Goldstone

“Are you a cop? Sometimes.”

Ivan Sen has found recognition both at home in Australia and abroad, particularly with his features that draw on his Indigenous heritage; Beneath Clouds, Toomelah and Mystery Road. His latest feature, Goldstone is a sequel to the last of those and once again follows Indigenous Detective Jay Swan.

We open with a montage of sepia pictures from the gold rush as strings soar over the top. We see a society that’s divided by both race and class - a very deliberate foreshadowing to open the film. Many years later, we see Detective Jay Swan (Aaron Pedersen) driving along an open road in a desolate outback. He’s pulled over by Josh (Alex Russell), the local cop from nearby town/roadstop Goldstone. Obviously drunk, Josh takes the detective into the precinct. Soon it becomes clear that Jay’s in Goldstone on federal business, to follow up on a missing persons report. However that is far from the only suspicious occurrence happening in this small desert outcrop, and soon Jay’s detective skills are put to the test.

I’d been looking forward to Goldstone for quite a while now, not just because it feels that we’re still in a quality film drought as we move into the second half of the year, but also because I appreciate great films that come out of our own industry. Goldstone looked to me to fit both those bills, but in the end I left decidedly underwhelmed. I think Ivan Sen is a talented writer/director and obviously has immense skills in other areas (more on that later) but unfortunately Goldstone falls into the familiar Australian crime/drama trap of overburdening the story with stereotyped characters. Be it the creepy mine manager with a bad haircut and outdated glasses who bribes his way through life with wads of $50 notes (David Wenham), the equally corrupt mayor who avoids suspicion with sweet talk and baked goods; “I’m just an old lady who likes to bake pies” (Jacki Weaver), or the redneck hermit who’s incapable of stringing a sentence together without a handful of f-bombs (Max Cullen). It’s difficult to take a film seriously when the lead - and Aaron Pedersen is extremely good - stands out like a sore thumb in a sea of caricatures.

The core elements of the plot, the missing persons inquiry and the prostitution ring, I thought were interesting and worked to flip some of the preconceptions people may have about the outback. However, its execution was a bit hit and miss. The conversations between May (Michelle Lim Davidson) and Josh were some of the best scenes in Goldstone and was where Sen’s dialogue peaked, however in other parts it had a tendency to fall into cliched phrases - as always, test this by seeing how many sentences you can finish. The other side-stories/happenings - as few as there were - just didn’t work as well, and there’s not much mystery involved either, just a constant tension. The story picks up speed in the final act but can’t make up for the up-and-down pacing that dominates the first part of the film.

Parts of Goldstone are helped along by the superb performances from Aaron Pederson and Alex Russell, with the relationship between the two cops one of the better takeaways from it. David Gulpilil also manages to do a lot with his relatively small screen time. However, you can’t escape the aforementioned stereotypes, and the ridiculous, pretentious portrayals from some of the supporting cast are really the worst parts of Goldstone, Jacki Weaver in particular. I normally really like her performances but her Mayor here just felt like a reincarnation of her homely psychopath ‘Smurf’ from Animal Kingdom, only on overdrive. Beyond that, the character actually just doesn’t feel like she fits in with the rest of the Goldstone community.

Others have suggested that Sen - who as usual also shot, edited and composed on top of his directorial duties - should have taken a step back and reeled in some of these issues, and perhaps we need to have a discussion about how much the multiple roles of filmmakers like Sen (Robert Rodriguez does a similar thing) actually affects the end result of their films. As an amateur filmmaker myself I can appreciate the desire to put your stamp on each part of the process, but that doesn’t rule out the process of collaboration. I also thought personally that whilst the film is very beautiful, there could be more done creatively with such a stunning backdrop, and perhaps a dedicated cinematographer could have given the film an extra edge - although of course the aesthetics are always subjective and what I might yearn for, could turn away other audience members.

If you’re a fan of Mystery Road, then Goldstone is probably worth checking out, and it’s far from a terrible film. It’s just not as exciting, not as moving, and not as mysterious as it could have been.

Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates

Foul-mouthed comedies can be a bit hit and miss. There is a very delicate balance act going on where too much can make it unbearable (case in point; 2013's Movie 43) and not enough makes it just bland. But Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates benefits not only from a strong script of non-stop jokes that all work really well, it also has a cast made up entirely of comic performers that all know how comedy works.

Mike (Adam DeVine) and Dave Stangle (Zac Efron) are two brothers who think they are the life of every party. But in reality, it is a very different story. The antics they think they get up to in their heads is very different to the chaos and destruction that actually happens, which is why their father Burt (Stephen Root) has adamantly put his foot down and demanded they bring dates to their younger sister's wedding in Hawaii. Thinking it's the classiest thing to do, they put an ad up on the website Craigslist (generally not a good idea for anything) and soon become a viral hit. This gets the attention of friends Tatiana (Aubrey Plaza) and Alice (Anna Kendrick), who decide to act respectable in an attempt to impress the guys, but this doesn't last long.

Now I know what you're probably thinking, you've seen the trailer, so you already know what's going to happen. And yes the plot of the movie is very basic, but that's a good thing in this case because there's no complex plot to distract from the jokes. Those are what you're going to see Mike and Dave for and there are a lot of them, with all of them landing. However, these jokes range from walking in on your little sister having an unorthodox orgasm to getting high in front of family members, so if those aren't up your alley, it's probably not for you.

The strongest part of the movie is it's experienced comic cast. Adam DeVine and Zac Efron have an amazing chemistry together and Efron is really benefitting from his recent turn into comedy. DeVine is getting really strong at his loveable goofball too. Aubrey Plaza plays the same dry, acerbic character and at first I found her a bit grating, but she definitely has her moments. The most amazing casting I thought was of Anna Kendrick. She's been in comedies before, but never as a wacky and desperate character and she pulled it off. The standouts in the supporting cast were Stephen Root, who is never as you've seen him before as Mike and Dave's extremely obscene father, and Lavell Crawford, but I'll laugh at him no matter what.

Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates is a shorter movie than you realise, but the whole time it's non-stop laughter, despite the low-brow nature of the jokes. The best thing about it though, is that you can just switch off and have a good time while watching, which is something that not a lot of movies allow you to do these days.

Independence Day: Resurgence

The original Independence Day is one of those movies that every action movie fan holds in high regard. But a lot of the charm and excitement of that movie is severely lacking in this reboot, with only the crazy destruction remaining. Is that enough to make this movie great? Not when you're dealing with the legacy of the original movie.

Twenty years after the world united against the alien invasion, David Levinson (Jeff Goldblum) is in charge of alien research at Area 51 in Nevada. As the world is starting to prepare for the anniversary of the invasion, a spherical alien ship appears near the moon's space defence station. A decision is made by the global council to shoot it down in case of it being another invasion attempt. But it ends up not being a real threat at all and a bigger one is on its way. An alien harvester ship with a queen on it lands across the Atlantic Ocean (as in it's the size of it) and its up to a small team of pilots led by Jake Morrison (Liam Hemsworth) and Dylan Hiller (Jessie T. Usher).

This movie really doesn't offer much past the action. There is no real tension or high stakes. Yes there is a countdown that the good guys have to go up against to win, but there's no underdog story that was present in the original. Where the humans were going against the aliens with our old technology, in Resurgence, they are fighting with alien technology. So there's no real tension in two equally matched enemies fighting one another with no exciting underdog story to speak of. There is the introduction of the alien queen, but she is so similar to the queen from Aliens, it's unbelievable. At least she's a different colour.

