Matt's Blog

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Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 20 December 2024

I saw 191 cinema releases during the 2024 calendar year (precisely the same number as the previous year) and, as I’ve done every year since 1996 (time flies), I like to put together a list which outlines my favourites.  My prior year top 10 lists can be found here.

We’ve all got different tastes but hopefully the list inspires others to hunt down these movies and watch something great they may otherwise have missed.  I went this through this list on ABC Brisbane breakfast radio a couple of weeks ago.

Honourable mentions this year which I couldn’t quite squeeze into my top 10 were – Fallen Leaves, Kneecap, Memoir of a Snail, There’s Still Tomorrow, Strange Darling, Touch, Monster, Wicked: Part I, Fremont, Riceboy Sleeps, My Old Ass.

The above films are all worth a look but to narrow it down to my top 10 of the year…

10. Challengers (out Apr 18) dumbs down the tennis elements to make it more cinematic, but it's still a terrific movie about three players (played by Zendaya, Josh O'Connor, and Mike Faist) and the power games between them. It’s great to see Hollywood getting behind a romantic drama with meaty ideas. The movie entertains (lots of great individual scenes) while offering plenty to chat about afterwards. Cool music score too! 

9. The Teacher's Lounge (out Apr 25) is a thought-provoking German drama about a schoolteacher embroiled in an escalating situation after a fellow staff member is caught stealing. With something to say about information (and who is entitled to it) and the relationships between parents and children, this resonates strongly. 

8. A Real Pain (out Dec 26) is a dark comedy about two 30-something-year-old American cousins who go on a week-long tour through Poland to understand their family heritage. It’s a wonderful character study with Kieren Culkin having the flashier role as the bipolar Benji while Jesse Eisenberg, who serves as writer-director, is also excellent as an introvert with obsessive-compulsive disorder. The film deftly mixes comedy, drama and heart in achieving its goals.

7. Late Night with the Devil (out Apr 11) provides a refreshing spin on the horror / supernatural genre. We watch a 1977 episode of a fictitious late-night talk show as the host performs a quasi-exorcism on stage to help boost sagging TV ratings. Directed by two Aussies and featuring distinctive performances and cinematography, this is one of the year's best.

6. The Holdovers (out Jan 11) is an exquisitely told tale. Marking the first period piece film of director Alexander Payne, it's a 1970s college tale about three "broken" people forced to spend the Christmas holidays together. Humour is generated from the stinging barbs, well-written one-liners, and expressive faces. These moments are countered by well-timed dramatic shifts.

5. Thelma (out Sep 5) is an exceptional comedy about a 93-year-old woman (June Squibb) who goes in search of those who scammed $10k from her. It may sound goofy but it's anything but. The performances are top-notch, the jokes are hilarious, and there's a strong emotional undercurrent. It also has something to say about the way we approach ageing. 

4. May December (out Feb 1) is a sensational film about a Hollywood starlet (Natalie Portman) who befriends a convicted paedophile schoolteacher (Julianne Moore) to work out how best to play her in a new movie. On one hand, it’s a thought-provoking drama about an unthinkable family unit. On the other, it’s an uncomfortable thriller about the way such stories are exploited for financial gain.

3. Anora (out Dec 26) is a conversation-generating film about a 23-year-old exotic dancer from New York City who falls in love with the excitable 21-year-old son of a Russian oligarch.  The opening act focuses on romance, the middle act is screwball comedy, and the final act develops into a meatier drama. Hard to pick a favourite amongst the exemplary performances.

2. The Zone of Interest (out Feb 22) is set in 1943 and is centred on the Nazi family who lived in the two-story home which bordered the Auschwitz concentration camp in Poland. It’s hard to watch this and not feel its deliberate coldness. Folks make innocuous small talk in the backyard garden while smoke billows from furnaces in the background. With distinctive cinematography and sound, it’s the kind of movie that makes you think about events back then… and events today. Unforgettable.

1. Anatomy of a Fall (out Jan 25) is an unforgettable French drama that won the Palme d'Or at Cannes last year. A woman is on trial for her husband's murder and it's as if we, as the audiences, are members of the jury trying to decide if she committed the crime. Your views will swing back and forth throughout. A riveting character study that shows how a facial expression or turn of phrase can be used to judge someone, rightly or wrongly.

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Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 15 December 2024

The new animated feature, The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim, provides an opportunity for Australian actress Miranda Otto to reprise her role from two decades ago.  I recently had a chance to speak to Miranda about the project…

Matt:  It’s been over two decades since the Lord of the Rings movies. Do you still have strong memories of working with Peter Jackson and making those movies?

Miranda:  Absolutely.  Really strong memories.  When we went back to record this in Wellington, it really was like going back to Middle Earth.  Many of the same people were still working at Park Road Studios and there I was with Philippa.  It was very much a return home.

