Melbourne Observer - Wednesday, February 29, 2012 - Page 53
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Observer Showbiz
Movies, DVDs
With James Sherlock
Reviews by Aaron Rourke
DVD & Blu-Ray Releases
● Gregory Peck and author Harper Lee on the set FILM: TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD: 50th Anniversary Edition: Cast: Gregory Peck, Brock Peters, Robert Duvall, Frank Overton. Genre: Drama. Year: 1962. Rating: PG. Running Time: 129 Minutes. Format: DVD and BLU-RAY. Stars: ***** Verdict: Screen legend Gregory Peck deservedly won an Oscar for his brilliant performance as the Southern lawyer Atticus Finch in the Depression-era South, who defends a black man accused of rape in this film version of the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Harper Lee, and though his compassion for injustice and defence costs him many friendships, it earns him the respect and admiration of his two motherless children. Gregory Peck's personal favourite from his entire body of extraordinary work across a career that spanned six decades, the AFI's (American Film Institute) 2003 list of 100 Years - 100 Heroes and Villains, rightfully placed Atticus Finch as the screens the number one hero. Totally respectful to the literary classic and superbly directed and controlled with great care and attention to detail under the direction of Robert Mulligan and writer Horton Foote for his Oscar winning screenplay, To Kill a Mockingbird is an highly intelligent, compelling, poignant and ultimately unforgettable screen experience that everyone should make a priority to see, and see again! FILM: CONTAGION: Genre: Drama/Thriller. Cast: Kate Winslet, Gwyneth Paltrow, Jude Law, Matt Damon, Marion Cotillard. Year: 2011. Rating: M. Running Time: 106 Minutes. Format: DVD and BLU-RAY. Stars: **1/2 Verdict: An intense thriller that centres on a global threat posed by a deadly disease and an international team of doctors contracted by the Centre for Disease Control to deal with the outbreak. Outstanding cast all try their best in this fairly straightforward effort on a subject that Hollywood has visited numerous times before with far more terrifying impact, most notably Danny Boyle's chilling post-apocalyptic infectious odyssey 28 Days Later, Robert Wise's The Andromeda Strain and Elia Kazan's taut and searing pre-apocalyptic 1950 classic Panic In The Streets starring Richard Widmark and Jack Palance, to name a few. Director Steven Soderbergh treats the subject matter with respect but it's his character development and a matter-of-fact approach severely hamper it from becoming the shattering and unforgettable experience it could easily have been, instead of another zombie movie it very nearly looked like becoming, which could have been more livelier. FILM: THE WOODY ALLEN COLLECTION [Limited Edition]: Genre: Comedy/Drama. Cast: Woody Allen, Billy Crystal, Kenneth Branagh, Leonardo DiCaprio & Many More. Year: 1994-2002. Rating: M. Running Time: Assorted Running Times. Format: DVD. Stars: ***** Verdict: Like him or not, there is no denying that legendary Oscar winning writer, director and actor Woody Allen is regarded as one of the most vibrant and prolific filmmakers of our time, and like few others, Charles Chaplin, Stanley Kubrick Clint Eastwood and Terrence Malick come to mind, a uniquely maverick filmmaker who tells his stories his way without bowing to studio policies or politics. Now at last, for the first time in Australia, a limited edition box set all of Woody Allen's theatrical features from 1994 to 2002 has been compiled to bring together "The Woody Allen Collection", an outstanding selection featuring some of his most exciting and innovative films including Bullets Over Broadway, Deconstructing Harry, Mighty Aphrodite, Everyone Says I Love You, Celebrity, Sweet and Lowdown, Small Time Crooks, Curse of the Jade Scorpion, Hollywood Ending and the superb rarely seen 1997 documentary Wild Man Blues filmed during his 1996 European tour with his jazz band. Other than the names listed above, this box set is brimming over with a Who's Who of cinemas top talent that also includes Drew Barrymore, Helena Bonham Carter, Carlize Theron, Tea Leoni, Hugh Grant, Edward Norton, Robin Williams, Sean Penn, George Hamilton, Mira Sorvino, Judy Davis, John Cusack, Dianne Wiest, Treat Williams and many more. This unique selection contains some of Woody Allen's most passionate, endearing, dramatic, enchanting and delightfully funny material, all put together by an intricate combination of determination, skill, sensitivity and sensibility to produce works of art from a visionary filmmaker who may be small in stature but an unequalled giant from the world of cinema like no other.
