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I kind of like the person I am in France. Here, I am direct. I am ‘un journaliste pour l’emission sur le cinema’. I am confident. That’s mainly due to the fact that my limited French (enough to get by and nod blankly through conversations) forces me to speak in demands. Table for two! I want a croissant! I’m a journalist for a TV show about cinema! (I’ve never been quite so sure of myself in my life) The bill! I’m cold! I’m really into rap music! I can’t quite remember how to say that last one, but a few years ago I spent a month in Paris and was determined to learn, and use, a new French phrase everyday, which I would say to a surprised and frightened man at the local patisserie. Here in Cannes of course everyone speaks English, especially when I persist in my obvious tourist French. I’ll only switch to English to ask how to say something… “How do you say, holy hell it looks like it is about to storm?!”

I never got my answer, and within ten minutes it went from beautiful sun to sideways rain, and everyone scurried off to take shelter. I was running from one side of the Croisette, the street that runs alongside the beach, to the other, going from interviews with the cast of ‘The Bling Ring’ to interviews with the cast of ‘Fruitvale Station’ and back again, my look slowly deteriorating from done up to disheveled chic, ending somewhere in drowned ratsville.

At the press junket for ‘The Bling Ring’ I chatted to the cast about the irony of doing a big splashy Cannes premiere for this film. They all agreed that there is something strange about doing publicity and looking perfect in designer clothes for a movie about kids being obsessed with celebrity, perfection and material things. Emma Watson was just delightful as always, she said she was never tempted to take anything from Paris Hilton’s house, and no, Alicia, it doesn’t matter if Paris wouldn’t notice.

Meanwhile, over at the interviews for ‘Fruitvale Station’, everyone was blown away by the ten minute standing ovation they received at the screening the night before. In Cannes, things can go either way. If an audience hates it, they enjoy some very vocal booing (instead of simply walking out early like at other festivals) if they love it, like ‘Fruitvale Station’, they will stay, sitting silently through the credits, then get to their feet and erupt in applause at the end. That is my favorite moment of any film festival. To be there in a screening with the cast, and watch the reaction on their faces as the crowd keeps on clapping… that is incredible. I joked with director Ryan Cooger and Octavia Spencer about how, if there was a film made about their last 24 hours, it would be totally normal, right? They were so excited and surprised by the reaction, it was infectious. Forget franchises and big blockbusters… this is what cinema is all about. Films that have been made with blood, sweat, passion and tears. Films that move you and you can’t shake, even a full day later. “Here’s to more Oscar buzz for the film about Oscar!” I said to Michael B Jordan, who gave me a high five and said he was going to use that one from now on.
(Look out for these interviews soon on Foxtel Movie Show in Australia!)

The interviews ran long so I couldn’t get to any actual screenings, but I went along to The Weinstein Company’s 2013 Presentation. There they rolled out the stars, like Nicole Kidman, Rooney Mara, Naomie Harris and the ‘Fruitvale’ cast, to show 2-5 minutes of their upcoming movies. And from what I saw, they are really pushing for the 2014 Academy Awards, with plenty of star driven dramas, a couple of edgy movies and a good few biopics.

We saw a trailer for ‘The Butler’, which you can watch online. This is the one with Forest Whitaker playing a real life White House butler, and an all-star cast playing former presidents Then there was a clip from ‘Aint Them Bodies Saints’ with Rooney Mara and Casey Affleck as outlaws (Rooney produced the film, Harvey Weinstein said she is “as good in the edit room as she is on screen”, and Rooney declined to reply, she’s shy). We saw a trailer for ‘August Osage Country’, based on a play by Tracy Letts and produced by George Clooney and Grant Heslov. The cast list for this one reads like an Oscar nominee list – Julia Roberts, Meryl Streep, Ewan McGregor, Abigail Breslin, Juliette Lewis, Chris Cooper, Sam Shepard, Dermot Mulroney and… Benedict Cumberbatch!