What's really disappointing is that none of the characters stick out in a distinct way. In the original, you had the diverse personalities of Will Smith, Bill Pullman, Randy Quaid and Jeff Goldblum. While both Goldblum and Pullman both return, they are a shadow of their former selves. Even Goldblum, who is known for his eccentric performances, actually gives the first normal performance of his life. None of the new actors offer anything special either. Liam Hemsworth is normally good in an action flick, but it feels like he's relegated to the background. Jessie T. Usher, playing Will Smith's son is equally boring. Travis Tope plays Liam's pilot partner and I was just waiting for him to be killed off, which he isn't. As for the leading ladies of Charlotte Gainsbourg and Maika Monroe, they're both fantastic performers and don't belong in this movie. As for Nicolas Wright (or American John Oliver, you'll know what I'm talking about), his character just baffled me.

All told, Resurgence occupies a weird limbo in the exact centre of the triangle made up of action, sci-fi and 20th anniversary reboot. It's not good enough for everyone to go crazy about, but it's not terrible enough to hate. It just is.

Trailers Week 105: 10/07/16

Goat

This is an intense look at the world of fraternity hazing. If you think it seems a little unrealistic, then definitely check out the Todd Phillips documentary Frat House. That just makes this all the scarier.

Blood Father

Mel Gibson goes to even more extreme lengths to protect his daughter than Liam Neeson. Check out William H. Macy as a redneck.

Table 19

This is a super amazing idea. That table of rejects at a wedding. I know all about these feelings. But hey, free alcohol.

Sing

Cute animals singing? How can this go wrong? It's basically a license to print cash.

Imperium

Come on, don't tell me no one else was thinking Danny Rad was a neo-nazi all along.

The Intervention

Wow, having your friends tell you to get divorced. Maybe you should...

The BFG

Steven Spielberg has a solid filmography of family films, from E.T to Hook, Jurassic Park to Tintin, all of which found commercial success. But Spielberg’s latest release, an adaptation of Roald Dahl’s classic The BFG, seems to be turning into the flop of the summer. But is it deserved?

Sophie (Ruby Barnhill) is a young orphaned insomniac living in a London orphanage that she doesn’t particularly like. One early morning when all else is quiet, she sees a giant lurking about, who snatches her from her bed and takes her off to Giant Country. He introduces himself as the Big Friendly Giant or BFG (Mark Rylance), the runt of the litter and a lot smaller than the other giants. Sophie empathises with him and she helps the BFG devise a plan to get rid of the bullying bigger giants.

The BFG is one of the closer adaptations of Dahl’s work, although Spielberg does much to conceal darker themes in favour of a family friendly PG-release, surprisingly without much detriment to the end result. There’s almost never a dull moment, and whilst a lot of the humour may edge more on the childish side there’s certainly a lot for parents to like. The first two acts in particular carry the story through and explore mystery in such a uniquely Spielbergian way, and the dream catching sequence is probably the most well executed of these moments.

However after the first two acts comes a third chapter that’s more difficult to judge, on the one hand it’s totally true to the book and so should be there, but on the other it just seems so out of place that it takes away from the rest of the film. Perhaps this is an example of Dahl’s bizarre frivolities and Spielberg’s broad-audience mindset clashing. On its own it has merit but it just doesn’t sit well with the rest of the feature.

It’s difficult to fault the acting overall, Mark Rylance (who earned an Oscar for teaming up with Spielberg in last year’s Bridge of Spies) shows his breadth as the BFG and his unique take on language. Ruby Barnhill is enjoyably bossy as Sophie, and Penelope Wilton finds a comic way to play the Queen that doesn’t lean too heavily on caricature. The other giants are also very good and I was surprised to find out that the leader of the group Fleshlumpeater was played by Jemaine Clement. The motion-capture has been meticulously done, and whilst there’s still a noticeable gap between the CGI giants and the rest of the world, it’s never really distracting enough to take you out of the film.

It seems unlikely that The BFG will find the audience that most Spielberg summer blockbusters do, which is sad because whilst it’s far from his best work, it stands above most of the other films that are taking the share in this release period. The BFG is well-acted, often funny and always fun, and whilst it may not be as dark or complex as the novel, it stays true to the intentions and tone of Roald Dahl’s work.

Trailers Week 104: 03/07/16

War Dogs

Todd Phillips' war comedy is all about young guys with guns. And a very creepy looking Bradley Cooper who you can only assume will want to kill them at some stage.

