemas
“A masterpiece of outback noir that packs a
political punch” The Guardian
Ivan Sen's outback noir Goldstone starring Aaron
Pedersen, Jacki Weaver, David Gulpilil and David Wenham.
Australian auteur Ivan Sen’s new feature is a
complex and stylish outback noir that reflects on Australia’s history with a
compelling tale of its present. Goldstone sees the excellent Aaron Pedersen
(Mystery Road) reprise his role as troubled Indigenous detective Jay Swan. On
the trail of a missing person, Jay finds himself in the small mining town of
Goldstone, where he is immediately arrested for drink-driving by young local
cop Josh (Alex Russell). When Jay’s motel room is blasted with gunfire, it
becomes clear that something larger is at play in the district. Jay and Josh
struggle to overcome their mutual distrust to uncover the unpleasant truth.
Sen, who
also wrote, shot, edited and scored the film, takes full advantage of the
beauty of the outback without shying away from the scars it bears – both
societal and environmental. With a stellar cast including Jacki Weaver, David
Wenham, David Gulpilil, Cheng Pei-Pei, Michelle Lim Davidson and Tom E. Lewis,
this is a taut, intelligent thriller encompassing the environment, corruption,
politics, corporate greed, tradition and mythology.
SING STREET ✪✪✪✪½ Opens July 14 Luna Cinemas)
Sing Street is probably one of my favorite films this year. If you grew up
in the seventies or the eighties, you are going to love the trip down memory
lane. You’ll find yourself bouncing in your seats to the soundtrack of this
wonderful coming-of-age film. There’s something inspiring watching young people
discover who they want to be and exploring the world with their fresh eyes. It
just reminds me vividly of my own youth and believing one day I might be a
writer. It all seemed so far-fetched, but when you watch a film like this you
remember how anything was possible
and friendships were made in an afternoon, and that far-fetched can become a
reality if you believe. By the end of the film, you will want to cheer . . .
and sing. Do not miss this one!
Film Blurb
Like
his earlier films ONCE and BEGIN AGAIN, SING STREET is inspired by
writer/director John Carney’s life and love for music, and tells the story of a
14-year-old named Cosmo growing up in 80’s Dublin who must break free of a home
strained by his parents’ relationship and money troubles, deal with his
drop-out older brother’s antics, and survive a new public school where the kids
are rough and the brothers are tougher. Cosmo
writes a song, forms a scrappy band with some school mates, writes more songs,
and shoots some wicked music videos. How to shoot pop videos in a recession
ridden country? Beg, borrow and steal. And steal. But when he realizes he can’t
save his family, he must make a family of his own.
Ghostbusters (not reviewed) Opens
July 14
I haven’t seen this one as I will be away when the preview runs.
There’s been a little controversy around this because they’ve cast females in
the roles of the Ghostbusters previously played by Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd,
Ernie Hudson and Rick Moranis. Many of the fans are not happy and refusing to
see it. Boo-hoo to them. It looks hilarious and I’m certainly going to catch
it. I love the way the trailers show Chris Hemsworth’s character Kevin as
gorgeous but oh, so, dumb.
Film Blurb
Ghostbusters makes its long-awaited return, rebooted with a cast of
hilarious new characters. Thirty years after the beloved original franchise
took the world by storm, director Paul Feig brings his fresh take to the
supernatural comedy, joined by some of the funniest actors working
today--Melissa McCarthy, Kristen Wiig, Kate McKinnon, Leslie Jones, and Chris
Hemsworth. This summer, they're here to save the world!
SPECIAL EVENTS
The 19th Revelation Film
Festival
Date: Opens July 7 – July 17
Time: Various Times
Location: Cinema Paradiso, Northbridge Details
and Booking
My favorite film festival of the year. This year there are 100
films showing, special guests, an academic conference and other unique events
such as Revel-8, an animation showcase, a mini Iranian film festival and the WA
Screen Awards. There’s several Jim
Henson documentaries and I caught The Art of the Prank a few weeks ago. A doco
about an American theatre artist who has spent a lifetime setting up elaborate
stories reported on by the press only to be revealed they are a hoax. Very engaging.
Don’t forget the late night horror showings at the weekends at around 11:00pm.
Something about watching a horror film and coming out at one a.m. is really
fun. Great atmosphere, too.
Next week Richard Sowada
the festival director and Jack Sargeant the Program Director will be on in my
slot to talk about Rev.
Rev is the ultimate
experience for all filmmakers and film-lovers! Some highlights to consider:
Late Night madnes ( A Night of
Horror, Baskin, Dude Bro Party Massacre III, Wacken 3D); The
Iranian Film Festival; The Banksy
Job; Don't Blink: Robert Frank; Janis: Little Girl Blue; Mapplethorpe: Look at the Pictures; The Love
Witch; Little Sister and Atmo Horrox!
PERTH SOUP NAZI with Rev
More
Info
Rev's soup kitchen will run alongside the 2016 Revelation Film
Festival from 7-17 July, tucked away off Oxford Street.
Rev's soup kitchen is
basic, understated and underground. Ironically cosy, this alfresco-style
bar/lounge/restaurant will take customers back to the basics: offering shelter,
warmth and nourishment.
The name says it all! Soup kitchen’s Soup Nazi
(a renowned Perth chef) will serve up the best in home-style comfort food!
$5 will get customers a cup of delicious steaming hot soup, served with
New Norcia bread. Up to three soups will be on the menu
nightly including a specialty Soup of the Day. ... if you get served, that is (read
on for the disclaimer).
The kitchen will be
dishing up heaps of extras every night including live DJ beats (with
VJ projections served on the side), blanket and coats to loan to
stay cosy, free toasted marshmallows, games and prizes.
DISCLAIMER: Perth Soup Nazi
Customers be warned:
You may get wrath with your broth!
Rev’s soup kitchen is run by the PERTH SOUP NAZI, a renowned Perth chef
who, not unlike the kitchen itself, just
seems to pop-up! The Nazi serves the tastiest soups in town but his is plagued
with some deep personal issues that can emerge (or erupt!) from time to time
with customers.
The Nazi does not acknowledge this
problem, or his triggers, and is taking no steps to remedy this behaviour.
ST. PETER'S & THE PAPAL BASILICAS
Date: Saturday JULY 9 (2D version) &
Sunday JULY 10 (2D version)
Time: 1:00pm (check
Luna Cinemas site for exact details)
Location: Cinema
Paradiso Details
and Booking
This event is part of Winter Arts
Festival 2016
The creators of Florence and the Uffizi Gallery take you on a journey
through the four Papal Basilicas in Rome: St. Peter's, St. John in the Lateran,
St. Mary Major and St. Paul Outside the Walls. Four majestic buildings - each
with a precious papal altar, each a treasure trove of timeless works of art and
a destination for millions of travellers and pilgrims over the centuries – play
the leading role in this cinematic tour de force, while state of the art
technology captures amazing images from completely new and exclusive points of
view.
Join world renown experts who will
discuss the basilicas; their evolution over the centuries, their most famous
works of art, the lives and stories of Popes and artists - from Giotto to
Bramante, from Michelangelo to Francesco Borromini, from Bernini to Domenico
Fontana, from Arnolfo di Cambio to
Jacopo Torriti - the events that made these places immortal, and the profound
spirituality emanating from them.
