Movie reviews

Movies for this week

The disappointment for this week was;
"Mona Lisa Smile" starring one of my favourites Julia Roberts, I'm not sure exactly what it is about Julia she is not the typical "beauty" although she is certainly attractive, this was a long way from my pick of her films, Pretty Woman, Notting Hill, My Best Friends Wedding, were all far better, this one set at Wellesley College in Wellesley, Massachusetts, left a lot to be desired.
Set in the 1950s this was obviously the school "The Stepford Wives" all attended.
They even had lessons in synchronized swimming with emphasis on the
Smile !!!

It struggled to get a 3 out of 5 from me.


On the other hand we have; "The boys are back" starring Clive Owen British born actor in an Australian-British production.


Filmed mainly on the Fluerio Peninsular near Adelaide, South Australia, this and the fact that I like Clive Owen was what attracted my attention first up.
Owen's character is twice married, divorced then widowed, father to 2 sons, one from each marriage, doing what at first appear to be all the wrong things but which turn out to be good choices in the main eventually.
There is some magnificent "Australian" scenery which include a hillside covered with long grass waving gracefully in the wind, something that always takes my breath away when I see it.
Scene stealer in this movie is George McKay, Harry, the older son, he received high praise from the film critics who have reviewed this movie.
I don't know whether this movie will be readily available overseas, it should be in England but may be harder to find elsewhere?? anyway its worth a search in my opinion.

I rate it at 5 out of 5

Its Complicated

Its seems a long time since I have really felt like writing a "proper" post, most of what I have posted recently has been pretty uninspiring at best and drivel at worst.
That said, my inspiration has come from the bargain basement... Cheap Tuesday at the local Video-Eze store, any DVD in store for $1.00 overnight hire.
Its been a while since I have been there so I reasoned that I would be able to find a couple of good movies to watch, my first selection "Serious Moonlight" starring Meg Ryan and Timothy Hutton, both of whom I like, was a mild disappointment although funny at times.
It was my second selection that has me all fired up, the film "Its Complicated" has 3 actors in the lead roles who I must be honest and say are not my favourites... Steve Martin, Alec Baldwin and Meryl Streep, Streep in particular has played in some excellent movies but has almost always managed to bring something to her roles that has irritated me in some way, but hey, that's just me.
So exactly what attracted me to this movie? I have a vague recollection that one of my blog buddies may have done a review of it some months before? if this is so I don't rcall who it was or even whether they liked the movie... but as most of us don't write about movies we don't like I'm guessing that it was favorable.
Back to what attracted me to it... I really can't say, it sounds like a potentially
funny "Chick Flick" with a cast that again had potential but were not actors I would choose a movie on, as the name suggests its complicated... having been through the stress of divorce I guess I felt a bit of a bond there but I really wasn't prepared for the impact that was to come.
Nancy Meyers, who wrote and directed Its Complicated has done an exceptional job, first with the script and then with her directing, the characters all come alive, Meryl Streep has once more managed to irritate me just a little with her seemingly over loud laughter and behavior in some scenes, but its all in keeping with the role she is playing so I'm sure its just sour grapes on my part.
This story explores the possibilities of the resurrection of a failed marriage, a thought that I must admit plagued my mind for several years after my own separation, so maybe that offers a clue as to why I enjoyed it so much? but I think the straight out sense of fun that prevailed was more to the point.
As so often happens, one of the minor actors managed to steal every scene he was in... I'm talking of John Krasinski as "Harley" the soon to be Son in-law, his performance was very good indeed.
Baldwin managed to play the self centered nice guy trying to win back the affections of his ex was very good also, even though I have admitted that he (and all the rest of the Baldwins) are not favourites.
Steve Martin as the "bruised by his own divorce" architect in charge of major extensions to Streep's home gives a creditable performance as well, while I am not encouraging the use of drugs in any way the "Pot" scenes are amongst the funniest I have seen.
Taken all round I would give this movie a 5 out of 5 and suggest that if you haven't seen it its one you shouldn't miss, I will be pleased to hear what you opinions are!!!!!

Please click to enbiggen.

Don't miss this one... watch it again if you've already seen it.

Australia The Movie

Australia… The Movie

Synopsis

Set prior to World War II, 'Australia' centres on an English aristocrat, Lady Sarah Ashley (Nicole Kidman), who finds herself unexpectedly fighting to save a cattle station the size of Belgium. When local cattle barons plot to take her land, she reluctantly joins forces with a rough-hewn cattle drover (Hugh Jackman) to drive 1500 head of cattle across northern Australia’s breathtaking landscape. Love ensues, but they must still face the bombing of Darwin by the Japanese forces that had attacked Pearl Harbor only months earlier.

