What's on in film July 7 2016

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 19^th 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.