Author: Natalie Teasdale

I want to share with other movie fans those amazing films that get under your skin and stay with you for days: the scary ones, the funny ones; the ones that get you thinking. With a background in creative writing, photography, psychology and neuroscience, I’ll be focusing on dialogue, what makes a great story, if the film has beautiful creative cinematography, the soundtrack and any movie that successfully scratches the surface of our existence. My aim is to always be searching for that ultimate movie, to share what I’ve found to be interesting (whether it be a great soundtrack, a great director or links to other information of interest) and to give an honest review without too much fluff. BAppSci in Psychology/Psychophysiology; Grad Dip Creative Arts and Post Grad Dip in Creative Writing. Founder of GoMovieReviews.

The Matrix Resurrections

Rated: MThe Matrix Resurrections

Directed by: Lana Wachowski

Produced by: Grant Hill, James McTeigue, Lana Wachowski

Executive Producers: Bruce Berman, Garrett Grant, Terry Needham, Michael Salven, Karin Wachowski

Based on the Characters Created by: The Wachowskis

Screenplay Written by: Lana Wachowski, David Mitchell, Aleksandar Hemon

Starring: Keanu Reeves, Carrie-Anne Moss, Priyanka Chopra, Jessica Henwick, Yahya Adbul-Mateen II, Jonathan Groff, Daniel Bernhardt, Neil Patrick Harris, Jada Pinkett Smith, Christina Ricci, Lambert Wilson, Daniela Harpaz, Eréndira Ibarra, Max Riemelt, Ellen Hollman, Brian J. Smith.

The Matrix Resurrection introduces this sequel (forth in the series) with a 90s monitor: a square cursor flashing.  The code begins scrawling across the screen.  In green, of course.

Welcome to The Matrix 2.0.

There’re new characters resurrecting old ones: Mr. Smith (Jonathan Groff) is now Neo’s partner in a gaming company; Morpheus (Yahya Adbul-Mateen II) is back in a new form.

But Neo remains the same (Keanu Reeves).  Trinity, now Tiffany (Carrie-Anne Moss), remains.  They’re just a little older.

But non-the-wiser.

Ha, ha.

It’s that kind of movie.

There are many puns thrown through-out the film – sometimes heavy-handed like the cat with a tinkling collar named: déjà vu.

Mostly, there’s references to the original Matrix (1999) as the film layers the past into the present, so Resurrections becomes self-referential not only to the original film but also to itself.  To the extent that if a moment felt twee, the twee would then be made into a joke like a self-parody.

I noticed the silence at one point only for the silence to be commented on as an indicator of real living outside the Matrix.

It’s a cerebral film asking questions about the concept of choice: the blue or red pill?

Or is it free will versus destiny?

Or is life about fear and desire?

It becomes binary, one or the other – ones and zeros, like the program, The Matrix. Like reality is made up of ones and zeros.  Like… The Matrix. Ah!

All mind bending moments aside, it took me a while to invest in Resurrections.  Neo was somewhat lacklustre, with the repeated response, ‘yeah.’

But with the rest of the film being so clever, I guess that’s the nature of Neo.  Not Neo.  Mr. Andrews, still stuck in The Matrix.  Even so, the re-layered moments I wasn’t convinced about, like the annoying self-professed ‘geek’ colleague of Mr Anderson remained, annoying.

The film does ramp up and yes there’s a ‘fresh’ take here that will get you thinking.  I just wasn’t as convinced as the original because the characters spent so much time making fun of themselves to cover the forced sentiment that would have otherwise been too cheesy.

Dune

Part OneDune

Rated: M

Directed by: Denis Villeneuve

Based on the novel written by: Frank Herbert

Screenplay written by: Denis Villeneuve, Eric Roth and Jon Spaihts

Produced by: Mary Parent, Cale Boyter, Joe Caracciolo and Villeneuve

Executive Producers: Tanya Lapointe, Brian Herbert, Byron Merritt, Kim Herbert, Thomas Tull, Jon Spaihts, Richard P. Rubinstein, John Harrison and Herbert W. Gains

Director of Photography: Greig Fraser

Costume Designer: Jacqueline West

Composer: Hans Zimmer

Starring: Timothée Chalamet, Rebecca Ferguson, Oscar Isaac, Josh Brolin, Stellan Skarsgård, Dave Bautista, Zendaya, David Dastmalchian, Stephen Henderson, Charlotte Rampling, with Jason Momoa and Javier Bardem.