Bleed For This

Miles Teller stars in another biopic, this time about boxer Vinny Paz who suffered a terrible spinal injury. This movie looks a lot more sobering than that War Dogs.

Sully

Clint Eastwood's biopic about Captain Sullenberger who crash landed his US Airways A320 looks like its going to be a regular Eastwood event.

The 9th Life of Louis Drax

I'm struggling with this one. Is it a horror? Is it a drama? Will Aaron Paul just revert to the drug dealer we all know that he is?

Outlaws and Angels (NSFW)

You never see a red band trailer for an action movie. They normally reserve them for comedies.

Why Him? (NSFW)

Like this one where Bryan Cranston doesn't like his daughter's choice of boyfriend.

Bad Moms (NSFW)

Or this one, where mothers give up trying to impress other mothers. Good for them.

Bridget Jones's Baby

This mother needs to decide between two fathers for her baby. I just wish one of them was Hugh Grant.

Joshy

Thomas Middleditch and Adam Pally team up again for this comedy. I really want to know what happened to Joshy's engagement.

Ghost Team

This seems like a great idea for a fun weekend away with friends. Also terrifying if real.

Viral

It's pretty rude to cough in someone else's face.

Classic Movie Review: The Informant! (2009)

Steven Soderbergh's dark comedy The Informant! is one of those movies that has all the hallmarks of being a big blockbuster, but somehow failed to engage with audiences on the level it should have. Matt Damon was at the height of his late 2000's fame, having just finished doing the Bourne movies, but this character driven flick couldn't be more different from those movies.

Mark Whitacre (Damon) is a executive for the food processing corporation Archer Daniels Midland who is unhappy about a price fixing scheme that his employer and their competition are engaged in. The FBI is contacted after a blackmail attempt is made by a Japanese competitor and Mark reveals his true intention of being a whistleblower to Special Agent Brian Shepard (Scott Bakula). Mark soon embarks on the task of making a series of audio tapes that detail the nature of the price fixing scandal. But once the investigation is finished, it is revealed that Mark had also been embezzling ADM of millions of dollars and the numbers rise and rise as he struggles to keep up with the lies he has been telling.

The most enjoyable part of this movie is watching the character of Mark get more and more flustered as he goes from one lie to another. He thinks that he has everything in control and in his narration, he often alludes to the fact that he thinks he is the hero in some spy thriller. His stream of consciousness narration reveals that inside his head are just the most bizarre and abstract thoughts and we see that he has them during either important business meetings or meetings with the FBI. The character is made all the more effective from Damon's superb performance. This is mainly due to his preference for serious roles (I don't consider The Martian a comedy, but his roles in Kevin Smith's movies are pretty funny), but here he is absolutely silly and that's made more evident by the fact that the other actors are playing their roles with the utmost seriousness.

The supporting cast is phenomenal as well. Scott Bakula, known for his science-fiction TV outings more than anything, plays one of the most sympathetic law enforcement officials I have ever seen. You just feel for the guy as you see how betrayed he becomes after hearing about his actions. Melanie Lynksy is fantastic at playing Mark's strong yet long suffering wife. The rest of the cast is padded out by comedians playing the straight role. These include Joel McHale, Patton Oswalt, Paul F. Tomkins, Tony Hale, Andrew Daly and Scott Adsit.

Legendary composer Marvin Hamlisch lends his talents to make the score for this movie and it's safe to say it's a doozy. He manages to place long, dramatic, thoughtful pieces in succession with short choppy pieces that bounce along. There is also a track that complements an FBI raid in such a way that you think wouldn't go well with the theme of the scene, but he manages to pull it off. In a way though the soundtrack really represents the character of Mark quite well because it is just as all over the place as he is.

The Informant! is a fantastic character study about a guy who believes his own lies. And after watching it, you believe that fat Matt Damon is the only actor who could pull off such a delusional character. A must watch for people who see Damon as that good-looking guy who everything goes well for.