Matt:  Philippa Boyens is back as one of the writers of The War of the Rohirrim.  Was she involved in bringing you back for this particular project?

Miranda:  She was a writer on Lord of the Rings but she’s more producing on this one.  We had done a lot of work together on Éowyn’s character back when we shot The Lord of the Rings.  It was lovely to have her and Kenji in the room.

Matt:  Do you ever rewatch the movies?  Are you one of those people who likes to look back at their old work?

Miranda:  I don’t look back.  I really should watch the movies again and at the same time, I try to “leave something” once I’ve finished a project and done everything I can on it.  I tend to put it aside.  That’s the case with everything.

Matt:  I’m not sure I’ve ever interviewed someone about their role as a narrator before so I’d love to zero in on that. How did you get approached about being involved with The War of the Rohirrim?

Miranda:  Philippa got in touch with me.  The reasoning was that there’s such a strong affiliation between Héra’s character and Éowyn’s character.  They sit in the same universe and have Rohan heritage.  I can see why they asked me to do it.  It just felt like a great fit. 

Matt:  So what’s your approach as a narrator? Do you have a script you read precisely from? Are there a lot of takes? Can you ad-lib at all?

Miranda:  In the beginning, I did a recording when I was living in Los Angeles in a little studio there.  I’d recently had COVID and so my voice was super croaky.  I thought they’d be impressed by my croaky voice by they weren’t (laughs), and they said they wanted the true Éowyn voice.

That time around, there wasn’t a lot to go on.  There was a script but visually, I only had some rough sketches.  I was recording with no idea what anyone else was going to do.  When I came back to Wellington this year to record, I got to see most of the film put together and most of the animation work done.  I could hear the music and the actor’s voices.  There was so much more to work with.

It was interesting being the narration as well as a character because it informed it in a different way. 

Matt:  While you are an unseen narrator, you are still a character that you played 20+ years ago. Was it easy to tap back into that voice and persona? Did you have to change it in any way?

Miranda:  Once I got back to Wellington, it was easy to tap back in.  I worked with Roisin Carty again who did a lot of the original dialect work with us.  When I had all those touchstones again, it was easy to get back into it.

Matt:  Perhaps what struck me most about the film was the beautiful anime-style animation. What were your reactions seeing the film for the first time?

Miranda:  The same as you – it was absolutely gorgeous.  It was a bizarre feeling though as there was so much that was familiar.  I realized they were reflecting things that were in frames from the earlier movies.  I’d look at something and go – “oh wow, that’s the stables were I stood with Viggo.”  Remembering the places and being in them, it was a weird feeling because I’m looking at an illustration.

Matt:  What’s Kenji like to work with?  I admit to not knowing a lot about him as a director.

Miranda:  He was really lovely.  It was so nice to be in the room with him and hear what he had to say.  He’s very clear and exact about what he wants.

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Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 13 September 2024

Transformers One is the latest instalment in the successful Transformers universe and while they were recently in Australia, I had a chance to speak with director Josh Cooley and producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura about the project…

Matt:  Lorenzo, there are so many stories which could be told in the Transformers universe so what was behind the decision to tell this one – particularly since it wouldn’t involve any human characters?

Lorenzo:  That’s part of the reason.  From about the second movie on, we began to discuss the story because it’s so biblical and relatable.  We all have people who… maybe we’re not fighting to the death… but they fall out of our lives in different ways and forms.  The pull of it was always there.  We wanted the audience to have a new experience, and the timing felt right to approach this.  It’s a powerful story and thankfully we have a very talented director to deliver it.

Matt:  Josh, a lot of big names in the cast.  How do you approach casting for an animated film?  What are you looking for?

Josh:  This is one of the fun and hard parts of an animated film.  You want actors who can bring the characters to life but, for me personally, I almost don’t want to know who the actor is when I’m first listening to the voice.  I want audiences to buy into Orion Pax or D-16 and that’s who I want them to connect with.  At the same time, you want the actor to bring a piece of themselves so it’s actually a really difficult thing to find.  I’m still blown away by the calibre of the cast but also their acting.

Lorenzo:  I think the other part that’s really interesting is that you don’t realise how much the visual part of what that actor’s face looks like plays into how you think about that voice.  As soon as you take away the face, the voice is very different.  That was surprising each time we were debating this.  Some actor’s voices translate but with others, it doesn’t feel right without their face.

Matt:  He’s an Aussie so I have to ask about Chris Hemsworth.  Given he has such a deep, recognisable voice which we know so well from the Thor franchise.  What was it about him that you particularly wanted for the role?

