Reviewed by GREG KING Director: Thomas M Wright Stars: Daniel Henshall, Toby Wallace, Max Cullen, Genevieve Lemon. Some reviewers, a couple of whose opinions I respect, have called Acute Misfortune one of the best Australian films of the year, although I found it troubling and disturbing on a couple of levels. This is a relentlessly bleak, uncompromising and downbeat biopic of controversial Archibald Prize winning artist Adam Cullen, who died in 2012 aged just 46. This is the non-judgemental portrait of a troubled and terribly flawed and self-destructive …
TOLKIEN
Reviewed by GREG KING Director: Dome Karukoski Stars: Nicholas Hoult, Lily Collins, Colm Meaney, Derek Jacobi, Tom Glynn-Carney, Anthony Boyle, Patrick Gibson, Harry Gilby, Craig Roberts, Laura Donnelly, Pam Ferris. One biopic to rule them all? This earnest biopic about John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, the author of The Hobbit and the sprawling epic and influential fantasy The Lord Of The Rings, gives some insights into the creative process but is also something of a pedestrian affair. Given the celebrated nature of his novels it is a little surprising to learn …
LORO
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 …
CAN YOU EVER FORGIVE ME?
Reviewed by GREG KING Director: Marielle Heller Stars: Melissa McCarthy, Richard E Grant, Dolly Wells, Ben Falcone, Jane Curtin, Steven Spinella, Christian Navarro, Anna Deveare Smith. Can You Ever Forgive Me? is based on a true story about a struggling writer who, in the early 90s, forged a number of letters from prominent celebrities. It's a strange story about the creative process and the hardships faced by writers, but it gives Melissa McCarthy, better known for her raucous comedies, a straight dramatic role that has been earning her plenty of praise. Lee …
DON’T WORRY, HE WON’T GET FAR ON FOOT
Reviewed by GREG KING Director: Gus Van Sant Stars: Joaquin Phoenix, Jonah Hill, Rooney Mara, Jack Black, Udo Kier, Kim Gordon, Beth Ditto, Mark Webber, Tony Greenhand, Carrie Brownstone. The late US cartoonist John Callahan is not a household name, and is largely unheard of outside of the United States, which makes this quirky and unconventional biopic a bit of a hard sell. Callahan died in 2010. Set in Portland Oregon during the late 70s and early 80s this biopic looks at the life of Callahan (played here in a career best performance by Joaquin Phoenix), an …
Continue Reading about DON’T WORRY, HE WON’T GET FAR ON FOOT
MARY SHELLEY
Reviewed by GREG KING Director: Haifa al-Mansou Stars: Elle Fanning, Douglas Booth, Bel Powley, Stephen Dillane, Maisie Williams, Tom Sturridge, Ben Hardy, Joanne Froggatt, Hugh O'Connor. Mary Shelley Unbound? Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley is the rebellious teen and author of the celebrated Gothic classic novel Frankenstein: A Modern Prometheus, the story of an egotistical scientist who creates life and pays a terrible price for his hubris. Her novel has influenced horror and science fiction authors for the best part of two centuries. She also brought a …
GOTTI
Reviewed by GREG KING Director: Kevin Connolly Stars: John Travolta, Spencer Lofranco, Kelly Preston, Stacy Keach, Pruitt Taylor Vince, William Demeo, Chris Mulkey, Lydia Hull, Leo Rossi, Donald John Volpenhein. New York mob boss John Gotti (played here by John Travolta) was known as the “dapper Don” for his stylish designer suits. He was also known as the "Teflon Don” because very few charges brought against him by the FBI actually stuck and resulted in convictions. This biopic about the gangster spans some thirty years and charts his ruthless rise to power …
FILM STARS DON’T DIE IN LIVERPOOL
Reviewed by GREG KING Director: Paul McGuigan Stars: Annette Bening, Jamie Bell, Julie Walters, Kenneth Cranham, Stephen Graham, Vanessa Redgrave, Frances Barber. This classy British feature recounts the final days of 50s movie star Gloria Grahame, a star of noir films like The Big Heat, who died at the age of 57 in 1981. She won an Oscar in 1952 for her performance in The Bad And The Beautiful opposite Kirk Douglas. But her career stalled in the mid-50s, amid a series of scandals and turbulent affairs with Hollywood players, and she found herself doing lots of …