The Ghost Writer...

RELEASE DATE: 12th August 2010.

- Don't expect to interfere with the CIA and come out alive!

The Ghost Writer is a new film by the notorious director Roman Polanski, whose girlfriend Sharon Tate, was famously killed by the "Manson Family".  Unfortunately Roman Polanski is also famous in his own right, not only for Award winning films (Rosemary's Baby, Chinatown), but for past misdemeanors (he pleaded guilty to unlawful sex with a minor in 1977) and fortunately this movie was good enough, that my personal feelings about Mr Polanski did not cloud my view of the film.

The Ghost Writer stars Ewan McGregor, Pierce Brosnan, Tom Wilkinson, Olivia Willliams (who looks remarkably like Australian/Italian actress Greta Scacchi) and a toned down "Samantha" from Sex and the City (Kim Cattrall), playing a modern "M" like character to Pierce Brosnan's, Adam Lang (former British Prime Minister).

The film is suspenseful without trying to have too hard and confusing us with its many last minute twists and turns which many films of late seem to do. The story is about a Ghost Writer (Ewan McGregor) who is sent to the US to finish the memoirs of a past British Prime Minister, Pierce Brosnan. Upon arriving and meeting with the Prime Minister a series of events are reported in the media where the former Prime Minister is accused of assisting in the interrogation and death of terrorists in Afghanistan and is set to be investigated by the War Crimes tribunal.

What seems to be a straight forward turn of events becomes a plot involving betrayal, misguided career aspirations and the CIA.  .

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More Film Festivals.........

Well I can't keep up! It seems every week there is a different film festival on in Melbourne and here is but a few of them..

At the moment we have the Russian Film Festival, "Russian Resurrection" showing at Palace Cinema Como unitl September 5th.

With only one day to go the choices are smaller but there is a mixture of romance, thriller and action films left, to meet all tastes. 

http://www.russianresurrection.com/2010/

In a couple of weeks the Environmental Film Festival begins, 16th September - 19th September.

Watch out for the double feature, "Dive", (for those of you who would like to more about what cafe's and the like do with their excess food supplies) and the film "What's Organic about Organic", for those who are intrested in the debate about traditional Agriculture V's Organic.

http://www.effm.org.au/

After the Italian Film Festival (which I have spoken about in a past post) the Greek Film Festival runs from 13th October - 31st October and showing exclusively at Palace Cinema Como.

Watch out for "Bang Bang Wedding", which stars Alex Dimitriades and "Dogtooth" which was selected to screen at the Cannes Film Festival, 2010.

http://www.greekfilmfestival.com.au/

Over in Carlton at Cinema Nova we have The 2010 Mobile Samsung AFI Award Films screening from August 24th - September 16th.

Featuring, "Bran Nue Dae", "Animal Kingdom", "Accidents Happen", "Beneath Hill 60" and other Australian films released over the 2009 -2010 period.

Reel Anime 2010 also begins on September 2nd showcasing anime feature films from Japan. I am not known for my love of anime, however I am going to give it another shot by hopefully catching "Summer Wars", with its premise of the Worlds fate at stake, and in the hands of a young "Computer Nerd".

http://www.madman.com.au/reelanime/

The Singapore Film Festival screens on September 7th and 8th at both Cinema Nova and Greater Union Russel Street.

"Singapore Dreaming" is one of the films featuring in the program about a family living on a small Island and what happens once they win the lottery.

  This film was regarded on its release in "07", as “...one of Singapore’s best films ever.”

     FiRST, Singapore’s top film magazine

http://www.sffmelbourne.com/

Watch this blog for more updates and reviews from the many film festivals mentioned!

http://charisse-movierevue.blogspot.com/

Boy...

RELEASE DATE: 26th August 2010

- Thoroughly entertaining your mouth will hurt from smiling incessantly!

New Zealand film "Boy" from actor/director, Taika Waititi who wrote, directed and starred in this feature (and also directed the 2007 film Eagle vs Shark) is sure to entertain and pull on the heart-strings of those sensitive types! Soon to be release at Cinema Nova and Palace cinemas, this film is akin to such Australian classic's as "Muriel's Wedding" and will be sure to go down in New Zealand cinema history in much the same way.

