cinemareviews refreshing but never dogmatic essay on the contemporary art world and how it has Did Salvador Dali have any idea devoured itself. His subject is Thierry Guetta, a Frenchman of what he was unleashing living in Los Angeles who, when he mischievously after inadvertently becoming painted a moustache on the archivist of the careers of Mona Lisa? Did Andy Warhol Banksy, Shephard Fairey, Space foresee the endless copycats Invader and their counterthat his Marilyn portrait culture movement, decides would inspire? Graffiti, or that he too is an artist and sets street art if you prefer, can be sublimely subversive or drearily about doing all the things that he has recorded them doing. indulgent (I saw it nowhere in Early on, Guetta admits with Japan and recall reading of a disarming frankness that, as a student who was prosecuted second-hand clothes retailer, by Japanese authorities upon returning home after scrawling he would label much of his his name on an Italian ruin). It’s stock as ‘designer’ garments all subjective, but for mine the and sell it for ridiculously high Englishman Banksy is a brilliant prices. It’s well to remember exponent of street art and one this later for, to all intents and who is acutely aware of the purposes, he comes across as charge of hypocrisy that might not at all disingenuous in his be laid against him for his artspeak. Nor is he bugged by fame. How can you be a rebel doubt, which is extraordinary when you are given exhibitions given that his work is entirely at the Tate and fawned over derivative, devoid of one by LA glitterati? His film is a iota of originality and mostly
Exit Through The Gift Shop
Harry Brown Until the loathsome Quentin Tarantino came along, the vengeance flick rarely presented itself as ‘art house’ (whatever that means). It’s too transparent in intent, it appeals too exclusively to our base instincts. Indeed, this one might have been directed by Alan ‘the Parrot’ Jones, so extreme is the horribleness of those asking to have their blocks knocked off and so powerless in the face of official inaction the wheezing good guy who is fated to oblige. With equal parts shame and exhilaration, then, I own up to loving every minute of it. Probably this is due to the performance of Michael Caine as the eponymous FULLY AIR-CONDITIONED EVERY WED ALL SEATS ALL SESSIONS $8 ONLY
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h t h hero. At seventy-seven, he plays a widower, with a young daughter long buried, living an invisible life on a housing estate that is terrorized by hooligans. He’s content to let the world go by until one night his only mate, Lenny, with whom he plays chess at the local boozer, is murdered. Harry, a passive watcher from behind drawn curtains, resolves to take on the role of avenging angel. We’ve known and admired Caine (or, at least I have) ever since he was bedding birds as ‘Alfie’ back in the Sixties and are aware of the coldness that he can convincingly bring to the screen as well as the earthy cockney warmth. In the East End once more, he looks like he never left and it is this sense of belonging that brings credibility to a character who otherwise may have been implausible. Sensibly, director Daniel Barber doesn’t demand any great physical exertions of Caine – quite the opposite, he accentuates Harry’s frailty and lack of mobility. But with a back story of having been in the Marines, it is not too much of a stretch to believe that Harry is up for the job. The most memorable scene comes when he meets a couple of strung out junkies at their warehouse squat to buy guns from them. In front of a TV showing porn, there is a comatose lass lying dribbling with a syringe hanging out of her arm, while the emaciated, scarred, tattooed geezers who will do the deal make the ‘Trainspotting’ crew look healthy enough to play State of Origin. Dark and surreal, it is way over the top – but I was in it up to my eyeballs. Emily Mortimer, the token female character, does not exhibit the psychological steel that you’d expect of a Detective Inspector, but the thugs are sensationally bad in what is a morally questionable but suspenseful and feel-good massacre. ~John Campbell
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Soul Kitchen is a cheerful comedy about sex and food and music set in a workingclass part of Hamburg. The film is directed by Fatih Akin, one of the most important contemporary German directors to have emerged in recent years. It is filled with a collection of
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b li bl iinteresting t ti and d believable, eccentric characters. Zinos, played by Adam Bousdoukos, owns a restaurant called Soul Kitchen, located in a warehouse. The food served is pretty basic – hamburgers and chips mostly, until Zinos hires a temperamental chef and suddenly Soul Kitchen becomes the ‘in’ place. The film is funny because it creates a subtle caricature of situations that will be familiar to many of us. The script is very smart
and d full f ll off reversals l off fate f t that keep the spectators on their toes, the main characters are interesting and the acting wonderful...The film's minimal plot – mainly involving one of those evil developer types who want to transform the neighbourhood – is just an excuse for a lot of fun. In the Venice film festival this year, the film was celebrated by the audiences and scored the special jury price. ~ Lounge Cinema
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t db th Banksy, B k executed by others. appearing in silhouette and with his voice altered, claims that Thierry is a more interesting character that he is, then goes on to deliver a subtle but not malicious hatchet job on the Frankenstein that he was so instrumental in creating. The movie itself, in its middle section, tends to be boring and repetitive, primarily because the material is handheld footage shot by Guetta, who for years carried a camera everywhere he went but rarely employed it with a cinematic eye. There are too many grainy, home-video type sequences but Banksy’s honesty – he arrives at a conclusion that supports orthodoxy – and wry humour carry the day. As exposés go, it cuts close to the bone of a business that deals in autographs rather than art and asks the enigmatic question; who is the joke on? ~John Campbell
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The Byron Shire Echo August 3, 2010 27