Nicole and Hugh both looking very happy about their parts in "Australia"


Warning... Don't enbiggen this picture if you have a heart problem

OK.. so he's currently rated "The Sexiest Man In The World" is that any reason to give him ALL the good parts?


This movie is Baz Luhrmann's baby in every sense of the words, it will sink or swim on his talents regardless of the best efforts of everyone else involved in its making.

I've seen the trailer on TV many times and a few grabs on the net and on "Oprah" but I'm waiting impatiently for the full movie before I give the world my opinion , as you know it covers a subject very close to my heart so I'm still waiting.
I've gone through the preparation stage as fully as possible, right down to a re-run of "Gone With The Wind", with which "Australia" is being compared.

It's Friday Nov 28, it's evening and I have seen Australia the movie, before getting down to a more serious review let me say that I enjoyed the movie, let me add that I think it will be a bit too "Australian" for lots of overseas viewers.
Now to get a bit more specific; Nicole Kidman played a role, to perfection, of a spoiled English aristocrat who learns fairly quickly that outback Australia will not tolerate her attitude, once that has been learned she gives a creditable performance, Hugh Jackman provides the other side of the coin, his role leaves him no where to go but further into the macho Aussie character until toward the end of an overly long movie he is at last allowed to mellow a bit, the unknown Brandon Walters who plays the mixed blood (black & white) child "Nullah" is a scene stealer of grand ability, he takes control of much of the film in such an endearing way that his future would seem to be assured.
Almost every Australian actor worth his salt gets a role in this movie, most doing a creditable job in their parts, I was disappointed with David Wenham as the evil Neil Fletcher, Wenham has done much better work than this, Jack Thomson as the drunken accountant for "Far Away Downs" as the property is so aptly named, Bryan Brown as the cattle baron who wants the property for his empire the brilliant aboriginal actor David Gulpilil who plays "King George" the wise tribal elder, all contribute to the story.
There is enough beautiful outback scenery to make an excellent travelogue, it is all well photographed although I must say its very difficult not to make this sort of scenery look good.... which just about gets me back to my original statement, that
Australia will sink or swim on the talents of Baz Luhrmann.... here we find the weak link in the chain of Australia.... he has overdone many of the themes that run through the movie and has continued with the "Theatrical" treatment of his recent works like Moulin Rouge, Strictly Ballroom, and Romeo and Juliet, this treatment in Historical outback epic was not as successful, particularly when a chunk of it was about the WW2 bombing of Darwin by the Japanese, a chunk that could easily have been omitted in my opinion.
To summarize; I will give Australia 4 stars out of 5 and repeat that I enjoyed it very much, it provided a few laughs (especially to an Australian audience) breath-taking scenery, enough moving scenes to produce a few tears, and the feeling that I had seen a worthwhile movie.

Famous lines from the movies

Before you get to engrossed, ha ha, in this post I have a recommendation to
make, for one of the funniest posts you will ever find go to this link and read
Steve's post about roping a deer.

http://looking-for-a-publisher.blogspot.com/



That's Not A Knife....

Famous lines from the movies.

Some of you will recall I posted about a television show which listed the top twenty Australian movies, as selected by their panel, now they have expanded on this with the top FIFTY lines from movies.

There are a few Australian movies featured which the rest of the world may not agree with and as with all these sort of things there will always be differences of opinion.

So in the order they used from 50 to 1 here they are;

50 Apollo 13, from Tom Hanks, “Houston we have a problem.”
(I believe the line actually used was, Houston we had a problem.)

49 Wall Street, Michael Douglas, “Greed is good.”

48 Cool Hand Luke, Paul Newman, and Strother Martin, “What we’ve got here is a failure to communicate.”

47 Austin Powers, Mike Myers, two lines quoted, “Yeah Baby” and “Do I make you horny Baby?”

46 Scarface, Al Pacino, “Say hello to my little friend.”

45 Blues Brothers, Jon Belushi, “We’re on a mission from God.”

44 Jaws, Roy Schneider, “You’re gonna need a bigger boat.”
and their wonderful promo, 'Just when you thought it was safe to get back in the water.'

