Cinema Listings
Keeping up with the Jones ... In The Valley of Elah
NEW Denotes a new release
#1 Box office number 1
27 Dresses (******) Dir. Anne Fletcher, 2008, (PG), US, 107 mins, Katherine Heigl, James Marsden, Ed Burns. You might be rolling your eyes and groaning at the thought of yet another nuptial frenzied rom-com. But if you’re dragged to this, you may be pleasantly surprised by the personable qualities of its primary antagonists, Katherine Heigl and James Marsden. The most tedious shots of the New York skyline signify the general mediocrity of this tale of Jane (Heigl), a perennial bridesmaid and an enabling assistant to an eco mogul (Burns) whom she’s also in love with, and Kevin (Marsden), a journalist stuck in the “taffeta ghetto” writing wedding announcements. Director Anne Fletcher, a choreographer whose helming debut was the bad boy–good girl dance drama Step Up (2006), can at least film a convincing electric slide. The verbal sparring is presented as a virtue, and anger redeemed as energy. They’re no Hepburn and Tracy, but Heigl – her quivering double chin a welcome sight in a profession riddled with dangerously low BMI – and Marsden skillfully find the believable traits in their characters and turn them into some semblance of adults. (Melissa Anderson) Hoyts, Greater Union
American Gangster (******) Dir. Ridley Scott, 2007, (R), US, 157 mins, Armand Assante, Cuba Gooding Jr, Denzel Washington, Russell Crowe, Josh Brolin, Carla Gugino, Ruby Dee, John Ortiz, John Hawkes. As biopic movie meat, this extraordinary true story aches with subtext: 70s Harlem druglord, Frank Lucas built an empire via killer market force – smuggling low-cost, high-impact heroin right through the fog of the Vietnam war. Right from the title, Ridley Scott guns for nothing less than the 21st century’s first great crime saga: the American dream re-cut as a New York dope opera. Like much of his oeuvre, Scott’s scaled-up movie is bigger than life – and lesser for it. The finish rushes in: a brilliantly constructed police take-down, a magnetic collision between two Oscar-winning alpha males and a gift-wrapped coda which confirms that, in Hollywood, mythology always trumps morality. (Jonathan Crocker) Greater Union Cinemas, Hoyts, Reading Cinemas, Randwick Ritz
Atonement (******) Dir. Joe Wright, 2007, (R), UK/France, 123 mins, Keira Knightley, James McAvoy. Director Joe Wright is in full control of his material with an adaptation that translates the book’s fluid shifts in time and emotion perfectly. Gifted with several generations of English actors which Hollywood can’t beat, Wright casts the protagonist’s role with three different actresses, Saoirse Ronan, Romola Garai and Vanessa Redgrave. They segue seamlessly, as the consequences childish mistake that has terrible resonate for decades. In the lead, Knightley leaves vapid Hollywood behind, delivering an enigmatic performance filled with yearning. She is matched by young James McAvoy, one of the most versatile and charismatic British leading males. The film’s other achievement is the recreation of WW2, experienced at its most nightmarish and alienating. Seamus McGarvey’s cinematography sweeps from the desultory velvets of the English countryside to the surreality of the battle of Dunkirk without faltering. The dreamlike intensity of the film is all encompassing, the final scenes lulled by Dario Marianelli’s score into a trancelike state that doesn’t fade. This film is a stayer. It will still resonate for years. (Ruth Hessey) Greater Union, Hoyts, Reading Cinemas, Dendy Cinemas
NEW August Rush (******) Dir. Kristen Sheridan, 2007, (PG), US, 114 mins. Freddie Highmore, Keri Russell, Jonathon Rhys Meyers, Terrence Howard, Robin Williams. This inspirational drama gets three stars for oddity value alone. A celestial trumpet for the need to follow your star so old-fashioned it’s postmodern, the latest feature from Jim Sheridan’s daughter stars doe-eyed Freddie Highmore (Finding Neverland) as a 12-year-old, orphaned musical prodigy searching for his parents in a New York populated by characters straight out of Oliver Twist. (Wally Hammond) Hoyts, Reading Cinemas, Greater Union
