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Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 12 October 2011

The year is 1982 and a small group of researchers is on the brink one of the world’s greatest discoveries.  Deep below the ice in a remote part of Norway, they have found a huge spaceship and a perfectly preserved alien specimen.  Their preliminary analysis suggests that it’s been there for close to 100,000 years.

The team brings the frozen alien to the surface and they start celebrating while they wait for it to thaw out.  That brings the “nice” part of this story to a close.  It’s now time for some serious thrills.  The alien springs to life and devours one of the scientists in a rather gruesome fashion (I’d expect nothing less).

There’s more to this alien that meets the eye however.  The researchers manage to set it on fire and think they’ve killed it but alas, that’s not the case.  It has the power to mutate into anyone that it comes in contact with.  They now must ask the question – who amongst them has been infected?  Who amongst them is no longer human?

It’s a great premise and I found this surprisingly suspenseful.  Aside from “the thing” being really freaking looking, I enjoyed watching the shifting relationships between the team members.  No one’s quite sure who to trust.

What elevates this above your average thriller is the rational manner in which the characters act.  Mary Elizabeth Winstead (Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World) stands out with her portrayal of a palaeontologist.  She keeps a cool, logical head whilst others around her start to panic.  It’s a refreshing change from your traditional horror film where the characters do moronic things as if to prolong the story.  That’s not the case here.

Credit also belongs with the special effects and make up crews who have brought the alien to life.  This isn’t like Cloverfield where you don’t get a good look at the creature until the very end.  It’ll be in your face not long after the 30 minute mark.  Its long tentacles, sharp teeth and wide mouth left me squirming more than once.  

The film has been crafted as a prequel to the 1982 John Carpenter movie which shares the same name.  The energetic closing credits suggest that a sequel is possible but as we all know, that will depend on one thing – success at the box-office.

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Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 03 October 2011

It was 10pm on a Sunday night at the Toronto Film Festival.  I was sitting in a small theatre waiting for a movie to start when I struck up a conversation with a Canadian film student who was sitting beside me.  We’d seen 32 different films between us (not bad for 4 days work) but there was only one that we’d both managed to see – The Hunter.

We compared notes about the film’s strengths and we couldn’t come up with too many weaknesses.  This may sound corny but I kind of felt proud to be Australian.  A small film set in an isolated part of Tasmania was playing in front of huge crowds at one of the world’s biggest film festivals.  Not only that, it had become a talking point.  It was very cool.

I can’t take any credit however.  Most of it belongs to the film’s director, Daniel Nettheim.  I admit to being sceptical when I first read the premise for The Hunter.  A guy has been hired by some secretive biotech company to try to find a Tasmanian tiger, despite the fact they’ve been extinct for almost a century.

It’s a story that could easily be laughed at but Nettheim has transformed it into a moving, compelling drama.  The focus isn’t on the elusive tiger but rather this man’s discovery of who he is and what he stands for.  We learn a little more with each scene and it builds to an emotional climax.

Two-time Academy Award nominee Willem Dafoe (Platoon, Shadow Of The Vampire) delivers a strong performance in the leading role.  We don’t usually see high profile American actors in small Aussie films but Dafoe read the script and was immediately attracted to this intriguing character and the isolated setting in which he finds himself.

The cast also includes two familiar Aussie names – Frances O’Connor who plays a single mother trying to get her life back on track follow the disappearance of her husband and Sam Neill (working with Dafoe for the third time) who plays a local guide with an intimate knowledge of the area and its inhabitants.  Both are great but it’s the delightfully natural performance of 9-year-old Morgana Davies that will leave many saying “wow” on leaving the cinema.

Much of the film was shot in the remote Tasmanian wilderness and it wasn’t the easiest of shoots for the cast and crew.  Let’s just say that the rain and snow that you’ll see in the film weren’t produced with special effects.  I don’t think cinematographer Robert Humphreys (Somersault, Suburban Mayhem) would have been complaining though.  The beautiful setting allowed him to showcase some stunning images of a seldom seen part of our country.  Tourism Australia will be thrilled with the free advertising.

A storyline involving a group of loggers isn’t developed in enough detail but that’s about the only weakness worth mentioning.  The Hunter is one of the best Aussie releases of the year and I expect it to earn several nominations when the revamped Australian Academy Awards are held later this year.  Don’t miss it.

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Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 09 October 2011

So many Melbourne Cups have been filled with drama and intriguing storylines.  In 1976, the weather conditions were so bad that the commentators couldn’t identify the horses for much of the race.  In 1991, Let’s Elope earned the win after surviving the first protest in Cup in history.  In 2005, Makybe Diva became the only horse to win the race on three consecutive occasions.