Melbourne
Observer
Top 10 Lists
● Olivia Colman and Peter Mullan in Tyrannosaur
Tyrannosaur ■ (MA). 92 minutes. Now showing in selected cinemas. Emotionally bruising, with an intensity that keeps the audience on the edge of their seat, Tyrannosaur is confronting viewing, but is also quality film-making of the highest order. Peter Mullan stars as Joseph, a widower who is unemployed, a heavy drinker, is filled with uncontrollable anger and fury. One night after a particular pub confrontation, Joseph in a fit of rage kicks his own dog to death. After another needless stand-off with some pub locals, he retreats into a charity shop run by Hannah (Olivia Colman). Hannah reaches out to the volatile visitor, seeing someone who is in desparate need of help. A tentative friendship begins, but will soon include Hannah's abusive husband James (Eddie Marsan). Accomplished actor Paddy Considine (Dead Man's Shoes / Hot Fuzz / My Summer Of Love / The Last Resort), makes an auspicious feature film debut as director with Tyrannosaur, which is an expansion of his award-winning 2007 short film Dog Altogether, which is also brilliant, draining viewing. He creates a bleak world, where violence and hatred is passed on from one generation to the next, and having a sense of hope is almost impossible. The fact that the film manages to finish on some kind of a positive note without compromising the material attests to Considine's talent as both a writer and a film-maker. Mullan (My Name Is Joe / Trainspotting / Braveheart / Young Adam / Boy A / Session 9) is extraordinary as Joseph, making an unlikeable character completely involving, and both he and Considine allow us to understand this deeply troubled person. It's terrific to see this great actor (and director, who helmed the films Orphans, The Magdalene Sisters, and NEDS) being able to strut his stuff, after the cardboard character given to him in Spielberg's deplorable War Horse. Colman (Hot Fuzz / Confetti / Peep Show TV Series) is equally as good as Hannah, who projects a sense of warmth and loneliness so naturally it makes it all the harder to watch when she becomes the victim of domestic violence. Marsan (Vera Drake / Pierrepoint / The New World / Happy Go-Lucky / The Illusionist / Gangs Of New York), another actor wasted in War Horse intertwines to maximum effect both the cowardly and cruel sides of James. Considine is helped considerably by cinematographer Erik Wilson (Submarine), capturing this world with incredible clarity. Comparible to the harrowing 1997 film Nil By Mouth directed by Gary
Oldman and starring Ray Winstone, Tyrannosaur is not easy viewing, but is the kind of kitchen-sink drama that the UK do so well. Go in prepared and you will experience one of the best films of the year. RATING : ****1/2
The Sunset Limited ■ (M). 91 minutes. Coming Soon. Screened on cable with little fanfare, this HBO production does the impossible by taking a two-character play set in one room and making it an utterly absorbing film. When the characters are played by Tommy Lee Jones and Samuel L Jackson, the director is Tommy Lee Jones, and the play and screenplay are written by Cormac McCarthy, you know there is some serious talent involved. Set over one night, we see a black ex-con (Jackson) trying to help a white professor (Jones), who he stopped from throwing himself under an oncoming train. The drama takes place in the excon's New York tenement apartment, as they discuss God, human nature, and the world they live in, one talking about about faith