Bella (******) Dir. Alejandro Gomez Montverde, 2006, (PG), Mexico, 91 mins, Manuel Perez, Angelica Aragon, Jaime Terelli, Ali Landry. Director Alejandro Monteverde has impressed film festival audiences around the world with his ability to create a story in which suspension of disbelief comes easy. It follows a handsome young soccer star, Jose (Eduardo Verastegui) whose life is derailed when he has a car accident. Giving up the life of fame and glory as a sport star, he becomes a chef in his bossy older brother’s restaurant. Also working at the restaurant, in full Mexican drag (Frida Kahlo hair and loud rustling skirts) is Nina (Tammy Blanchard). The ball is set rolling when she gets the sack, and Jose walks out after her. The pair spend the day together and experience one of those unlikely bondings life occasionally throws us. The result is not, however, a romantic comedy with a bow at the end. This is a small picture which errs in the direction of sweetness rather than swagger. That’s no mean thing. (RH) Dendy Newtown, Dendy Opera Quays
Blindsight (******) Dir. Lucy Walker, 2006, (PG), UK, 104 mins, Gavin Attwood, Sally Berg. Many thought that blind mountaineer Erik Weihenmayer had achieved the impossible when he conquered Everest, but Blindsight sees him take it one step further as we follow his decision to take six students from a Tibetan school for the blind up neighbouring peak, Lhapka Ri. Quickly shaking off the obvious tag of inspirational-tale-of-altruistism-and-endeavour, British director Walker’s brilliant film concentrates more on the physical and cultural divide of the climbers as she keenly probes her subjects to shed light on the simple, profound question: why do we climb? It’s also ravishingly photographed and contains a suitably atmospheric score by Nitin Sawhney. (David Jenkins) Hayden Orpheum Cremorne
The Bucket List (******) Dir. Rob Riener, 2007, (M), US, 97 mins, Jack Nicholson, Morgan Freeman, Sean Hayes, Beverly Todd. Peruse the respective résumés of Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman, and you’ll see examples of the finest acting in American moviemaking over the past 40 years. It would take a truly awful film to erase such impressive, hard-earned achievements, but damned if Rob Reiner’s wretched cancer dramedy doesn’t come perilously close. Once Nicholson’s wealthy health care magnate and Freeman’s salt-of-the-earth mechanic bond over their terminal diagnoses, the duo draws up a “bucket list” (as in, things to do before you kick the…). Then, with AARP cards and Nicholson’s chequebook in hand, they try to fulfill every wish: race Shelby Mustangs, kiss the world’s most beautiful girl, etc. Death, be not proud; also, please try not to let folks use you to justify such horribly manipulative, heinously written tripe. (David Fear). Hoyts, Dendy Cinemas, Randwick Ritz, Reading Cinemas
Charlie Wilson’s War (******) Dir. Mike Nichols, 2007, (M), US, 97mins, Tom Hanks, Julia Roberts, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Amy Adams, Shiri Appleby. This classy, opulent and clever film explores the way big business translates into American foreign policy, in this case in Afghanistan in the 1980s. The chief architect is writer Aaron Sorkin, the man who put the mojo back into the White House by writing The West Wing. Sorkin knows how to fill a stately corridor with enough interpersonal tension and plural entendre to set the drapery on fire. Sorkin and director Nichols make their point – modern history is absolutely fascinating, the heroes are bad as often as they are good and if we don’t keep an eye on them, they’ll destroy the entire world. True story! Well, according to George Crile’s best-seller upon which the film is based anyway. (RH) Greater Union, Hoyts, Reading Cinemas
Cloverfield (******) Dir. Matt Reeves, 2007, (M), US, 84 mins, Lizzy Caplan, Blake Lively, Mike Vogel. A giant monster movie that’s presented strictly from a ground-level view: Why had no one thought of this before? Cloverfield’s tale of a humongous creepy-crawly attacking Manhattan, as seen through Blair Witch-esque found footage, is undeniably ingenious and effective. Given the way it so blatantly traffics in September 11 imagery – falling buildings, dust-covered victims, twisted downtown wreckage – in the name of thrills and chills, the film is also borderline offensive. You hope that theaters will set up some post-traumatic stress disorder counseling tents. And offer free fistfuls of motion sickness pills. (DF) Greater Union, Hoyts, Reading Cinemas
