Australia is director Baz Luhrmann's latest film. Luhrmann is also responsible for Moulin Rouge! and Romeo + Juliet. Australia stars Hugh Jackman and Nicole Kidman and tells the epic love story between an Australian ranch hand (Jackman) and a very proper and highly refined English woman (Kidman). The film is similar to Luhrmann's other films in it's delivery. Australia is more interested in telling an epic tale with stunning visuals and a highly stylilized delivery rather than any form of reality. I think a lot of the criticism directed towards the film is due to the film's advertising strategy. The film was billed as an epic and prepared the viewer for a gritty, epic and realistic portrayal of life in Australia, but that is not what Australia is at all. It is a lighthearted farse with epic sequences, beautiful scenery, and amazing costumes and sets. The Australian ranch hand is known as the drover and his real name is never revealed, which should tip off viewers to the type of film they are dealing with. The movie is set in Darwin, Australia during World War II. Lady Sarah Ashley (Kidman) is fresh off the boat from England in search of her husband's cattle station deep in the outback. She meets the drover (Jackman) and he takes her out to the station. She finds out her husband is dead and learns of his valient struggle against the monopolistic Carney Cattle Company. She decides to stay and try to sell her cattle to the Australian Army. The drover helps her drive the cattle to the seaport and beat the Carney Company and they fall in love. Lady Ashley befriends a young orphaned Aboriginal boy named Nullah and takes him in. Nullah goes off to school and Lady Ashley and the drover prepare to head back to their cattle station, but the Japanese surprise attack Darwin. The second half of the movie deals with the chaos of the Japanese attack and the attempts of the drover and Lady Ashley to find Nullah. I really enjoyed Australia and highly recommend it. Do not expect too much however. It is a lighthearted picture with amazing photography and amazing costumes, not a film full of realism.
Thursday, April 2, 2009
Australia - Recent Release Review
Australia is director Baz Luhrmann's latest film. Luhrmann is also responsible for Moulin Rouge! and Romeo + Juliet. Australia stars Hugh Jackman and Nicole Kidman and tells the epic love story between an Australian ranch hand (Jackman) and a very proper and highly refined English woman (Kidman). The film is similar to Luhrmann's other films in it's delivery. Australia is more interested in telling an epic tale with stunning visuals and a highly stylilized delivery rather than any form of reality. I think a lot of the criticism directed towards the film is due to the film's advertising strategy. The film was billed as an epic and prepared the viewer for a gritty, epic and realistic portrayal of life in Australia, but that is not what Australia is at all. It is a lighthearted farse with epic sequences, beautiful scenery, and amazing costumes and sets. The Australian ranch hand is known as the drover and his real name is never revealed, which should tip off viewers to the type of film they are dealing with. The movie is set in Darwin, Australia during World War II. Lady Sarah Ashley (Kidman) is fresh off the boat from England in search of her husband's cattle station deep in the outback. She meets the drover (Jackman) and he takes her out to the station. She finds out her husband is dead and learns of his valient struggle against the monopolistic Carney Cattle Company. She decides to stay and try to sell her cattle to the Australian Army. The drover helps her drive the cattle to the seaport and beat the Carney Company and they fall in love. Lady Ashley befriends a young orphaned Aboriginal boy named Nullah and takes him in. Nullah goes off to school and Lady Ashley and the drover prepare to head back to their cattle station, but the Japanese surprise attack Darwin. The second half of the movie deals with the chaos of the Japanese attack and the attempts of the drover and Lady Ashley to find Nullah. I really enjoyed Australia and highly recommend it. Do not expect too much however. It is a lighthearted picture with amazing photography and amazing costumes, not a film full of realism.