Set in the mid 1980's "Boy" (played by young actor James Rolleston) shares his love of Michael Jackson and his dream to bond with and meet his absent father, Alameinn. None too soon Boy's wish comes true and his father returns to the family, although Boy and his Father's intentions are not exactly the same.

You must watch out for the hilarious scene where Boy first meet's his father and two of his friends outside the family home, a stilted conversation ensues which lay's the foundations of further interactions between the two and there are many more laugh-out-loud moments like this throughout the film.

A simple but sad tale told with humour and the insights of a young boy who comes to the realisation that his father isn't the man he had imagined him to be.

http://charisse-movierevue.blogspot.com/

Inception....

RELEASE DATE: 22nd July 2010.

- If Leo's your leading man of choice, then you will enjoy this film.

Inception is the new film from British director Christopher Nolan who was responsible for creating the darker Batman character, played by Christian Bale in "Batman Begins" and "The Dark Knight".

Inception has a star studded cast with Leonardo DiCaprio playing the lead role of "Cobb" along with Ellen Page of "Juno" fame, Joseph Gordon-Levitt of "60 Days of Summer", Academy Award winning actress Marion Cotillard from the film "La Vie en rose" and seminal actors Michael Caine, Pete Poselthwaite and Tom Berenger.

Up and coming British actor "Tom Hardy", who also features in the film, manages to steal the limelight from others through his sheer charisma and that British accent!  He is best known for his starring role in the film "Bronson" which premiered at the Melbourne International Film Festival in 2009.

This film takes us on a journey which can be likened to that of the film "The Matrix", where reality and the subconscious become blurred. Leo appears to be attracted to the idea of reality and our skewed perceptions of it as his role in the film "Shutter Island" took a similar turn.

Casting in this film is similar to that of the Ocean's Eleven franchise, with a couple of  key character such as Leo's "Cobb" and Ellen Page's "Ariadne" supported by a cast of pretty young things and acting stalwarts Michael Caine and Pete Poselthwaite.  This film is enjoyable although perhaps a little too long (it seems lately the running time of each film has to be a minimum of 2 hours).  A thinking man's/woman's action/adventure!

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LA Zombie...

LA Zombie the film by American director Bruce LaBruce which was supposed to screen as part of the Melbourne International Film Festival (MIFF) but was refused classification by the Australian Classification Board, is now being shown as part of the Melbourne Underground Film Festival (MUFF).

MUFF Director, Richard Wolstencroft is said to be screening the film on August 29th as a public protest against the classification standards and in support of 'Freedom of Speech'.

So for those who dare, support this screening and what it stands for!

Charisse-MovieRevue
http://www.charisse-movierevue.blogspot.com/

Upcoming Film Festival's

For those interested, the Melbourne Underground Film Festival (MUFF) begins on the 20th August - 28th August and film's will be screening at the 1000 Pound Bend, Classic Elsternwick and Open Channel, Shed 4 @ The Docklands.

http://www.muff.com.au/index.html

Australia's Silent Film Festival in Sydney will show classic film's from the silent era on the following dates: September 11, 16, 18, 23 and 25 at various locations in Sydney.

For more details: http://www.ozsilentfilmfestival.com.au/index.asp?IntCatId=14

The Italian Film Festival is presented by Palace Cinemas and will be showing film's nationally.

In Melbourne the festival will run from Wednesday, 22 September - Sunday 10th October.

More details to come...

Air Doll........

"Air Doll" is a Japanese film by director, Hirokazu Koreeda which featured at the Melbourne International Film Festival (MIFF) for 2010. This film is based on the Manga series about an inflatable sex doll that finds a soul and falls in love.

This film stirred up mixed reviews by many of the viewers as some commented on how slow it was and others found it too unbelievable. I would argue those that found the film unbelieveable would be taking it too literally. The film is a social commentary on the isolation and loneliness that many of us are faced with today and it has been reported this is particularly the case for youths living in Japan.