Dan in Real Life (******) Dir. Peter Hedges, 2007, (PG), US, 98mins, Steve Carell, Juliette Binoche, Dane Cook. Dan in Real Life takes a sad, even pathetic premise and makes the mistake of pretending it’s funny. Not so much a comedy of errors as an erroneously conceived sitcom, Dan marks another discourse on family values from director Hedges (Pieces of April). The title of the film is also the title of Dan’s newspaper advice column, which – irony alert – may soon go into syndication, even though he can’t give good advice to himself or his three daughters. Judging from the film, it’s possible Carell’s agent took advice from someone just like Dan. (Ben Kenigsberg) Greater Union, Hoyts
The Darjeeling Limited (******) Dir. Wes Anderson, 2007, (R), US, 104 mins, Jason Schwartzman, Owen Wilson, Adrien Brody, Anjelica Huston, Amara Karan, Waris Ahluwalia, Wallace Wolodarsky. Wes Anderson’s cinematic universe can be doggedly symmetrical and sways towards the whimsical but after the majesty of The Royal Tenenbaums and the hyper-design and high-budget complexities of The Life Aquatic, this baggier and cheerfully less ornate effort is all the better for it. Hal Ashby’s ectoplasmic prints are smeared all over it and Anderson’s tendency to follow his usual template sees him falling victim to repetition at times. Yet as Schwartzman, Brody and Wilson bicker and quip in their pursuit of sibling connection amid the scorched earth of Rajasthan, it’s charms are undeniable. (Jarrod Walker) Greater Union, Hoyts, Palace Verona Cinema
The Diving Bell And the Butterfly (******) Dir. Julian Schnabel, 2008, (M), France, 112 mins, Mathieu Almaric, Emmanuelle Seigner. This exquisite, tough and yet eerily light headed film is the third feature from painter Julian Schnabel and one of the most successful adaptations of a book ever committed to film. Jean-Dominique Bauby wrote his beautiful memoir after a massive stroke cut him down in the prime of life. The film, like the book, is notable for the economy of its language, and the depth of its observations. Mathieu Almaric took the role of Bauby which Schnabel originally planned for Johnny Depp. For once it’s a good thing not to have Depp, and all the baggage he brings, in a lead role. Almaric gives a great performance, but so too do the various women who surround him, filling his final days with the kind of love he didn’t appreciate till it was almost too late. Schnabel’s brave decision to film entirely in France and in French is also, entirely vindicated. (RH) Greater Union, Hoyts, Reading Cinemas
NEW Feast of Love (******) Dir. Robert Benton, 2007, (MA) USA, 101 mins, Morgan Freeman, Greg Kinnear, Radha Mitchell, Billy Burke. This romantic drama gets off to a promising start. Unhappily married Kathryn (Selma Blair) has attracted the attention of Jenny (Stana Katic) during a game of softball. The warning bells should have rung for Kathryn’s husband, Bradley, but he’s played by Greg Kinnear so he’s blissfully ignorant, and fails to notice when Jenny seduces his wife under his very nose . t’s a pretty, occasionally witty love-fest, with a surprising amount of flesh on display. But its increasingly mawkish tone means it’s for softies only. (RH) Dendy Cinemas, Hoyts, Reading Cinemas
Fools Gold (******) Dir. Andy Tennant, 2008, (M), US, 116mins, Matthew McConaughey, Kate Hudson, Donald Sutherland, Ray Winstone. A sunken treasure mystery, it’s also a romantic comedy, terms that become arbitrary when you’re talking about Kate Hudson and Matthew McConaughey. They create a masterful spell of blandness, an antichemistry that only doting parents could love. As skin-deep skin divers bronzed by the Florida sun but about to terminate a marriage forged primarily in the sack, the stars come off as the shallowest protagonists since the last Girls Gone Wild video. Nevertheless, Finn (McConaughey), a scamp, scoundrel and rogue (do you see how unbearably cute this is?) has his dreams—and he just may have discovered a chipped piece of flatware belonging to a downed ship loaded with royal gold. Tess (Hudson), who flirts with her freedom from Finn like a bored temp, is quickly sucked in, though the duo will have competition from gun-happy thugs and Finn’s craggy old boss (Ray Winstone). (JR) Greater Union, Hoyts, Reading Cinema