‘Salinger’ is a fantastic looking mystery documentary, about the reclusive author JD Salinger and what happened to him after he wrote ‘The Catcher In The Rye’. The trailer looks very dramatic and full of big names from the literary world. James Gray’s ‘The Immigrant’ is playing at the festival next week, it’s a period drama and we saw a quick clip showing a rage-filled Joaquin Phoenix scaring Marion Cotillard. I’ll be speaking to Marion and James hopefully next week; kind of relieved it won’t be Joaquin… that guy scares me! About 5 minutes of ‘Grace of Monaco’ was shown, with Cannes jury member Nicole Kidman as Princess Grace Kelly. It’s a biopic, about the time when Grace wanted to star in ‘Marnie’ for Hitchcock, but it clashed with the “greatest role of her life”… being the Princess of Monaco. Nicole has altered her voice for the film, and looks beautiful during the long, languishing slow zooms. From the little I saw, it feels like an old school movie, the score all strings and dramatic orchestral music underneath it all.

We saw a brief clip from ‘Only God Forgives’ which I CANNOT wait to see here next week. Once again Ryan is completely silent. I half expected a spoon of cereal to come from one of the sides of the frame. Kristen Scott Thomas was not silent, this is a role unlike any we’ve seen her in, all shocking crude dialogue and American accent. I’ll give you my thoughts on the film when I see it! There was an uplifting trailer for ‘One Chance’ a film based on British Got Talent winner Paul Potts, he of the unassuming face who busted out some brilliant Opera. The trailer for ‘Fruitvale Station’ was shown, then lastly, a trailer to a film that just screams Oscar… ‘Mandela: Long Walk To Freedom’. As the title suggests, this is a biopic of Nelson Mandela’s life, starring Idris Elba, and had me yelling “WHY has it taken this long for this to be made??” on the inside. It’s a perfect story for a movie – inspiring, sad, a true journey. Producer Anant Singh spoke briefly and said it has taken him years to get it going.

Mark my words, I thought, as I headed out into the cool night… people will be talking about Idris Elba and ‘Mandela’ come say… March next year.

Alicia Malone - For more from Alicia visit her official website here or follow her on twitter here.

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In this episode of Pod Save Our Screen, Maria and Blake break down one of the great T.V shows – BBC’s Luther, and get moist over Idris Elba.

WARNING: Our honesty contains some f*cking profanity. 

DOWNLOAD HERE

SUBSCRIBE HERE

The post POD SAVE OUR SCREEN #18: LUTHER SEASON ONE appeared first on Graffiti With Punctuation.

Thanks to Roadshow Entertainment we have 5 copies of The Dark Charisma of Adolf Hitler to giveaway (5 DVDs).

Official Synopsis:

Changing the world through war and suffering, how did a man such as Hitler dominate a nation of people? Award-winning historian Laurence Rees reveals the reasons behind Hitler’s unlikely appeal.

Adolf Hitler was, arguably, the most extraordinary leader who has ever lived. No one else so changed the state of the world and left behind such a wake of ruins as he did. Yet crucially, there has been no proper attempt to examine how and why so many people followed Hitler – ultimately to the destruction of their own country. These three films examine the key decisions Hitler took during the Second World War, to find out why others decided to push forward and achieve his goals, how Hitler manipulated existing beliefs in Germany, and why his leadership was so compelling.

How do you win? 

Comment: Seductive Evil

*Note you must be in Australia to win (as the DVDs are Region 4) See our full giveaway terms and conditions here.

The Dark Charisma of Adolf Hitler is available 1-05-13 on DVD

The post The Dark Charisma of Adolf Hitler DVD GIVEAWAY appeared first on Graffiti With Punctuation.

Waking with a start, my tired eyes struggled to focus. Wait, where am I? I asked myself, and… am I late for something? The room slowly came into view, and I remembered with a smile that I was in Cannes for the film festival, my second time here. Glancing at my two sleeping festival friends in the bed next to me (Rita and Nadia, we’ve shared apartments in a few different places around the world now… OK don’t get creepy with those thoughts) I crawled out of bed and saw that, as per usual, I had woken up five minutes before my alarm was due to go off. How do I do that? And… What a shame, because my alarm is Rick Ross’ Hustlin and I feel like a boogie.