43 Ghostbusters, this line was never used in the movie but has become part of folk lore,
“Who you gonna call.”

42 The Truman Show, Jim Carey, “Oh and in case I don’t see you , good afternoon, good evening and goodnight.”

41 Dirty Dancing, Patrick Swayze, “Nobody puts baby in the corner.”

40 Batman, Jack Nicholson, “Ever dance with the devil?”

39 The Gladiator, Russell Crowe, “On my signal, unleash hell.”

38 On The Waterfront, Marlon Brando, “I coulda had class, I coulda been a contender, I could have been somebody.”

37 Titanic, Leonardo DiCaprio, “I am the king of the world.”

36 Dead Poets Society, Robin Williams, “Sieze the day, boys, make your lives extraordinary.”

35 The Mask, Jim Carey, “I figured you’d have a sense of humor, after all you married her.”

34 Pulp Fiction, Harvey Keitel (I think) “Bring out the gimp”

33 Oliver, (1968), Mark Lester, “Please sir, I want some more.”

32 Rocky, Sylvester Stallone, “Yo Adrian, It’s me Rocky.”

31 Psycho, (1960), No words just that “Yeak, Yeak, Yeak,” screech.

30 Silence of the Lambs, Anthony Hopkins, “I ate his liver with some fava beans and a nice Cianti.”

29 Good Morning Vietnam, Robin Williams, “Good Morning Vietnam.”

28 She Done Him Wrong, Mae West, two from this one, “Why don’t you come up and see me sometime” and, “Is that a gun in your pocket or are you just glad to see me?”

27 Poltergeist, Beatrice Straight?? “They’re here.”

26 Top Gun, Tom Cruise, “I feel the need, the need for speed.”

25 Muriel’s Wedding, (Australian) Rachel Griffiths, “You’re terrible Muriel.”

24 The Elephant Man, John Hurt, “I am not an animal, I am a human being.”

23 Fight Club, Brad Pitt, “The first rule of Fight Club is, you do not talk about Fight Club.”

22 The Terminator, Arnold Schwarzenegger, “I’ll be back.”

21 Karate Kid, Noriyuki (Pat) Morita, “Wax on, wax off.”

20 What an Adventure, (Australian) Steve Irwin, “Crickey” and “Yes, I’m really like that.”

19 ET... The Extra-Terrestrial, Sound Effects, “ET phone home.”

18 Crocodile Dundee, (Australian, but deserves it’s place), Paul Hogan, “That’s not a knife, That’s a knife.”

17 The Wizard of Oz, Judy Garland, “Toto, I’ve got a feeling we’re not in Kansas anymore.”

16 The Sixth Sense, Hayley Joel Osment, “I see dead people.”

15 Forrest Gump, Tom Hanks, “Life is like a box of chocolates.”

14 Taxi Driver, Robert DeNiro, “You talkin’ to me?”

13 Star Wars, Alec Guinness, “May the force be with you.”

12 Braveheart, Mel Gibson, “They may take our lives, but they’ll never take our freedom.”

11 The Shining, Jack Nicholson, “Here’s Johnny.”

10 All The Bond Movies, All the stars who have been James Bond,
“The name is Bond, James Bond” and, A vodka martini, shaken, not stirred.”

09 Dirty Harry, Clint Eastwood, “You’ve gotta ask yourself one question, do I fell lucky? well do you …. Punk.”

08 The Enforcer, Clint Eastwood, “Go ahead, make my day” and,
“The three of us, Smith Weston and me.”

07 Jerry McGuire, Tom Cruise, “Show me the money.”

06 Casablanca, Ingrid Bergman, the most misquoted phrase from any movie, “Play it once Sam, for old times sake.” NOT play it again Sam. Humfrey Bogart also has some gems in this movie, “Of all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world she had to walk into mine” and, “Here’s lookin’ at you kid.”

05 When Harry Met Sally, Director Rob Reiner’s mother who had a bit part with only one line to say, but it’s one nobody forgets, “I’ll have what she’s having.”

04 A Few Good Men, Tom Cruise, “I just want the truth.” Jack Nicholson, “You can’t handle the truth.”

03 The Godfather, Marlon Brando, “I’m going to make him an offer he can’t refuse” and “either his brains or his signature will be on that contract.”

02 Apocalypse Now, Robert Duvall, “I love the smell of Napalm in the morning.”

01 Gone With The Wind, Clark Gable, “Frankly my dear, I don’t give a damn” (which , believe it or not, was a bit risqué in 1939)

Australian Films

Australian Films on Revue.


There is an Australian show running on television currently, it’s called
20 to 1, it covers a wide range of things with a rating of 20 to 1 a
recent topic was Australian films and being a movie fan I jotted their
choices down and will list them below.
While I don’t necessarily agree with the order of choice I feel there
are other equally good films that were not mentioned, however when I
came to trying to fit them in I was faced with the problem of which
ones to leave out?

The shows 20 to 1 top Australian Movies are;

20 Muriel’s Wedding; 1994 movie starring Toni Collette, the inclusion
of Toni is enough to earn it a place.

19 Wolf Creek; 2005 thriller starring John Jarrett (who is normally
Mr. Nice Guy) this is not a film to watch alone on a dark stormy night,
but is never-the-less a great movie.

18 Babe; 1995 this is a delightful blend of animation, real actors and
real animals it is based around a pig who thinks he is a sheepdog,
one for the whole family.

17 Chopper; 2000 movie based on the life of a real life criminal
Mark ‘Chopper’ Read not a nice man but was saved by Eric Bana’s
excellent portrayal.

