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Interview - Director Wayne Blair Orchestrates A 'Top End Wedding'
- Details
- Written by Matthew Toomey
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There are high hopes for Top End Wedding, the latest film from director Wayne Blair (The Sapphires). I recently had the chance to talk to Wayne about the movie…
Matt: Every director starts out with high hopes and expectations, but did you ever believe The Sapphires would be as successful as it was – both with critics and at the local box-office?
Wayne: No, not at all. You make a film and you want your mum to like it and you want the immediate people around you to respond to it but yeah, everything else that comes after that is great. That film did well. You feel blessed.
Matt: You’ve been a busy man over the last few years but this is your first Australian feature film since The Sapphires. How did the project come about?
Wayne: I have an association with Goldpost Pictures who were the producers of The Sapphires. Kylie Du Fresne contacted me about this script that Miranda Tapsell and Josh Tyler had written. I went “this is good” but I said no at first. Six months later, they’d done a re-write and it was a different time period for me and I thought I’d give it a shot. They got the money and it all went from there. I didn’t have any hand in the original writing but I came on board as the director about a year and a half ago.
Matt: Balancing up the tones of this film must have been a challenge. You have moments out outlandish comedy and then other moments which are quite dramatic and poignant (particularly at the end). How did you approach that?
Wayne: The heart of the film lies in the last 30 to 40 minutes. In the moments leading up to that, you sort of work it out on set. The biggest thing is in the edit suite where you need to “go for it” as you try to glue these moments together. Chris Plummer did a great job. There were some funny moments that we had to cut as part of the balancing act.
Matt: Romantic comedies can often be a clichéd genre and it’s made more difficult by the fact that everyone has a different sense of humour. How do you know what’s working and what’s not working as you go through the shooting process?
Wayne: It’s a hard one. You’ll feel it if you’re smiling on set while shooting a scene. There are also times when you can recognise when the actors have gone to another level during the dramatic moments. It’s right there in front of you.
However, what you think is really good doesn’t always work when you get to the edit suite. Something might have been really funny on the set but when you see it on screen, it doesn’t work as well. You also get the opposite where something you were iffy about on the set looks really strong during the editing process.
Matt: Miranda Tapsell co-wrote the screenplay and gives a great lead performance but how did come across British actor Gwilym Lee to play her fiancé?
Wayne: Our casting director Kirsty McGregor and I went to seemingly every actor in Australia and we found some great talent but we thought about looking overseas to get a few more options. Gwilym just so happened to be one of the people who auditioned and when we saw his test, we felt there was something there. A month later, Miranda was going over to London with her fiancé for a trip and Kirsty suggested that she do a “chemistry test” with Gwilym while she was over there.
Once we saw the two of them together in that test, we were like “that’s the guy” and Miranda felt the same way. We proceeded to cast him and so if it wasn’t for Miranda’s world trip with her fiancé, we would never have got him. We also knew he was in Bohemian Rhapsody but we didn’t realise how big that film would go on to be. That aside, he was just really, really strong.
Matt: We don’t see a lot of Australian films shot in the Northern Territory. What was your process for deciding on the locations to best depict this story?
Wayne: It was a little bit to do with how great these locations were. We went to Kakadu and a few other places where we were guided by the traditional owners. The cinematographer, the locations person and myself then made the decision as to what worked best. We shot a lot around Jabiru, Katherine and Darwin. We made the film in 30 days across 6 different locations and so it was quite ambitious. As an example, the scenes in Kakadu were all shot in 1 day in an area called Hawk Dreaming. You had to be on the front foot and really prepared.
Matt: The film had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival in the United States. What was that experience like and how was the movie perceived by American audiences?
Wayne: It was a fantastic experience. We had 6 screenings at Sundance with about 3,500 Americans there to see our film. A whole bunch of people went over including Miranda, Gwilym, the producers, the cinematographer and we all had a little celebration over there. Americans really got the humour which was great because you make a film for people to see.
