Details

Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 07 July 2010

Paloma’s husband passed away many years ago and she now shuts herself off from the world in her small apartment.  Her greatest satisfaction seems to come from reading classic novels and eating chocolate.  It’s a lonely existence and you can’t help but feel sorry for her.

Things change when an elderly Japanese man named Kakuro (Igawa) moves into an upper floor in the apartment building.  When the pair are introduced, Paloma unknowingly borrows a line from one of her favourite novels – Anna Karenina.  Kakuro picks up on the literary reference and he develops a curious fascination with Palmoa.  He realises that there’s more to her than meets the eye.

Caught in between is a strange young girl named Renée (Balasko).  She may only be 11-years-old but she’s incredibly intelligent.  She has an awkward relationship with her parents and spends most of her time sneaking around and filming people using her video camera.  Renée has made the decision to commit suicide on her 12^th birthday.  She’s started a countdown and plans are put into place.

I have mixed feelings about The Hedgehog.  I liked the growing relationship with Paloma and Kakuro.  They share some beautiful moments together – particularly in the final third of the film.  It’s not explicitly spelt out with words but you know exactly what’s going through Paloma’s mind.  Given her insecure nature, she’s hesitant of Kakuro and his intentions.  Why would a wealthy guy like him be interested in a simple cleaner like her?  That said, she can’t help but be pulled in by his friendly demeanour.

On the flip side, I was somewhat disturbed by Renée storyline.  I actually thought she’d have more involvement with Kakuro and Paloma but her story seems almost secondary to the main attraction.  I found her hard to relate to and struggled to understand why someone so young would be so calculating in planning her own demise.  Put simply, I just didn’t like her.

I feel old when I realise that director Mona Achache is just 29 years of age.  I hope I haven’t left it too late to one day direct a film of my own.  The Hedgehog isn’t a bad effort for a first feature but I believe its focus on Renée’s character was the wrong approach.

Details

Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 23 June 2010

If you want my opinion (and you’re about to get it), I think this a beautiful film.  It reminded me in many ways of Tom Ford’s A Single Man which starred Colin Firth.  It features creative cinematography, a booming film score, and a noticeable lack of dialogue.  It’s the kind of movie where you observe the characters rather than listen to them.

The film is set in Italy and is about an incredibly wealthy family who own a large textile company.  Due to his failing health, the head of the company is stepping down.  He’s leaving control to his loyal son and, in somewhat of a surprise, to one of his grandsons.  Will they be able to take the company forward and protect the family name?

Central to the story is the wife of the new chairman.  Her name is Emma Recchi (Swinton) and she was born and raised in Russia.  She’s an interesting character to follow.  I don’t want to reveal too much about the story but events take place which leave her with much to think about.  They question her attachment to her lifestyle and her loyalty to her family.

Throughout the whole film, I found myself analysing every single character.  The film doesn’t explicitly tell us what they’re thinking.  Even some factual details are left out (such as information on the “race” which the grandson competes in).  It’s designed to challenge the audience and I applaud director Luca Guadagnino for his boldness.

What I’ll remember most about I Am Love is its striking visuals.  From the opening credits to the closing credits, this is special stuff.  It may appear random at times (with its abrupt editing and forever changing camera angles) but you get the sense that every single shot has been carefully thought out.  John Adams score also deserves praise and will soon find a place in my soundtrack collection.

I see over 200 films a year and I’m always impressed when something comes along which is outside the "norm".  I Am Love does just that and I hope you’re one of the lucky few who appreciates it.

Details

Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 30 June 2010

The premise in this fresh adventure is fairly simple.  The nasty Victoria (Howard) is looking to avenge the death of her lover (who met an untimely end in the original movie).  She’s put together an army of vampires led by newcomer Riley (played by Australian Xavier Samuel).  They’re out to destroy Edward’s (Pattinson) life by killing his own true love, Bella (Stewart).

On your normal weekday, vampires and werewolves are worst enemies.  Not so here.  They reluctantly unite in a concerted effort to protect Bella from her would be attackers.  They are also concerned about their own welfare.  If these evil vampires continue their killing spree, the world will soon become aware of their existence.

These were the more interesting elements to the story.  Once again, I felt let down by the film’s romantic side.  It occurred to me late in the piece that I just didn’t care about Edward, Bella and to a lesser extent, Jacob (Lautner).  It’s a cute love triangle but the way they all speak to each other is so dreary and tiring.  They lack passion.  There’s no spontaneity.  I just wanted to see them have fun – to make me believe they had feelings for each other.

We’ve got another new director this time with Englishman David Slade (30 Days Of Night, Hard Candy) stepping into the hot seat.  I wouldn’t say there’s a noticeable difference from the previous films but I did like his action climax.  It’s not drawn out and it’s easy to follow what’s going on.

The stage is now set for the fourth and final film.  Hang on.  It turns out that that Stephenie Meyer’s last novel is going to be broken up into two movies.  It seems Summit Entertainment has borrowed the idea from Warner Brothers and the Harry Potter series.  I can’t blame them.  There’s profit to be made… and a zillion teenage girls around the world will be lining up to hand over their pocket money from tomorrow morning.