I Am Legend (******) Dir. Francis Lawrence, 2007, (PG), US, 100 mins, Will Smith, Alice Braga, Emma Thompson, Charlie Tahan, Salli Richardson. Richard Matheson’s eerie 1954 novel has already inspired two ridiculous affairs (Vincent Price in The Last Man on Earth; Charlton Heston in The Omega Man) and, obliquely, the brilliant career of zombie maestro George Romero. This new buffed-up version won’t be righting any wrongs. The script seizes on Matheson’s messianic strain – his weakest element – resulting in a doomy mysticism not unlike last winter’s overrated Children of Men. And the root of all evil? A smug scientist played by Emma Thompson. Pandora opens the box; this is the kind of movie in which an action hero has to slam it shut. (JR). Greater Union, Hoyts, Reading Cinemas, Randwick Ritz
I’m Not There (******) Dir. Todd Haynes, 2007, (R), US/Germany, 135 mins, Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, Richard Gere, Cate Blanchett, Ben Whishaw, Marcus Carl Franklin, Julianne Moore, Charlotte Gainsbourg. Todd Haynes’ vast, confusing non-linear exploration of one of the most influential icons of American popular culture, avoids most of the traps a more traditional bio-pic would have stumbled into. Here there is not one Bob Dylan impersonation, but six characters with different names. They represent the currents of American culture from which ‘Bob Dylan’ emerged, but the character who comes closest to the Dylan most of us idolise is played by a girl, Cate Blanchett. Blanchett’s Dylan captures the physical frailty and intellectual stamina of the 25 year old Dylan, at the peak of his fame, if not his form. I’m Not There leaves Dylan in the 60s but somehow points in all the directions he would take afterwards.And if you know nothing about Bob Dylan, don’t even try to figure it out. Just let it wash through you and see if you don’t come out knowing much more about Dylan than you thought you didn’t know. (RH) Greater Union, Hoyts, Reading Cinemas, Dendy Newtown, Dendy Opera Quays
Into the Wild (******) Dir. Sean Penn, 2007, (R), US, 140mins, Sean Penn, Emile Hirsch. Talk about heart-on-your-sleeve cinema. Sean Penn uses cinema as an alternative to the analyst’s couch in this adaptation of Jon Krakauer’s book. Penn shows an abnormal amount of sympathy for McCandless (Emile Hirsch) – think, in British terms, a literate public-schoolboy with a sneering towards the conventional. Everything else is deftly handled: Eric Gautier’s photography is beautiful, the pace is swift, Hirsch gives a terrific performance and Penn’s script moves back and forth neatly between the past and the present, cleverly using the bridge of a voiceover from McCandless’ sister (Jena Malone) to sketch a troubled family background. (Dave Calhoun) Greater Union, Hoyts, Reading Cinemas
NEW In The Valley of Elah (******) Dir Paul Haggis, 2007, (MA) US, 121mins. Tommy Lee Jones, Charlize Theron, Jason Patric, Susan Sarandon. Loosely adapting the format of the investigative thriller, and inspired by the true story of Lanny Davis and his murdered son as reported by co-scripter Mark Boal in Playboy, Paul Haggis’s second cinematic distress flare – following his race-oriented Crash – follows the efforts of retired soldier and ex-military policeman Hank Deerfield (Tommy Lee Jones) to determine first the whereabouts then the fate of his missing son, recently returned from a tour of duty in Iraq. (Wally Hammond). Dendy Cinemas, Reading Cinemas, Hoyts
NEW The Invasion. (******) Dir. Oliver Hirschbiegel, 2007, (M) US, 99mins. Nicole Kidman, Daniel Craig. In this, the fourth version of Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Nicole Kidman plays a psychiatrist who discovers that an alien virus is attacking humans while they sleep. (JR) Greater Union