I had planned to see the first film of the Official Competition, ‘Jeune et Jolie’ at 8:30am, but getting my press accreditation took longer than expected so I had to skip it. As the smiling volunteer handed me my pass, I was relieved to see the pink hue, though less relieved about how round my face looks in the photo. It must be stretched. Only explanation. If you are press and want to see the best films at Cannes, you have to get a coveted Rose badge. It’s a hierarchy here, and being a Rose allows you into all the screenings and press conferences first. I pity the Blues and Oranges of this world, and secretly enjoy feeling slightly superior as I walk past them. Side note: I have done nothing in this world to justify feeling superior.

Rushing through the rain I sat in a café with a pain au chocolat and café crème, musing about my lack of guilt eating such things in France (they use good products, so it must be healthy), and planning out my busy schedule of film watching and interviews. Yeah yeah, I know, tough life for me.

My first screening of the festival was Sofia Coppola’s ‘The Bling Ring’. It’s based on true events about a group of high school students who robbed the homes of celebrities like Paris Hilton and Lindsay Lohan. The most familiar face in the cast is Emma Watson, doing a very spot-on Valley Girl accent (“I wanna raawb”), but the rest of the kids are relative newcomers. As she did with her previous films, Sofia creates a mood rather than focusing on story or characters. In ‘Lost In Translation’ she gave us a feeling of jetlag and displacement, here it’s a dream-like sense of self-obsession and greed. The characters’ fixation with becoming famous and owning shiny things is almost sickening to watch because it’s just so true to today’s culture. With reality TV stars like Kim Kardashian and Lauren Conrad becoming famous for, well, living, it’s easy to imagine many teenagers today feeling like they also deserve to be famous and have all the latest things. ‘The Bling Ring’ was funnier than expected (intentional?), though the acting was a little over the top, which sometimes made it seem like a spoof. There were missed opportunities for Sofia to go harder with satire, but she doesn’t inject a point of view into the film. I stayed for the credits collecting my thoughts and listening to Frank Ocean’s ‘Super Rich Kids’ when I noticed a familiar name… Aussie Nash Edgerton, who apparently was the Stunt Coordinator. Which I imagine mainly involved a lot of jumping of high fences. Also spotted on my way out of the theatre: David and Margaret, chatting with a group of people about the film. I tried to listen in, and was almost caught, saved only by the Alicia-sized column close-by.

After staring longingly at a Nutella crepe but making a positive choice with salad (ugh) I headed to the press conference for ‘The Bling Ring’. Inside the cast and Sofia spoke about how the world has changed in the past few years in terms of celebrity culture. Sofia said it’s a world very different to the celebrity one she grew up in (unsaid: her family has actual talent) and Emma Watson compared magazines to comic books, with readers creating their own narratives from the photos. Emma also spoke about how she is “Not running away from Harry Potter, I’m proud of what I did. Now I’m lucky to be working with so many different people.” She certainly is not Hermoine in this film!
I’ll have my chance to sit down with Sofia, Emma and the cast tomorrow.

Another cast I’ll be talking to is the one from ‘Fruitvale Station’, which was my second film of the day. It premiered to critical acclaim at Sundance earlier this year, and after finally getting to see it I COMPLETELY understand why. Michael B Jordan is incredible in his role, playing real life shooting victim Oscar Grant. In 2009 in Oakland, California, Oscar was accidentally shot by a police officer, who allegedly wanted to tase him, but pulled out his gun instead. The film starts with real iphone footage from the event, which director Ryan Coogler uses to build an overwhelming feeling of tension and dread for the rest of the film. We get to know, and like, Oscar the day before the shooting; all the while knowing what will eventually come. It’s heartbreaking, touching, but also quite funny, plus doesn’t try to glorify Oscar for manipulative reasons – you see his good and bad sides.

Here’s hoping, I thought as I set my alarm for way too early o’clock, the Oscar buzz continues for the excellent film about Oscar… Goodnight.

Alicia Malone - For more from Alicia visit her official website here or follow her on twitter here.

The post Alicia Malone’s Cannes Diary: Day 2 appeared first on Graffiti With Punctuation.

Tiger & Bunny respectively

Think you know superheroes? Think again as Sunrise (creators of the mech sensation Gundam) tackle the next step of superheroes; commercialization, exploitation and profiteering.

Many comic books of late have explored this cynical stream, but no film or series is yet to tackle it, and given it is Japan it’s an interesting take to say the least.