'Green Book' Surprises & Takes Top Prize At 2019 Oscars
- Details
- Written by Matthew Toomey
It’s the grand final for movie fans and the 91st Academy Awards offered up a few interesting surprises. As predicted in last week’s e-newsletter (and also on ABC radio this morning), Green Book stunned many by taking the top prize for best picture. Many tipped Roma to win but it looks to have fallen foul of the preferential ballot.
The bigger surprise of the night was seeing Olivia Coleman win best actress in a stunning turn of events over “sure thing” Glenn Close who looked on track to break her Oscar duck and win at her 7th attempt. Close is now the biggest living acting loser in history and it was a clearly surprised Coleman who got to stand on stage and deliver a heartfelt speech.
Every one of the 8 best picture nominees got to take home a statuette in some form. The critically maligned Bohemian Rhapsody won 4 awards (including best actor for Rami Malek) while Roma, Green Book and Black Panther all won 3. It was nice to see the love shared around.
I only managed 14 out of 24 in terms of predictions but as always, I went for a few upsets that didn’t all come off.
Oscars gambling
I outlined my Oscars bets last week and I was an excited as anyone to see Green Book take the prize for best picture since I wagered $100 on the film at $8.50 back in November. That leaves me in the black for the 4th straight year and here’s my latest tally…
1996 – profit of $750 – won on Susan Sarandon
1997 – profit of $300 (cumulative profit $1,050) – won on Frances McDormand
1998 – loss of $250 (cumulative profit $800)
1999 – loss of $250 (cumulative profit $550)
2000 – profit of $620 (cumulative profit $1,170) – won on Kevin Spacey and Michael Caine
2001 – loss of $190 (cumulative profit $980) – won on director Steven Soderbergh
2002 – profit of $480 (cumulative profit $1,460) – won on Halle Berry
2003 – profit of $275 (cumulative profit $1,735) – won on Catherine Zeta-Jones and Adrian Brody
2004 – profit of $150 (cumulative profit $1,875) – won on Sean Penn
2005 – profit of $214 (cumulative profit $2,089) – won on Hilary Swank
2006 – profit of $350 (cumulative profit $2,439) – won on Reese Witherspoon
2007 – profit of $1,463 (cumulative profit $3,912) – won on Eddie Murphy at Globes, Alan Arkin & West Bank Story at Oscars
2008 – profit of $268 (cumulative profit of $4,280) – won on Tilda Swinton and the Coen brothers
2009 – profit of $253 (cumulative profit of $4,533) – won on Mickey Rourke & Kate Winslet at Globes, Kate Winslet at Oscars
2010 – loss of $830 (cumulative profit of $3,703)
2011 – profit of $30 (cumulative profit of $3,733) – won on Social Network at Globes, Tom Hooper & King’s Speech at Oscars
2012 – loss of $640 (cumulative profit of $3,093) – won on Jean Dujardin at Oscars
2013 – loss of $850 (cumulative profit of $2,243) – won on Ang Lee at Oscars
2014 – loss of $72 (cumulative profit of $2,171) – won on Matthew McConaughey at Globes and Oscars
2015 – loss of $50 (cumulative profit of $2,121) – won on Eddie Redmayne at Oscars
2016 – profit of $1,325 (cumulative profit of $3,446) – won on Mark Rylance and Spotlight at Oscars
2017 – profit of $870 (cumulative profit of $4,316) – won on Damien Chazelle, Casey Affleck, Emma Stone and Mahershala Ali at Oscars
2018 – profit of $330 (cumulative profit of $4,646) – won on Frances McDormand and Three Billboards at Globes and Frances McDormand at Oscars
2019 – profit of $1,022 (cumulative profit of $5,668) – won on Rami Malek and Green Book at Globes and Green Book at Oscars
It’s been a good run!
Oscars competition
Congratulations to Sarah Case who won my 19th Annual Pick the Oscars competition. It was a tough year and she finished with 4 out of 6 and a fairly close answer when it came to the tie-breaker question. 51-year-old Julia Roberts presented the best picture Oscar and Sarah guessed the age of 50. An honourable mention goes to Katie Read who also managed 4 out of 6. The toughest category to get right this year was Green Book.