Thursday, March 5, 2009
RocknRolla - Recent Release Review
RocknRolla is a British crime film, written and directed by Guy Ritchie. It stars Gerard Butler, Mark Strong, Tom Wilkinson, and Thandie Newton. The film was released in Britain on September 5, 2009 and took the top spot at the box office. The film was not as widely released in the U.S. and Canada. The film follows the story of a London real estate gangster Lenny Cole (Wilkinson) and his dealings with a Russian gangster interested in entering the London real estate game. The Russian's accountant Stella (Newton) has other plans and hires a gang of criminals, known as the Wild Bunch, led by Mr. One-two (Butler) to help her out. The film is narrated by Archie (Strong), Lenny's right hand man. To complicate things the Russian lends Lenny his "lucky" painting which is in turn stolen by his estranged rock legend and crack-head son Johnny Quid (Toby Kebbell). The plot is extremely twisted in typical Guy Ritchie fashion. In fact the whole film, from the very first monologue, is undoubtedly a Guy Ritchie film. The plot is extremely complicated, the characters are extremely hard to understand (no matter how high you turn the volume), the shots move in quick succession almost reminiscent of the Soviet Montage style and the film is full of subtle and some not so subtle comedic moments. The film met with mixed reviews. Critics are divided some claiming RocknRolla is "nothing special" and others claiming Guy Ritchie has "done it yet again". RocknRolla is certaintly not reinventing the wheel and will not stun people for its originality, but I believe it is one of Guy Ritchie's best films. He has created the comedic crime thriller and RocknRolla, in my opinion, is the perfected product. The soundtrack is excellent and the acting is suberb which is crucial for Ritchie's fast moving thrillers. All in all I really liked RocknRolla and see it as Guy Ritchie's best work to date. It is rumored that Ritchie plans to make RocknRolla into a trilogy and a slide in the credits claims "Johnny, Archie, and the Wild Bunch will be back in the Real Rock n Rolla". I certaintly hope so.
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
March - Movies To See
Here is the March edition of my Movies To See list. (No order)
1. Watchmen - I am a big fan of the graphic novel Watchmen is based on and I believe Zach Snyder has a real talent for adapting comics. I am not a particularly big fan of Snyder's penchant for the grotesque but I remain hopeful. The ending has been changed and Snyder is rumored to have taken liberties with the fight scenes in his film adaption. My main interest in seeing this film is to objectively judge whether or not Snyder does a literary masterpiece justice in film format.
2. Waltz With Bashir - I love movies about Israel and especially anything involving the Israeli military. Waltz With Bashir is an animated drama dealing with the 1982 invasion of Lebanon. It uses traditional animation mixed with flash and 3-D animation techniques to create a stunning look for the film. It is also one of the only animated films I can think of that tries to create the horrific nature of war. I want to see this film the most by far.
3. The International - I like the actors and the idea behind The International. Unfortunately I do not believe it will deliver. I mostly want to see this film because of the scene in the Guggenheim Museum which happens to be one of my favorite pieces of architecture in the world.
4. Tokyo! - This movie looks extremely abstract and unbelievably scattered but I love Tokyo and asian culture as well as large cities so I thought I would give it a try. It features three director's takes on the evolution of the urban center or city. One of the directors, Michel Gondry, directed Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind which is one of my favorite films.
5. X-men Origins: Wolverine - I really like Hugh Jackman and the trailer for Wolverine looked pretty cool. Unlike some other superheroes, Wolverine is exciting and easy to adapt to the screen.
6. Public Enemies - I just saw the trailer for this film and it looks very good. It is directed by Michael Mann who also did Collateral which I really liked. It stars Johnny Depp and Christian Bale as a bank robber and a federal agent respectively.
7. Terminator Salvation - Christian Bale stars in this film as well. It really like how the trailer looked. It seemed like it was about the surviving humans fighting the machines in the future without clunky terminators coming back in time.
8. Gomorrah - Europeans are apparently going crazy over this Godfather-esque film. We will see if it truly deserves comparisons to the Godfather trilogy. It certaintly looks good in the trailer but Godfather worthy? I don't know.
9. Star Trek - Sex, drugs and rock and roll in space, what's not to like? The trailer makes me doubt it will be even close to good and I am not a big Star Trek fan, but I love J.J. Abrams so maybe I will like Star Trek.
10. Taken - I respect Liam Neeson enough to see his latest film. I have already heard that it is no Bourne but it is not like I was even considering Taken to be as good.