I Served the King of England (******) Dir. Jirí Menzel, 2007, (M), Czech, 114 mins, Ivan Barnev, Oldrich Kaiser, Martin Huba, Julia Jentsch. Jiri Menzel began his filmmaking career while Czechoslovakia was still interred in the brutalist concrete of 60s Communism. Now rightly revered as one of the greats of Czech cinema, there may be little of interest in this wonderful, elegant film to most Australian moviegoers. It begins with an old man named Jan Dite, newly released from a Communist prison, recalling the romantically 1930s when he was an ambitious young man (as played by Ivan Barnev) starting out as a humble waiter in a upmarket hotel is mentored by a head waiter whose proudest moment was serving the eponymous king. Even when surrounded by naked Aryan beauties, Dite remains romantic to a fault and perhaps unwisely chooses Nazi sympathiser Liza (Jentsch) for his bride. Like many of Menzel’s films, this beautifully styled period film is taken from the novel of the same name by Bohumil Hrabal, who also wrote Closely Observed Trains, the film that won Menzel an Oscar. (Jason Walker) Chauvel, Paddington
The Jane Austen Book Club (******) Dir. Robin Swicord, 2007, (M), US, 105 mins, Emily Blunt, Kathy Baker, Mario Bello, Amy Brenneman. This film is so feel-good you can hear the soap slipping through the screenwriter’s fingers with every line that squeaks out of the feminine clichés assembled by the wardrobe apartment.This is a charming wet Sunday afternoon movie to go to with your Mum. On dry hot days with a date, give it a wide berth. (RH) Greater Union, Hoyts, Randwick Ritz, Reading Cinemas
Joy Division (******) Dir. Grant Gee, 2006, (MA), UK/US, 93mins, Ian Curtis, Peter Hook, Stephen Morris. Hard on the heels of Control comes Grant Gee’s doco effort Joy Division which revisits the ghosts of archival footage and analogue remembrance. Co-written by British music savant Jon Savage (England’s Dreaming: Anarchy, Sex Pistols, Punk Rock and Beyond), the film avoids any one person’s interpretation of the events. There are interviews with all the band members, the band’s record cover artist, their producer, their manager. And even, for the first time on record, Annik Honore, Curtis’ extramarital girlfriend. But the real triumph is the evocation of something far more ephemeral than the facts. Gee unearths the mood of Manchester in the 1970s, a grim post-industrial metropolis in which the rage of punk married with the futility of the landscape, to produce a unique sci-fi-afflicted poetry with a new arsenal of rhythms and sounds. (RH) Chauvel, Paddington
Juno (******) Dir. Jason Reitman, 2007, (M), US, 96 mins, Michael Cera, Jennifer Garner, Ellen Page. This quirky teen romance is so fresh, idiosyncratic and delicious that it feels ungrateful to find it a tad irritating. It’s a big hip hop forward from dreadful teen movies in which supercilious stars slide through narratives as slick as lip gloss. (RH) Greater Union, Hoyts, Randwick Ritz, Reading Cinemas
#1 NEW Jumper.(******)Dir Doug Liman, 2008, (M), US, 88mins, Hayden Christensen, Samuel L. Jackson, Diane Lane, Jamie Bell. Based on the Steven Gould novel, Jumper follows a young man (Christensen) who discovers that he has the ability to teleport. In his quest for the man he believes is responsible for the death of his mother, the kid draws the attention of the National Security Agency and another youth (Jamie Bell) who has the same powers. (DF) Hoyts, Greater Union
The Kite Runner (******) Dir Marc Forester, 2007, (PG), US, 122mins, Khalid Abdalla, Atossa Leoni, Shaun Toub. Even a Hollywood screenwriter in the midst of a crystal meth addiction would hesitate to dream up a film with ingredients like child sex slavery, Muslim heroes, and public executions (even though the Taliban are the villains of the tale). Cap it all off with lots of subtitles, and you have a recipe for box office disaster. Still, The Kite Runner is such a powerful story that those who haven’t read the book will find its most successful sequences both fascinating and moving. (RH) Greater Union, Hoyts, Randwick Ritz, Reading Cinemas, Dendy Newtown, Dendy Opera Quays
