Saturday, February 23, 2013
Realised that I left for my New Zealand trip a year ago today. Oh how time flies. And not much changes. Again I'm on the road, having driven to Newcastle Airport for a Brisbane getaway. Excitement!
Anyway, your reviews for the week. Enjoy :)
Beautiful Creatures (M)
SUPERNATURAL romance appears to be far from gone in cinema,
and as much as some may fight it new takers for the next blockbuster fantasy
franchise are knocking at the door. It’s now not something even the best of
Hollywood actors are taking lightly.
Jeremy Irons and Emma Thompson have come on board in what
was largely marketed as an off-beat spin on a crazy teenage world. Instead you
have something a little more serious, not trying to be like the Twilight storm but an accepting calm
after it. Like a lot of teen-friendly stories, this film has a lot of
moralising good.
Alice Englert, daughter of acclaimed New Zealand director
Jane Campion, is 15-year-old Lena, who comes to the fictional hicksville of
Gatlin, South Carolina. She is a teenager - who actually looks like a teenager - and falls for the
charming-just-because-he-is Ethan (Alden Ehrenreich).
The likable central characters are interesting to watch as
they quickly develop a relationship and Ethan finds out Lena’s secret (bet you
didn’t see that one coming). She is a Caster (a nicer word for witch), but will
turn to the light or dark on her 16th birthday depending on her true
nature.
This story draws back on American history with plot links to
the Civil War and witch accusations from earlier times in the south. It draws
from themes of fear and uncertainty, and uses a small community convinced of
their devotion to God in drawing attention to extreme views some of their
people possess.
A key motif throughout the film is that a fear of the
unknown will get you nowhere. Ethan’s a clued-up kid; life seems all mapped out
for him, but he refuses to believe he’ll be another generic stereotype. He
believes his town is full of people either “too stupid to leave or too stuck to
move”, an idea that will either leave you in complete agreeance or be seen as
an unfair hit to small towns all round.
There’s a lot of family drama in this story much like others
in the genre. Ethan has an unstable father after the death of his mother; a
character frequently mentioned but not seen. Lena’s uncle Mason (Irons) also
has problems when his niece Ridley (Emmy Rossum) rolls into town. A bit of
dysfunctionality goes a long way in making the story trod along.
Richard LaGravenese directed his adapted screenplay of the
base novel and takes care not to over-exaggerate fantastical scenes. The strong
Southern accents from his cast manage that on their own but allow an
appreciation for something from the average fare, as well as a cast of
characters that aren’t all just beautiful faces.
The teen romance may be just as big a factor in this
supernatural story as any other but it fares well for keeping serious while
avoiding over-soppiness. Two unknowns as the leading duo leads us not into
temptation to stalk their every move as celebrity gossip, but delivers us from
that evil.
Rating: 3/5
*Published in the Daily Liberal (Dubbo), Western Advocate (Bathurst), Parkes Champion Post and Midstate Observer (Orange) from Saturday 23/2/2013
***
***
Dog Day Afternoon (1975)
AL Pacino’s involvement in the film adaptation of a real-life robbery was slow to emerge after his exhaustion from The Godfather: Part II made him initially decline the role of Sonny Wortzik. But on finally accepting, Sidney Lumet had his man and went about bringing the story of John Wojtowicz to life.
People do stupid things for all kinds of reasons. And some
do those things without thinking them through. Sonny and his accomplice Sal
(John Cazale) think they’re on the ball when they go without masks into a bank
attempting to take everything it’s got. Their plan soon becomes unravelled when
they realise their research was a failure and Sonny proceeds to think about
what to do.
Sonny’s insecurities are the centrepiece of the story as he
refuses to leave and turns the scenario into a hostage situation. At first he
thinks he’s running the show, and when half of Brooklyn comes out in support of
what they presume to be a general protest on society, he’s having a great time.
But society’s pressures are revealed when Leon (Chris Sarandon) comes into the
story, Sonny’s male lover whose sex-change operation is the reason behind the
day’s events.
With many scenes of Frank Pierson’s Oscar-winning script
wonderfully improvised (something Lumet rarely heeded), it’s a fantastic
performance from Pacino. Lumet handles the tension with fervour, leaving the
situation detached while making the audience still wonder at the story’s
characters and their reasoning. The media circus the story creates is not so
much a surprise, but how that ties in is also notable.
*Published in the Mailbox Shopper (Dubbo) on Wednesday 20/2/2013.MISSED LAST WEEK'S REVIEW? See what I thought of Safe Haven.
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