That said, there was something extra special about the 2002 Melbourne Cup.  Australia’s leading jockey, Damien Oliver, was set to ride Media Puzzle in the race for Irish trainer Dermot Weld.  The horse had won the Geelong Cup in the lead up and was going into the Melbourne Cup as one of the more fancied contenders.

Tragedy struck however.  Just a week before the Cup, Damien’s older brother suffered fatal injuries during a horse race in Perth.  Damien immediately left Melbourne and flew home to be with his family.  Given that his father had also died in a racing accident, it left Damien pondering his future in one of the world’s most dangerous sports.

After much soul searching, he decided to fulfil his commitment to Dermot Weld and take his mount in the “race that stops a nation.”  The rest, as they say, is history.  The record books will forever show that Media Puzzle ridden by Damien Oliver was the winner of the 2002 Melbourne Cup.  What they won’t show is the courage shown by Damien to get himself on that horse in the first place.

That’s something that writers Simon Wincer and Eric O’Keefe have tried to remedy with the new Australian film, The Cup.  It’s been a long-term project given they started working on the script not long after the race in 2002.  They tried to get it off the ground several times but a lack of finance made things difficult.  To give you a further indication of how long this took, the footage used in the film of the big crowds at Flemington and also at an AFL match were shot way back in 2007.

The film is designed to leave you in tears at the end.  Director Simon Wincer (Free Willy, The Phantom) and his team have done this by milking every ounce of sentimentality they could from the story.  Its teats must have been sore.  It’s effective though.  My own eyes were moist as the closing started to roll.

Does this make it a great film, however?  The answer is no.  A few tears doth not a good movie make.  You could have pulled this together as a documentary (like the recent Senna) and generated just as much, if not more emotion.  Just watching Damien Oliver’s actual post race interview on Youtube leaves me feeling sentimental.

The Cup doesn’t dig deeply enough into its characters.  Everyone is portrayed in a positive light and it’s as if the writers were too afraid to challenge the audience.  Following the death of Damien’s brother, trainer Dermot Weld (played nicely by Brendan Gleeson) keeps reiterating that Damien is the only jockey that can ride Media Puzzle and that he wants to give him as much time as possible to make a decision.  Ok, that’s what was said publically but was Weld really thinking?  We see a disagreement between Weld and the horse’s owner but again, it’s only fleetingly touched upon.

The film also tries to bite off more than it can chew.  A big inspiration for Damien Oliver was North Melbourne football player Jason McCartney who was badly injured in the Bali bombings a few weeks prior to the 2002 Melbourne Cup.  To bring this subplot into the movie, the writers have had to show Damien and his brother at an AFL game, show them watching the Bali bombings unfold on television and then show Damien meeting McCartney in hospital.  It’s a distraction from the main story and I’d question its relevance.  The same could be said of the Godolphin stable and their horses.

The Cup’s most obvious weakness is its clichéd dialogue.  Some of the lines from these characters belong in a B-grade telemovie.  I’d also ask why we needed the myriad of sports commentators?  The list includes Eddie McGuire, Steven Quartermain, Bruce McAvaney, Dennis Commetti, Gerard Whateley and even the Coodabeen Champions.  Their commentary has been used to help explain events as they happened but I found it more distracting than informative.  Perhaps it’s been included for the benefit of international audiences who won’t know as much about AFL and horse racing.

I don’t want to come off too critical because close to $15m has been poured into this production and I’d like to see it succeed at the Australian box-office in a similar vein to the recent Red Dog.  It’s important for our industry as a whole.  The film was received warmly by racing fans last Friday night at its Brisbane premiere and it’s been given a strong endorsement by the real Damien Oliver and his family.  I stand by my criticisms but perhaps you’d better off taking their recommendations over mine.

You can read my interview with director Simon Wincer and star Stephen Curry by clicking here. 

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Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 28 September 2011

Love can be complicated.  It’s not an earth-shattering revelation but it’s clearly a point that writer Dan Fogelman is trying to get across with Crazy Stupid Love.  He has taken three separate stories and woven them together with a mix of comedy and drama.

The first couple are Cal (Carell) and Emily (Moore).  They’ve been married for over 25 years but the romance between them has slowly faded away.  It comes to a head when Emily admits to sleeping with another guy from work (Bacon).  Saying virtually nothing in response to the confession, Cal packs his bags and moves into his own apartment.

