CORIOLANUS: Stunning Directorial Debut and Performance from Ralph Fiennes

When media saw this film in March, Hoyts Distribution announced that Coriolanus would be released on May 31st, but would make its theatrical debut at the World Cinema Showcase. They also told us that all reviews are embargoed until May meaning that media could not publish reviews until closer to the release date.

[URGENT] Unfortunately, Hoyts Distribution have pulled the film from its scheduled release and the embargo has been lifted. That's why I'm coming to you now in urgency. The only chance to see Coriolanus in cinemas is Saturday 31st March - 8.10pm, Sunday 1st April - 4.00pm and Monday 2nd April - 4.00pm, all screenings take place at Rialto Newmarket.

Ralph Fiennes, known to crowds as the evil Lord Voldemort in the Harry Potter films, gives us an electrifying performance in his stunning directorial debut Coriolanus, the first film adaptation of the lesser known Shakespeare tragedy. 

I expect many will shy away from Coriolanus because of the language, perhaps that's why Hoyts Distribution pulled the film, it's too risky, but it's made palatable by fine performances, modern setting and a clipped running time.

I love Shakespeare, but to be honest, I have to be in the mood. I psyched myself up for the screening because I knew it would require an extra level of concentration, hard to muster after a day at work, but that doesn't mean it isn't rewarding, it was a pleasure to hear Shakespeare's words spoken by a capable cast.

Ralph Fiennes | Coriolanus

It bears a resemblance to The Hurt Locker, of which Fiennes also starred, for its visceral rendering of war, but it turns out to be a harsh criticism of populist politics. All of Shakespeare's tragic heroes have a fatal flaw and for Coriolanus it is betraying his own convictions to do what is popular - that leads him to his own undoing.

Eventually Fiennes the actor out-shines Fiennes the director in a performance that possesses great self-knowledge. He knows exactly what he's capable of and knows exactly how far to push the theatricality before we dismiss it with a laugh. We don't laugh. We stay glued to a performance that never slips into vanity. He pushes himself the way astute directors know how to get the most from actors who haven't yet realized their full potential, except in this case the actor and director are one.

World Cinema Showcase Off To A Great Start

The World Cinema Showcase kicked off tonight in Auckland. In its 14th year, the Showcase has celebrated the films (and filmmakers) that sit firmly outside the mainstream. For me, it has always filled the tremendous gap between the New Zealand International Film Festival in July. Tonight I was grateful to attend the official launch party and opening night film, Our Idiot Brother.

These days it's even harder for our distributors to take risks on small films and give them a limited release in cinemas, but the Showcase provides a tight window of opportunity to see films the way they should be seen - on the big screen.

World Cinema Showcase launch | Director Bill Gosden (Top Right)

The Showcase director Bill Gosden pointed out candidly in his opening night speech that the Showcase "is a shared risk venture with the cinema and its hosts," this year our finest art-house cinemas share that risk to give us that thing dedicated cinema goers value the most: choice. He also urged us to "keep the Showcase flag flying" as this is often the only way to see the films in local cinemas. When a film like Margaret is on the line-up, I will fly that flag high.

With a perfectly formed line-up promising a blend of art-house and foreign features and documentaries that look at the worlds of art and music - it would be cliche to say "there's something for everyone" but that's quite literally true.

Among my picks are Miss Bala, the thriller about a Mexican beauty queen involved in a drug cartel, Beats, Rhymes and Life, the riveting documentary about hip-hop group A Tribe Called Quest, This is Not a Film, a film that proves that limitation truly does breed creativity, Paradise Lost 3, the Oscar nominated documentary that got three innocent men off death row.

Margaret, the masterpiece so grossly under seen it ignited a Twitter protest #teammargaret, Chico & Rita, Oscar nominated this year for the Best Animated Feature award, Coriolanus, Ralph Fiennes directorial debut and adaptation of the Shakespearean tragedy, and The Deep Blue Sea, the film adaptation of the Terence Rattigan play of the same name.

Paul Rudd was funny in opening night film, Our Idiot Brother

This year I am pleased to announce that I will cover the World Cinema Showcase in collaboration with View New Zealand. My coverage will take the form of a Showcase diary which I will update with capsule reviews of what I've seen at the Showcase.

Also, the plan is to record short conversations, using my iPhone, with Showcase goers. We will talk to the familiar faces, who frequent the Showcase every year, and talk about what they've seen.

You can find entries here on my movie blog and the View website.

The showcase will continue in Auckland at Rialto Newmarket and Bridgeway throughout April, and then around the country, in Wellington on April 5th, in Dunedin on April 19th, and finally, in Christchurch on April 26th.