16 Romper Stomper; 1992 a violent movie about racism in
Australia, a strong performance by a young Russell Crowe but only
suited to a mature audience.

15 Storm Boy; 1976 it is another great family film about a young boy,
played by Greg Rowe, living in near isolation with his fisherman father,
he develops a friendship with a pelican who he names Mr. Percival and
an Aboriginal named Fingerbone Bill played by the brilliant aboriginal
actor David Gulpilil.

14 Strictly Ballroom; 1992 A Baz Luhrmann (Moulin Rouge) film
starring Paul Mercurio, it’s a feel good movie about ballroom dancing
(surprise, surprise)which isn’t my favourite subject matter, but this is
done so well everyone likes it.

13 Young Einstein; 1988 Yahoo Serious (yes I’m serious) wrote,
produced, directed and starred in this satirical gem which was based
on the premise that Albert Einstein not only developed the theory of
relativity but also invented Rock ’n’ Roll. It’s a great fun movie.

12 Shine; 1996 Based on the true story of pianist David Helfgott,
Geoffrey Rush gave an Oscar Award winning performance in this
excellent movie.

11Puberty Blues; 1981 Based around a surfing culture this is the
only movie I have not seen in this group so I can’t really preview it
here.

10 Sunday Too Far Away; 1975 During the 1950s there were
ongoing disputes between the land owners and the shearers over
fair rates of pay, this movie is set in that era.
Jack Thompson stars in a classic movie about the “Bush”.
The title came about because of a common situation,
Friday- too tired, Saturday- too drunk, Sunday- too far away.

09 The Adventures of Pricilla Queen of the Desert; 1994
Two Drag Queen’s and a Transexual head for the “Outback” in a
converted school bus “Pricilla” to a soundtrack of ABBA Music,
let your imagination work on their reception in this “man’s world”
the movie won an Oscar for costume design, on a budget of
$12,000.

08 My Brilliant Career; 1979 A movie about an independent young
woman who at the turn of the century chose to live her life a little
differently to most of her peers, starred Judy Davis with an excellent
performance.

07 The Man From Snowy River; 1982 A great movie about the
cattlemen from the high country, Tom Burlinson gave a memorable
performance as “The Man” in a scenically beautiful film. Based on the
poem of the same name written by A.B.(Banjo) Paterson in 1890.

06 Breaker Morant; 1979 Based on a true story about 3 soldiers
who were executed during the Boer War. Starred Edward Woodward,
Bryan Brown and Jack Thompson.

05 Mad Max; 1979 Set in the desolate near future the film depicts a
police force struggling to maintain order on the roads. Things go
awfully wrong for Mel Gibson’s character bringing about some hectic
action. American studios ignored this film until the success of the
sequel Mad Max 2 The Road Warrior.

04 Picnic At Hanging Rock; 1975 Set in 1900 the film tells of the
disappearance of three girls and a teacher while on an outing from their
nearby school.

03 The Castle; 1997 A comedy about a family’s struggle to retain their
home in danger of resumption by the Government. Michael Caton as the
head of the family is brilliant, a minor roll for Eric Bana before his big break.

02 Crocodile Dundee; 1986 This brilliant comedy launched Paul
Hogan’s film career onto a world stage that was just waiting for this
sort of comedy, another chance to see the wonderful David Gulpilil.

01 Gallipoli; 1981 Telling the story of the badly advised landing of
Australian and New Zealand troops at Gallipoli and the subsequent loss
of life in the ANZACs first battle in WW1.

As I said I didn’t agree with all of the choices made for the TV
show. I would have omitted numbers 08, 16 & 17 and substituted.

Phar Lap; 1983 A great movie about Australia’s (and possibly the
worlds) best racehorse who died under mysterious circumstances in
America in 1933. Another great roll by Tom Burlinson.

Dons Party; 1976 The interaction of a group of young suburbanites
who gather to watch the results of an election on television. A chance
to see Graham Kennedy (the King of Australian TV) in action.

Kenny; 2005 This low budget comedy come documentary has grown a
huge cult following in a very short time. When you consider that Kenny
spends his time moving portable toilets around the countryside this
comes as a bit of a surprise.

Ok I won’t get pedantic about where these films fit into the list
but I am still unhappy that I didn’t find a spot for at least another
4 films.

Lantana; 2001 A slick film about the frailty’s of human nature.
Anthony LaPaglia, starred.

The Dish; 2000 Story of the Parke’s radio telescopes role in tracking
the Apollo 11 moon mission.

On The Beach; 1959 Gregory Peck and Ava Gardner came and joined
an Australian cast for this “end of the world” movie.

They’re a Weird Mob; 1966 A comedy about the problems that
“new Australian’s” faced after immigration to Australia, learning to
speak English and then Australian and the strange habits of the locals.