So that wraps up another Oscars. It clocked in at a nice running time and while there were a few odd presenter pairings and some unnecessarily long speeches, the telecast was solid. Until next year!
Interview - Charlie Cox's Late Call Up For 'King of Thieves'
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- Written by Matthew Toomey
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36-year-old Charlie Cox had the chance to work with some of Britain's best actors in the crime flick King of Thieves. I recently spoke to him about the experience...
Matt: Whether they’re based on actual events or purely a work of fiction, heist films been a staple of cinema for decades. Why do you think audiences enjoy them so much?
Charlie: I think they lend themselves to a two hour drama and it can be an easy structure in the way you set up a premise, introduce some characters who are a bit different and a bit quirky, and then watch them either succeed or fail in their chosen pursuit.
Matt: And how did you become involved with King of Thieves? What drew you into the project?
Charlie: I got a call on a Friday asking me to get on a plane and they needed me by Monday. Someone must have pulled out and I was lucky enough to be available.
Matt: So were you shooting on the Monday or just rehearsing?
Charlie: Rehearsing. I got off my overnight flight from America and I went straight into rehearsal with Michael Caine.
Matt: Well, let’s talk about the cast. Many actors would love the chance to work alongside Michael Caine, Jim Broadbent, Tom Courtenay, Michael Gambon and Ray Winstone and you get to do that in a single film. What was the experience like?
Charlie: It’s hard to find the words to describe it. These are some of my heroes from growing up, especially as a British actor. Just to meet these guys is a dream come true let alone being able to work with them and hear some of their anecdotes from working in the profession. It was mind blowing.
Matt: So are they quite open with you? Can you ask a lot of questions or do you get more out of it from just watching them act?
Charlie: They’re very nice and you can ask whatever you want but you just don’t want to be annoying. For me, I just wanted to soak up the experience. I also had a job to do and I wanted to trust what I was bringing to the film.
Matt: We all know he’s playing a character but when you put someone as likeable as Michael Caine in the lead role, you sort of feel yourself rooting for him and hoping he gets away with it. Is it right for me to think that way?
Charlie: I think so. You’re right that Michael has such a likeable presence on screen but that’s true of a lot of these heist films. You find yourself aligning with characters that you wouldn’t necessarily do in real life. We kind of like underdogs and people beating the system and people getting something for nothing. That doesn’t always mean we want that to happen in reality but it’s fun in the movie world.
Matt: One of the most interesting elements for me was how easy these characters thought they were going to get away with it despite all the CCTV and such. Were there parts of this story that surprised you when you first heard of it?
Charlie: Oh man, there’s so much of it that’s astonishing. I remember it being in the news and the press when it happened. I was astounded then but the audacity and the bravo to pulling something like this off. When they were caught and found, Scotland Yard described them as “analogue criminals in a digital world.” They were out of their depth with their lack of understanding about surveillance and tapping phones. They did pull off a miraculous heist and they caught people off guard by doing it in an old-fashioned away but they were always going to leave clues.
Matt: Your character is an interesting one and without giving too much away, I can’t figure out if he’s based on a real-life person or not. Do you form a view on that as part of your research and intel?
Charlie: He is based on a real person but he’s the one guy who was never caught and no one knows where he is. We don’t know too much about him including his age and how he got involved. The pieces of information we have come from police transcripts. The writer and director looked at what we had and tried to put together a character that made sense and was valuable to the story as well.
We knew Basil wasn’t his real name but when we were filming it, there was an understanding that he was called Basil because he was posh person like the cartoon character Basil Brush. When the film had almost finished being edited, someone suggested he might have been called that because it’s the acronym for “best alarm specialist in London”.
Matt: Did you get a chance to speak to any of the real-life people involved with perpetuating the crime or perhaps those investigating it?
Charlie: I did not but I think I’m right in saying that some of the actors did.