Apart from the obvious details such as the representation of the inflatable doll coming too life, I felt the film stayed true to its comic book origins with certain scenes shot as though they were taken straight from the comic book, albeit less stylised than director Robert Rodriguez in his version of the graphic novel, "Sin City". One final scene in the film captures such a moment where "Air Doll" is viewed from above sprawled between some rubbish bins on an abandoned street.

- A melancholy and romantic film.

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MOTHER OF ROCK: THE LIFE AND TIMES OF LILLIAN ROXON

RELEASE DATE DVD: 2011

Mother of Rock: The Life and Times of Lillian Roxon is another film featuring at the Melbourne International Film Festival and supported by the MIFF Premiere Fund.

The film is a documentary about the life of Lillian Roxon (Aunt of our current health minister, Nicola Roxon), who was seen as Australia's first feminist and noted by others as a "Bitch" and a "Gossip". A liberated woman, Lillian moved to New York early in her career, employed as a New York correspondent for "The Sydney Morning Herald" and working under "shock jock", Derryn Hinch.

Lillian became very influential in the underground music scene via her time spent "hanging out" at the infamous Max's Kansas City club, where all the rising stars rock stars congregated and came to be "seen". Lillian was also known for her promotion of other famous Australians and played host to them when visiting New York. It was with humour that many of her peers had recollections of Lillian promoting her newest Australian visitor as the "best" in their field. Lillian famously played hostess to Germaine Greer early in her career and at a time when Germaine was gaining notoriety in Australia.

Lillian had a fascination with rock music and she believed it to be a powerful influence on society, which at this time was unrecognised. As homage too the importance of "rock" music, Lillian wrote and published the "Rock Encyclopedia", an A - Z of all the influential musicians in the music scene of this time and why this was so.

The doco itself is peppered with interviews from Lillian's peers such as Germaine Greer, Danny Fields and Iggy Pop, in an attempt to understand this early pioneer of rock journalism.

- Knowing little about this character, this was an entertaining and informative doco.

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Blame..

Blame is an Australian feature funded by the MIFF Premiere Fund and written and directed by VCA graduate Michael Henry. The film stars some well known young Australian actors, Sophie Lowe (Beautiful Kate) and Kestie Morassi (Wolf Creek).

The friend I went and saw this film with begged me not to be harsh in my review of this first feature by Michael Henry, especially after being privy to some Q&A time where he shared his story of the 10 years of struggle to realise this project. So I will refrain a little from being too harsh but I will suggest that the story has a great premise an attempted murder and the sequence of events that ensure everything doesn't go according to plan! I do, however, have to comment on some of, what I thought was overacting in the film which lessened the impact that was intended from the film at certain points. One such brooding character looked as though he would be more at home playing one of the brooding characters in the "Twilight" franchise.....

Overall the film succeeded in bringing an atmosphere of tension to the screen and well done to writer/producer, Michael Henry for his passion and persistence, an example to us all.

- A thriller with a clever little twist..

The Tree......

"The Tree" stars French Actress/Singer Charlotte Gainsbourg playing a recently widowed mother of four children somewhere in outback Queensland. Her daughter Simone (played by young actress Morgana Davies) is struggling with the death of her father (briefly played by Australian actor Aden Young), and uses the giant Moreton Bay Fig Tree at the side of the house as a way of communicating with him.

Simone shares this secret with her mother Dawn, (Charlotte Gainsbourg) in an attempt to bring the two closer together as it seems day by day Dawn is finding it increasingly difficult to cope with the mundaneness of everyday life.

This is a lovely story with an endearing and exceptional performance from young actress Morgana Davies and she is equally compelling to watch as her screen mother, Charlotte Gainsbourg. Charlotte Gainsbourg's role as the widowed mother is at times frustrating as she seems to lack any sympathy or concern for her children's feelings they too go through the grieving process all in their individual ways, with the youngest child refusing to speak. When Dawn begins a relationship with the local plumber and invites him to the families first Christmas without their father, we see her selfishness and pursuit of happiness despite her childrens feelings.

