BY JOHN CAMPBELL
CINEMA REVIEWS THE AFTERMATH
the movie is dealing with is how war leaves individuals irreparably scarred by personal loss – Rachael and Lewis’s young son was killed during the Blitz, Stephen lost his wife when the Allies bombed his city. But back to casting – as a cold, colourless actor, with a hint of creepiness about him, Skarsgård doesn’t quite convince as the type that Rachael might look to in her anguish, but comfort is often found in unexpected quarters, is it not? Lewis, meanwhile, keeps a lid on his grief while coping with the animosities that still burn among those residents of occupied Hamburg who still yearn for the glory that Hitler promised them. A sudden act of violence snaps Lewis’s aloofness and ultimately brings to the surface the pain that has been gnawing away at his marriage. Terrific acting, great period creation, and subtly layered emotional threads that are almost undone by a cringeworthy sex scene result in a film of elegance, forgiveness, and warmth.
Casting can count for so much in a movie. Keira Knightley is perfectly suited to be Rachael, wife of the British Army officer who has been sent to Hamburg to oversee the reconstruction of that city at the end of WWII. Jason Clarke, on the other hand, is at first implausible as her husband Lewis. With his massive Queenslander head (his jaw juts more than Knightley’s), he looks like he’d be more at home in State of Origin, but by the final scene the pair have pulled it off beautifully. This is an old-fashioned tragi-romance in which the story’s direction is obvious from the moment Rachael meets Stephen (Alexander Skarsgård), the German architect in whose sumptuous house they are staying (it’s the only building, apparently, that was left standing after Hamburg had been razed to the ground). The attraction that Rachael feels towards Stephen comes against the grain and without warning, for she is hostile to the Germans, whereas Lewis is compassionate and understanding in his attitude to the vanquished. But it turns out that what
J O I N T H E PA L AC E M OV I E C L U B
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$ 10
Receive a free ticket & ongoing benefits upon sign up Session Times: Thursday, 18 - Wednesday, 24 April 2040 (G) Q&A Tues: 6:30PM, 8:00PM THE AFTERMATH (M) NFT Daily: 1:15PM, 3:40PM, 6:15PM AVENGERS: END GAME (M) NFT Wed: 10:00AM, 12:00PM, 1:30PM, 3:30PM, 5:00PM, 7:00PM, 8:30PM BURNING (M) Exclusive NFT Thurs-Mon: 3:15PM, 6:15PM Tues: 3:15PM, 6:30PM Wed: 3:20PM, 6:20PM THE CHAPERONE (PG) Fri-Mon: 4:30PM Wed: 11:00AM COLD WAR (M) Thurs: 4:30PM, 6:30PM Fri-Mon: 6:30PM Tues, Wed: 4:30PM THE CURSE OF THE WEEPING WOMAN (M) NFT Daily: 2:30PM, 3:45PM, 6:10PM, 9:20PM DESTROYER (MA15+) Thurs-Mon: 10:20AM, 6:40PM Tues: 10:00AM, 6:40PM DUMBO (PG) Thurs-Mon: 10:15AM, 3:45PM, 6:30PM, 8:30PM Tues: 10:15AM, 3:45PM, 6:30PM, 9:30PM
Wed: 10:15AM, 3:45PM, ADVANCED 6:30PM, 9:15PM PREVIEW FIGHTING WITH MY FAMILY (M) Thurs-Tue: 1:00PM, 6:15PM Wed: 10:45AM FIVE FEET APART (M) Thurs-Tue 3:45PM, 8:30PM Wed: 9:15PM GLORIA BELL (M) NFT Preview Screening Fri-Mon: 1:30PM, 6:15PM GREEN BOOK (M) Daily: 12:50PM THE HAPPY PRINCE (MA15+) Thurs-Tue: 10:50AM HELLBOY (R18+) Thurs: 4:00PM, 9:15PM Fri-Wed: 4:00PM HOTEL MUMBAI (MA15+) Thurs: 3:15PM, 9:15PM Fri, Sat, Sun, Mon: 9:15PM Tues: 3:20PM, 9:30PM THE HUMMINGBIRD PROJECT (CTC) NFT Preview Screening Fri-Mon: 3:45PM, 8:30PM THE LEGO MOVIE 2: THE SECOND PART (PG) Thurs-Tue: 10:45AM, 1:15PM Wed: 10:30AM, 1:10PM
LITTLE (PG) NFT Daily: 10:50AM, 1:30PM MISSING LINK (PG) NFT Daily: 10:00AM, 12:15PM MONTY PYTHON’S LIFE OF BRIAN (M) NFT Thurs: 7:00PM PET SEMATARY (MA15+) Daily: 9:10PM SHAZAM (M) Daily: 1:10PM, 3:50PM, 6:45PM, 8:30PM SOMETIMES, ALWAYS, NEVER (PG) Thurs-Tue: 10:45AM Wed: 10:00AM SWIMMING WITH MEN (M) Thurs: 12:45PM, 8:15PM. Fri-Mon & Wed: 8:15PM. Tues: 12:45PM, 5:50PM, 8:15PM THE TROUBLE WITH YOU (M) NFT FFF19 ‘Opening Night’ Wed: 6:30PM US (MA15+) Thurs-Tue: 10:50AM, 9:15PM Wed: 6:30PM WONDER PARK (PG) Daily: 10:45AM, 1:15PM NFT= No free tickets
