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Archives For November 30, 1999

September Film Round Up

October 6, 2017 — Leave a comment

From the great to the shocking, here’s a round up of what I was writing about in September.

Tom of Finland (2017, Dir: Dome Karukoski) – ‘Tom of Finland might not be as subversive as its namesake, but as a celebration of a man who meant and means so much to so many, it does more than a good enough job.’ Full review at thereelword.net.

The Only Living Boy in New York (2017, Dir: Marc Webb) – ‘The Only Living Boy in New York is a grating affair from Bridges’ opening monologue, on the death of New York’s soul, through to the rushed ending that prides itself on throwing you a curve ball that comes too late in the day.’ Full review at thereelword.net.

001 Trolling (2017, Dir: Gregg Golding) – ‘Golding has a long list of topics he wants to take aim at including mob mentality, sexual assault, racial profiling, law enforcement, abuse of power, pop culture, commercialism and so on. And he wants to do it all in less than 80 minutes.’ Full review at horrornews.net.

The Staging Post (2017, Dir: Jolyon Hoff) – ‘The Staging Post is a quiet film with a loud message.’ Full review at filmink.com.au.

Good Time (2017, Dir: Benny and Josh Safdie) – ‘As with Cosmopolis and The Rover, Pattinson proves himself to be an actor who truly inhabits the characters he’s given.’ Full review at thereelword.net.

The Devil’s Candy (2016, Dir: Sean Byrne) – ‘The Devil’s Candy is a short, sharp shock of terror that knows well enough to keep its audience in the dark even as the sun rises in its final shot.’ Full review at filmink.com.au.

Bonejangles (2017, Dir: Brett DeJager) – ‘Whilst the film should be commended for its concept, the fact of the matter is that Bonejangles never cuts to the jugular like it should do.’ Full review at horrornews.net.

Neil Stryker and the Tyrant of Time (2017, Dir: Rob Taylor)  – ‘Neil Stryker’s tongue is so firmly within its cheek, it’s in danger of coming out the other side.’ Full review at horrornews.net.

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Raw (2016)

September 3, 2017 — Leave a comment

After being force-fed meat during a hazing ritual, veterinarian student and hardcore vegetarian Justine (Garance Marillier) begins to develop an unhealthy interest in cannibalism in this surprisingly beautiful feature from French director Julie Ducournau. Surprisingly beautiful because when one hears the term ‘cannibal’ they’d be forgiven for conjuring up images from the works of Ruggero Deodato. What they probably won’t imagine is something like Raw, which goes outside the norm of what we would consider body horror.

Justine’s parents expect her to be a vet, and make the lifestyle choice of vegetarianism more akin to an indoctrination. At school, she reluctantly partakes in hazing so that she doesn’t stand out too much and embarrass her older sister, Alexia (Ella Rumpf), who attends the same school. Justine’s growing appetite for flesh may be highly unusual, but it serves as just another thing in her life that has been forced upon her. Yet as Raw progresses, we do see her try to embrace it and from doing so, she begins to develop and grow from a young girl into a grown woman who craves her own mind. When sister dearest admits to having the same predilections and invites her to her own carnivorous world, Justine chooses that moment to be her own person. Raw is as much a coming of age drama as it is a horror.

Read the rest of the review here.

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Stake Land II (2016)

September 2, 2017 — Leave a comment

In the 2010 film, a young teen, Martin (Connor Paolo) is taken under the wing of Mister (Nick Damici) after his family is butchered by vampires. Turns out America has been flooded by vampirism, turning the country into a wasteland where survival of the fittest runs deep. As Mister and Martin search for a place called New Eden, they encounter numerous other stragglers whilst avoiding vampires and religious zealots, The Brotherhood. Episodic in its narrative – you can tell it started off life as a potential web series – Stake Land managed to at least build a fairly cohesive universe. Its box office may have been small, but its fan base was legit. As such, the surprise isn’t that it has a sequel, but that it’s taken so long to arrive. And has it been worth the wait?

Stake Land II: The Stake Lander catches up with Martin several years after his time with Mister. He’s settled down in New Eden with Peggy (Bonnie Dennison), the plucky woman he met in the dying embers of the first film. Now a father who recalls his time with Mister as fairytales for his daughter, Martin’s happiness is cut viciously short when, again, his family is brutally slaughtered by a reassembled Brotherhood, led by a powerful new vampire known only as the Mother (Kristina Hughes). With his world in tatters, Martin goes in search of Mister hoping that he’ll assist him on his quest for revenge. Spoilers: he finds him and the two are soon on the road again with the smell of vampire blood in their nostrils.

Read the rest of the review here.

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Amiel Courtin-Wilson: In Art, As In Life (Interview)

September 1, 2017 — Leave a comment

Since the age of 19, with his accomplished documentary about his aunt, Chasing Buddha, Amiel Courtin-Wilson has been swimming through a sea of never-ending work (“I just really love what I do, so I try to do as much as I can.”) When FilmInk catches up with him in Paris, he is working with composer and sound designer Nicholas Becker (Batman Begins), about to board a plane to return to hometown Melbourne as part of the Melbourne International Film Festival (MIFF) for a screening of his new film The Silent Eye, as well as a 10th anniversary screening of his documentary Bastardy.

Running just over an hour, The Silent Eye is a contemplative performance piece that sees Japanese dancer, 72-year-old Min Tanaka collaborating with free jazz pioneer, 88-year-old Cecil Taylor; the pair having known each other for over 30 years. It’s a stripped back affair that contrasts with Amiel’s previous narrative work.

“I’ve been doing these shoots that take years and years, I wanted to do something that was discreet and very contained,” he explains. “I was really interested to see if I could shoot a feature in a few days, in a single room and setting those kind of creative constraints.”

Read the rest of the interview here.

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Bastardy (2008)

August 31, 2017 — Leave a comment

Amiel Courtin-Wilson pretty much sets up the tone of 2008’s Bastardy within its opening moments. “If I were to hide any of this,” says indigenous actor ‘Uncle’ Jack Charles as he lays out his drug paraphilia. “I don’t think this would be a true depiction of my lifestyle.” It’s a powerful image and not the last time we see Charles this open and frank.

Courtin-Wilson shoots Charles from a distance as he wanders around the streets of Melbourne leaving the larger than life character to seem tiny and insignificant in the world around him. In the best possible way, Bastardy shows the mass of contradictions that make up the then-homeless actor. As he waxes lyrical about his addiction, his lost love and his criminal record, Charles can leave his audience humble by his cheerfulness. He is happy to share his tales and is good for a philosophical thought or two. And yet, with the demons that run rife in Charles’ life, this kind of optimism doesn’t continue all the way through Bastardy.

Read the rest of the review here.

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