Seen at the 1930s Majestic Cinema in The Entrance, Central Coast, NSW
Bea says: I was interested in seeing this as I had read and heard that the screen versions of John Green's books were attracting a new, young audience into cinema (The Fault in our Stars), and indeed, of the numbers making up the audience on a chilly off-season weeknight in The Entrance, many were young people in their teens and early twenties.
I wasn't overly impressed with the film however, The story was rather weak overall I thought, although it did have some nice moments (the road trip sequence is probably the best); the early girl-next-door dynamic is pretty hackneyed, and the "rebellious" teenager the girl next door (Margo Spiegelman, played rather averagely I thought by Carla Delevingne) grows up into is frankly unbelievable. I did have a moment of feeling rather old when I basically agreed with Margo's mother's assessment of her actions (she's attention seeking and will come back when she runs out of money, or people stop talking about her). Her character is not particularly likeable - the night of taking revenge on people who were in her view somehow involved in her teenage boyfriend's betrayal of her made me feel uneasy actually. I did not at all like how Margo was being portrayed in the film at that stage, and only began to feel more comfortable when her friends began to develop a more realistic and rounded view of her.
The film is really a coming-of-age tale, mostly of Q, a swotty, earnest young man trying to get into university to study medicine. I related much more to him than to Margo. The story's hook or device is to use Margo to introduce Q to a wilder side of his nature, and in searching for her, he finds parts of himself he was previously not aware of, and ultimately comes to value his friendships with other ordinary people all the more. Other characters in the film go on similar journeys - Radar learns to be open about himself rather than hide, and Lacey finds that who people really are matters much more than how popular they are, or how they look. These are quite nice messages, and I was much more interested in these characters' developments than I was in the wooden and two-dimensional Margo.
I am aware that the Margo character is basically a device, and is not "real"; but I still felt that the film was trying to focus on her a little too much, particularly as its bankable star, to the detriment of the other characters and storylines. I may give the book a read...
**1/2
Cecil says: None of the characters really spoke to me, to be honest; not even the straight and boring Q, particularly once he went on that voyage of discovery. Life was really much more ordinary and banal as I reached the end of my school days than anything going on in Paper Towns.
Actually the whole notion of parting from long-held friends and starting new journeys only really kicked in for me as I left university, not school. And of course in 1970s Britain, there was no end-of-school Prom (whereas we did organise a big End of Uni party). That's all changed now and the notion of 'Prom' has made its way across the Atlantic into most UK schools these days to an extent I could never have imagined in my day.
Of course the best ever coming-of-age movie was American Graffiti, made in the 1970s and set in the 1950s. But that had plot, music and cars. It was a fantastic film I could see over and over again.
There was a very middle-American car moment in Paper Towns, when the three boys part and go back to their (very safe and conventional) cars before driving off in different directions. But it had none of the impact of those 1950s car scenes.
Like Bea, I found Margo rather tiresome, and very far from the Robin Williams Dead Poets Society type of character coaxing teenagers out of their shells. She did indeed come across as very egotistical and not someone I'd chase after, however long I'd admired her.
And those last scenes, as Q catches the bus back from New York State to Florida... really! Anybody who has ever taken long-distance buses in the US knows that that would require two or three changes of coach and there is absolutely no way he'd make it back in time to join the Prom fun for the final scenes.
Having said all that, I did enjoy the film and would give it a slightly higher rating than Bea.
***
Saturday, 18 July 2015
Saturday, 4 July 2015
Love & Mercy
Seen at the Roxy Cinema in Nowra, NSW
Bea says: A fantastic film which I really enjoyed - this tells the story of Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys through the making of Pet Sounds and afterwards and then again in the 1990s when, after years of drink, drugs and medication for supposed schizophrenia, he meets his second wife-to-be and slowly breaks free of the grip of his "doctor", who has come to control all aspects of his life.
John Cusack plays Wilson well. This is a packed storyline which doesn't drag at all - we see aspects of Wilson's childhood with his critical and sometimes brutal father, the difficulties he experienced with his fellow Beach Boys as he tried to carve out a creative musical direction for himself and them, and the extreme difficulty he had in breaking free of the people controlling him later on, as well as how all these experiences may have related to each other. The story is open about Wilson's experiences hearing voices throughout his life, and is an interesting, and at times quite positive, exploration of mental illness, with good portrayal of the crude and often over-used medications of the 1980s and early 90s. It is pointed out in the closing credits that Wilson's diagnosis of paranoid schizophrenia was overturned, and there is some great, relatively contemporary footage of Wilson performing his solo work at the end too.