Details

Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 19 June 2010

It may have been the first but I think it’s also one of the best.  Both Toy Story and Toy Story 2 set an early benchmark for computer animation which has not yet been surpassed.  I’m not speaking about the quality of the animation (which yes, has improved) but rather the quality of the story being told.  I’ve seen a few films which are just as good (The Incredibles, Ratatouille) but I’ll always have a place in my heart for the Toy Story series.

There are two main reasons.  Firstly, the characters are all so memorable.  Woody and Buzz Lightyear are central to the stories but plenty of screen time goes to the supporting players who are just as funny.  I speak of Rex the dinosaur, Hamm the pig, and my personal favourites, Mr and Mrs Potato Head (voiced impeccably by Don Rickles and Estelle Harris).

Secondly, the stories are laced with a beautiful layer of sentimentality.  Always in the background is the young boy named Andy who owns and plays with these toys.  As he has grown up, his interest in them has slowly faded away.  One part of me wants to get all tear-jerky whilst the other part accepts that this is reality.  These stories are fictional (obviously) but we do experience similar feelings in our real lives.  As times change, so too do our priorities and our friendships.

In this adventure, Andy is on the verge of going to college.  He hasn’t played with his toys in many years and they sit in an old chest in his bedroom.  There’s a cute scene at the start of the film where the toys devise a cunning plan of getting Andy to play with them.  It’s not a success.

Now that he’s leaving home, Andy’s mother asks what he wants done with the toys.  Andy wants them stored in the attic but due to a mix-up, they end up being donated to a nearby child care centre.  There, they meet a bunch of new toys led by a mild-mannered teddy bear named Lotso (Beatty).  He tells them that they’ve come to the right place.  With all the kids who attend the centre, they’re guaranteed to be played with for a long, long time.

Something is amiss however.  Lotso is not as cuddly as he looks.  He forces our beloved toys into the toddlers section of the child care centre.  After just one day of being “played with”, the toys are sore bruised.  It’s only a matter of time before they’ll be broken by these over-excited kids and sent to the scrap heap.  They must find a way of breaking out before it’s too late.

Toy Story 3 is another great chapter in the series.  It’s not quite as good as the first two films but I could easily sit through it multiple times.  With such a rich array of fun characters, there’s seldom a dull moment.  The new toys are all great with special mentions going to a psychotic monkey and a metrosexual Ken doll.  I chuckled at almost every scene shared between Ken and Barbie.

There’s an exciting action finale which highlights the incredible talent of the animations team.  I recently spoke with Australian animator Simon Allen who mentioned that it took roughly a week to come up with just 5 seconds of film!  You’ve only got to look in the background of some shots to understand why.  The level of detail is incredible.  The public keep demanding more from their animated films and somehow, the animators keep delivering.

Above all else though, Toy Story 3 is a fun adventure with plenty of laughs and a strong narrative.  It will undoubtedly capture the attention of both kids and adults.  It’s almost impossible not to like.

Details

Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 29 June 2010

Such secrecy only heightens our curiosity.  There’s a significant percentage of the population who are drawn to novels written by the likes of Tom Clancy, Robert Ludlam and Dan Brown.  How much of their work is inspired by the truth?  Maybe it’s all just speculative fantasy?  We’ll never really know.

Farewell is something a little different however.  There’s a lot more truth to this than your average spy thriller.  The screenwriters have drawn from the novel by Sergei Kostine and listened to hours of actual interviews with members of the French Secret Service.  When word spread about the film being made, others came forward and gave their version of events under the condition of anonymity.

The story is set in the early 1980s in the midst of the Cold War.  President Ronald Reagan was oblivious to the fact that United States intelligence had been infiltrated by Russian spies.  The Russians were smuggling valuable information on matters such as the space program and nuclear weapons back home to the KGB.  It gave them a valuable edge.

Two men would change the course of the history.  To call them unlikely heroes would be an understatement.  The first was a disillusioned KGB agent unhappy with the Soviet government.  He was given the codename “Farewell”.  The second was a French engineer working in Moscow.  They weren’t trained spies and yet, they turned the tables on the KGB by smuggling its valuable secrets (including lists of spies) to the French Secret Service.  A key alliance between the French and the United States would then be forged.

It’s this riveting story which makes Farewell a film worth seeing.  The Cold War was an interesting period of history which hasn’t received much attention on the big screen (as opposed to World War II films).  I shook my head in amazement at some scenes.  How did these two guys manage to play such a big role in bringing down the Soviet empire?

French director Christian Carion (Joyeux Noel) struggles at time with the execution of the story.  Some of the dialogue involving Ronald Reagan and his advisers is laughable.  So too is the performance of Fred Ward as Reagan.  That said, I was impressed by Emir Kusturica and Guillaume Canet in the leading roles.  I slowly developed an emotional connection with both them and their families.  I sat anxiously in my seat… hoping that no harm to come to them.

I always feel uneasy when filmmakers do this but yes, a few elements of the tale have been changed to assist with the cinematic adaptation.  There were actually several French agents who helped “Farewell” sneak information out of Russia.  Characters names have also been changed.  I don’t think the Russian government was too impressed either as they denied Carion permission to film there.  Carion did manage to get a few shots of Moscow though by pretending to film a Coca-Cola advertisement.

Featuring a mix of English, French and Russian, Farewell is a solid thriller.