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QUOTE “Every bad situation is a blues song waiting to happen.” Amy Winehouse — 14 September 1983 – 23 July 2011.
AMY
RICKI AND THE FLASH
The infamous 27 Club has some great names on its unfortunate membership — Jim Morrison, Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix — and in 2011, Amy Winehouse sadly joined them. The talented but troubled singer was battling many a demon before fame struck following the release of her second album Back To Black. As he did with the impressive 2010 doco Senna, director Asif Kapadia weaves together a fascinating tale from a selection of archival and personal footage, letting the images and Amy herself — tell this tragic tale of a talent who burned brightly but who burnt out far too soon.
Meryl Streep can do anything so it should come as no surprise that the three-time Oscar winner more than convinces as a rock ‘n’ roll chick. Ricki (Streep) is a woman who abandoned her family to pursue her music career, but she now feels compelled to return to her family with news of the failure of her daughter’s (Meryl’s actual daughter, Mamie Gummer) marriage. Understandably, the reception Ricki receives from her grown children and ex-husband (Kevin Kline) is not that of an adoring audience. And yes, that’s 1980s heartthrob, Rick Springfield, as Streep’s band mate and boyfriend.
SUITE FRANCAISE
THE MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E
Adapted from a long-lost and unfinished novel by Irene Nemirovsky, Suite Francaise is a World War II-set romance that could just as easily have been made 60 years ago. Following the occupation of a French village by the Nazis, a Frenchwoman (Michelle Williams) and a Nazi soldier (Matthias Schoenaerts) slowly, and clandestinely, fall in love in this romantic, somewhat suspenseful period drama. Michelle Williams continues to be one of the more interesting actors working today, while Schoenaerts, also fine, continues his hot streak of romancing some of the world’s best actresses, including Cotillard, Mulligan, Winslet.
They don’t award Oscars for ‘Best Looking Cast’ but if they did, the stars of The Man From U.N.C.L.E would get the nomination. Henry Cavill (Man of Steel), Armie Hammer (The Social Network), Alicia Vikander (The Danish Girl) and Elizabeth Debicki (The Great Gatsby) are impressive human specimens whose beauty is only enhanced by Joanna Johnston’s 1960’s wardrobe. And they’re all having a tonne of fun running around Europe during the Cold War: Cavill and Hammer playing U.S. and Russian agents forced to work together to retrieve a nuclear warhead stolen by an Italian extremist (Debicki). It’s not Bond, but it’s good fun.
EONE ENTERTAINMENT
ROADSHOW ENTERTAINMENT
By Dwayne Lennox
UNIVERSAL-SONY HOME ENTERTAINMENT
ROADSHOW ENTERTAINMENT
You’ll find all these titles at JB HiFi, online or at all good DVD outlets. Check out fusemagazine.com.au for DVD giveaway details. Reviewed for FUSE by Dwayne Lennox — thelennoxfiles.blogspot.com.au FILM&TV
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