The film opens with, “Dreams are messages from the deep,” written across the screen.  A thread that flows through-out the film lending that magical touch to a film that at its foundation, is political intrigue.

Based on the novel written by Frank Herbert, Dune (Part One) is a story of the desert, greed, vengeance, witches and blood.

I was reminded at times of the previous adaptation directed by David Lynch, Dune (1984), immediately taken back with the spit scene, the device used so well then and used again here like a nod of respect to the previous film.  There’s also John Harrison’s 2000 miniseries, “Frank Herbert’s Dune.” And the 2003 sequel miniseries titled “Frank Herbert’s Children of Dune,” starring James McAvoy. However, I’m reviewing Dune (2021) without comparison, preferring to take the film as it stands.

It’s 10191.  The House of Harkonnen has been mining spice from the desert sands of Arrakis for the last 80 years getting obscenely rich, while the people of Arrakis are given nothing by the Outsiders but violence and pain in return.

It’s a system that has worked well.  So why does the Emperor decide to give The House of Atreides the right to move into the desert city and take over the mining?

House of Atreides is powerful.  Too powerful.

‘When is a gift not a gift?’

The Duke’s son, Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalamet) has to learn about the politics of the Empire quickly.  He’s been trained to fight by Gurney Halleck (Josh Brolin), he’s been counselled by his father, The Duke (Oscar Isaac), he has been shown The Path by his mother, Lady Jessica (Rebecca Ferguson).

So he trains, he listens to his father.  And he dreams.

I liked the serious tone of, Dune, offset by the warmth of Paul’s friend, Duncan (Jason Momoa) and his father.

‘What do they say of Arrakis?’

‘To shower, you scrub your arse with sand.’

But mostly, Dune is a dark film.  The waking life of Paul sometimes the stuff of nightmares with giant worms shifting the sand from beneath like the waves of an ocean, their massive mouths filled with teeth to suck anything that makes sound into their abyss; and the cruelty as the innocent are beheaded without actually seeing the gore – you don’t need to see the dead to know the deed is being done.

This is more about the foreboding build of tension that Denis Villeneuve does so well.

The film begins with the sound of a thudding heartbeat.

And here, Villeneuve’s trademark usage of the soundtrack is layered with the sound of different languages spoken and the silence of hands moving in sign language like the thread of the story pulled together into this web of intrigue from the Emperor and his games, the brutal Harkonnen made rich from mining spice, the mystery of the people of Arrakis and the dangerous power passed from Paul’s mother, Lady Jessica to her son.

What threw me was the introduction of hope into the film.

I enjoyed the desert aesthetic and tribal feel of the Arrakis people, but the hope of the people was pushed into dramatic territory and the build of tension began to fade.

But wow, I was awed by this film, with mouth dropping open at the scenery, the use of light, the pattern of rock, the flowing yellow fabric of Lady Jessica’s dress in the desert wind, the explosive bombs dropping from spaceships, desecrating the landscape below and the story of betrayal, political play and intrigue.

Definitely worth seeing on the big screen.

Best Sellers

Rated: MBest Sellers

Directed by: Lina Roessler

Written by: Anthony Grieco

Director of Photography: Claudine Sauvé

Editor: Arthur Tarnowski

Produced by: Jonathan Vanger, Pierre Even, Cassian Elwes, Arielle Elwes, Wayne Marc Godfrey

Executive Produced by: Petr Jakl, Martin J Barab

Starring: Sir Michael Caine, Aubrey Plaza, Scott Speedman and Rachel Spence.

Best Sellers is a film about a crotchety recluse writer (he has, ‘Piss off’ taped to his front door), and a failing publisher, Lucy Skinner (Aubrey Plaza).

