Category Archives: Movie Reviews

Movie Reviews

The King Is Dead! Movie Review

7 Comments

Featuring: Dan Wyllie, Bojana Novakovic, Gary Waddell, Luke Ford
Writer/Director: Rolf de Heer
Australian release date: July 19, 2012
Website: www.pinnaclefilms.com.au
Reviewer: rolanstein

Story:
When professional couple Max (Dan Wyllie) and Therese (Bojana Novakovic) move into their new home in a leafy suburban street, they are given a friendly welcome by the neighbours on one side. Those on the other are less accommodating, blasting out gangsta rap on a huge boombox in their grotty backyard, dealing drugs to unsavoury drop-ins and partying all night. Turns out the place is occupied by a single brain-fried tenant, The King (Gary Waddell), who is unable to control his iced-out visitors. As the noise and disruption becomes intolerable, and conventional avenues of imposed control such as lawyers and the police prove useless, Max and Therese decide to take the law into their own hands. Alas, they soon find themselves way out of their depth as things go disastrously awry. Continue reading The King Is Dead! Movie Review →

Movie Reviews

Margaret Movie Review

3 Comments

Featuring: Anna Paquin, Matt Damon, Mark Ruffalo, Allison Janney, Matthew Broderick, Kieran Culkin
Director: Kenneth Lonergan
Australian release date: Currently screening
Website: www.foxsearchlight.com/margaret/
Reviewer: Karen

Review
The opening sequence in a film is as important as the first sentence of a novel. When you read “Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way” at the beginning of Anna Karenina, you know you will be taken from this generalisation to examine the particulars of a specific unhappy family. Margaret’s opening sequence – a montage of New York street scenes showing swarms of people and occasionally singling one person out with light, focus or framing – announces its themes immediately. And what themes! This richly layered film is about nothing less than the human condition, and encompasses ideas about relationships, maturation, culpability, and the potential for catharsis through art. Continue reading Margaret Movie Review →

Food, Movie Reviews

Le Chef Movie Review

2 Comments

Featuring: Jean Reno, Michael Youn, Julien Boisselier, Raphaëlle Agogué
Director: Daniel Cohen
Australian release date: June 14, 2012
Website: French website /English version
Review: rolanstein

Story:
Jacky (Michael Youn) is a food fanatic and self-taught cook aspiring to a career as a haute cuisine chef. He knows by heart a zillion recipes from his most revered celeb chefs and cookbooks, but this works against him. Whenever he cracks a gig at a restaurant he imposes his knowledge on seasoned kitchen pros and customers alike, and it is never long before he is shown the door. His pregnant wife (played by the gorgeous Raphaëlle Agogué) insists that he must find steady income and fast, so he settles for manual work at an aged care centre. Before long, however, he is neglecting his work and proselytising to the kitchen staff about improving their bland cuisine.

By happy accident, a famous Parisian chef, Alexandre Lagarde (Jean Reno), tastes one of Jacky’s soups, is impressed and offers him an unpaid internship at his acclaimed 3 star restaurant, ‘Cargo Lagarde’. Jacky is unable to resist such an offer, but avoids telling his wife. Not an easy deception to pull off, especially when he is obliged to join Alexandre on his TV cooking show. Oh what a tangled web we weave…! Continue reading Le Chef Movie Review →