Wolf Creek 2 Opening Weekend Box Office

Well, some good news for the Aussie film industry came out this week: Wolf Creek 2 killed its way to the top of the Box Office! It beat out Wolf of Wall Street which has been sitting in the number one spot since January and the Mark Wahlberg war drama Lone Survivor also released on the weekend, by making a cool $1,681,636.

It still has a way to go to take the top spot of Aussie made films box office, with Crocodile Dundee racking up $47 million with its run in 1986. Love that movie!

Mike and I would like to congratulate the filmmakers and cannot wait to see it! Our tickets are purchased for the Sat night session and we will probably back it up with 12 Years a Slave if that's still showing as well, so look out for our thoughts on the films next week.

Apologies for not writing much in last couple of weeks, I have been flat out with work, sons birthday, editing an advertisement and some study, so in watching terms all I have managed is a few Downton Abbey episodes with my wife as she is rewatching them. Might do a post about that soon too as its surprisingly good.

Box Office stats came from the Motion Picture Distributors Association of Australia

Filth

A very fitting title for this one.  Violent, gross, racist, sexist... FILTHY.  Think Bad Lieutenant (Nick Cage) crossed with Trainspotting.  *edit* - just looked up this one and see it was based on Irvine Welsh's novel.  That explains the Trainspotting!

In Filth we are thrust straight into the insane life of police officer Bruce Robertson played by James McAvoy.  What this guy does in a day most of wouldn't do in a life time.   We follow him through a montage of drinking, drugs, sex, terrible police work and overall just being an absolute wanker.  But amongst this chaos is a deeper story and we can see there is more to Bruce than meets the eye.

It's quite an engaging film to watch.  Snappy editing provides a fairly fast pace and when the story backs off a bit there's enough on screen appealing to our 'depraved' curiosity to keep watching intently.

I felt a bit like the movie didn't know quite which direction to take. At times it was completely hilarious, others quite clever, also a little serious at times and others just down right crazy.  Although this was probably deliberate, by the end I was still waiting for the POINT!  I get there's a lot of filth in the world but what are you saying about it?  This may have been driven home better in the book methinks. 

McAvoy is good playing Robertson.  Couldn't fault his acting.  However, to me he felt poorly casted.  I don't know if it is just his face, or something about his take on the character but something didn't fit here.  No other performances really worth mentioning except maybe Jim Broadbent as the doctor. Under the influence of certain 'enhancers' his character would have provided plenty of  "WTF" moments.   In fact even without there were enough.

There were a couple of scene's though that had me literally laughing out loud which is an achievement in a movie when watching alone I reckon.  One involved a very interesting game I might try out at the next work party involving a xerox machine.  The finale of this though was priceless - "Fuck me with that horses cock!......  What????".    The second involved some drink spiking of Bruce's 'best friend' Bladesey.  Anyway I apologise for describing scene's if you haven't seen it yet.

Overall quite an interesting and unique watch.  Definitely won't suit those with milder taste.  If you're a fan of Welsh's work this will be a must see.  I loved Trainspotting but don't think Filth is up there in the same category.

P.S - what the fuck is up with that PIG?


6/10

IMDB Info

ZOMBEAVERS!

 

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Ender's Game

MORE SCI-FI!!!!!!   Always wanting MORE MORE MORE!

Even better when you find GOOD Sci-fi, and Ender's Game delivers on all levels.  It's based on the book by Orson Scott Card and Directed by South African Gavin Hood who has done other quite large studio flicks like X-men:Origins and Rendition. I loved every minute of it, but I have a feeling this one won't be for everyone.

I'm a complete sucker for good kids movies.  And 99.9% of these were created in the 80's and early 90's.  Growing up during this time was obviously a large contributing factor to this opinion however I don't think anyone can argue that the movies made back then just had some sort of charm that we rarely see these days (sorry I know Guy and I crap on about the 80's a lot, but hey :).  With the incredible animation and special effects we enjoy today the studio's are creating for a completely different children's market and I understand our older movies wouldn't "cut it" for today's younger audience.  This is why I am so impressed with 'Ender's Game'.  It uses all the modern tricks but still captures the essence of a good 80's story telling.  There's no unnecessary violence or gore, no swearing - just a great story presented beautifully and paced to perfection.