Lucy’s boutique publishing house is about to go under if she doesn’t find a relevant writer fast.

Enter, Harris Shaw (Sir Michael Caine).

The introduction of Harris Shaw, follows his ginger cat as it makes its way into his study to find him coughing and typing.   The phone rings, ‘He’s dead.  Bugger off,’ he says.

Harris is the classic Johnny Walker, Black Label, cigar smoking recluse writer Sir Michael Caine was made for.

Swipe to classical music: the city, a clean office and publisher Lucy Skinner getting the latest review of her recent Young Adult publication being read by side kick and assistant, Rachel Spence (Elle Wong).  It’s bad.

She needs a writer that will save the publishing house.

She needs Harris Shaw.

He could be dead,’ says Rachel.

Owing the publishing house a manuscript, on the proviso there’s no editing as long as he agrees to go on a book tour, Harris and Lucy set off in Shaw’s green Jag where he starts trending after introducing his book by reading an excerpt from Penthouse.

His favourite way to describe the book tour: ‘It’s all bullshite.’

‘Bullshite’ becomes a hash tag.

And of course the publisher and writer don’t get along, but along the journey bond while Lucy vomits in the toilet.

I like crotchety characters and movies about writers, so I enjoyed the banter between, ‘Silver spoon’ Lucy and, ‘It’s all Bullshite,’ Harris Shaw.

There’s tension and obstacles to overcome, getting to the heart of this abrasive yet brilliant man that got me cheering and quietly chuckling as Shaw declares his hatred for critics – it really does suck to be a critic sometimes.

But I have to say (speaking of being a critic) the soundtrack with that 70s jangle of music to try to lift the film into old-man-cheek, cheapened the sentiment.  Shaw’s like a Hemingway character with his ginger cat and cigar smoking from his mouth while typing the next, Best Seller.  The character deserved something more deliberate.  More… blunt.  Not, dandy grandfather music.

So there’s discord between the thoughtful and funny script writing from Anthony Grieco and the underlying tone built by the soundtrack.

The script includes snippets of poignant sentences like, ‘Art is not propaganda.  It’s an expression of truth,’ giving the usual drama of, I’m-here-because-this-happened, a little more.

So when the character asks the question, ‘Who put a collar on you?’  Dandy guitars aren’t going to reflect the truth of the character.

Best Sellers is a good movie.  Could be been a great movie.

Becoming Cousteau

Rated: MBecoming Cousteau

Directed by: Liz Garbus

Produced by: Liz Garbus, Dan Cogan, Mridu Chandra, Evan Hayes

Written by: Mark Monroe & Pax Wasserman

Executive Producers: Julie Gaither, Carolyn Bernstein, Ryan Harrington.

Becoming Cousteau is an inspiring documentary about the man who showed the world what lies below the surface of the sea.

With eyes staring through goggles, Captain Cousteau is quoted, ‘Diving under water is the greatest distraction.’

On land we’re constantly fighting gravity.

When asked what it’s like under the surface, he replies, ‘It’s fantastic.  Imagine having no weight.’

In the beginning it was his curiosity that led him to dive deeper under water, to a place where he could dream.

When Germany invaded France in WWII he was able to forget what was happening on land.  He was able to escape into another world.  Where, for a time, he envisaged people living under the water.

The documentary is a linear biography of Cousteau’s life, from 1935 as a pilot for the Navy, to the end of his life in 1997.  His life an evolution from an underwater explorer to inventor, film maker, philosopher, husband and father to environmentalist.

Universally respected as a scientist and explorer, his voice opened people’s eyes to the beauty of the underwater world, and the danger of losing it.

Through newspaper articles and interviews, footage from Cousteau’s many films, including Oscar Best Documentary winner and winner of the Palme d’Or award, The Silent World (1956), Cousteau showed the world life under the sea and even made an impression on Picasso who was amazed by the unexpected colours and held onto a piece of coral given to him by Cousteau until he died.

Thoughts written in journals are read of Cousteau’s experiences while sailing the seas on the explorer vessel, The Calypso.

