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The first solo show by Kynan Tan, perpectives [macro] runs at Free Range Gallery from Friday, November 22 until Saturday, December 14. Tan uses self-constructed computer programs to develop audio-visual material derived from data sets, archived footage, computer-generated imagery and synthesised sound. Works within the exhibition include multi-speaker, screen and projection pieces and 3D printed sculptures. For more info, go to freerange.org.au.
VAYA CON DIOS, VAN GOGH MONKEYING AROUND WITH BOWIE To help fund the upcoming theatrical production Monkey, The Demon And The Weeping Magpie for Fringeworld 2014, Luna Outdoor will be hosting a special screening of the 1986 Jim Henson classic, Labyrinth, on Sunday, December 15. This is going to be a Labyrinth screening like no other, as it borrows The Rocky Horror Picture Show’s audience participation model to make sure all and sundry get in on the fun. There’ll dancing, drinking, food, singing and bulging (mainly around Bowie’s nether regions). Tickets are $20 plus booking fee through eventbrite.com (not Luna) and are extremely limited, so get a move on.
The Art Gallery Of Western Australia’s fantastic MoMA exhibition, Van Gogh, Dali And Beyond: The World Reimagined, is drawing to a close, but there’s still a bit of time to go and check out some of the greatest artworks on the 20th century before they all get boxed up and shipped off after Monday, December 2. Get down on Friday, November 29 for The Last Hurrah closing party, featuring Bob Evans and Mathas, which includes guided tours of the exhibition from 6pm until 9.15pm. Head to momaseries.com.au for more info.
Rubber Johnny Directed by Jeff Tremaine Starring Johnny Knoxville, Jackson Nicoll
Pic: Labyrinth
PRESENT AND CORRECT If you’re looking to give something a little more thoughtful than a new-generation console or a gift voucher this season, get down to the Fremantle Arts Centre Bazaar to navigate your way through a mind-boggling selection of locally designed and produced artworks, leather goods, textiles, ceramics, woodwork, beauty products, fashion and toys. Make a day of it - the galleries are open, food and drink for sale and a live DJ. It all happens on Friday, December 6, Saturday, December 7 and Sunday, December 8. Head to fac.org.au for further details.
SACRED GEOMETRIES Anya Brock’s new exhibition, Unplan, is on at Fremantle’s PS Art Space from this Friday, November 22 until Sunday December 1. Consisting of a series of huge wooden geometric compositions, Unplan explores notions of immediacy, spontaneity and the acceptance of consequence. Venture on to psas.com. au for further information.
BAD GRANDPA
BURNING DESIRE Against The Grain: Tim Burns Survey is on at the Alcoa Mandurah Art Gallery from Friday, November 29 until Saturday, January 11. Spanning four decades of the self-described contextual artist’s career, the exhibition includes more than 350 A3 images of previous works, as well as three of Burns’ films: Why Cars? CARnage!, Political Transmission and Thus Went Phillipa. Burns is no stranger to controversy and this collection serves as a fitting overview of his creative and political concerns. For more information, go to manpac.com.au. Pic: White Cells by Tim Burns
The team that previously brought you Jackass brings you more of the same. If this is your thing, go see the movie. If your evenings consist of reading Proust and listening to Bach, then this might not be the film for you. As for the rest of us sitting uncomfortably on that bell curve, Bad Grandpa produces more than a few surprises and delivers some quite unexpected laughs. Given the confines of a narrative this time, the film tells the tale of recent widower Irving Zisman (Johnny Knoxville). Finally freed of a sexless (‘since the ‘90s’) marriage only to be frustratingly saddled with his eight year old grandson Billy (Jackson Nicoll) by his jail-bound daughter, Irving looks to ferry the kid half way across the country to his deadbeat father so he will be free to pursue his carnal desires. Cue a string of rocket-powered pratfalls, scatological humour, and hidden camera stunts, all strung together in the guise of a road movie. Bad Grandpa is helmed once again by long time director of the previous Jackass movies, Jeff Tremaine, who manages to cobble together the various hidden camera footage and staged scenes into a cohesive whole. For fans of Jackass this must be like unwrapping the bike you have always wanted
for Christmas and then hilariously riding it straight into your Grandfather’s crotch. Yet as easy as it is to dismiss this movie as just crass entertainment, there is a certain anarchic sense of fun to be had. There is quite a sharp core of writers involved, including Fax Bhar (Hearts Of Darkness) and long time Jackass collaborator Spike Jonze (Being John Malkovich), creating the set ups. Despite being incredibly uneven, Bad Grandpa is occasionally riotously funny, and even achieves the odd touching moment. Slathered with enough prosthetic make-up to allow him to continue his pranks in anonymity, Johnny Knoxville’s portrayal of Irving Zisman is equal measures cringe-worthy, hysterical and heartwarming. True the aged lothario’s failed attempts to pick up often wear a bit thin, but when the comedic set up works it has the audience howling with laughter. Also, one must grudgingly respect a person with the moxie to prank a barful of bikers, and the charisma to explain it to them afterwards. However, the real revelation in this film is Jackson Nicoll. His interactions with Knoxville and the general public grant this movie an emotional heart while still retaining the comedic elements. He also easily steals the show with a lift from Little Miss Sunshine. That one sequence alone demonstrates he has quite a career in comedy ahead of him if he so chooses (or exotic dancing if things don’t go as planned). Horribly uneven, rocketing the audience between laughs and groans, Bad Grandpa is not going to be to everyone’s taste. It will, however, delight fans of the genre, and even surprise a few partners that may have been dragged along. DAVID O’CONNELL
