Category: Film Review

Freshly Squeezed Film Festival: Review

I managed to get into the Screen Cinema on Saturday for some of the Freshly Squeezed Film Festival, which gives Student film makers a chance to showcase their work. I arrived as the Experimental Screenings were getting underway.

I was extremely impressed by the both the cinematography and sound design in Oppenheimer, Davide Pochinu Carta’s film which he directed, wrote, edited and was also sound designer. Big task and a job really well done in the Sydney Film School.

Looking at the credits in some of the films, the crews varied in size, from the modest to outright feature film standards. It was also quite eye opening to see how film is approached in different countries and how each interpret different genres.

The comedy/fantasy section was interesting, for me, Red Point, Tomatina Origins being the standout. Directed by Dario J. Ferrer, the short film seemed to have defintely been influenced by how Jean-Pierre Jeunet approached Amelie. This could easily to turned into a longer piece.

I also really enjoyed Matthew Nesbeth’s New with Tags. Matthew is attending the University of the West of England. In this piece our main character is, kinda fighting with himself, his ghosts and his past. I love how Matthew demonstrated this, really good.

There were also a few little chats with people from the biz, Peter Robertson, Cinematographer extraordinaire , Producer Edwina Forkin and writer, producer and director Brendan Culleton. They gave some great feedback on what they actually do, in their day to day jobs and a few tips on how to get into the biz.

It was great day and a lovely opportunity to meet like minded individuals, chat about film making and get a buzz about film making. A great healthy environment to be in. Well done to the Festival committee, looking forward to Freshly Squeezed Film Festival 2013.

(Sunday Jul 8 – 15.04 The Film festival is running until tonight, check out what’s still to happen in the programme)

July 8, 2012
iLL Manors: Movie Review

iLL Manors is the debut directorial feature length from Ben Drew, better known to the masses as Plan B. The film tells the story of an East London area where drug use and the criminal underworld live hand in hand.

As it stands, the film features some great editing and cinematography and for a first time director, Ben Drew does an amazing job. He, of course, uses his musical background in the soundtrack. The in your face title track ‘iLL Manors’ doesn’t make it til the end credits but the rest of the musical accompaniment isn’t there for the sake of it. It cleverly acts as ‘The Narrator’ moving the story along.

There’s absolutely nothing wrong with this film. It’s just there needs to be a bit more punch to it. If you’re looking at this genre, the banlieu films of France like La Haine and even Noel Clarke’s Kidulthood and Adulthood or Totsi, based in South Africa, have excelled already, leaving iLL Manors open to comparisons.

With these films, the viewer gains an empathy for the characters, even if we don’t particularly like them. With iLL Manors, the film meanders through several events which depict the surburb brilliantly, showing us the outside characters’ back stories. Drew tips an area here that many other film makers haven’t touched but the downside of all this is that we don’t connect with those who end up as our main characters. It’s not until later when Aaron (Riz Ahmed) shows some redeeming features that we connect with the character.

Saying that though, iLL Manors is a fine debut and is well worth a watch. Within the photography and editing, Drew has come up with some really clever ideas. Now that he has his first feature out of the way, your scribe is looking forward to the next visual adventure from Plan B.

June 11, 2012
Top Cat: Movie Review

Remember when you were a kid, schemer, Top Cat and this bunch of buddies lived in a backstreet alley where all they wanted to do was get the better of Officer Dibble? Well, they still do. The cartoon from the 70’s has been given the full length movie treatment. What’s interesting about this is that this English version dubbed from the Mexican/Argentinean original. Officer Dibble is still trying to get to be Inspector but is overlooked for another badass who Top Cat tries to out manoeuver.

The animation is this quite interesting, the traditional 2D cartoon characters we know and love remain 2D but are in in a 3D environment, which works well and looks great, I just don’t know why the Cats now have mobile phones? My cat doesn’t have one. The animation keeps you interested for a few minutes but after that, well, this is one the kids will want to see on DVD during the Summer holidays.

June 7, 2012
What To Expect When You’re Expecting: Review

Another movie inspired by another book, it seems every second movie is now based on a book. This movie, ‘What To Expect When You’re Expecting’ is inspired by Heidi Murkoff’s book and as far back as 1995, this popped up in movies like Nine Months, Hugh Grant’s character reads it.

Fast forward seventeen years ‘What To Expect When You’re Expecting‘ gets it’s own full length feature. It follows five couples, whose lives are loosely intertwined, through pregnancy. And they’re a mixed bunch, you’ve got the adoptive parents, the long time triers, the one night stand, the ‘happily’ married, and the odd ones out, the second time around Dad and his ‘perfect’ young wife. The story weaves through their lives, the ups, the downs and the Dads.

The film opens on the set of a television show, ‘Celebrity Dance Factor’ where Cheryl Cole and Taboo from The Black Eyed Peas are judges, begging the question, what are we doing here? Turns out couple number one, Cameron Diaz and Glee’s Matthew Morrison are dancers on the show.

This is definitely a comedy chick flick but it’s quite enjoyable. Yes, there are clichés in there but the way the story is told means there is at least one character that you’re going to relate to. We’re told of the highs, the lows and sometimes downright bizarre and that’s just the ladies.

One of the best things about this film is ‘Dudes Group’, a place where Dads get together to walk around a park and truly be themselves for a little while. It’s funny, engaging and lead by Chris Rock, ‘Dudes Group’ is a winner.

There’s a big cast with well known names, Jennifer Lopez, Chris Rock, Elizabeth Banks, Rodrigo Santoro to name a fewThe screenplay does a great job of not letting the couples stories get too complicated but we get to learn enough about their lives.

This is an enjoyable couple of hours and is home to a lot of laughs, definitely a girls night out.

May 25, 2012