by GREG KING The Family explores the history of the strange abusive sect established by former yoga teacher Anna Hamilton-Byrne in Ferny Creek in the 1960s, and which flourished at a property in picturesque Lake Eildon in the late 1960s. In this comprehensive documentary director Rosie Jones gives us some chilling insights into the sect.… Continue Reading »
TONI ERDMANN
Reviewed by GREG KING Director: Maren Ade Stars: Peter Simonischek, Sandra Huller, Michael Wittenborn. This offbeat and decidedly oddball absurdist German comedy about the dysfunctional relationship between a father and his workaholic daughter has been a hit on the festival circuit and is a clear favourite to collect an Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film.… Continue Reading »
GIMME DANGER
Reviewed by GREG KING Documentary Director: Jim Jarmusch. There have been at least three great music documentaries this year – Amy Berg’s insightful and comprehensive Janis Joplin: Little Blue Girl; Ron Howard’s The Beatles: Eight Days A Week, which was a comprehensive look at the band during the height of their early fame in the… Continue Reading »
PATERSON
Reviewed by GREG KING Director: Jim Jarmusch Stars: Adam Driver, Golshifteh Farahani, Barry Shabaka Henley, Masatoshi Nagase. Independent filmmaker and auteur Jim Jarmusch is something of an acquired taste and his languidly paced, usually slow moving and often oblique films do not hold broad appeal. His films are often melancholy and focus more on mood… Continue Reading »
MAHANA
Reviewed by GREG KING Director: Lee Tamahori Stars: Temuera Morrison, Nancy Brunning, Akuhata Keefe, Jim Moriarty, Regan Taylor, Maria Walker, Sienna MacKinlay. Twenty years ago Lee Tamahori gave us one of the best films to come out of New Zealand with Once Were Warriors, an exploration of masculinity, violence, family and Maori pride. After flirting… Continue Reading »
THE FAMILY FANG
Reviewed by GREG KING Director: Jason Bateman Stars: Jason Bateman, Nicole Kidman, Christopher Walken, Maryann Plunkett, Kathryn Hahn, Michael Chernus, Harris Yulin, Josh Pais, Jason Butler Harner, Mackenzie Brooke Smith, Linda Edmond, Jack McCarthy, Kyle Donnery, Taylor Rose. This was one of two films I saw at MIFF about unorthodox, dysfunctional and troubled families –… Continue Reading »