Reviewed by GREG KING Director: Paolo Sorrentino Stars: Toni Servillo, Elena Sofia Ricci, Riccardo Scamarcio, Kasia Smutniak, Giovanni Esposito, Dario Contarelli. This messy, vulgar, bloated and indulgent biopic of Silvio Berlusconi (played here by Toni Servillo), the lecherous tycoon and media mogul who served four terms as Italy’s divisive, colourful and controversial Prime Minister mired in scandal, is the latest film from idiosyncratic filmmaker Paolo Sorrentino (The Great Beauty, etc). Sorrentino’s films always serve up a brash and flashy mix of the bawdy and Continue reading
LEAN ON PETE
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Reviewed by GREG KING Director: Andrew Haigh Stars: Charlie Plummer, Steve Buscemi, Chloe Sevigny, Travis Fimmel, Amy Seimetz, Lewis Pullman, Steve Zahn, Alison Elliott, Bob Olin. Lean On Pete is a gritty coming of age story about a boy and his love for a horse, but it is a far cry from the more family friendly films like Black Beauty, The Black Stallion, etc. Fifteen-year old Charley Thompson (played by Charlie Plummer, who played Christopher Plummer’s kidnapped grandson in the drama All The Money In The World) is an itinerant teen who is travelling around Continue reading
LADIES IN BLACK
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Reviewed by GREG KING Director: Bruce Beresford Stars: Angourie Rice, Rachael Taylor, Julia Ormond, Suzie Porter, Alison McGirr, Shane Jacobson, Ryan Corr, Noni Hazlehurst, Nicholas Hammond, Vincent Perez, Luge Pegler, Celia Massingham. Sydney, summer of 1959, is the setting for this feel good local romantic drama that plays out against a backdrop of great change to the social fabric of Australia in the post WWII era. Goodes is the major fashionable department store in Sydney, catering to high end women’s fashion. Sixteen-year old Lisa Miles Continue reading
LEAVE NO TRACE
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Reviewed by GREG KING Director: Debra Granik Stars: Ben Foster, Thomasin Harcourt McKenzie, Dale Dickey, Dana Millican, Bob Werfelman, Jeff Kober. Will (Ben Foster, from Hell Or High Water, Hostiles, etc) is a psychologically damaged war veteran who is living off the grid with his dutiful teenaged daughter Tom (New Zealand actress Thomasin Harcourt McKenzie, from popular tv soap Shortland Street, etc). Will likes the sense of isolation and is homeless by choice. The pair have been hiding and living in Forest Park, a huge wilderness area outside Portland Oregon. Continue reading
MELBOURNE INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL 2018 – reviews
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ALL REVIEWS WRITTEN BY GREG KING LAST UPDATED AUGUST 17, 2018 THE MAN WHO KILLED DON QUIXOTE. The struggles faced by idiosyncratic and maverick filmmaker Terry Gilliam in trying to bring to the screen his long gestating passion project about Don Quixote have been well detailed in the fascinating 2002 documentary Lost In La Mancha. That film told of the storms that destroyed sets, the lack of financial support and the ill health of its star, all of which combined to halt production within a week of the project starting physical production. Now some twenty years Continue reading