and hope, the other talking about a battered resignation in a world that has gone very, very wrong. Cormac McCarthy, who has had a number of his novels turned into movies (the butchered All The Pretty Horses, the impressive No Country For Old Men and The Road), adapts his own work here, and makes his words and characters come across in a dazzlingly precise manner, again showing the eternal fight between light and dark that happens within man. Director Tommy Lee Jones brings the characters to life so vividly on screen, making sure not to go overboard with visual gimmickry, that you forget that it is just two guys in a room talking. After his wonderful directorial debut with The Three Burials Of Melquiades Estrada, Jones shows once more an intelligent, measured approach, concentrating on a detailed character-rich journey. Both performances are outstanding, delivering McCarthy's dialogue with passionate precision, one never overshadowing the other, making for a real two-way conversation. It's great to see Samuel L Jackson displaying his immense acting talent again, after sleepwalking through so many terrible action films over the last 10 years. Given its setting and subject matter, this is the kind of project that had to hit the bullseye on every level. Thanks to McCarthy, Jones, and Jackson, The Sunset Limited does just that, and proves to be another triumph for HBO. RATING : ****1/2 - Aaron Rourke
THE AUSTRALIAN BOX OFFICE TOP TEN: 1. THE VOW. 2. THIS MEANS WAR. 3. SAFE HOUSE. 4. STAR WARS: EPISODE I - THE PHANTOM MENACE (3D). 5. THE GREY. 6. CHRONICLE. 7. MY WEEK WITH MARILYN. 8. ONE FOR THE MONEY. 9. THE DESCENDANTS. 10. HUGO. NEW RELEASES AND COMING SOON TO CINEMAS AROUND AUSTRALIA: FEB 23: 6 PLOTS, CONTRABAND, EXTREMELY LOUD AND INCREDIBLY CLOSE, GONE, KILLER ELITE, LATE BLOOMERS, TYRANNOSAUR. MARCH 1: A LITTLE BIT OF HEAVEN, A SEPARATION, CARNAGE, LIKE CRAZY, PROJECT X, SEA REX 3D, SIONE'S 2: UNFINISHED BUSINESS, THE DEVIL INSIDE. THE DVD TOP SELLERS: 1. THE HELP [Drama/Viola Davis, Jessica Chastain, Sissy Spacek, Octavia Spencer]. 2. WARRIOR [Drama/Tom Hardy, Joel Edgerton, Nick Nolte]. 3. THE THREE MUSKETEERS [2011/Action/Adventure/Orlando Bloom, Milla Jovovich]. 4. CRAZY STUPID LOVE [Comedy/ Romance/Steve Carell, Ryan Gosling, Julianne Moore]. 5. PARANORMAL ACTIVITY 3 [Thriller/Lauren Bittner, Katie Featherstone]. 6. TREE OF LIFE [Drama/Brad Pitt, Sean Penn]. 7. THE HUNTER [Drama/Willem Dafoe, Sam Neill]. 8. LOVE AND OTHER DRUGS [Comedy/Romance/Jake Gyllenhaal, Anne Hathaway]. 9. TRESPASS [Thriller/Nicolas Cage, Nicole Kidman]. 10. THE THING [Horror/Science Fiction/Joel Edgerton, Mary Elizabeth Winstead]. Also: FOOTLOOSE, RISE OF THE PLANET OF THE APES, FRIGHT NIGHT, THE HANGOVER: Part II, FINAL DESTINATION 5, CAPTAIN AMERICA: The First Avenger, RED DOG, THE ONE, THE GUARD, BRIDESMAIDS. NEW RELEASE HIGHLIGHTS ON DVD THIS WEEK: THE CUP [Drama/Tom Burlinson, Stephen Curry, Brendan Gleeson, Bill Hunter]. THE WHISTLEBLOWER [Drama/ Thriller/Rachel Weisz, Vanessa Redgrave, Monica Bellucci]. CONTAGION [Drama/Thriller/Kate Winslet, Matt Damon, Jude Law, Gwyneth Paltrow]. NEW & RE-RELEASE CLASSICS ON DVD HIGHLIGHTS: 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA [1954/Family/Adventure/Kirk Douglas, James Mason]. BLACKBEARD'S GHOST [1968/ Family/Comedy/Peter Ustinov, Dean Jones, Suzanne Pleshette]. THE TAKING OF PELHAM ONE, TWO, THREE [1974/Thriller/Walter Matthau]. ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT [1930/War/Lew Ayres, John Wray]. Turn To Page 59