For more information visit the World Cinema Showcase website.
www.worldcinemashowcase.co.nz

I Was On The Radio, Talking About Movies!

Last night I appeared on Flat FM's 6.01pm show with Guy and Ben to talk about movies. It may even become a regular spot. This week we discuss #NZGoslingHunt, Project X, John Carter, My Week With Marilyn plus up and coming releases.

The Guy and Ben Show airs Tuesdays from 6-9pm.
87.9 fm Auckland
87.8 fm Whangarei
Online at flatfm.co.nz

My Week With Marilyn: Michelle Williams Transcends Impersonation

A popular criticism of My Week With Marilyn is that the film is "light" and "minor", but I disagree. If by light, you mean, light on content, then that's totally inaccurate, the film is packed with content. It is a complex, layered look at the film industry and the equally complex, layered star Marilyn Monroe. 

The film comes in the same year The Artist and Hugo dominated the awards race with its themes of nostalgia. The Artist is about the glory days of silent cinema. Hugo is about the need for film preservation. These films are about celebrating cinema as it faces an uncertain future, but in My Week With Marilyn we find the content missing in The Artist and the humanity missing in Hugo, this is a film with a jaded, conflicted attitude to a cinema that made (and destroyed) movie stars. To no surprise, the same film went home empty handed on Oscar night.

Michelle Williams & Eddie Redmayne | My Week With Marilyn

At the height of her stardom, prior to her making of Some Like It Hot, one of the most popular comedies of all time, Marilyn Monroe (Michelle Williams) went to England to shoot The Princess and the Showgirl with Laurence Olivier (Kenneth Branagh), who doubled on the film as its director. Under the enormous pressure of Olivier and the struggle to become a "real" actress, Monroe finds solace in the young Colin (Eddie Redmayne), who is working on the film as an assistant. It's through Colin's eyes that we see the "real" woman and share their brief romance.

In a performance that transcends imitation, Michelle Williams is superb. To say she "disappears into the role" would be an understatement. We fall in love with her in spite of the mess of contradictions. The success of Williams' performance is that she gives us all the Marilyns and confronts the unethical process of turning a troubled woman into a sex icon. It is riveting to watch.

For Williams to play the star is deeply personal, Williams herself lost her own long-time partner, Heath Ledger, to an accidental overdose. Using her own life experience, Williams taps into that the pain of losing a loved one with mental health issues to the medication that's designed to help them.

My Week with Marilyn is not just about Marilyn Monroe, but the power dynamics that surround the making of a film. If the young Colin wants to work with the film industry, he has to cope with the difficulty of working with people who are fiercely protective of their own jobs on a daily basis. In one telling scene, one union worker and one non-union worker squabble over who can bring Dame Sybil Thorndike (Judi Dench) a chair. It is indicative of the need to cling to whatever power that has been assigned to you, you must protect your job to have a job.

When an entire production could fall over if the right person doesn't agree to star, it creates a sense of palpable insecurity. On the issue of job security (or insecurity) the movie also depicts the questionable ethics of Marilyn's "people" who pacify the star with prescription pills out of fear of losing their "cash cow". In a touching moment, one that's wholly original and had to come out of the memoir, of which this film is based, Marilyn Monroe apologizes to the entire cast and crew for not being better, because she knows the industry and their jobs depend on her.

The film also depicts the drama of two competing schools of thought. It's actor versus star. Laurence Olivier, with his years of experience and craftsmanship versus Marilyn Monroe with nothing but instinct and natural charisma. It soon becomes apparent that both need each other to renew their public image. For Olivier, Monroe represents youth and vitality. For Monroe, Olivier represents the respect that comes with experience, and it's fascinating to watch the two fail.

One fault is when the film openly discusses the meaning of the movie in dialogue. You can hear the writer when Colin says to Monroe "It's agony because he (Olivier) is a great actor who wants to be a film star, and you're a film star who wants to be a great actress. This film won't help either of you," but the line is delivered by the 3rd assistant, the person who is meant to be seen and not heard, yet sees all. He makes the sharpest observation even if the line is a little glib.

Monroe insists that Stanislavski's method will earn her the respect she craves, she employs the help of Paula Strasberg (Zoe Wannamaker) a live-in acting coach. Together, they become an even greater threat to Olivier, who famously dismissed Dustin Hoffman's method on Marathon Man, "Try acting, Dustin, it's easier." In his eagerness to control her, he tells her to "do what you normally do, be sexy." There is some wisdom in his verbal barb as Monroe's command of the method is not the reason we love and remember her as a great actress still to this day.

