Cinema Review Cinema
Percy Jackson: Sea Of Monsters Stanley Tucci, of whom we don’t see enough, plays Mr D, the superintendent of one of those clean-leaving outdoorsy summer camps that the Americans have loved since the days of Annette Funicello. The difference here is that it is attended by the offspring of ancient Greek gods. Mr D, a Dionysian character, is pouring red wine, but Zeus turns it to water before it reaches his glass. ‘Christians believe in a guy who did it the other way round … now THAT’S what I call a god.’ I doubt many
youngsters these days would be familiar with the biblical allusion, but I got a laugh out of it, as I did from a number of similar cracks in this run of the mill super-hero flick for kids. Logan Lerman, so good in The Perks of Being a Wallflower, is Percy, the half-caste son of Poseidon. His brother Tyson, arriving unexpectedly, turns out to be a cyclops, with one eye in the middle of his forehead, the sight of which might freak you out, if not your children, more that you’d imagine. A superbly animated
potted history of the Greek pantheon precedes an attack on the camp by a metallic minotaur with insides that are like a furnace – Tyson defeats it because a cyclops is immune to fire (I found no mention of this in my Lempriere’s, so I remain skeptical). To cut a long story short, Percy, Tyson, Thalia, Clarisse (the girls are at last pulling their weight in combat) and Grover (the token coloured boy) set out to find the Golden Fleece. They locate it in the Bermuda Triangle (where else?), along
with a boat skippered by fellow camper Annabeth and a crew of zombies. The baddies are led by a creep who reminded me of our new prime minister, and the monster at the end is a magnificently frightful creation. Terrific design, costumes and makeup, a soundtrack loud enough to loosen the fillings in your teeth and a conclusion that promises yet another sequel – it’s got it all! ~ John Campbell
wanting rain. It might seem a minor point, but it typifies the way in which Mordaunt lets the story – which is as much a parable as anything – tell itself without hand-feeding the viewer. Also pleasing (and a relief ) is Mordaunt’s
disinclination to make simplistic and cloying ‘unspoilt ethnics’ of his subjects. These villagers are as corruptible as any of us in the West (the bosses at the hydro station have electricity, the workers don’t) and vengeful enough to destroy a family’s shelter when they feel that their presence has brought ill fortune. Ahlo (Sitthiphone Disamoe), being a twin (whose brother was still-born), is deemed by tradition to be cursed. He, his parents and cantankerous granny are forcibly removed from their home because modernisation in the form of a new dam will flood their valley – the powerfully symbolic underwater scene, in which he comes upon the
submerged statues of Buddha, makes a neat bookend with the triumphant concluding shot. Seeking a place in which they might resettle and plant the mango seeds from their abandoned garden, they join up with Purple (Thep Phongam), who wants to be James Brown, and his beautiful little niece, Kia (Loungnam Kaiosainam). The prospect of their travails being lightened by winning a competition for rustic rocket builders brings to the narrative a predictability that, if obvious, never detracts from the progress of its participants. The performance of both children is phenomenal – for mine, Kaiosinam steals the show – and the naturalness
of Bunsri Yindi as the nagging dowager provides welcome vinegary humour. The ending is pure Hollywood for an arthouse audience that might wear as a badge of honour its