108 Jonson St, Byron Bay • 3 hours free parking* • Buy tickets online and skip the queue!
PalaceCinemas.com.au
THE LEGO MOVIE 2
When challenged by visitors from outer space, the Lego people get together to choose a leader. Lego Batman (with the now famous husky Christian Vale delivery) demands that it be him because ‘they have made nine movies about me, with three others in various stages of development’. Later on, presented with a false ending, a character says ‘Oh no, we’re not going to do a sad song as we fade to black, are we?’ That’s the sort of ‘knowing’ dialogue you get in cartoons these days and, for the life of me, I have no idea if the kids get it. But for mine, it’s too cute by half. Broadly speaking, this movie is like nothing so much as a bad acid trip, a blur of lurid colour rushing headlong, at warp speed, from one confusing mini-crisis to the next, with a g’zillion pop-culture references thrown into the blender just to mess with the head of any grownup watching. And, if that weren’t enough, just when you think you’ve got a handle on what’s been going on, there is a contorted time-travel sequence thrown in to explain how the good guy evolved from the bad guy – or was it the other way around? Gawd knows how it all impacted on the tiny brains of its target audience. It is not entirely without merit, though. For starters, it challenges the old paradigm that weird looking robot types from other planets have necessarily arrived on Earth to smash our civilisation. It is an attack on such negativity and is to be praised for its promotion of the idea of embracing the ‘other’. Also for its message that it is okay to not be cool. Otherwise, it is a dog’s breakfast. The little boy sitting next to me spent half the time playing a game on his i-Thingy and at the end a couple of in-between girls danced to the soundtrack as they left the cinema. ‘That was such fun,’ one of them said. I’ll take her word for it.
*
Validated in Mercato Centre
BF Baby Friendly SP Kh][aYd Hj]k]flYlagf PS Private Screening
BABY FRIENDLY SESSIONS: TUESDAYS AND WEDNESDAYS
NOW SHOWING: FIGHTING WITH MY FAMILY, SOMETIMES ALWAYS NEVER, LEGO MOVIE 2 COMING SOON: CELESTE, SHAZAM, UNDERMINED: TALES FROM THE KIMBERLEY THURSDAY 18 APRIL
SATURDAY 20 APRIL
11:00am Lego movie 2 )&((he Lego movie 2 +&((he Sometimes Always Never -&((he PS Private Screening .&+(he Fighting With My Family 0&+(he @Yhhq Hjaf[]
)(2,-Ye Lego movie 2 )*&,(he Lego movie 2 *&,(he Sometimes Always Never ,+(he Fighting With My Family .&,(he Jimmy Hendrix: Electric Church 0&+(he ;YhlYaf EYjn]d
FRIDAY 19 APRIL
FILM SCHEDULE 18/4/19 – 26/4/19 6685 5828 ooo&ha_`gmk]Û a[ck&[ge&Ym 1 Skinners Shoot Rd, Byron Bay
10:00am Lego movie 2 )*2((he Lego movie 2 *&((he Sometimes Always Never +&,-he ;YhlYaf EYjn]d .&((he SP Kellys Hollywood Plus Q&A with Brian Donovan 0&+(he Fighting With My Family
SUNDAY 21 APRIL 10:20am Lego movie 2 )*&)-he Lego movie 2 *&)-he Sometimes Always Never ,&((he Fighting With My Family .&((he E]l Gh]jY2 DY LjYnaYlY 1&((he ;YhlYaf EYjn]d
STARS
BY LILITH
ARIES: As vivacious Venus and voluble Mercury galvanise Aries for the last week of your month in the sun, you’ll be able to talk anyone into anything by letting people know what’s in it for them. Don’t be shy either to show your love: others will be showering you with plenty. TAURUS: Venus getting her red dress on in raunchy, ribald Aries brings an influx of impetuous energy that needs focused direction so you don’t dissipate it spinning your wheels. Best strategy? Tuning into this week’s Mercurian support for organising, downsizing, attending to the pending file, and putting efficient systems in place. GEMINI: Your mercurial ruler in innovative Aries has you expressing yourself with the confidence and charisma to attract helpful connections and new opportunities that could stimulate a fresh work perspective you hadn’t though of before. Venus joining Mercury brings interesting synchronicities, accompanied by shifts in established relationships and friendships. CANCER: If late-week full moon in your emotional zone shines on home or family outbursts, Venus and Mercury in Aries ask what are you getting out of this partnership or situation? It’s time for clear-headed, broad-spectrum, longrange planning, and using those savvy strategies and management skills you’re no stranger to.