Cousteau invents the Aqualung out of necessity, technology that allows him to dive deeper into the depths.  And seeing more, discovering more he wants to take a camera with him so invents a case, so he can film underwater.

Inventor turned film maker, he created 52 TV shows as he satisfied his curiosity to explore the ocean.

His notebook was his camera.

The documentary paints a picture of a truly amazing and brave man.  Yet there’s balance in the telling with the risk of diving further than before requiring, ‘a strong head and cold heart.’

He admits his curiosity ruling his life while he neglected his family.

And with the discovery of the sea in distress from all the pollution, there’re years of pessimism and grief for the passing of his son, Philippe.

Like the black and white film made bright with splashes of fluorescent colour, the film brightens with hope – The Cousteau Society still strong today in its efforts to conserve the environment.

But I don’t think the intention of the documentary is to share a message of conservation, although this was important to Cousteau in the later years of his life.  The feeling is more a biography of a man whose curiosity led to fascination to then love and the want to protect.

Alien On Stage

Directed by: Danielle Kummer & Lucy HarveyAlien On Stage

Cinematography: Danielle Kummer

Produced by: Danielle Kummer, Lucy Harvey

Executive Producer: Adam F. Goldberg

Featuring: Dave Mitchell (director, Paranoid Dramatics), Luc Hayward (writer, sound, costume design), Raymond Hayward (set designer), Peter Lawford (creature designer, special effects artist), Amie Wells (crew costume design).

Cast of Play: Jason Hill (Captain Dallas), Lydia Hayward (Lieutenant Ripley), Jacqui Roe (Science Officer Ash), Susan Baird (Ash Stunt Double), Carolyn White (Lambert), John Elliot (Brett), Mike Rustici (Parker), Scott Douglas (Kane/Xenomorph) and Penny Thorne (Voice of Mother).

‘Anything can happen on the night.’

Every year around Christmas across Britain, amateur dramatics groups put on a pantomime to raise money for charity.

Dorset dramatics group, Paranoid Dramatics have previously put on a crowd pleasing show about Robin Hood.  But this time director, Dave Mitchell wants to try something different.  Something close to his heart and his family’s, who’s obsession with the film, Alien is shown with great pride.

This time, he wants, Alien on Stage.

The actors: local Dorset bus drivers.

Adam, manager at the bus depot says in an interview that he’s seen the movie Alien, but ‘can’t imagine how you convert that into a stage drama.’

And that just adds to the comedy of the show.

This is one of those feel good doco’s about everyday people doing something extraordinary while having a good laugh.

Everyone pitches in.

It’s great excuse for a catchup and gossip – eating together, drinking together (instead of learning their lines).  And in the end that’s what makes the film such a joy to watch.  To see the backstage shenanigans; to get to know the people.

There’s Karl, the stage manager: ‘the director is my dad.’

Dave the director is ex-army and admits, ‘I can be blunt.’

There’s Lydia his partner also part of the team as, Ripley.

And Granddad Ray as set designer.

All the work is from scratch with the script adaptation written by Luc Hayward who was told he’d never see his work on stage (unless he considered moving to L.A.).

Then there’s Jacqui (Ash on stage) – her drama teacher the only one who ever gave her a chance, who stood by her when her head teacher said she’d fail every exam at school.  All Jacqui wants to do is act.  Even if it’s for free.

All the cast and crew want to be there.  They want to do the work.

But then only twenty people turn up to watch the show.

It’s all disappointment then shrugged off with a smile.

Then the incredible happens when film makers Danielle Kummer & Lucy Harvey make contact (ha, ha), wanting to make this documentary.  To film the journey as the, Alien On Stage production gets a one night show in London.  At the Leicester Square Theatre.

The nerves.  The excitement.

The trying to learn the lines.

This is a cast that doesn’t take themselves too seriously.  And that’s part of the charm.

Just like the film Alien, it’s like two worlds colliding (well, the folk from Dorset a welcome visit, not eaten alive, even though they might feel it’s a distinct possibility) as the amateur theatre group gets thrust into the spotlight of the elite theatre district of London.