The King of Kong (******) Dir. Seth Gordon, 2007, (PG), US, 78mins. If it’s about computer games, this must be a film just for nerds, right? But this is so much more than a niche film. In the tradition of many of the best documentaries, the makers had one idea and then stumbled onto something bigger – a ‘right place, right time’ kind of story that speaks more to the spirit of competition than the fight for the highest score ever on the Donkey Kong arcade machine.The films two leads could not have been scripted more clearly as ‘good guy/bad guy’ adversaries. Billy Mitchell is a champion’s champion in the gaming world and holder of multiple highest scores of all time, most notably Donkey Kong. The challenger, Steve Wiebe, is a true counterpoint. When he beats Mitchell’s high score he discovers it takes a great deal of work to get recognition for it. Anyone with even a little nostalgia for 80s arcades will find this a better suspense drama than many scripted thrillers you would usually find in theatres. (Seamus Byrne) Dendy Newtown, Dendy Cinemas
Margot at the Wedding (******) Dir. Noah Baumbach, 2007, (M), US., 92mins, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Jack Black, Nicole Kidman, John Turturro. Steeped in a familial bitterness that would make even John Cheever uncomfortable, Noah Baumbach’s follow-up to 2005’s The Squid and the Whale retains traces of his breakthrough’s squirmworthy fixations. In fact, the awkward social fumbling of the new movie’s pubescent lad could pass as outtakes from the director’s Brooklyn-based film à clef in a pinch. But in terms of complexity, Margot at the Wedding is a leap forward. It’s one of the most emotionally mature movies ever made about emotionally immature people. (DF) Dendy Cinemas, Greater Union, Palace Cinemas, Hoyts, Hayden Orpheum Cremorne
NEW Meet the Spartans (******) Dir Jason Friedberg and Arron Seltzer, 2008, (M), US, 84 mins, Sean Maguire, Carmen Electra, Ken Davitian. Scary Movie duo Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer return with this spoof, supposedly filmed on the set of 300. It parodies – among other notable productions – The Matrix, Ugly Betty, The Departed, Anchorman, Deal or No Deal, Pirates of the Caribbean and unsurprisingly, 300 itself. Watch out for humorous ‘appearances’ from Britney Spears and President Bush. Hoyts, Reading Cinemas, Greater Union
The Mist (******) Dir. Frank Darabont, 2007, MA, US, 126mins, Andre Braugher, Thomas Jane, Marcia Harden, William Sadler. Until a film like The Mist rolls in – stealthily, with little fanfare – you forget how impressive big-budget horror can be when it finds its balls. Kicking off like a creature feature in the vein of this past winter’s The Host but darkening into a study of apocalyptic social panic worthy of The Birds, the movie will come as manna to the crazy faithful who respect John Carpenter’s The Thing and little since. I worry for gentle fans of director Frank Darabont’s The Green Mile. Sit this one out. But The Mist also strikes daring notes of antireligious clarity and social sacrifice, well off the campaign trail. It must be said that King’s ending has been altered and improved, raising a final, devastating note of liberal doubt. In our own misty moment, that’s rare indeed. (JR) Dendy Cinemas, Palace Cinemas
Night (******) Dir. Lawrence Johnston (PG), Australia, 78 mins. Night signals the return of a major artist to Australian screens. Cinematographer Laurie McIness captures the jewel boxes of the urban nightscape, the alter ego of public spaces and architecture, the particular energy that transforms the mundane (the Rose Bay tennis courts, the Cahill expressway, gyms, bars and war memorials) into the magical. But the interviews Johnston conducts with a broad range of people sharing their thoughts about the night, don’t reach the elegant genius of the imagery, and, despite the fine score from composer Cezary Skubisewski, this holds the feature back from comparisons with other cinematic meditations such as Koyannisqatsi and Baraka. (RH) Dendy Opera Quays