My Favourite Films of 2009

List Created Using Letterboxd

1. Inglourious Basterds
2. The Hurt Locker
3. Antichrist
4. District 9
5. Up in the Air
6. Where the Wild Things Are
7. Dogtooth
8. A Serious Man
9. Precious: Based on the Novel "Push" By Sapphire
10. Fantastic Mr. Fox
11. Humpday
12. The Girlfriend Experience
13. Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs
14. We Live in Public
15. Drag Me To Hell

The John Carter of Flops

A week ago, John Carter seemed doomed to fail. With reports of endless reshoots, bad marketing, its troubled journey to the big screen is well documented. "For a $250 million movie to be tracking near a $25 million opening is shocking" said film industry journalist Anne Thompson. Women, in particular, were showing a complete lack of interest in the film. As a result, Disney lobbed the "of Mars" off the title so it may appeal to a broader audience. What a disaster! Losing Mars, the part of the title likely to draw in sci-fi fans. According to rumours, the widly overblown $250 million budget was integral in the decision for Disney chairman Dick Cook to resign. He who apparently didn't just give John Carter the greenlight, but the colossal flop Mars Needs Moms too.

When the film opens here in New Zealand tomorrow on 8th March, it will have to survive the bad press, rely on the Disney marketing machine and recoup whatever losses it can so it doesn't join Heaven's Gate in the pantheon of big studio write offs. Now that Disney have lifted the embargo on critics, reviews have started to appear. They are not as bad as the negative buzz would have one believe, so, is John Carter "Of Mars Needs Moms" a good movie?

Taylor Kitsch | John Carter "Of Mars"

The answer is "no". John Carter is not a good movie. No studio executive in their right mind should have ever greenlit the film. It has no commercial appeal whatsoever. It transports you to a world where you don't want to spend any time. Avatar's Pandora looks like Disneyworld in comparison. The movie is characters referencing a mythology we do not yet understand unless we have read the novels, of which "of Mars" is based, we are left ogling the dusty images in confusion.

From what I understand, John Carter (Taylor Kitsch) is a Civil War soldier, who is transported to Mars after a kerfuffle with an alien monk (Mark Strong). Upon his landing on the inhospitable planet, he soon learns that gravity enables him to leap high into the air without assistance. He ends up being imprisoned by savage green martian men, falls in love with a princess (Lynn Collins) and must stop the alien monks from destroying everything. That about right, guys?

In one instance, John Carter does indeed register a emotional beat likely to resonate with die hard sci-fi fans, but its unfortunate this happens as the film nears its closing credits. I felt his longing to return and live on Mars, to escape his war torn home and return to Mars where he can leap high into the air.

It does hit on the sci-fi fans' need for confirmation that their is life beyond our own, but its the density of its plot exposition and mythology that left me bored throughout It could in fact polarize film fans, who may find its refusal to create a Disneyworld on the red planet endearing.

There's a great moment in The Lion King when Simba is reunited with his old friend Nala after his father Mufasa's death and he was estranged from his own pride. Upon their meeting, Simba and Nala immediately discuss plot details and characters that are unbeknown to other characters in the same scene, Timon and Pumbaa. Timon, who has absolutely no idea what they're talking about, screams "Would somebody please tell me what the hell is going on?"

John Carter made me *this close* to screaming the same line during.

Warrior: Ensemble Cast Excel in Male Melodrama

Far superior to the wildly overpraised The Fighter, which unsuccessfully blended family drama with sports movie cliche, but failed because it never reconciled its broad, caricatures with the bravura of Christian Bale, Warrior excels for wonderful performances across the board. Every actor in this ensemble knows exactly what movie they're in. 

Tom Hardy (Left) & Joel Edgerton (Right)

The ensemble shine in a male melodrama that happens to be a good sports movie too. It tells the story of two feuding brothers, Brendan (Joel Edgerton) and Tommy (Tom Hardy), harbor lifelong grudges against their alcoholic father Paddy (Nick Nolte) and each other. Fate brings them all together in a Mixed Martial Arts tournament that awards a $5 million dollar prize and the possibility of redemption.

Warrior won't win prizes for originality, but it asks us if originality is the key to a good movie? It seeks to be a familiar story well told, and succeeds. Simply because the actors elevate the material with their honesty. Not a single moment in Warrior rings false. Don't be fooled by the poster; the actors brings as much sensitivity to the movie as they do muscles. In fact, the challenge for them is to hint at the mess of emotions underneath their tough exterior. Who truly shines though, is Nick Nolte. Worthy of all the acclaim. He is terrific as the bad Dad come good Dad.

My Dad is a man's man. He saw this movie three times on a flight home. I can imagine he was lured by the sports aspect, but ultimately moved. Therein lies what I love about the film; it's not really about sports. The MMA tournament gives the brothers to opportunity to duke it out, but its secondary. It only brings to the surface what was inside them all along; the capacity to truly forgive, but then there's enough sports movie cliche to perpetuate the male fantasy that good old fashioned competition can settle any matters of the heart. It keeps Dads happy.