The incongruent adds that extra layer of wry humour which gives the documentary, as described by the filmaker Lucy Harvey, a touch of magic.

Kummer and Harvey follow all those involved in the project, replicating that square green font on computer screen (keeping in mind that Alienesque vibe), as the days count down to the big show.

It’s a behind the scenes documentary made up of interviews, rehearsals and Alien Cam – footage shot from the perspective of the Alien / Xenomorph while up on stage.

But any animation or finesse made by the documentary crew is background to the team that is, Alien on Stage.

I smiled through the entire film, seeing the genuine excitement and joy and so much laughter as the cast and crew pulled together to put on the best show they possibly could.

It’s absolutely nerve-racking.

‘My legs don’t work,’ says Lydia, just before walking on stage.

‘I’m going for a cigarette,’ says director Dave.

This is a lighthearted good fun documentary that delivers.  I’m still grinning.

Top Movies To Stream Now – Free To Air or Subscription

GoMovieReviewsNow we’ve finally got a road map of when Melbournians are allowed back in the cinemas, we can look forward to the… 7th of November.  Which is still a long way off.  So, here’s a list of four star + movies available for streaming while we wait get back to the big screen:

Movie
PreviewReviewWhere To Watch
John Wick 3 PreviewReview ★★★★☆ (4.3/5)Foxtel / Prime
You Were Never Really Here PreviewReview ★★★★★Shudder /
BeamaFilm
Deerskin PreviewReview ★★★★1/2Stan /
BeamaFilm
Parasite PreviewReview ★★★★1/2Stan
RomaPreviewReview ★★★★★Netflix
Good TimePreviewReview ★★★★☆ (4.2/5)Netflix
SicarioPreviewReview ★★★★★Netflix
Miss Sloane PreviewReview ★★★★☆ (4.6/5)Stan
Wind RiverPreviewReview ★★★★☆ (4.2/5)Stan
American AnimalsPreviewReview ★★★★☆ (4.2/5)SBS
Get Out PreviewFoxtel
Triple 9PreviewReview ★★★★1/2Netflix
Marina Abramovi: The Artist Is Present PreviewBeamaFilm
Blade Runner 2049 Preview Review ★★★★☆ (4.3/5)Netflix
Mountain PreviewReview ★★★★★Stan
ArrivalPreviewReview ★★★★1/2Netflix
Hunt For the WilderpeoplePreviewReview ★★★★☆ (4.2/5)SBS
Clouds of Sils Maria Preview Review ★★★★BeamaFilm
20,000 Days on EarthPreviewBeamaFilm
Whiplash PreviewPrime /
Foxtel
The GuardPreviewStan
Constantine PreviewStan
The Page Turner PreviewBeamaFilm
It Follows PreviewFoxtel /
Shudder
Cabin in the Woods PreviewStan
The Royal Tenenbaums PreviewDisney+
The Ghost Writer PreviewStan

Disclosure

Rated: MA15+Disclosure

Written and Directed by: Michael Bentham

Starring: Geraldine Hakewill, Matilda Ridgway, Mark Leonard Winter and Tom Wren.

‘There are two sides to every story, and then there is the truth.’ – Anon.

Disclosure is a complex, layered and thought-provoking film, where the perspective of each character shows a different version of their truth.

That’s the narrative of the film: four parents trying to come to an understanding when Emily (Matilda Ridgway) and Danny Bowman’s (Mark Leonard Winter) four-year-old daughter, Natasha describes sexual abuse from Ethan: the nine-year-old son of Bek (Geraldine Hakewill) and Joel Chalmers (Tom Wren).

Bek refuses to believe her son capable of such an act.

And Emily is distraught that such an act has happened to her daughter.

Do they go to Child Protection?

Do they seek counselling for their children?

What decision will do the least damage to their kids?

Set in the house and backyard of the Bowmans, the film is made of silence between the dialogue, between the parents trying to behave as adults while they fall apart.

