Office Christmas Party

I've always been a fan of the Christmas stoner comedy. Last year's The Night Before was a step above in terms of finding the original concept. With this one, I had high hopes. We've all been to corporate Christmas parties that are one step away from becoming actually enjoyable events and Office Christmas Party takes that to the extreme. However, it shoots itself in the foot by becoming too overcrowded with storylines that aren't at all funny.

The Chicago branch of tech company Zenotek has failed to show any growth in the last quarter, so acting CEO Carol Vanstone (Jennifer Aniston) has threatened to cut forty percent in order to make the branch profitable. She also wants to cancel the annual Christmas party as she considers it an unnecessary use of corporate funds. Her brother Clay (TJ Miller) doesn't want any of his workers to lose their jobs, so he enlists his Chief Technical Officer Josh (Jason Bateman) and his head of tech Tracey (Olivia Munn) to court businessman Walter Davis (Courtney B. Vance) into investing in the company. It turns out the only way to get him to do this is by throwing the best Christmas party ever.

As with all comedy movies, it really comes down to how well the actors are able to perform the jokes. That's the one thing that Office Christmas Party really has going for it. All of the major players have had a career built on performing comedy in one medium or another so there is no one dropping the ball. I've been really impressed with diversity that Jennifer Aniston has been showing in her comedic roles lately. They haven't just been the same thing over and over and her Grinch-esque Carol is a very fun character. I find TJ Miller can sometimes overshadow his costars with his over the top performances, but this time he shares the wealth, being the giving time of the year and all. Kate McKinnon's performance was wonderful as always and she is always able to find particular traits for her characters that are just bizarre and perfect. Despite Jason Bateman once again playing Jason Bateman, I am so comfortable with his character at this stage. He and Olivia Munn have great chemistry too.

The problem with this flick though is that it is way too crowded. Every character that is introduced is given too much character. There's no "here's this accountant character", instead we have to be shown that he has a weird baby fetish (Randall Park does at least try and make it funny). The characters also just end up as stereotypes of people you find in the office and that wears a bit thin quickly. There are too many plot strands as well. Instead of just having the main plot, there's also Jillian Bell's pimp character who is trying to steal everyone's money and something about wifi being accessed everywhere. While they all tie in at the end, the third part of the movie is just distracting and kind of boring.

This is a hard one. If you're a fan of movies like this, as I am, you'll watch it and think this better than you expected. If you wanted a light Christmas comedy, it's probably not for you. Office Christmas Party has a strange intense energy. It's laid on heavy with the jokes and (surprising) destruction with a good mix of hopeful and cynical characters.

Ruben Guthrie

There has been a trend recently with Australian films that get marketed as comedies, but ultimately end up being quite serious dramas that have light moments, but they ultimately leave you thinking. Brendan Cowell's latest flick Ruben Guthrie is a film that does just that. It is a film with a lot of open ended questions that can either make you hopeful that things will work out for the characters or gives you a hollow feeling that things will never change and just keep going as they always have.

Ruben Guthrie (Patrick Brammall) is on top of the world. He is a young, award-winning advertising executive with a stunning European supermodel girlfriend, Zoya (Abbey Lee), and has all the fun that a guy could have. He also has a crippling alcohol addiction that he can't acknowledge. It's only when Zoya decides to leave him and tells him to give up alcohol for a year to be with her that he decides to do something about it. But Ruben has temptations from all sides. His boss at the advertising company, Ray (Jeremy Sims), tells him the only way he's able to work is drunk, his parents (Jack Thompson and Robyn Nevin) can't admit they have their own problems with alcohol and his best friend Damien (Alex Dimitriades) thinks the only way they can have fun is by getting hammered.

The big statement that Cowell is trying to make with the film is that Australia has a drinking problem, even going so far as to call it an "alcoholic country" many times. All the main characters drink with the main purpose of getting "fucked up", although they don't all describe it as such. Ruben's father constantly sees it as a way of bonding with his son.

Patrick Brammall plays the main character of Guthrie almost as a Van Wilder-esque character, albeit with a darker, tortured soul. At many times throughout out the film I even thought he looked like Ryan Reynolds. Brammall is exquisite at playing Ruben's darker moments, showing deep characterisation (this is also a testament to Cowell's script).

The supporting cast is mainly strong. Abbey Lee does a superb Czech accent, but ultimately plays what she is in real life. Alex Dimitriades is hysterical as Damien, but also makes you laugh in some dark, inappropriate moments. Jeremy Sims is fantastic as Ray, Ruben's boss, and he has a mysterious alcoholic past that is left unanswered, but enough is hinted at to show his character's pain. Even Brenton Thwaites wasn't too annoying in this film, but then again he was playing an annoying idiot.

I feel like Ruben Guthrie is a real triumph of Australian cinema for this year. I would strongly recommend it for our international readers because it is a truly great insight into Australian culture. As for all you Aussies out there, maybe watch this film to reflect on our own drinking habits.