He tries to get back into the “dating scene” at a nearby bar.  He’s no hope though.  His dress sense is awful and his pick up lines are even worse.  Taking sympathy on him is a smooth young go-getter named Jacob (Gosling) who is the epitome of sophistication.  He can charm practically anyone and his night often ends in bed with a gorgeous woman.  Jacob offers Cal a few tips and yep, they start paying off.

Jacob’s world is soon upturned however when he meets a “game changer”.  Her name is Hannah (Stone) and it leaves him revaluating his own womanising lifestyle.  Is it time to settle down and finally have a meaningful relationship with someone?  It’s a scary thought for a guy who seemingly has all the answers.

The final relationship is the most awkward of all.  Cal’s 13-year-old son, Robbie (Bobo), has developed a huge crush on his 17-year-old babysitter, Jessica (Tipton).  He’s not one to hide his affections either.  Cal proclaims his love to everyone at school and it’s making life for Jessica very uncomfortable.

There are a few more pieces to this puzzle but I won’t reveal them all in this review.  The film’s best scene is near the very end when a few of the above mentioned stories overlap at a backyard get-together.  It’s a fun moment and directors Glenn Ficarra and John Requa extract as much humour from it as possible.

As for the rest of the film, well, I didn’t like it.  These characters reflect no people that I’ve ever met.  They’re as crazy and stupid as the title suggests.  Did Cal really need to jump out of a moving car when his wife admitted to having an affair?  Did Cal’s boss really need to make a joke when he heard him crying at work?  Did Jacob really need to stand buck naked in front of Cal while talking to him in the gym?  Don’t even get me started on Marisa Tomei’s character as a hyperactive school teacher in search of a new guy.

Crazy Stupid Love is trying to hard to be a crowd pleaser.  Perhaps my distain for the romantic comedy genre is to blame but significant doses of realism would be required before this tale would earn my appreciation.

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Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 05 October 2011

Real Steel is my kind of action movie.  The story is engaging, the characters are fun and the robots are freaking cool.  It has a spirit that is often lacking in CGI-laden action flicks.  I’ve even surprised myself by saying that.  I was sceptical when I first saw the posters and advertisements while on holidays in the United States.  It looked like some kind of cross between Rocky and Transformers.

The story is set in the not-to-distant future and revolves around Charlie Kenton (Jackman), a former boxer who is now trying to make his mark in the world of robot boxing.  Charlie’s irrational optimism combined with his arrogant nature has made him a complete failure.  He foolishly matches his robots up against bigger, tougher competitors and it’s no surprise that he always comes away as a loser.  His financial track record isn’t any better.  He’s in a heap of debt and there’s virtually no way that he’s going to be able to repay it (he’s the human equivalent of Lehmann Brothers).

Charlie’s self-centred demeanour is best illustrated by the relationship he has with his 11-year-old son, Max (Goyo).  I use the term “relationship” very loosely.  Charlie hasn’t seen Max since he was born and has no interest in his life whatsoever.  No fatherly visits, no birthday gifts, no Christmas cards.  He was more than happy to let the mother take full responsibility for Max when they split over a decade ago.  Kids are not his style.

Things are about to change however.  Max’s mother passes away (for reasons not explained in the film) and as his father, Charlie is entitled to custody.  He’s excited about the opportunity but not for the reasons you might expect.  He learns that Max’s aunt and uncle are interested in becoming his guardian and so Charlie agrees to their request in exchange for $100,000.  Yep, that’s right – he “sold” his only son.  There’s one condition however – Max must stay with Charlie for two months while the aunt and uncle go on a European holiday.

Ok, I’ll admit that does sound cheesy.  They’ve probably have gone a little too far in portraying Charlie as the ultimate scumbag.  Once you get past the first half hour though, Real Steel finds its feet and becomes an entertaining story of a father connecting with his son.  Both are going to have a lot of fun in the process.  They find an old robot while searching through a junkyard for parts and together, they prepare it for a few small fights.  It turns out to the start of something much bigger…

I’m tired of action films that take themselves too seriously and are filled with stuffy characters.  Hugh Jackman (X-Men, Australia) is great in this role and I can’t think of too many actors would be more suitable.  He has that “ordinary guy” quality that makes you want to cheer for him.  The stand out performance however comes from 12-year-old Dakota Goyo as Max.  It’s hard to believe someone that age can look so confident on screen.  Audiences will fall in love with him.

Judging from some of the tweets I received after seeing this film last weekend, it seems I wasn’t the only one with doubts.  For those in that basket, let me put your mind at ease and say that Real Steel is well worth your money.  You don’t even have to pay inflated 3D prices either!