by the separation of her parents, Susanna (Julianne Moore), a ragged-edged, ageing rock singer, and her de facto husband, Beale (Steve Coogan), a sleazy English art dealer whose career has hit a flat spot. Both love Maisie, but not quite so much that they can put her before their own self-centred preoccupations. Beale is hastily married to Maisie’s adored nanny, Margo (Joanna Vanderham), and Susanna, as a means of gaining better access to her daughter, gets hitched to the younger Lincoln (Alexander Skarsgård), a bartender with no prospects but of a caring nature that, to Susanna’s irritation, wins the little girl’s heart. A classic tug of war over custody ensues as Maisie is
shunted uncomprehendingly between apartments – at one point she is left uncollected at the nightspot where Lincoln works and is taken home by a waitress. With confrontation and spiteful rows likely to erupt at any time, Maisie’s welfare is of secondary consideration. The potential for bleakness might discourage a prospective viewer, but directors Scott McGehee and David Sieghel manage a perfect mix of sweet and sour, primarily through the unmannered performance of Aprile, whose constant, passive presence has you locked in her buffeted world. This is a gem of a movie, full of tenderness, compassion and, in the end, forgiveness. ~ John Campbell
The Rocket I’d always imagined Laos to be wet and steamy. Until well into Kim Mordaunt’s uplifting film, I was struck by how dry and dusty was the landscape in which it is set. It transpired that the region was in the grip of drought and desperately
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contempt for Hollywood, but even if it’s as corny as anything Spielberg would dare, I found it immensely satisfying. ~ John Campbell
What Maisie Knew NOW SHOWING
OPENS THURSDAY
RUNNER RUNNER (MA15+) (No free tix) Thu 26-Wed 2: 4:30, 7:20, 9:30pm BLUE JASMINE (M) (No free tix) Tue 24, Wed 25: 3:15, 7:10, 9:15pm Thu 26-Wed 2: 3:15, 7:30, 9:15pm THE ROCKET (M) Tue 24, Wed 25: 5:15, 7:45 Thu 26- Wed 2: 8:30pm 3D: PLANES (G) (No free tix) Tue 24, Wed 25: 11.10am Thu 26-Wed 2: 10:00am 2D: PLANES (G) (No free tix) Tue 24, Wed 25: 2:00, 6:15pm Thu 26-Wed 2: 1:30, 3:30pm 3D: TURBO (G) (No free tix) Tue 24, Wed 25: 9.00am Thu 26-Wed 2: 12:00pm 2D: TURBO (G) (No free tix) Tue 24, Wed 25: 11:50am Thu 26-Wed 2: 9:10am 3D: THE SMURFS 2 (G) (No free tix) Tue 24, Wed 25: 1:10pm Thu 26-Wed 2: 2:15pm Enjoy our licensed bar
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COMING SOON! OCT 11-20
2D: THE SMURFS 2 (G) (No free tix) Tue 24, Wed 25: 9:30am Thu 26-Wed 2: 9:00am PERCY JACKSON: SEA OF MONSTERS (PG) (No free tix) Tue 24, Wed 25: 9:30am Thu 26 – Wed 2: 11:15am 3D: ONE DIRECTION - THIS IS US (PG) (No free tix) Tue 24, Wed 25: 6.00 Thu 26-Wed 2: 6:30pm 2D: ONE DIRECTION - THIS IS US (PG) (No free tix) Tue 24, Wed 25: 11:45, 1:30 Thu 26-Wed 2: 11:15, 1:15 FRANCES HA (MA15+) Tue 24, Wed 25: 4:00, 9:45pm Thu 26-Wed 2: 5:30pm WHAT MAISIE KNEW (M) Thu 26-Wed 2: 5:20pm THE BEST OFFER (M) Last Days! Tue 24, Wed 25: 3:20, 8:15pm All sessions are correct at the time of publication. Current session times at: www.palacecinemas.com.au Gift cards are the perfect gift
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26 September 24, 2013 The Byron Shire Echo
You get a lot of American films in which the kids are either nauseating smarties or brattish beauties (beats me why they like them like that), but thankfully Onata Aprile’s Maisie is the antithesis of those types. Her naturalness is beguiling and, without trying, she is able to invest in the character a truthfulness that is all too rare in juvenile portrayals. It helps, too, that she is surrounded by such a talented cast, each of whom enlivens their role with immediately recognisable traits – we know these people and we are affected by their behaviour. Set in presentday New York but based on the late nineteenth century novel by Henry James, the story is entirely focused on the impact made on Maisie
Friday 27 September %SJMM )BMM Ǐ FBUSF Tickets: Mullum Bookshop $14/12 conc. (also at door) 6.30pm Dinner 7.30pm JULIAN (short) 5)& "44"/(& "(&/%" m MN
premiere, Q&A with the directors
www.travelling flicks.com
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