Matt: What are you working on at the moment? What will we see from your next?
Charlie: I’m doing a play in London on West End and it’s from writer Harold Pinter who is a well-known British playwright. It’s called Betrayal and it stars Zawe Ashton and Tom Hiddleston. We’re rehearsing that at the moment.
Brisbane Film Critics Select 'The Favourite' As Best Of 2018
- Details
- Written by Matthew Toomey
Since 2011, I have been pulling together a list of the best movies of the year according to the Brisbane-based critics who I run into regularly at preview screenings. Those films to have topped prior year lists have been Drive in 2011, Argo in 2012, Gravity in 2013, Boyhood in 2014, Mad Max: Fury Road in 2015, La La Land in 2016 and Get Out in 2017.
To come up with an overall top 10, I’ve used a simple points system and applied it to the list of each critic. It is as follows:
- 3 points for the top film on each list.
- 2 points for the films ranked between 2nd and 5th on each list.
- 1 point for the films ranked between 6th and 10th on each list.
If two films finished on the same score, the film that appeared on the most number of top 10 lists is ranked higher (as an indication of wider approval).
The #1 film of 2018 was The Favourite from Greek director Yorgos Lanthimos. More than half of the critics surveyed had it in their top 10 and two critics (David Edwards and Adam Roboczi) had it as their best for the year. The film will be a serious contender at the Oscars next month.
A close second was Steve McQueen’s Widows which featured on 5 of the top 10 lists. Rounding out the placings in third was Shoplifters, the Japanese film which won both the Palme d’Or and the Asia Pacific Screen Award for Best Feature Film.
As always, there was an interesting mix of films in this year’s overall top 10. Horror-thrillers were well represented with Suspiria, A Quiet Place and Hereditary all getting a mention. It’s rare for a sequel to make the list but Mission: Impossible – Fallout had plenty of fans.
Three films from female directors made the cut – Lynne Ramsay with You Were Never Really Here, Greta Gerwig with Lady Bird and Marielle Heller with Can You Ever Forgive Me?
Rounding out the list were two films which are also looking to make a run at this year’s Academy Awards – Spike Lee’s BlacKkKlansman and Alfonso Cuarón’s Roma.
On that note, here are the top 10 movies of 2018 according to Brisbane critics…
Brisbane Film Critics - Top 10 of 2018
1. The Favourite
2. Widows
3. Shoplifters
4. BlacKkKlansman
5. Roma
6. Suspiria
7. You Were Never Really Here
8 (tie). Can You Ever Forgive Me?
8 (tie). Mission: Impossible - Fallout
10 (tie). A Quiet Place
10 (tie). Hereditary
10 (tie). Lady Bird
You can view a table of all the votes and final scores by clicking here.
A big thanks to all the critics who were able to contribute. Hopefully we'll do it again next year!
You can check out information on all the Brisbane critics (along with their choices for the best and worst of 2018) below.