Josh:  The thing for me that totally worked is that he has such weight to his voice.  I could believe that he would eventually become Optimus Prime and the voice of Peter Cullen as a character.  The other thing is that Chris has a great charm to his voice.  We wanted to do Orion Pax different from Optimus Prime in that he’s not all-knowing and he’s a bit younger with more swagger.  He’s not as refined.  Chris loved playing that and really brought it to the role.

Matt:  Lorenzo, you’re a producer who’s been in the business for a couple of decades now.  There’s so much competition from streaming platforms these days.  When you have a big theatrical release like Transformers One, is there anything different in the studio’s approach in trying to get people off the couch and into cinemas to enjoy it?

Lorenzo:  Every story now goes through a greater scrutiny about is this “theatre worthy” in a way but it’s been a little destructive that people think that way because you don’t know if something is theatre-worthy until you put it in a theatre.  The biggest thing is that we’re competing for people’s attention against video games, the internet, and all the different kinds of distractions.  That’s put an additional burden on what you select and why you select.

I’d like to think the quality of the movie can make it cinematic and theatre-worthy.  I advocate with studios not to make a decision right away about certain kinds of projects.  A Transformers movie is different because it’s theatrical by definition given its scale… it’s an event experience.  A lot of other movies don’t have that quality.

Matt:  Josh, we as the audience are there to enjoy the movie and we have little-to-comprehension of the hundreds of people craftsmen working behind the scenes to bring the movie to life.  With Transformers One, what was the biggest challenge in realising your vision?

Josh:  Every day, I have to answer a trillion questions.  If you think about it, everything in the movie is fake… it doesn’t exist.  If we were shooting this interview, we’ve got us as people and what we’re wearing – we’ve got things for free as a live action film.  In animation, you have to build all of it – from the colour of the sky down to what the colours on their skin look like up close.  There’s a million questions a day but at the same time, that’s the fun of the job.  Working with the cast and the crew and the amazing artists at Industrial Light & Magic here in Sydney.  I’ve been to Sydney five times in the past 2 years to spend time with the team and record Chris Hemsworth.  It’s a great job.

Matt:  What’s the plan for the franchise going forward?

Lorenzo:  We have some story ideas if we’re successful with this movie.  We’ve just begun the process.  Josh and I are in sync and at least for myself, it’s brought out the best part of my creativity working with Josh.  It’s really exciting to contemplate another movie.  These two characters have a lot more to go.  I’ll say that.

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Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 13 September 2024

The Wild Robot has arrived in Australian cinemas for the September school holidays and I recently had the chance to speak with writer-director Chris Sanders (Lilo & Stitch, How to Train Your Dragon) about the film…

Matt:  Robot movies have been around for a century, and they show both ends of the spectrum – robots intent on destroying the world (The Terminator) and then the friendlier kind like what we see here in The Wild Robot.  What drew you in to this story and perspective?

Chris:  I feel the same way and I like robot movies.  The idea that a robot was front and centre as the main character of the movie was very attractive to me.  Even more so when I read the book and realised this robot was going to be an accidental mother which goes way against its programming.  That really drew me in.  It’s a conflict that created energy and there’s also a lot of heart and emotion that’s generated by that relationship – both with Roz and the gosling which she realises is now hers, but also with the other animals on the island.  There’s so much emotional resonance within the story and it became a labour of love for me and the crew to bring that to the big screen.

Matt:  Peter Brown’s books have some simple black and white drawings, but you have the challenge of translating that into an animated feature for the big screen.  How did you approach the look of the film?

Chris:  I would start with Roz actually.  We wanted to stay true to Peter Brown’s very clear proportions which are described in the books.  His style is both specific and graphic and so there’s a lot of details we knew we had to fill in.  We had a big task ahead of us to design a robot which would be iconic and memorable.  We wanted people who see it in the future to instantly know that’s Roz and no other robot.  I think the artists on this film achieved it and full credit to all of them.  We were all trying to design Roz in parallel but when Hyun Huh brought in his design one day, it was “pencils down”.  That was the one and we began working and refining that design.  It’s pretty much the one you see on screen.

Matt:  Great family flicks often find a way to appeal to both kids and adults.  How much thought went into that here and trying to find the right balance?

Chris:  The humour and tone balance comes out of a lot of work.  I do my best when writing the initial script but then we go through a lot of iterations and balancing.  It’s like putting a car on a track and driving it around.  We test it over and over, and we watch it over and over.  Just like when a Formula 1 racer comes into the pit, we make adjustments and send it out again until it feels just right. 

As far as adult and kids, we play to ourselves in a way and work not to exclude anybody.  I see myself the same as the audience.  They’re smart but not pretentious.  They come to movies with open hearts and they’re ready to hear a story.  Anything that delights all of us and pulls us in, is going to be the same for the audience.