Sternbild city is a metropolis where the Next live. Like the mutants in X-Men these people are born with these super human abilities, but unlike X-Men they are adored to the point that they all star in a reality TV program called Hero TV where they vie for points (who is the most heroic?) do not work together and strive to be the “King of the heroes” at the end of each season. It is an understatement in fact as channels are dedicated to these heroes’ as they stop all sorts of crime from petty thieves to giant monsters. Their super powers are treated as trivial as each has a different and ‘better’ one ranked by the program and sponsored by better companies according to rank – the protagonist Wild Tiger has just lost his low-level sponsor and is threatened with cancellation from the program. He meets with a new agent who updates his look and partners him with another new hero; Barnaby. They contend with each other and it is an uphill battle but eventually they look past their indifferences and begin to thwart the real threat.

Kicking it probably wont work…

Tiger & Bunny (referring to Wild Tiger and Barnaby) is a strange series that takes a few episodes to really get into. The characters are initially quite off-putting and uninteresting but when the real story takes off they become the most integral parts of the series. The first few episodes suffer from some pretty basic plot, but patience is key with Tiger & Bunny; stick with it and you will be rewarded with an excellent story and a great satire of super heroes.

Of course location is also important, and a majority of the satire comes from a Japanese take on American superheroes. It may seem silly and maybe even offensive for fans of the genre, but this is a mask for the excellent drama and dark themes lying within. Behind the ego and superfluous catch phrases are a scar and a great story.

Clichés turn into something much more appreciative, and ultimately each character and their interactions are such strong elements that even the satirical nature of the show is lost in excellent character development. This stems from the overarching plot which turns from crumby superhero reality fare to dark and disturbing plot twists that actually make sense.

Siren Visual has made Tiger & Bunny a flagship product of sorts. Released in two parts, the first box-set is beautifully housed in a slipcase. The cardboard box reveals gorgeous character art and both discs. Next to them are 4 mini-magazines of the fake publication ‘Monthly Hero’ as well as four Hero cards. A fantastic collector’s item. The part 2 box set contains the last four cards and magazines (each focus on a different character).

Another of the Next’s

More than just its flashy appearance, Tiger & Bunny is an over-stated gem; get past the flashy costumes, staged action and scenery chewing catch phrases for a deeply involving story and superb character development.

Kwenton Bellette - follow Kwenton on Twitter here: @Kwenton

Tiger & Bunny Part 01 is out now on DVD and Blu-ray from Siren Visual with part 02 to be released shortly.

The post Out-There Anime: Tiger and Bunny appeared first on Graffiti With Punctuation.

In this episode of Pod Save Our Screen, Maria and Blake review Star Trek Into Darkness and it’s mostly an actual proper review an that….

WARNING: Our honesty contains some f*cking profanity. 

DOWNLOAD HERE

SUBSCRIBE HERE

The post POD SAVE OUR SCREEN #17: STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS appeared first on Graffiti With Punctuation.

Thanks to Transmission Films we have 3 copies of I, Anna to giveaway (3 DVDs).

Official Synopsis:

London-set psychological thriller I, ANNA is a film that crosses genre boundaries. It charts the story of a woman whose life is turned upside down after a singles party date goes wrong, and the impossible love of the detective tracking her down.

How  do you win?

Comment: “SPOILER’S SHE’S NOT A ROBOT” 

*Note you must be in Australia to win (as the Blu-Rays are Region 4) See our full giveaway terms and conditions here.

I, Anna is available now on DVD 

The post I, Anna DVD GIVEAWAY appeared first on Graffiti With Punctuation.

With the announcement of the lineup of the Sydney Film Festival (SFF), this week’s question is: What are your must see films for the SFF 2013?

Kwenton Bellette

The Sydney Film Festival this year has one of the strongest line-ups I have seen from it so far, proof-positive of Festival Director, Nashen Moodley’s impressive efforts as he refines himself in this sophomore year. Here is my top five must-see and top three already-seen but don’t miss it everyone else picks!

Rounding up my top three already-seen is the slow burning, utterly entrancing Beyond the Hills; this slice of Romanian new-wave is a religious and social allegory that will stay with you for days. Next up is Kitano’s first ever sequel effort. The master-class of crime fiction that is Outrage Beyond; a film Outrage existed for to set-up the utter brilliance by stark comparison.  Finally, another Asian auteur’s brilliant mind goes to work with Kim Ki-duk’s Pieta. A brutal mother and son ala dysfunction extreme that is not for the faint-hearted.