At first the film shows fractures in the façade: the politician, an MP currently under the watchful eye of police protection with his immaculate wife dressed for a fund raiser.  A family doing the best for the community.

And then there’s the two journalists, award winning documentary on the horizon, a book waiting to be published.

Intelligent.  Adults.  Friends.

Surely they can come to an understanding.

But as the conversation continues, the cicadas fill those awkward silences as the fractures widen into cracks.

‘My daughter has a name,’ says Danny.

While Joel the MP asks for reason as he’s about to launch a campaign: Strong families.  Safe children.

The complexities underneath the words are slowly revealed.

The characters drive the film as the environment of the house in the suburbs, filmed in the Dandenong’s, surrounded by trees is deceiving in its simplicity; as the parents sit by the pool, a spider dancing across the water, as shadows move underneath.

The setting is used to show the emotional tone of shock.  The distress of even talking about a son abusing a friend’s daughter leaking through the surface adults hold firmly in place: would you like a drink?  Snacks are arranged.  All those rituals of social engagement are slowly worn away as the parents attempt to process what may or may not have happened with their children.  And the consequences.

This is a tough topic to portray in a film, writer and director, Michael Bentham using the slowing down of movement, the drawing away of the camera to show denial; the shadows across a face to represent barely controlled anger, a spider web stepping the process of thought from one layer to another.

The very idea of sex and kids and porn and what’s OK for adults and how that can influence the behaviour of a child, to dealing with allegations from another child is like a minefield.  The difficulty of figuring the right way to handle the situation without losing your mind as a parent is navigated through dark corridors, beyond the surface into unexpected deep layers to where the characters hold their own truth.

I didn’t expect the depth of this film.

And the dialogue and delivery is strong.

But not always hitting the mark.

And although the slow motion was used well, the scenes with slow motion and missing frames (like a stop frame technique) feels cheap and makes me think of some re-enactment of a crime story on the news.

Having said that, if you’re in the mood for a quiet thought-provoker, the way the complexity of character is revealed makes, Disclosure a riveting watch.

The Ice Road

Rated: MThe Ice Road

Directed and Written by: Jonathan Hensleigh

Director of Photography: Tom Stern

Produced by: Al Corley, Bart Rosenblatt, Eugene Musso, Shivani Rawat, Lee Nelson, David Tish

Starring: Liam Neeson, Laurence J. Fishburne III, Marcus Thomas, Amber Midthunder, Benjamin Walker, Matt McCoy, Holt McCallany, Martin Sensmeier, Matt Salinger.

Hauling heavy loads over ice is what truckers call an ice road, meaning, a suicide mission.

So much can go wrong.

And does in this action drama with Liam Neeson behind the wheel as Mike: a trucker with a one punch knockout.

He’s a trucker always getting fired looking out for his veteran brother, Gurty (Marcus Thomas) suffering from aphasia: ‘I am the only one who can understand what he is saying, and he’s a brilliant mechanic, but he does not like taking orders,’ says Neeson about his character.

After a methane pocket causes an explosion at a diamond mine, miners are trapped with a thirty-hour window until their oxygen runs out.  The only way to get drilling wellheads to free the men is to haul by truck, over an ice-road closed for the season.

Goldenrod (Laurence J. Fishburne III) is called in to get the job done.

The only way Goldenrod can see a truck making it through to the miners is by sending three trucks, in the hope one will make it through to the miners.

It’s a strategy of tactical redundancy.

Fired from yet another job, the Irish, tooth-pick in mouth trucker, Mike decides the risk is worth the reward – enough cash to put towards his own rig.  He takes one truck.

In the second is Goldenrod himself.

In the third is Tantoo (Amber Midthunder), just bailed from jail after protesting against all of North America for taking her ancestors land.

Each take a rig with two-hundred thousand on the table to share, or to go to whoever makes it to the other side, along with Insurance man, Varnay (Benjamin Walker) there to protect his company’s investment.  And Gurty’s pet rat.

The fuse is lit.

And there literally is a fuse burning to ignite dynamite at one point.  It’s that kind of movie.