No Country for Old Men (******) Dir(s). Ethan Coen and Joel Coen, 2007, (R), US, 122mins, Woody Harrelson, Tommy Lee Jones, Josh Brolin, Kelly MacDonald, Garret Dillahunt, Tess Harper, Barry Corbin, Stephen Root. There’s nothing extraordinary about No Country for Old Men – except of course the spectacle of two great directors in total command of their craft. Keeping their ironic instincts in surprising reserve, the Coens return to the kind of bare-bones, money-murder-payback story on which they made their name; this is their tersest film since Blood Simple (1984). A movie that wants nothing more than to tighten the vice grip of its plot, No Country... is beautifully structured. If they go wrong at all, it’s in dwelling too long on Jones’s world-weary aphorisms; his resignation seems alien to a duo whose movies have rarely felt more alive. (BK) Greater Union, Hoyts, Reading Cinemas
Rambo (******) Dir. Sylvester Stallone, 2008, (R), US, 91 mins, Sylvester Stallone, Julie Benz, Mathew Marsdan. Welcome to real grindhouse. Grungy and utterly unnecessary, Rambo is a completely cynical product, yet a shockingly pure one. Rambo, which Stallone co-scripted and directed, is missing some of the plot elements that made the previous installments slightly more artful. In their place comes a ravenous shark of an action film, dumb and propulsive, seemingly inspired by some of the dicier 70s Italian cannibal films. None of Rambo’s antagonists have names; none of them speak English or enjoy a villainous equanimity. It’s all slash and burn. In their Reagan moment, the earlier movies served as Vietnam correctives. This one feels even more timely; it’s a bloodbath and quagmire motivated by fuzzy issues of faith. It’s the Rambo we deserve. (JR) Greater Union, Reading Cinemas, Randwick Ritz
Rendition (******) Dir. Gavin Hood, 2007, (MA), US/South Africa, 122mins, Reese Witherspoon, Omar Metwally, Jake Gyllenhaal, Peter Sarsgaard, Alan Arkin. What does Rendition have that Syriana didn’t, besides a well structured plot you can follow? In Rendition, Gyllenhaal plays CIA officer Douglas Freeman, the conflicted American mentioned terrorist suspects who have been arrested and taken without trial to countries where torture is practiced (and lived to tell the tale) since 9/11. Rendition is good storytelling and informed entertainment for those who like their stories with brain and brawn rather than perfumed clouds of escapism. The resolution of the narrative is too pat, which lessens the impact, but the playing is rock solid. (RH) Greater Union, Hoyts, Randwick Ritz, Reading Cinemas
Sweeney Todd (******) Dir. Tim Burton, 2008, (MA), US/UK, 117mins, Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter, Alan Rickman, Sacha Baron Cohen, Laura Michelle Kelly. Whether it’s his unusual beauty, or the intelligence behind it that makes him such a hypnotist, Johnny Depp can get away with anything. Tim Burton operates in a similar theatre. The tale of the bloody barber, Sweeney Todd, based on the musical by Stephen Sondheim, would seem the perfect match for this pair. Until Helena Bonham Carter turns up in the same corset and weeds she’s been sporting since Fight Club. Like Depp, Bonham Carter can’t sing. Unlike Depp, she doesn’t get away with it. Visually, it’s all dank Dickensian digs, moody blue gels, and enough blood to bring the entire Murray River back to life. Burton’s charming sense of humour will raise the odd tired smile. Otherwise, it might be best to take earplugs and watch it like an old silent movie. You’ll find it easier to fall asleep. (RH) Greater Union, Randwick Ritz
NEW Talk to Me (******) Dir. Kasi Lemmons, 2007, (M), US, 118 mins. Don Cheadle, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Bruce McFee, Mike Epps. All bubble-Afro, killer mo and baaad threads, Don Cheadle uncorks a wonderful performance to vibe up this portrait of late 60s motormouth shock-jock, Petey Greene. Hoyts, Greater Union
There Will Be Blood (******) Dir. Paul Thomas Anderson, 2008, (R), US, Daniel Day–Lewis, Paul Dano, Ciaran Hinds. Paul Thomas Anderson’s previous films now seem slight in comparison with this, his fifth feature, which has already accrued eight Oscar nominations. He’s up against tough contenders the Coen Brothers but outclasses them all with a sinewy take on the forces that have made America great – oil and evangelism. Daniel Plainview (Daniel Day-Lewis) makes history. He bends the future to his own ends. An oil man who starts at the bottom of a shaft and creates an empire, Plainview’s vision for America brings education and wealth to the common people. But as fate delivers on his demands, Plainview is pummelled and twisted with a corresponding brutality. Plainview meets his match in the young holy roller Eli Sunday (Paul Dano, last seen in Little Miss Sunshine), and a titanic struggle between the two egos drives the drama. Day-Lewis’s charisma and intelligence carry us along on the ecstatic swell of Plainview’s ambition. And Thomas Anderson gives him a fitting universe to inhabit. There Will be Blood is masterpiece cinema. (RH) Greater Union, Hoyts, Randwick Ritz, Reading Cinemas, Dendy Newtown, Dendy Opera Quays