Onto the films most tempting me to go to SFF. Here are the obvious ones; Only God Forgives, Stoker, Upstream Color and You’re Next. The less obvious – Penance; Kiyoshi Kurosawa, the master of the fractured Japanese psyche explores just that in a six hour series of murder and redemption that SFF is bold enough to play. The Rambler, a road-movie meets the kitchen sink that is as Lynchian as films can possibly be judging from the trailer. Pluto, the darling of the Busan film festival, a disturbing school drama from South Korea, adding to the new wave of youth stories and talent stemming from there. Longing For The Rain, an erotic ghost story set in Beijing (but a Hong Kong film so there’ll be risque flesh aplenty) and I’m just a sucker for Asian urban malaise. Speaking of the exact opposite, here’s North Korea with their utterly communist sensibilities in Comrade Kim Goes Flying.  Given the recent interest in this part of the world, and my personal interest in it a North Korean production; it will be an interesting festival addition indeed. Finally, Cheap Thrills which has received nothing but buzz, although I know little about it other than it delighted audiences at SXSW and esteemed colleagues raved about it.

Nicholas Brodie

My picks are Before Midnight, The Iceman, Only God Forgives, Upstream Colour and Pussy Riot – A Punk Prayer.

As much as I am looking forward to seeing the finale to the Sunrise trilogy – that rare thing that promises to match all expectations – I am most anticipating The Iceman. If you’ve read the book The Ice Man by Philip Carlo you’ll know just how evil Richard Kuklinski is and with the cold Michael Shannon stepping up to play the role, even if the script possibly doesn’t deliver the performance should be something to haunt your dreams.

Lisa Malouf

The SFF program can seem daunting at first, with a couple of hundred films to choose from.  There are so many that stand out to me, but I’ve narrowed it down to five in particular that I’m really looking forward to (only one of which I’ve seen before).

Before Midnight

This is the third part in Richard Linklater’s trilogy that began with Before Sunrise eighteen years ago. I’m looking forward to seeing Ethan Hawke & Julie Delpy’s characters develop, as they approach middle age. You can actually catch the whole trilogy at SFF.

Computer Chess

This comedy set in the 80s about a group of super-nerds at a chess-software programmers tournament sounds hilarious. The guy on the publicity shot on the SFF site even looks like a very young Bill Gates.

It Always Rains on Sunday

This classic postwar British crime drama from 1947 stars young John McCallum and Googie Withers, in the year before they were married. [I had the pleasure of working with the wonderful couple for a few months when they were both in their late 70s. They were the most amazing people, with so many fantastic film and theatre history stories to tell]. This film is screening at the AGNSW, so there’s also the opportunity to check out the gallery’s exhibitions while you’re there.

The Past

I can’t wait to see Asghar Farhadi’s follow up to his wonderful (and emotionally powerful) film The Separation, which many Australians were introduced to at the SFF two years ago. Looking forward to seeing Bérénice Béjo in as speaking role, after her delightful performance in The Artists.

Rear Window

If you haven’t seen this Alfred Hitchcock classic before, here is a fabulous opportunity to see it on the big screen. Of the two available screenings, try to get to the historic Hayden Orpheum at Cremorne if you can. Also not to be missed is the companion piece at the SFF Hub: The 20-minute Rear Window loop, which reconstructs the view out of leading man Jimmy Stewart’s apartment in the film.

And one more thing…

The SFF Hub: this is DEFINITELY a place you shouldn’t miss! After i’s highly successful first year in 2012, it’s back again at the Lower Town Hall, even bigger than last year, and open until midnight. There’s lots of free stuff: screenings, talks, exhibitions, DJs, performances, a Film Club, a trivia night, phone charging stations and Wi-Fi. There’s also food and drink available, as well as a film-themed bookstore.

Cameron Williams

Only God Forgives

Director Nicolas Winding Refn and Ryan Gosling follow up Drive with a film about a kickboxing grudge match inspired by Bloodsport.  Heel-kick this film into your SFF schedule now.

