PRIME MOVER
(Aust, 2009) Stars Ben Mendelsohn, Michael Dorman, Emily Barclay, William McInnes. “Big dreams, harsh reality and a quirky fantasy make up the engine of David Caesar’s likeable new film, in which a prime mover is the prime motivation of his pie-in-the-sky protagonist,” says Louise. “Prime Mover deals in the everyday lives of recognisably Australian characters in a way that makes their journey matter to us. And it does it in unique style,” says Andrew...

Movie reviews:
THE BOYS ARE BACK
(Aust, 2009) Stars Clive Owen, Emma Booth, Julia Blake, Erik Thomson, Nicholas McAnulty, George MacKay. “It’s about emotional chaos and who better to embody it than Clive Owen as Joe, the soulful, heartbroken widower trying to master the skills of being an everyday father as he juggles the rest of his life … feels like a work of love for Hicks, who injects serenity within the chaos as he conducts a mantle of gentle melancholy,” says Louise. “But it’s the two boys, young George Mackay and younger Nicholas McAnulty who walk away with the acting honours in astonishingly mature and controlled performances,” says Andrew.

Movie reviews:
DORIAN GRAY
(UK, 2009) Stars Colin Firth, Ben Barnes, Rebecca Hall, Caroline Goodall. “ .. there’s an edge of psychological horror in director Oliver Parker’s third Oscar Wilde story that tells how Ben Barnes’ Dorian Gray sells his soul to the devil in return for his youth and beauty,” says Louise. “.. a piece of Faustian gothic horror that touches on hedonism, homosexuality and the kind of sexual abandon that was not to manifest itself (publicly) until the 1960s – and then in a more benign form. It’s a morality tale told through amorality and the pursuit of pleasures of the flesh,” says Andrew.


Movie reviews:
AMELIA
(US, 2009) Stars Hilary Swank, Richard Gere, Ewan McGregor, Christopher Eccleston.
“It’s a shame that director Mira Nair has opted to tell this wonderful, historic story about iconic aviator adventuress Amelia Earhart through rose-coloured glasses. Romance edges ahead of adventure or characterisations and as a result, despite a soaring lead performance by Hilary Swank, the film suffers from a fatal dose of melodrama,” says Louise. “Amelia reminds us how little we really know about the lives of the famous achievers who have changed the world, and underlines the power of biography on the screen.
It’s a creatively and technically accomplished film with thrills and emotional action in equal measure,” says Andrew.


Movie review:
SISTER SMILE
(Belgium/France, 2009) Stars Cécile De France, Sandrine Blancke, Chris Lomme. “.. an engrossing and moving tale that delves deep below the surface.
It’s a hard-hitting portrait of an outspoken, impatient woman unsure of what she really wants, except to be free. A unique story, beautifully told and guaranteed to leave a lasting impression.” says Louise.


Movie review:
THE BROTHERS BLOOM
(US, 2008) Stars Adrien Brody, Mark Ruffalo, Rinko Kikuchi, Robbie Coltrane.
“The first hour especially grabs our attention before disintegrating into a swirl of confusion. We expect the lines between reality and fantasy to become blurred, but we do need to have a stake in the characters or at least believe in their reality,” says Louise.


Movie review:
FRANKLYN
(France/UK, 2008) Stars Eva Green, Ryan Phillippe, Sam Riley. “First time director Gerald McMorrow has created an interesting film whose reality slowly seeps into our psyche, despite frustrations and confusions … Ultimately it doesn’t quite work, but along the way it is easy to be somewhat sucked in, especially by Eva Green’s suicidal artist and Sam Riley’s emotionally shattered dreamer,” says Louise.


Movies & society:
HOPPER’S AMERICA AT ACMI
Focus on Hopper’s America (Dec 3 – 13), a film season examining a period of rapid social and political change in the United States and the parallel artistic transformation in which Dennis Hopper played a key role, coincides with Dennis Hopper and the New Hollywood (Nov 12 – April 25, 2010), a major exhibition at ACMI which looks at a formative era for film and art in America through Dennis Hopper’s life and work.

Read the full reviews by Louise and Andrew from Urban Cinefile