A definite must-see for fans, this is also a really interesting bio for those who are not fans, or weren't aware of the back story behind this interesting musician.
****
Cecil says: A very enjoyable way to spend a Sunday morning. I always liked the Beach Boys' music anyway (though funnily enough I've never bought any of their records - something I might change having seen this film).
As someone who sings but actually has no musical background or training, I was fascinated also by how Wilson worked to put together some of his best work in the studios. And it was great to see some of the backing musicians they used, who were mostly blokes much older than Wilson and, as one of them said, had worked already with all the greats: Sinatra, Martin, Spector etc, and Wilson was something else!
The film misses out key moments in his life: what happened to him (and to the whole Beach Boys thing) in the 70s and 80s? How did he get involved at all with the quack psychologist? How on earth did the psychologist get himself so tied up in Wilson's affairs that he had a new will made out leaving everything over to him (and what on earth can a psychologist have been thinking to go down that path)?
I guess Wilson had some say in what sections of his life were revealed, and that's fair enough. The story they put across is compelling and very engaging.
The horrendous father reminds me of other celeb fathers who influence their offspring in such negative ways (I'm thinking Michael Jackson, and a certain tennis player in the news at the moment over here). But as Wilson himself says, there's something about his father's violence that led him to the creative heights he reached.
Elizabeth Banks is very believable, as the car saleswoman who falls for him and eventually helps him escape.
****
Bea says: A fantastic film which I really enjoyed - this tells the story of Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys through the making of Pet Sounds and afterwards and then again in the 1990s when, after years of drink, drugs and medication for supposed schizophrenia, he meets his second wife-to-be and slowly breaks free of the grip of his "doctor", who has come to control all aspects of his life.
John Cusack plays Wilson well. This is a packed storyline which doesn't drag at all - we see aspects of Wilson's childhood with his critical and sometimes brutal father, the difficulties he experienced with his fellow Beach Boys as he tried to carve out a creative musical direction for himself and them, and the extreme difficulty he had in breaking free of the people controlling him later on, as well as how all these experiences may have related to each other. The story is open about Wilson's experiences hearing voices throughout his life, and is an interesting, and at times quite positive, exploration of mental illness, with good portrayal of the crude and often over-used medications of the 1980s and early 90s. It is pointed out in the closing credits that Wilson's diagnosis of paranoid schizophrenia was overturned, and there is some great, relatively contemporary footage of Wilson performing his solo work at the end too.
A definite must-see for fans, this is also a really interesting bio for those who are not fans, or weren't aware of the back story behind this interesting musician.
****
Cecil says: A very enjoyable way to spend a Sunday morning. I always liked the Beach Boys' music anyway (though funnily enough I've never bought any of their records - something I might change having seen this film).
As someone who sings but actually has no musical background or training, I was fascinated also by how Wilson worked to put together some of his best work in the studios. And it was great to see some of the backing musicians they used, who were mostly blokes much older than Wilson and, as one of them said, had worked already with all the greats: Sinatra, Martin, Spector etc, and Wilson was something else!
The film misses out key moments in his life: what happened to him (and to the whole Beach Boys thing) in the 70s and 80s? How did he get involved at all with the quack psychologist? How on earth did the psychologist get himself so tied up in Wilson's affairs that he had a new will made out leaving everything over to him (and what on earth can a psychologist have been thinking to go down that path)?
I guess Wilson had some say in what sections of his life were revealed, and that's fair enough. The story they put across is compelling and very engaging.
The horrendous father reminds me of other celeb fathers who influence their offspring in such negative ways (I'm thinking Michael Jackson, and a certain tennis player in the news at the moment over here). But as Wilson himself says, there's something about his father's violence that led him to the creative heights he reached.
Elizabeth Banks is very believable, as the car saleswoman who falls for him and eventually helps him escape.