You’re Next

A film so good that filmmaker Gareth Evans (The Raid) personally bought the rights to distribute it in Indonesia (his place of residence).  Being pitched as 2013s Cabin in the Woods with parallels already being drawn by critics to Wes Craven’s slasher revival Scream.

Mood Indigo

The new film by director Michel Gondry, have you seen his body of work?  Book your tickets now.

For Those In Peril

Selected for the Cannes Critics’ Week competition, For Those in Peril is the feature debut of short filmmaker Paul Wright.  Set in a remote Scottish fishing community this film tells a story of grief, seagoing folklore and redemption. 

Stories We Tell

A documentary by Sarah Polley examining her family tree.  Polley is putting a lot of personal information out in the open and you can’t help but feel this is going to be an emotionally engaging film.

Upstream Colour

Shane “I broke people’s brains with Primer” Carruth is back.  His new film has been described as an “experimental science fiction film”.  I am more than willing to be a test subject.

Downloaded

The story of the free peer-to-peer file sharing internet service, Napster, is told in this documentary directed by Alex Winter (yes, Bill from the Bill and Ted movies).  Napster brought the music industry to its knees while starting an internet revolution in the domain of file sharing and it will be interesting to see the tale of Napster’s pioneers who were perceived as pirates at the height of its success.

Andrew Buckle

The 2013 SFF lineup is a field of riches. On first glance it revealed only about a dozen names I recognized, but by digging deeper a huge diversity of films provoked interest and cutting my scheduled line-up down to 30 was a difficult process. But, it has been done. Here are some of the films in my schedule that I feel are must-sees:

The Laos-set Australian production, The Rocket, the lone film from the lineup that I have already seen, is wonderful and comes highly recommended. I am looking forward to the audience response, which has sent a towering precedent for the official competition to match.

Only God Forgives is the latest Nicolas Winding Refn-Ryan Gosling collaboration and looks to have all of the Drive-awesome we are expecting, but on a whole new playing field. Bangkok. From the trailers it looks absolutely stunning, Kristen Scott Thomas, the head of a powerful crime organization I believe, is unrecognisable, and it will undoubtedly be extremely violent. With Refn already a winner of the SFF Award (Bronson, 2009), this will surely be an unforgettable big-screen, packed-crowd experience.

Sarah Polley’s Stories We Tell received enormous praise at last year’s Toronto International Film Festival, and Polley is fast becoming a promising young filmmaker. Away From Her and Take This Waltz serve as proof. I have the word of Festival Director, Nashen Moodley, that this film, a moving portrait of Polley’s family – her many siblings, actor-writer father, and actress mother – and a legacy of secrets and lies, is going to rattle audiences.

The Act of Killing, winner of the Audience Award (doco) at 2013 Berlinale, sounds incredibly powerful. Documentary filmmaker Joshua Oppenheimer captures Anwar Congo and other 1965-66 Sumatran Death Squad members recreating their crimes. Maverick directors Errol Morris and Werner Herzog got on board as producers after seeing an early cut of the film, which suggests it’s going to be something pretty special.

Richard Linklater’s Before Sunrise and Before Sunset are perfect films. They introduce us to and reunite us with the fascinating lives of Jesse (Ethan Hawke) and Celine (Julie Delpy), in what are two of the most charming films ever made about romantic longing and existential discussion. I can’t imagine any fans of these two films missing out on Before Midnight, which, like Sunset before it, is set nine years after the preceding film.

Beyond the Hills screened at the Cannes Film Festival last year, winning Best Screenplay and Best Actress, and though I have been trying to catch it during the festival rounds it seems a release date has still not been confirmed. The last film from Romanian auteur Christian Mungiu, 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days, won the Palme d’Or in 2007 and this has been receiving similar acclaim.

Asghar Farhadi, director of A Separation, which won the 2011 SFF Award, is back with a highly anticipated new film called The Past, which screens at the festival fresh from Cannes. A must-see purely because of Farhadi.

Others that fascinate me include Monsoon Shootout, Grisgris, Prince Avalanche, Upstream Colour, We Steal Secrets: The Story of Wikileaks and Computer Chess.

Blake Howard

The Past

After being blind-sided by the raw emotional resonance of Asgar Farhadi’s Oscar winning dramatic masterpiece A Separation, there’s no way I could possibly miss anything he’s involved with from now on.