1. Watchmen - I am a big fan of the graphic novel Watchmen is based on and I believe Zach Snyder has a real talent for adapting comics. I am not a particularly big fan of Snyder's penchant for the grotesque but I remain hopeful. The ending has been changed and Snyder is rumored to have taken liberties with the fight scenes in his film adaption. My main interest in seeing this film is to objectively judge whether or not Snyder does a literary masterpiece justice in film format.
2. Waltz With Bashir - I love movies about Israel and especially anything involving the Israeli military. Waltz With Bashir is an animated drama dealing with the 1982 invasion of Lebanon. It uses traditional animation mixed with flash and 3-D animation techniques to create a stunning look for the film. It is also one of the only animated films I can think of that tries to create the horrific nature of war. I want to see this film the most by far.
3. The International - I like the actors and the idea behind The International. Unfortunately I do not believe it will deliver. I mostly want to see this film because of the scene in the Guggenheim Museum which happens to be one of my favorite pieces of architecture in the world.
4. Tokyo! - This movie looks extremely abstract and unbelievably scattered but I love Tokyo and asian culture as well as large cities so I thought I would give it a try. It features three director's takes on the evolution of the urban center or city. One of the directors, Michel Gondry, directed Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind which is one of my favorite films.
5. X-men Origins: Wolverine - I really like Hugh Jackman and the trailer for Wolverine looked pretty cool. Unlike some other superheroes, Wolverine is exciting and easy to adapt to the screen.
6. Public Enemies - I just saw the trailer for this film and it looks very good. It is directed by Michael Mann who also did Collateral which I really liked. It stars Johnny Depp and Christian Bale as a bank robber and a federal agent respectively.
7. Terminator Salvation - Christian Bale stars in this film as well. It really like how the trailer looked. It seemed like it was about the surviving humans fighting the machines in the future without clunky terminators coming back in time.
8. Gomorrah - Europeans are apparently going crazy over this Godfather-esque film. We will see if it truly deserves comparisons to the Godfather trilogy. It certaintly looks good in the trailer but Godfather worthy? I don't know.
9. Star Trek - Sex, drugs and rock and roll in space, what's not to like? The trailer makes me doubt it will be even close to good and I am not a big Star Trek fan, but I love J.J. Abrams so maybe I will like Star Trek.
10. Taken - I respect Liam Neeson enough to see his latest film. I have already heard that it is no Bourne but it is not like I was even considering Taken to be as good.
Saturday, January 17, 2009
Appaloosa - Recent Release Review
I saw Appaloosa this weekend. I have been wanting to see this film for a while now. It has been overlooked with other massive releases like The Dark Knight taking so much media coverage. The reviews have been mixed between standard and great. One review claimed it was one of the top 5 westerns of all time while another claimed it was a "solid effort". I thought it was definitely a great western although it was not top 5 material. Appaloosa is a film adaption of the 2005 novel, by Robert B. Parker, of the same name. The film is directed by Ed Harris and he stars in it along with Viggo Mortenson, Renee Zellwegger, Jeremy Irons. The film is about lawman, Virgil Cole (Harris) and his loyal friend and deputy Everett Hitch (Mortenson). The two are hired to defend a town from a murderous rancher (Irons). Things get complicated when Virgil takes a fancy to the rather promiscuous woman played by Zellwegger. The two friends know each other inside and out, but are not very intimate and the film deals in great detail with their relationship. Virgil wants to settle down and move in with his woman in a nice house and live out the remainder of his years. Everett on the other hand, is younger and wants to move on without anything to hold him down. This movie is no Tombstone. The gunplay is at a minimum and the wild chase scenes and train robberies do not exist. Instead Appaloosa runs in the same vein as Open Range, which is about relationships and the amazing visuals of the west. The acting in this film is suberb although at times Zellwegger's efforts seem forced. The soundtrack is great, evoking a strange parallel to the TV series, Firefly's, soundtrack. The visuals and cinematography in Appaloosa are really where the movie shines. Some of the locations and shots are truly epic. I thought this movie was a great movie, and unfortunately, I believe it was lost among all the great movies of 2008.
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