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Matthew Toomey | Top 10 Released Films: | |
| 1. | Phantom Thread |
| 2. | Lady Bird |
| 3. | Back to Burgundy |
| 4. | A Quiet Place |
| 5. | Can You Ever Forgive Me? |
| 6. | The Favourite |
| 7. | Custody |
| 8. | C'est La Vie! |
| 9. | Unsane |
| 10. | McQueen |
| Best Australian Film: | |
| Ladies in Black | |
| Best Animated Film: | |
| Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse | |
| Best Documentary: | |
| McQueen | |
| Best Performance: | |
| Olivia Coleman (The Favourite) | |
| Worst Film: | |
| Holmes and Watson | |
| Most Surprised To Enjoy: | |
| Ideal Home | |
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Sarah Ward | Top 10 Released Films: | |
| 1. | You Were Never Really Here |
| 2. | Cold War |
| 3. | Roma |
| 4. | Sweet Country |
| 5. | Custody |
| 6. | Suspiria |
| 7. | Sorry to Bother You |
| 8. | Hereditary |
| 9. | Widows |
| 10. | Can You Ever Forgive Me? |
| Top Unreleased Films: | |
| 1. | High Life |
| 2. | Burning |
| 3. | The Nightingale |
| 4. | Vox Lux |
| 5. | Annihilation |
| Best Australian Film: | |
| Sweet Country | |
| Best Animated Film: | |
| Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse | |
| Best Documentary: | |
| Gurrumul | |
| Best Performance: | |
| Joaquin Phoenix (You Were Never Really Here) | |
| Worst Film: | |
| That's Not My Dog! | |
| Most Surprised To Enjoy: | |
| A Simple Favour | |
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Garry Williams| Top 10 Released Films: | |
| 1. | See You Up There (Au Revour La Haut) |
| 2. | Vice |
| 3. | The Favourite |
| 4. | Molly's Game |
| 5. | First Man |
| 6. | Don't Worry He Won't Get Far On Foot |
| 7. | The Shape of Water |
| 8. | BlacKkKlansman |
| 9. | A Simple Favour |
| 10. | Black Panther |
| Top Unreleased Films: | |
| 1. | Woman at War |
| 2. | Peterloo |
| 3. | Leave No Trace |
| 4. | The Mist and the Maiden |
| 5. | The House That Jack Built |
| Best Australian Film: | |
| The Merger | |
| Best Animated Film: | |
| Mirai | |
| Best Documentary: | |
| Three Identical Strangers | |
| Best Performance: | |
| Sally Hawkins (The Shape of Water) | |
| Worst Film: | |
| The Nun | |
| Most Surprised To Enjoy: | |
| A Star is Born | |
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Peter Gray| Top 10 Released Films: | |
| 1. | Widows |
| 2. | Hereditary |
| 3. | Suspiria |
| 4. | The Favourite |
| 5. | Roma |
| 6. | You Were Never Really Here |
| 7. | A Simple Favour |
| 8. | Can You Ever Forgive Me? |
| 9. | A Quiet Place |
| 10. | Mission: Impossible - Fallout |
| Top Unreleased Films: | |
| 1. | Where is Kyra? |
| 2. | Mary Poppins Returns |
| 3. | Annihiliation |
| 4. | Cam |
| 5. | Terminal |
| Best Australian Film: | |
| Sweet Country | |
| Best Animated Film: | |
| Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse | |
| Best Documentary: | |
| Whitney | |
| Best Performance: | |
| Michelle Pfeiffer (Where is Kyra?) | |
| Worst Film: | |
| Overboard | |
| Most Surprised To Enjoy: | |
| Game Night | |
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Ella Donald| Top 10 Released Films: | |
| 1. | Widows |
| 2. | The Favourite |
| 3. | Mission: Impossible - Fallout |
| 4. | Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again |
| 5. | Foxtrot |
| 6. | In the Fade |
| 7. | Shoplifters |
| 8. | Love, Simon |
| 9. | Wildlife |
| 10. | A Star is Born |
| Top Unreleased Films: | |
| 1. | First Reformed |
| 2. | The Tale |
| 3. | Vox Lux |
| 4. | Jane Fonda in Five Acts |
| 5. | Thoroughbreds |
| Best Australian Film: | |
| Abstained | |
| Best Animated Film: | |
| Incredibles 2 | |
| Best Documentary: | |
| Shirkers | |
| Best Performance: | |
| Laia Artigas (Summer 1993) | |
| Worst Film: | |
| The Cloverfield Paradox | |
| Most Surprised To Enjoy: | |
| Assassination Nation | |