Ed's Thoughts - Mad Max: Fury Road

Jack made some compelling arguments against the latest Mad Max film in his full review. As I enjoyed it a fair bit more, I thought I'd give some of my opinions.

A harsh desert landscape, a worn-out interceptor and a familiar man with a different face. The fourth instalment in the Mad Max series, Fury Road, has taken thirty years to get here, and it doesn't mess about. This barren and hostile world is unfettered, ferocious; fuelled by blood and a metric butt-tonne of petrol. The plot is simple, just like the first two, and every single frame is utterly beautiful. I've struggled through many modern action flicks, and I despise the Michael Bay 'splosion-fest model of filmmaking so everything here should be wrong. But it's oh so right.

Fury Road has everything that I look for in contemporary action: isolated settings, eccentric characters and a unique style of filmmaking that only comes around once in a blue moon. Miller harks back to a sorely missed era of filmmaking by utilising primarily practical effects, composited together with minimal CGI to create some visually incredible stunts. Take a look at this glorious B-Roll footage to see what I mean. Yes some of the explosions and crashes are ridiculous, and that definitely changes the level of realism that may be expected from the previous films, but at the same time this is still very much a Mad Max film. Other old-school effects like speed ramping to create the illusion of extreme motion, really do make this feel like a good old 80s action flick.

I do find it a bit sad that Max takes a step back in this film, but I actually thought that Imperator Furiosa was a well fleshed-out, very likable character and really didn't mind that she took the centre stage, along with her equally badass War Rig. The minimal plot was easy enough to follow, without too much exposition, and the blend of the rolling story with impeccably choreographed visual sequences make Fury Road almost operatic in design. It's a highly visual story and when done well, that is an undeniably powerful form of movie making.

Mad Max: Fury Road gave me a slap in the face more powerful than the strongest caffeinated drink (or other...substances...) and I was fixated from beginning to end. It's action-meets-arthouse and everything in between, and easily the best film of the year thus far. I want to hug George Miller for giving this series another shot...but I'd probably get arrested.

Mad Max: Fury Road

The Mad Max franchise has been a wholly Australian series of films. Yeah, Tina Turner was in Beyond Thunderdome, but we try to forget that. The movies focus on Australian's love of cars and our harsh, unforgiving outback. But Fury Road doesn't quite live up to the sleek vision created by Dr George Miller all those years ago and instead drowns in unbelievable landscapes and physical violence that seems out of place.

In the harsh post-apocalyptic world that has come, Max (Tom Hardy) has been captured by the followers of the cult leader Immortan Joe (Hugh Keays-Byrne). Joe's top lieutenant Imperator Furiosa (Charlize Theron) has been sent out to get oil from the nearby Gastown. It is soon revealed that Furiosa has stolen away Joe's harem and he sends out his armies to get them back. Max is sent along with Nux (Nicholas Hoult), who needs Max's blood to survive, but Max soon joins up with Furiosa to help her on her quest.

Now before I get started with any of my thoughts on the movie, I want you to know that I understand that this is supposed to be a mindless bit of entertainment. But that's the thing. Both Mad Max and Mad Max 2 were fun, but they were also better than this. They had simple story-lines with not too much in depth backgrounds going on. Here you are constantly confused by who characters are and what relationship they have to others (let alone figuring out what some of them are).

Miller attempts to capture the brilliance of the second film and leave all that Thunderdome business behind him. And it works to a certain point. Max has minimal dialogue in this movie, just like in that film, and the plot kind of revolves around oil. It takes a lot of time to figure out what exactly is happening in this movie and when you do figure it out, it seems a little disappointing.

Another big thing that I found in this movie is the violence. No, not that I was expecting it to be a peaceful film, but that it is the wrong kind of violence. These movies rely very heavily on car crashes and bashing into each other at high speeds with the occasional gun being shot (careful, you don't want to waste that ammo), but there is an inordinate amount of physical violence taking place. If I want to see hand-to-hand combat, I will watch literally any other action movie. I don't need to see Max get into fisticuffs with anyone, because the mere threat of him punching you will make anyone back down. And what about those car explosions? These are way too over the top. The appeal of the original films was seeing car accidents that were realistic because they were based on Miller's experiences in the Emergency ward of a hospital. Now it just seems like you throw a whole bunch of kerosene in there and that will appeal to audiences.

The acting in the film is pretty minimal. Tom Hardy does his best Mel Gibson impersonation and only gets an Aussie accent half the time. Charlize Theron does play a tough bitch, which is cool, but there isn't great characterisation on her part. Hugh Keays-Byrne is shouty enough, but fails to either scare or excite. Nicholas Hoult's character is a little weasel that is neither here nor there. Joe's harem gets screen time, but no time to properly act because look out, there's a truck exploding.

This is one that you either watch or you don't. It is littered with references to the original films (but don't worry, assumed knowledge isn't needed), as well as references to other classic Australian films, which you will get if you have seen them. Definitely a movie that you watch to chill out to or be revved up by. Your choice.