WITH VENUS AND MERCURY BLAZING INTO ARIES, WORDS CAN BURN BRIGHT AND IGNITE INSPIRATION, ALSO SCORCH AND DESTROY. THIS WEEK’S LIBRA FULL MOON APPLIES THE ASTRAL ALOE VERA… LIBRA:It’s easy to confuse fact with opinion with projection this week. But in the spotlight of late-week’s rare, consecutive, second full moon in Libra when assertive Mercury in Aries hands you the mic, speak up for what you care about. Venus joining the Great Persuader makes you an ace bargainer and negotiator. SCORPIO: This week could be a game changer in deciding whether to stay in a situation or move on. Venus in Aries checks whether relationships, partnerships, and friendships are on the same page, going the same way. Who’s with you and who’s not – in which latter case Mercury in Aries gets stuck into organising exit strategies. SAGITTARIUS: If things aren’t quite progressing in the express lane you’d like, bitesize returns and modest gains do add up over time. With Venus and Mercury at their most mischievous in your fun zone – a pretty spacious place – stimulating interesting new approaches to the usual ongoing conundrums, why not take it easy and enjoy your week? CAPRICORN: Newsflash! Look out for a promising offer or just some very rewarding recognition around late-week full moon. Then with this week’s Venus joining Mercury in Aries, home is where your heart is: sharing ideas, plans, and feelings with nearest and dearest, doing DIY domestic projects and entertaining at Capricorn castle.
LEO: Ideas, conversations, and plans begun last month come to a head at full moon: either getting up, or if the test run wasn’t impressive, being taken back to the drawing board. In which case, this week’s great inspirations and eureka realisations won’t leave you time to pine for what might have been.
AQUARIUS: Venus in Aries acts like a love magnet in your local area, with this week’s best times likely to be at happenings in the ’hood. With Venus and Mercury in Aquarians’ communication zone driving your inventive mind wild, you won’t be holding back – but do some loving listening as well, especially during full moon.
VIRGO: Vixen Venus sashaying into smouldering hot Aries makes the image for this week’s energy a hangi. When astute and visionary, upfront, and outspoken Mercury spots the flaw in every plan, before rushing to share this info, firstly check that your intent is to assist. And secondly, whether the other party will see it that way.
PISCES: This week’s full moon of mergers favours joint ventures of all kinds, both intimate and business. With Venus in your house of values and Mercury in your sector of fiscal fitness, listen to other people’s smart ideas for making your money work harder and faster so you don’t have to. Share your own brainstorms too.
MONDAY 22 APRIL 10:30am Dumbo )*&+(he D]_g egna] *& *&+(he Sometimes Always Never ,&)-he @Yhhq Hjaf[] .&*(he Fighting With My Family 0&+(he ;YhlYaf EYjn]d
TUESDAY 23 APRIL )(&+(Ye BF Lego movie 2 )*&+(Ye Lego movie 2 *&+(he Sometimes Always Never ,&)-he Fighting With My Family .&+(he JmZZ]j B]ddqÚ k` 0&+(he ;YhlYaf EYjn]d
O=<F=K<9Q *, 9HJAD )(&+(Ye BF Lego movie 2 )*&+(he Lego movie 2 *&+(he Sometimes Always Never ,&)-he ;YhlYaf EYjn]d .&+(he Sometimes Always Never 0&*(he Fighting With My Family
Adults $15 Concession & Kids $10 Tuesdays all tix $10 La[c]lk YnYadYZd] gfdaf] gj Yl l`] Zgp g^Ú []&
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