Only God Forgives

It’s not since the Scorsese/De Niro collaborations of the 1970s that there’s been a more exciting director/Actor pairing. This time it’s a cop exacting personal and violent vengeance against a Thai criminal – at the end of the strings of a glacial matriarch (Kristen Scott Thomas). Nicholas Windig Refn + Ryan Gosling + lyrical cinematic violence = tickets bought.
Before Midnight

The finale to Richard Linklater’s beautifully authentic and intimate love story revisits Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy, married with children and trying to nourish the dying flames of their iconic romance. With fluid direction and the collaborative scripting I hope they do justice to the series.

Stoker

An all-star Aussie stacked cast including Nicole Kidman, Mia Wasichowska, Jackie Weaver and Brit Matthew Goode, form the cast for the master Korean auteur Chan-wook (Old Boy). It’s Park’s first venture into english language cinema. And if those ingredients weren’t tantalising enough there’s the ‘WTF Factor’ that Prison Break star Wentworth Miller penned the script.

Most picked films from the GWP team:

1. Only God Forgives
2. Upstream Colour
3. Before Midnight
4. Beyond the Hills
5. Stoker
6. You’re Next
7. Computer Chess
8. The Past
9. Stories We Tell

The post GWP Roundtable: What are your must see films for the SFF 2013? appeared first on Graffiti With Punctuation.

Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson, set to grace our screens in four films in 2013 – G.I Joe, Fast and Furious 6 and Pain & Gain are the others – gives quite an affecting performance in the forgettable, often-preposterous Snitch, a crime thriller directed by former stunt man Ric Roman Waugh.

When his estranged son, Jason (Rafi Gavron), is charged for possession of ecstasy, the victim of a setup, John Matthews (Johnson), an owner of a construction business, desperately tries to help him escape a minimum 10-year prison sentence.John meets with U.S Attorney Joanne Keeghan (a snippy Susan Sarandon), who is in the midst of running an aggressive anti-drug campaign and cracking down on distribution. She is immovable on the newly introduced mandatory sentencing, but is willing to compromise and allow John a chance to reduce Jason’s sentence. John agrees to infiltrate and provide intel on a local drug ring run by Malik (Michael K. Williams in less-cool Omar mode).

The premise is far-fetched, the message thinly addressed. It is clear that Waugh and his screenwriting partner Justin Haythe (Revolutionary Road) are in opposition to these aggressive mandatory sentences that do not take into account first time convictions and potential set up of innocents, and rely on the involvement of criminals cooperating as informants who have personal benefits in their interest. What happens down the line when an informant is released and runs into the one who informed on him?

Jason’s decision not to turn on anyone is admirable. In this case he didn’t know anyone other than the friend who set him up, but when his father ends up being involved in a high-speed freeway pursuit, risking the lives of motorists in the process, it is hard to justify any need for these lengths. The father/son drama is overdone and somewhat hypocritical in this regard, and what is asked of John – further undercover work to catch a kingpin, and not merely a top-level pusher – far exceeds what should have been expected of him. The moralities in this film are a concern.

Johnson uses his hefty screen presence (years as a WWF entertainer) in delivering one of his most considered and dramatic performances. We back the guy and feel concern for him, considering his prep research into drug cartels was Wikipedia. Though his relationship with Jason is distant, and he is separated from the boy’s mother (Melina Kanakaredes), he has built a new family with Analisa (Nadine Velazquez). Like John’s assisting employee, Daniel (John Bernthal), who finds himself lured back into the crime game after doing time and swearing to never return, John puts his family first and his kamikaze heroics are more affecting than they have business being.

The initial transportation sequence is drawn out, and this builds some effective tension. The final chase sequence is also quite well staged but it is a pity that the photography and editing throughout, even during simple face-to-face exchanges, is so appalling.

Despite the thin politics, familiar undercover narc premise and lackluster direction, Snitch has compelling sequences and is an intermittently moving story about a man willing to go to any lengths to support his family. Fans of The Rock will likely be impressed, and he and Bernthal make a pretty good team, but this is not a film I will remember for long, nor think about again.

★★

Andrew Buckle - follow Andy on Twitter here: @buckle22

The post REVIEW: Snitch (2013) appeared first on Graffiti With Punctuation.