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David Edwards| Top 10 Released Films: | |
| 1. | The Favourite |
| 2. | Cold War |
| 3. | BlacKkKlansman |
| 4. | I, Tonya |
| 5. | Widows |
| 6. | Lady Bird |
| 7. | The Death of Stalin |
| 8. | Tully |
| 9. | A Simple Favour |
| 10. | Isle of Dogs |
| Top Unreleased Films: | |
| 1. | Columbus |
| 2. | I Am Not Your Negro |
| 3. | Ismael's Ghosts |
| 4. | Annihilation |
| Best Australian Film: | |
| Sweet Country | |
| Best Animated Film: | |
| Isle of Dogs | |
| Best Performance: | |
| Charlize Theron (Tully) | |
| Worst Film: | |
| Pitch Perfect 3 | |
| Most Surprised To Enjoy: | |
| Game Night | |
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Dave Crewe| Top 10 Released Films: | |
| 1. | Roma |
| 2. | Widows |
| 3. | Shoplifters |
| 4. | Lady Bird |
| 5. | Love, Simon |
| 6. | Sorry to Bother You |
| 7. | A Simple Favour |
| 8. | Mission: Impossible - Fallout |
| 9. | Climax |
| 10. | The Shape of Water |
| Top Unreleased Films: | |
| 1. | Leave No Trace |
| 2. | Ex Libris: New York Public Library |
| 3. | The Wild Boys |
| 4. | First Reformed |
| 5. | Burning |
| Best Australian Film: | |
| Sweet Country | |
| Best Animated Film: | |
| Incredibles 2 | |
| Best Documentary: | |
| Ex Libris: New York Public Library | |
| Best Performance: | |
| Steven Yeun (Burning) | |
| Worst Film: | |
| Wildling | |
| Most Surprised To Enjoy: | |
| Love, Simon | |
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Michael Dalton| Top 10 Released Films: | |
| 1. | Shoplifters |
| 2. | Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri |
| 3. | BlacKkKlansman |
| 4. | Hereditary |
| 5. | Phantom Thread |
| 6. | Can You Ever Forgive Me? |
| 7. | Vice |
| 8. | Three Identical Strangers |
| 9. | Custody |
| 10. | Suspiria |
| Top Unreleased Films: | |
| 1. | First Reformed |
| 2. | Leave No Trace |
| 3. | The Happy Prince |
| 4. | Summer of 84 |
| 5. | Mary Queen of Scots |
| Best Animated Film: | |
| Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse | |
| Best Documentary: | |
| Three Identical Strangers | |
| Best Performance: | |
| Sakura Ando (Shoplifters) | |
| Worst Film: | |
| Ideal Home | |
| Most Surprised To Enjoy: | |
| Searching | |
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Baz McAlister| Top 10 Released Films: | |
| 1. | Solo: A Star Wars Story |
| 2. | A Quiet Place |
| 3. | Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri |
| 4. | The Ballad of Buster Scruggs |
| 5. | BlacKkKlansman |
| 6. | Isle of Dogs |
| 7. | The Death of Stalin |
| 8. | Mission: Impossible - Fallout |
| 9. | Black Panther |
| 10. | Bumblebee |
| Best Australian Film: | |
| Winchester | |
| Best Animated Film: | |
| Isle of Dogs | |
| Best Documentary: | |
| Three Identical Strangers | |
| Best Performance: | |
| Frances McDormand (Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri) | |
| Worst Film: | |
| Aquaman | |
| Most Surprised To Enjoy: | |
| Bumblebee | |
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Adam Roboczi| Top 10 Released Films: | |
| 1. | The Favourite |
| 2. | You Were Never Really Here |
| 3. | Suspiria |
| 4. | Shoplifters |
| 5. | Sorry to Bother You |
| 6. | The Endless |
| 7. | Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse |
| 8. | Vice |
| 9. | Mandy |
| 10. | I, Tonya |
| Top Unreleased Films: | |
| 1. | Annihiliation |
| 2. | The House That Jack Built |
| 3. | First Reformed |
| 4. | Burning |
| 5. | Cam |
| Best Australian Film: | |
| Upgrade | |
| Best Animated Film: | |
| Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse | |
| Best Documentary: | |
| Won't You Be My Neighbour? | |
| Best Performance: | |
| Olivia Coleman (The Favourite) | |
| Worst Film: | |
| Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald | |
| Most Surprised To Enjoy: | |
| Meal Tickets | |
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