With winches and d bolts and petrol in diesel tanks as sabotage.  The action’s relentless.  And by the end overdone with choppy editing to cut down the problem solving montages to speed up the action, along with splicing to another scene that worked most of the time but by the end left gaping holes.  Like, how did the rig go from full speed to idling in a second?

And why isn’t that guy with the broken leg screaming his head off?

But this ‘bull run’ about ice-truckers who can stop for nothing and no-one has the constant underlying suspense of the trucks always on the verge of cracking through the ice and sinking.

As Tantoo coolly explains to Varnay the insurance guy:

Movement causes waves so if you drive too fast, there’s too much movement.  The ice cracks.  In you go.

Too slow, the ice breaks under the weight of the rig.  In you go.

I actually yelled a few times.

The whole idea of ice-truckers is exciting to watch.

Writer and director Jonathan Hensleigh didn’t want to shoot a VFX film: “I wanted real background – the ice road, the mountain driving sequences, I wanted it all to look real.”

And seeing the rigs driven across the ice is the best part of the film.

Pairing back the action and filling the gaps so the editing wasn’t so choppy would have built on that suspense of driving those 18-wheeler rigs across ice.  With one problem after another needing to be solved, it was all a bit unbelievable by the end.

But as action movies go, Neeson always managers to pull it off.  And the storyline had enough going for it with a few twists and well-placed punches from, ‘kiss my Irish arse,’ Mike that made, The Ice Road, worth a watch.

The Suicide Squad

Rated: MA15+The Suicide Squad

Directed and Written by: James Gunn

Produced by: Charles Roven, Peter Safran

Starring: Margot Robbie, Idris Elba, Joel Kinnaman, John Cena, Viola Davis, Jai Courtney, Michael Rooker, Flula Borg, David Dastmalchian and Taika Waititi.

‘Is that rat waving at me?’

The opening scene sees the death of a pretty yellow bird.

Birds feature a lot in, The Suicide Squad mark II.

To the extent I was wondering by the end – what’s with the birds?!  Is it because they represent freedom?  Could be something in that, the squad been given a chance at freedom, etc.

Like the first film, potential members of Task Force X are found languishing in Belle Reve: the prison with the highest mortality rate in America.

Languishing until Amanda Waller (Viola Davis) offers them a deal they can’t refuse: 10 years off their sentence in hell.  Or for those not tempted by the reduced sentence, the promise not to incarcerate a ten-year-old daughter (Storm Reid) that would more than likely mean death.

Sent on another impossible bloody mission, this time to the jungle of Corto Maltese, there’s the same antics from characters such as Captain Boomerang (Michael Rooker) with a whole new cast of villains with unique skills like: Peacemaker (John Cena) who loves to walk around in his y-fronts, Bloodsport (Idris Elba) who really does not get along with Peacemaker, King Shark (Sylvester Stallone)  – apparently a god who now has a taste for human and amongst other new characters, Polka-Dot (David Dastmalchian): the man has issues.  With leader Colonel Rick Flag (Joel Kinnaman) back to direct the chaos.

The film has the same foundation as the first instalment, a squad of anti-heroes sent on a covert mission by the government – but way more extreme.

There’s still that manic fun tone, with the likes of Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie) shooting her way to freedom with a demented smile, but I don’t remember the first instalment being so brutal.

Not that nasty is necessarily a bad thing.

I’m a big fan of gallows humour, and there were a lot of funny moments that tickled, sometimes unexpectedly like seeing the back view of Milton (Julio Cesar Ruiz), the bus driver, as he runs after the squad to ‘help out’ in his shorts and Crocs.

And making light of a trained rat, friend of Ratcatcher 2 (Daniela Melchior), 2 because the first Ratcatcher was her father (Taika Waititi, yep Taika’s in it!):

‘Is that rat waving at me?

‘It appears it is’

…’Why?’

But sometimes the humour was just that bit too off-kilter – see above about the birds.

It was about 50/50 for me.  But when the humour hit, it tickled A LOT.

The narrative goes back and forth in time, highlighted by the inclusion of text in scene – leaves falling to write, ‘Now’.