The giant Fig Tree is central to this story as it begins to overtake the family's lives in more ways than one, and Simone is determined to guard it from harms way.

- A talented young cast that complements Charlotte Gainsbourg's character.

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The Strange Case of Angelica.....

I was equally disappointed with Manoel de Oliveira's film "The Strange Case of Angelica" as I was excited about his feature for the 2009 Melbourne International Film Festival, "Eccentricities of a Blond Haired Girl."

"The Strange Case of Angelica" was indeed a strange film with the main character "Isaac" (played by actor Ricardo Trepa) becoming increasingly frustrating with his obsession for the dead woman "Angelica" that he has never met.

Manoel de Oliveira has kept his leading man from "Eccentricities of a Blond Haired Girl", who interestingly is also his grandson in reality. The character of Isaac is a somber one towards in his outlook on life and he is also hiding a secret past. Isaac also has an interest in history and the mechanics of the past, where things were manufactured by hand and the protestant work ethic was seen as a dignified path in life.  It's interesting that the film reflects this notion in its timeless setting which apart from the cars and trucks that we see in this film, could be set in any time period. Issac's character also plays with this timeless theme by wearing a formal suit every day and accessorising this with a hat and an SLR camera housed in an old and cumbersome case. This attention to detail was impressive however the films plot is frustrating with the interaction between Isaac and Angelica being minimal and the reason for Isaac's obsession never really explored.

Quintessentially this film is a story of love and that unbearable feeling of not being able to live without the other person but the motivation for these intense feelings are left unexplained.

- Although frustrating at times still an enjoyable film.

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Love In A Puff.......

"Love in a Puff" is a Hong Kong feature film showing at the Melbourne International Film Festival (MIFF). Your typical romantic comedy, the film centres on the two main characters, Jimmy and Cherie and their romance which blossoms over 5 days.

Much like its title the film is light and fluffy but also has its touching moments when the characters reveal their true feelings for one another and the awkwardness that ensues.

Easy to watch and similar to your typical romantic comedy usually starring the likes of Jennifer Aniston, this film however, does stand out for its dialogue which is reminiscent of a Woody Allen film in its honest portrayal of falling in love.

- Entertaining but equally forgettable.

http://charisse-movierevue.blogspot.com

Bibliotheque Pascal.........

Bibliotheque Pascal is a Hungarian/German and UK feature premiering at the Melbourne International Film Festival (MIFF). This film is about our imaginations and how we can change our perception of reality to make it more palpable and such is the case for Mona, the protagonist in this drama.

Mona's reality is slightly skewed, highly amusing and alarming all at once. She is a part Hungarian/Romanian gypsy scheming to make a better life for herself.  The story begins with Mona in a meeting with a welfare agency discussing her daughter who has been in child protection whilst Mona has been abroad in London, sold to the sex industry. Mona is asked to recount events that led to her current predicament and its here where reality and perception become blurred.  The cinematography in this film, which I loved for its surreal moments works to highlight moments of Mona's altered reality.

Monas recollections begin with a scene set in a small village somewhere in Hungary where she recounts how she met the father of her child and in typical Mona style it's an extraordinary set of circumstances that lead to this event. Mona's tale continues to unravel as she recounts pertinent moments from the past and in one scene (which I really loved) we are transported to a local fair where Mona runs a one woman puppet show. The puppet show consists of a little polyurethane umbrella type structure that Mona uses not only for her play but as a shelter for her daughter. Mona spins the umbrella around to reveal different scenes from the tale she tells and the simplicity and creativity in this is absolutely amazing.

Mona's daughter also has a special gift, she is able to project her dreams for all to see whilst sleeping and this plot line is used throughout the film to reveal a little about her own reality and concerns for her mother.

In the final scene of the film we are given the picture perfect image of Mona and her daughter, or is it? They are keeping house in an extraordinary little apartment and nestle in for the evening which is just another example of Mona's twisted reality.

I loved the imagery in this film and the parallel's with Mona's imagination as these moments serve to lighten the mood of an otherwise bleak story.

- Highly entertaining, Mona is an enigmatic character!

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