****
Strangerland
Seen at Roxy Cinema in Nowra, NSW
Bea says: I was keen to see this little known (to me anyway) Australian film starring Nicole Kidman and Hugo Weaving. The action takes place in small outback town in what is presumably western NSW, and centres on a family who have recently moved there, as the husband/father has just taken up a position as a pharmacist. The family have recently arrived, a heatwave is underway, and before long the reasons behind the move and the cracks in family relationships become apparent. Both teenage children go missing, and a dust storm rolls in. A search takes place and yet more mystery is revealed, both in family relationships and in the local indigenous mythology.
Kidman plays her role as somewhat purposeless and slightly driven mad mother and wife well, and there are also good performances from Hugo Weaving as the very convincing town sheriff. Kidman's character is the centre of the film, in a fruitless search for her lost youth (perhaps symbolising her search for her daughter), although some of the subplots and storylines would have benefited from fuller exploration rather than hints.
Ultimately the film leaves the plot partially unresolved, but the complex relationships are interesting to watch and it is nicely shot so quite a feast for the eyes - the dust storm itself particularly.
Worth a watch.
***
Cecil says: Actually, Bea has said all it's possible to say without spoiling the plot.
As a non-Aussie, I was struck by how well the film portrayed the feel of small town outback Australia, though I have only ever really experienced it from the safety of the long-distance bus, with my nearest contact being those roadside stop-offs you get in the middle of nowhere.
Kidman is fantastic in this role; she really is the incarnation of woman settler in Australia (coming after her role in the wonderful Australia five years ago). Who else can possibly play these sorts of roles? And how long can she go on playing them herself?
Her character is slightly disturbing, as in fact are all the characters portrayed, in particular within the family who take centre stage. Hugo Weaving's sheriff is probably the most likeable of the characters.
I've never actually been in a sandstorm like that, and am thankful having seen how it was portrayed in the film. But I can really imagine the Wild West feel that followed in this small country town, with teenagers on the rampage making it very unsettling for an urban-type like the family in this piece.
The uncertainty over the ending leaves you, well, uncertain, but I guess that is the point the director was trying to get across. In families such as this, are things ever fully resolved? Do they need to be?
***.5
Bea says: I was keen to see this little known (to me anyway) Australian film starring Nicole Kidman and Hugo Weaving. The action takes place in small outback town in what is presumably western NSW, and centres on a family who have recently moved there, as the husband/father has just taken up a position as a pharmacist. The family have recently arrived, a heatwave is underway, and before long the reasons behind the move and the cracks in family relationships become apparent. Both teenage children go missing, and a dust storm rolls in. A search takes place and yet more mystery is revealed, both in family relationships and in the local indigenous mythology.
Kidman plays her role as somewhat purposeless and slightly driven mad mother and wife well, and there are also good performances from Hugo Weaving as the very convincing town sheriff. Kidman's character is the centre of the film, in a fruitless search for her lost youth (perhaps symbolising her search for her daughter), although some of the subplots and storylines would have benefited from fuller exploration rather than hints.
Ultimately the film leaves the plot partially unresolved, but the complex relationships are interesting to watch and it is nicely shot so quite a feast for the eyes - the dust storm itself particularly.
Worth a watch.
***
Cecil says: Actually, Bea has said all it's possible to say without spoiling the plot.
As a non-Aussie, I was struck by how well the film portrayed the feel of small town outback Australia, though I have only ever really experienced it from the safety of the long-distance bus, with my nearest contact being those roadside stop-offs you get in the middle of nowhere.
Kidman is fantastic in this role; she really is the incarnation of woman settler in Australia (coming after her role in the wonderful Australia five years ago). Who else can possibly play these sorts of roles? And how long can she go on playing them herself?
Her character is slightly disturbing, as in fact are all the characters portrayed, in particular within the family who take centre stage. Hugo Weaving's sheriff is probably the most likeable of the characters.
I've never actually been in a sandstorm like that, and am thankful having seen how it was portrayed in the film. But I can really imagine the Wild West feel that followed in this small country town, with teenagers on the rampage making it very unsettling for an urban-type like the family in this piece.
The uncertainty over the ending leaves you, well, uncertain, but I guess that is the point the director was trying to get across. In families such as this, are things ever fully resolved? Do they need to be?
***.5
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