The movie is long, but that's not an observation not a criticism. The way it builds (and builds) recalls The Karate Kid. This is a movie that whats you to live-in the movie. We all know where its headed, but after investing so deeply in the characters the outcome of the final fight is riveting even if we have to turn away from the screen wincing from the sight of dislocated shoulders.

Project X: One of the Worst Movie-Going Experience of My Life

We rushed to see Project X after the Oscars, this movie has to be the weirdest awards chaser ever. I did a bit of free writing after saw the movie, you know, just typing whatever popped into my head. Now I've gone back to whisk my incoherence into what could pass as a review, so here goes:

The Youth of Today

Project X is one of the worst movie going experiences of my life. A movie so ugly, so repulsive, it represents everything that's wrong with the ME generation and makes me ashamed to be young.

The "story" is ripped from the headlines. It bears a resemblance to a Sydney teenager, Corey, 16, who issued an open invitation via MySpace to a party while his parents were on holiday. What followed could only be described as a "rampage" and a "parent's worse nightmare' as 500 youths destroyed neighborhood property and threw bottles at police trying to control the chaos.

This behaviour is the inspiration for Project X, the latest from producer Todd Phillips, who is responsible for The Hangover. His fascination with men behaving badly continues only now he has found a new Rat Pack in the form Thomas Mann (Thomas), Jonathan Daniel Brown (JB) and the insufferable Oliver Cooper (Costa), who are more repulsive than the adults who conquered the box office before they will have the opportunity tomorrow. The film opens March 1st.

The brings to life the craziest high school party of all time, but then laughs off all the consequences even when a lunatic shows up with a flamethrower to torch the neighbourhood, and then has the gaul to present high school popularity as a fitting reward for abhorrent behaviour.

It brings the party to life using the worn out "found footage" technique. When the same technique was used in The Blair Witch Project and Paranormal Activity, it proved that the limitation of a micro-budget breeds creativity. Now, the technique is formula. The Devil Inside, and now, this Project X piece of shit, are exercises in how to keep costs to ridiculous lows and yield inexplicable profits without keeping to the level of artistry set by its superior predecessors.

When I thought the movie was going to condemn the behaviour, a high school sweetheart (Kirby) tells birthday boy (Thomas) that "its not cool" but it turns out that she only disapproves because he only nearly slept with an another girl instead of her, then they kiss and make up!

Not to mention the movie is offensive to women, gay, jewish and fat people everywhere. It often resorts to fat jokes and the word "faggot" for humour. If anybody dares to question the behaviour or thinks twice about it, they are totally emasculated, sometimes violently so, and labelled "pussies".
 

Miles Teller ain't above no drug scramblin'

The characters here are so repulsive they make The Inbetweeners look like nuns. In one scene, the wonderful actor Miles Teller, (Rabbit Hole) takes a baseball bat to a garden gnome filled with ecstasy pills. It explodes, scattering pills all over the backyard. All the teenagers scramble and happily pick pills out of the dirt like disgusting pigs that have never been fed.

What's worse is that in our screening everybody clapped and cheered at what they had just seen. I've never come so close to booing at a screening. The last 15 minutes of the movie was spent thinking of how I could ruin everybody's fun knowing they would all love it come the end, you know, just to remind everyone that to simply enjoy this movie is reprehensible.
 
It's made by people that want teenagers to rush to the cinema thinking this was "the party they've only dreamed about" when in fact it's the party of nightmares.

What's so repellent about the movie is that the target audience will love it. It will probably do gangbusters at the box office. It left me wondering if the whole thing was some kind of sick joke. 

Adding to my already roused suspicions, was the presence of YouTube personality daxflame, who is famous on YouTube because nobody, still to this day, is sure if his online persona as a socially awkward teenager is real or fake. He appears in the movie only briefly, but is referred to by his username "dax", and is later suspected of murdering his own parents.

If the presence of daxflame and echoing a real-life event (when youth combined with alcohol and a hyper networked culture also resulted in chaos) is evidence of the filmmakers winking at the audience, or an attempt to justify the film with irony, then it failed at that too.

Wink enough and you might have one thinking person convinced that the film is some kind of youth satire. Stupid Todd Phillips may believe he is smuggling in criticism of our youth culture while simultaneously giving his target audience exactly what it wants, but I call bullshit.

This is adolescent wish fulfillment made by aging producers who want to relive their youth, only some adolescents should never have their wishes fulfilled.
 
I hated it, I hated it so much.