There’s more clever with relief from the blood and guts when blood’s replaced with an explosion of flowers.

And that blending of scene continues with music played in the bus becoming the soundtrack, the, Pixies track, ‘Hey’ backing the squad as they walk into their next suicide mission.  Gold.

The attention to detail is impressive as director James Gunn pushes the boundaries so the humour’s darker, the violence more bloody, with an added extra tilt towards the demented.

Tending towards horror and comedy rather than action, there’s a lot of entertainment here but brace yourself, it gets twisted.

Old

Rated: MOld

Directed by: M. Night Shyamalan

Written by: M. Night Shyamalan

Based on the Graphic Novel: ‘Sandcastle’ by Pierre Oscar Lévy and Frederik Peeters

Produced by: M. Night Shyamalan, Ashwin Rajan, Marc Bienstock

Starring: Gael García Bernal, Vicky Krieps, Rufus Sewell, Ken Leung, Nikki Amuka-Bird, Abbey Lee, Aaron Pierre, Kathleen Chalfant, Alexa Swinton, Nolan River, Kylie Begley, Embeth Davidtz, Eliza Scanlen, Alex Wolff, Emun Elliott, Thomasin McKenzie.

I wasn’t overly impressed with the trailer for, Old: people going to a beach and getting old.  Quickly.

But being a Shyamalan film, there’s always going to be more to the story.

Based on the graphic novel, Sandcastle the idea of people stranded on a beach, rapidly aging, gave Shyamalan the foundation of the film.

I don’t know whether it’s because I haven’t been to the beach, heard the waves or being greeted at a resort with a cocktail for a while (supposed to be in Magnetic Island right now but currently in lockdown, grrr) – the scenery added another dimension: the water always flowing, keeping time.

The Capa family arrive via a private bus to resort, Anamica.

There’s the sound of birds and cicadas: the sound of the tropics.

The daughter, Maddox (Alexa Swinton) is singing.

‘I can’t wait to hear it when you’re older,’ says Prisca (Vicky Krieps) about her daughter’s voice, mother of Maddox and young son Trent (Nolan River).

Some of the hints are heavy handed.

Yet the family dynamic with husband, Guy (Gael García Bernal) and Prisca’s relationship being played out in front of their children; and their young son hanging out with his new friend, Idlib (Kailen Jude) son of the resort manager: ‘What’s your name and occupation,’ the two boys ask the resort guests.  It’s the sort of thing kids do when they’re free and happy on holidays.  And a great way to introduce the main characters.

It’s all very watchable.

Like an easy listening radio station.  It’s easy watching.

But there’s always hints of what’s to come.

A guest has an epileptic seizure at breakfast.  But she’s OK.

Parents keep secrets from their kids.

There’re buzzards flying overhead.

Given an invitation to a private beach, it’s made very clear it’s a secret.  Just for the Capa family.  But then other guests get on board the bus.

They’re driven through the jungle.

Just walk through a cave and you’re there.

The cave opens-up onto a pristine beach, surrounded by rocky cliffs.

A lone man sits in the distance.

The kids find buried cutlery and dolls in the sand.

There’s no phone reception.

Then the children on the beach begin to change.

‘Something is going on with time on this beach.’

I expected the build to be boring.  But there’s enough mystery going on with the characters inside the main storyline to allow pace.

The timing is important in the film because the whole story’s about time.

Old isn’t edge-of-your-seat action or thriller, but suspense handled well.

The kids particularly at the start of the film ease the story in nicely.

I like Vicky Krieps (Phantom Thread) as the mum.

The casting all round was well done, the change of the young kids to the older characters believable.

Except the glaring change in eye colour for one character (not giving anything away), from blue to brown when she gets older a jolt out of a tenuous suspended reality.  I don’t know whether I missed something or a genuine oversight?  But it felt like swapping out an actor in a soap opera and everyone pretending it’s the same character.  The change threw me.

Yet even after this stretch the film was still better than expected with good pacing making the mystery overall, an intriguing watch.