So what's it about?  If you're old enough you will remember a movie called 'The Last Star Fighter'.  Very similar story elements between the two.  Set in the future where Earth has survived a large scale invasion by a race known as the 'Formics' and is preparing to go on the offensive to prevent future attacks.  Humans have learned that children possess superior decision making skills during battle so are trained to lead and fight at an early age.  The best of these are promoted to the top of the academy to lead the attack on the enemy.  Ender Wiggin is one such candidate and the story follows his progression through the academy and eventual role in the attack.

'Ender's Game' is just a good fun movie.  Wiggin, played by Asa Butterfield,  is a very likable character and by the end of the film I was sold on him being a born leader and strategist.  Harrison Ford was pretty decent as Colonel Graff, man he's looking old though. Poor Indy.  Ben Kingsley's character Mazar Rackham was completely destroyed by Kingsey's terrible attempt of a New Zealand accent, it was actually quite hilarious.  It probably doesn't sound too bad for those not familiar with the accent, like Leo's South African accent in Blood Diamond which was apparently terrible but sounded good to me.  Anyway, at the very least he is good for a couple of laughs.

Like all modern day big budget movies the cinematography is top notch and special effects seamlessly crisp.  The action scene's were incredibly well shot, and contrary to current trends were not rushed or over edited.  Just overall a damn enjoyable watch!   A reminder again this is a kids movie so if you take your Sci-Fi a bit too seriously then maybe give it a miss.  Personally I love having a few reds and letting myself be young again!

8/10

IMDB Info

All is Lost

When it comes to the quality of this film, all is definitely not lost. 

Writer and Director J.C Chandor delivers an incredibly realistic survival story set in the vast Indian Ocean.  We are introduced immediately to the only character in the movie (we never learn his name), played by Robert Redford as he wakes to find his yacht damaged by a rogue shipping container floating in the middle of nowhere overnight.  It's nothing but survival from this point onwards as he faces a string of bad luck yet luckily has the Macgyver-esk skills to overcome most obstacles.

A warning to all those action heads out there - this is a very in depth, slow burning movie.  There are only a handful of words spoken and every event is played out in absolute detail and precision as though you were on the boat watching directly.  It is beautifully shot, but one thing they especially nailed was the underwater to above water transitions and vise-versa - absolutely seamless.  Being a single boat in the middle of the ocean, the team could concentrate heavily on creating the perfect sets for in and out of the yacht.  Inside of the yacht was quite spectacular and was even built to be able to capsize which provided some incredible internal action shots during some stormy scene's.

When a movie only has a single character - casting must become the single most important decision I reckon.  If you're not captivated by the character then yes, All Is Lost.   To be honest at first I thought Redford might have been the wrong decision.  He looked almost too far past expiry to pull off the role, quite slow and sore.  That said though, about half way through I was sold.  Fantastic performance.  He never tried to over compensate for the lack of dialogue by over-acting his emotions.  I think the reason why I initially doubted was because it was so different to the usual acting we see but after adjusting and thinking on it, it felt very authentic.  Our reactions when alone are quite different to with company and I think Redford and Chandor nailed it.

I love survival stories.  I remember reading 'Hatchet' in school which was a great little story and then later saw movies like 'Survive the Savage Sea' and of course 'Cast Away' which was just brilliant.  I would compare 'All is Lost' a little to 'Cast Away' in some elements from the time Hanks left the Island.  If you're a fan of this type of stuff also then definitely add to the watch list. I originally gave it a 9 and in lot of area's it definitely deserved but I took it down to an 8 after considering re-watch value.  Will definitely be watching again but will give it a few years I think to recharge ready for the slow burn once again.

8/10

IMDB Info