3:10 To Yuma (******) Dir. James Mangold, 2007, MA15, US, 122mins, Russell Crowe, Christian Bale, Logan Lerman, Dallas Roberts. A remake of the Van Heflin western takes on more and more layers with an excellent cast, helmed by a fine and underrated director. Crowe and Bale bashed edges on screen and sparks truly fly. Based on an Elmore Leonard short story, it’s a basic and old fashioned tale about one man who wants what another man has and is willing to kill for it. But there’s much more in this narrative than you’d ever expect if you remember the original film, and how it played out. Guns are drawn, yes – but there’s much more psychological menace at work as Russell and Christian chew on their scripts reflectively, rather than turning the scenery into a snack. A true, gritty western that offers something enticing to fans of the more realist side of the genre. (JW) Greater Union, Hoyts Cinemas, Randwick Ritz, Reading Cinemas, Dendy Cinemas Opera Quays, Dendy Newtown
Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story (******) Dir. Jake Kasdan, 2007, US, TBA, 96mins, John C. Reilly, Jenna Fischer, Jack White, Eddie Vedder. Clearly it’s not enough for 21st century humourists to be funny. They must swivel their pelvises with the intention of ridiculing rock gods. The guys in The Chaser and Flight Of the Conchords, the spandex heroes in Boytown and Mr G of Summer Heights High all do it. Now granite-browed John C Reilly (Chicago, Boogie Nights, The Hours) squeezes the ham and cheese out of 60 years of pop music culture, and pours it into one man – Dewey Cox, through whom the troubled spirits (and preferred illicit substances) of Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Bob Dylan, Glen Campbell and even David Bowie flow. Dewey Cox is not in Borat’s league when it comes to gross exhibitionism, but you will laugh loudly at regular intervals. Jenna Fischer (from the US version of The Office) proves she’s a deft comedienne with Lucille Ball potential, playing the Coxcomb’s second wife. A big laugh breaks during Dewey’s psychedelic period when he encounters The Beatles in India. One of the best things that can, and has been said, about Walk Hard, is that it’s not pee in your pants funny. (RH). Greater Union, Randwick Ritz.
NEW We Own the Night (******) Dir, James Grey, 2007, (MA), US, 117 mins, Joaquin Pheonix, Eva Mendez, Mark Wahlberg, Robert Duvall. Smuggling in a fraught, mythic tale of destiny and blood ties under the old-fashioned clothing of a 70s-style crime drama, James Gray’s first film since The Yards (2000) broods with dark, tantalising subtleties. Hoyts, Greater Union
Cinemas
Chauvel Cnr Oxford St & Oatley Rd, Paddington 2021, (02 9361 5398 www.chauvelcinema.net.au)
Dendy Cinemas Opera Quays 2 East Circular Quay, 2000. (02 9247 3800 www.dendy.com.au)
Dendy Newtown 261-263 King St, Newtown 2042. (02 9550 5699)
Greater Union Cinemas (www.greaterunion.com.au)
Greater Union Bondi Jctn Westfield, Bondi Jctn 2022, (02 9300 1555)
Greater Union George St: 505 George St, 2000. (02 9273 7431).
Hayden Orpheum Cremorne 380 Military Rd, Cremorne 2090. (02 9908 4344 www.orpheum.com.au)
Hoyts Entertainment Quarter, Bent St, Moore Park 1363. (02 9332 1633 hoyts.ninemsn.com.au)
Hoyts Broadway Shopping Centre, Cnr Greek & Bay St, Broadway 2007. (02 9211 1911)
Palace Cinemas Palace Academy Twin 3a Oxford St, Paddington 2021. (02 9361 445 www.palacecinemas.com.au)
Palace Norton Street Leichhardt 2040. (02 9564 5620)
Palace Verona 17 Oxford St, Paddington. (02 9360 6099)
The Randwick Ritz 39–47 Pauls St, Randwick 2031. (02 9399 5722 www.ritzcinema.com.au)
Reading Cinema Haymarket 2000 (02 9280 1202 www.readingcinemas.com.au)