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FILTH It’s An Unfair Cop Directed by Jon S. Baird Starring James McAvoy, Eddie Marsan, Jamie Bell, Imogen Poots, Shirley Henderson, Jim Broadbent Let’s address the elephant in the room first: Filth isn’t as good as Trainspotting, Danny Boyle’s 1996 adaptation of Irvine Welsh’s epochal novel about Scottish skag addicts on the make. That’s okay, though; few films are. It is, however, streets ahead of The Acid House and Irvine Welsh’s Ecstasy, two dismal attempts to repeat Trainspotting’s success. Still the question remains: can Filth stand on its own flat feet? Bruce Robertson (James McAvoy) is a horror of a human being. Venal, vile, violent, awash in drugs and whiskey, he views the world through a jaundiced eye that is always fixed on the main prize. He’s also an Edinburgh cop. His never-ending quest to sate his desire for debauched sex, drugs and malicious prankery is only interrupted when he clocks that solving a brutal murder might net him the promotion he feels may entice his estranged wife back to his side. Bruce thinks this is the ticket to the big time but it is to clear to everyone around him - and us - that he is simply circling the drain more and more rapidly. McAvoy - a long way from his role as Charles Xavier in X-Men: First Class and even further from his turn as the faun, Mr Tumnus, in The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe - is electrifying in the central role, delivering a forceful, hilarious and 18
nuanced performance. Bruce is a monster, but when we are privy to his thoughts and see the world through his eyes it’s easy to be seduced into sharing his attitudes. While his deeds are unforgivable - he blackmails an underage girl into giving him head at one point and frames his best friend, the mildmannered Clifford (Eddie Marsan), for sex crimes at another - McAvoy’s intense, amicably evil turn makes him an indelible anti-hero. He’s supported by an impressive ensemble that includes Jamie Bell as Ray, Bruce’s fellow copper and cocaine aficionado; Imogen Poots as Amanda, a female officer who is not taken in by Bruce’s questionable charms and Jim Broadbent as Dr Rossi, Bruce’s psychiatrist, who appears in a number of increasingly dreamlike and hallucinatory sequences that work to reveal some of Bruce’s tragic and traumatic back-story. Director Jon S. Baird employs a garish, frenetic and grungy sensibility - yes, much like Boyle and co did back in ‘96 - but it works to position Filth as a companion piece to, rather than an imitation of, Trainspotting. To be sure, veterans of the first film will not get the heady shock of the new that it engendered on first viewing, but neither will they feel that Filth is a waste of time. In adapting the source novel, Baird has at times taken excessive liberties and it’s a shame that so much of Welsh’s more outré material didn’t make it to the screen. Then again, given that , for example, part of the novel is narrated by a tapeworm in Bruce’s intestines, perhaps such changes were inevitable. Still, that alone should let you know whether you’ve got the stomach for this one. TRAVIS JOHNSON
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MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING Black And White Bard Directed by Joss Whedon Starring Alexis Denisof, Amy Acker, Fran Kranz, Jillian Morgese, Clark Gregg, Sean Maher, Reed Diamond, Nathan Fillion The average person might manage to squeeze a little light household maintenance into a few weeks’ vacation time - maybe a spot of painting or gardening at most. When Joss Whedon had some time off during post-production on The Avengers, he got his mates together and made another movie. All questions of quality aside, it’s a salutary lesson in time management. Based on the William Shakespeare play of the same name, the film charts the romantic entanglements of a group of Italian nobles staying at the estate of Leonato (Clark Gregg). Hero (Jillian Morgese), Leonato’s daughter, is betrothed to the valiant Claudio (Fran Kranz), with the pair seemingly being everything star-crossed young lovers should be. In contrast stand the older and more cynical Benedick (Alexis Denisof) and Beatrice (Amy Acker). Following a one night stand (an addition to the source material) they have bickered incessantly and proclaimed to have no faith in romance. The visiting Don Pedro (Reed Diamond), having played matchmaker with Hero and Claudio, decides that setting up these two will be a worthy challenge, while his villainous half-brother, Don
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John (Sean Maher) amuses himself by trying to ruin every relationship he can. On paper it sounds a bit complicated, but this is light, nimble, and winningly warm stuff, so don’t be intimidated by the florid language or dull memories of tedious high school lit classes. Whedon has assembled a charming cast - most of whom he’s got on speed dial, no doubt - and by keeping set dressing and design elements to a minimum - he shot the whole thing in his own house in black and white with handheld cameras - the dialogue and performances are foregrounded. There’s a playfulness here, a sense that everyone is having a ridiculously good time. Although shot quickly and cheaply, the whole affair never feels amateurish; Whedon’s creative choices feel like artistic decisions rather than pragmatic ones. The Whedon faithful will be well pleased by this one - geek icon Nathan Fillion fills the small but crucial role of the bumbling constable Dogberry, and that’s bound to put a smile on every viewer’s face but even those who have avoided the Firefly Kool-Aid so far should have a good time of it. For all that he is lauded now, as a writer Shakespeare was never afraid to appeal to the cheap seats, and there’s plenty of silliness and broad comedy here. As a kind of experiment in film form, Much Ado Without Nothing was always going to worth taking a look at; the fact that it’s actually a good film is kind of a bonus. It’ll be interesting to see if Whedon and his stock company ever tackle something like this again; here’s hoping they do, and sooner rather than later. Much Ado About Nothing screens as part of The Perth International Arts Festival at Somerville Auditorium from Monday, November 25, until Sunday December 7, and at the Joondalup Pines from Tuesday, December 3, until Sunday, December 8. Go to 2014.perthfestival.com.au for session times and tickets. TRAVIS JOHNSON