|
Click to download the 2010 PROGRAMME
******
For extensive film reviews and information go to...
FILM REVIEWS
Urban CineFile
Internet Movie Database
At The Movies - ABC TV
Rotten Tomatoes
OTHER SITES
Google search engine
... then use BACK button to return to this page
Management Committee contacts
Programme related issues: Bill White on 4771 5505 or 0417 762 363
Membership enquiries: Bruce Gibson-Wilde on 4779 2815
Newsletter contributions:
editor@cinemagroup.org.au
Committee email address:
info@cinemagroup.org.au
For information on film classification go to
Office of Film and Literature Classification
|
|
NEWSLETTER
The newsletter for July-August is now available.
Click here to download.
|
COLIN RODERICK LECTURE
The Foundation for Australian Literary Studies will present a lecture by
PETER GOLDSWORTHY
The Film Of The Book: Stories And Their Mutations
The lecture will include the screening of the award-winning film of his story “The Kiss”
Monday, 2 August at 6.00–7.30 pm
Perc Tucker Regional Gallery, Flinders Mall
Click here for more information.
|
MISSED A CINEMA GROUP SCREENING?
Townsville CityLibraries collection of DVD titles includes many from our screenings.
Click here for more information.
Click here to download our Rules of Association.
For news at JCU School of Creative Arts
go to the SoCA newsletter
|
NEXT SCREENING
Warrina Cineplex at 7:15 pm
29 JULY
REVIEWS
Urban Cinefile
IMDb
At The Movies (ABC)
OFFICIAL SITE
|
DISGRACE Australia/South Africa 2008 (MA)
David Lurie (John Malkovich), twice-divorced and dissatisfied with his job as an English professor
in post-apartheid South Africa, finds his life falling apart. When he seduces one of his students, Melanie (Antoinette
Engel) and does nothing to protect himself from the consequences, he is dismissed from his teaching position, and
goes to live with his lesbian daughter Lucy (Jessica Haines), who shares a farm in the Eastern Cape with trusted
black worker Petrus (Eric Ebouaney). For a time, his daughter's influence and natural rhythms of the farm promise
to harmonise his discordant life. But the balance of power in the country is shifting. In the aftermath of a vicious
attack by three black youths, he is forced to come to terms with the changes in society - as well as his disgrace.
Review by Louise Keller:
Desire and its consequences are at the heart of this complex drama that has the power to shred us emotionally.
Based on the Booker prize winning novel by J.M. Coetzee, this is the kind of film that knocks you for a loop.
It surprises at every turn, takes you where you least expect to be taken and twists a knife into your heart just
after you think you have endured the worst of it. Directed and adapted by the husband and wife team who brought
us the quirky and accessible La Spagnola in 2001, Steve Jacobs and Anna-Maria Monticelli have a profound grasp
of the subject matter, resulting in a mature, thought provoking work that resonates. Subconsciously, the film
throbs with truth as we find ourselves sinking deeper and deeper in a quagmire of redemption, acceptance and
reconciliation reflecting the South African divide.
When we first meet John Malkovich's lust-driven University professor David Lurie, we quickly understand his
philosophy that there are more important things in life than being prudent. He teaches romantic poetry and
listens to classical music, while lust fuels his leisure time. Disgrace is the result of his liaison with his
student Melanie (Antoinette Engel). But that is just the beginning of the journey. We take a sharp right hand
turn as David drives through the distinctively barren South African terrain to the remote farm where his lesbian
daughter Lucy (Jessica Haines) lives. The harsh reality of daily life begins, where desire is examined from a
converse point of view. Rape and the confrontation of an unfathomable cultural mindset start life spinning as
fast as the hubcaps of the pickup trucks on the desolate, dusty roads.
Malkovich is one of those actors who cannot help but carry loads of gravitas. Here, as always, he is brilliantly
credible as a severely flawed man forced to learn the reality of the poetry he teaches. ('One who goes to teach
learns the keenest of lessons; one who goes to learn, learns nothing'). Haines gives a staggering performance as
Jessica, the strong woman who makes tough decisions as her comfort zone crumbles as she loses everything, while
Eriq Ebouaney is striking as Jessica's neighbour Petrus, whose life philosophies must be accepted. There are two
especially devastating moments in this film and they arrive unexpectedly. The first is the scene in which Malkovich
is crying: we see him as from the back of a car carrying unusual cargo. The second is at the animal shelter, where
David helps Bev (Fiona Press) in the heartbreaking task of dealing with unclaimed dogs. Special mention to Antony
Partos' exceptional score which accentuates and tugs at our emotions and Steve Arnold's splendid cinematography
which captures the starkness of the landscape. Disgrace is a powerful work and one that is not easily forgotten.
Sadly, the resonance of life in South Africa feels only too real and familiar.
120 minutes
Classification: (MA) Violence, sex scenes, mature themes and coarse language
|
REVIEWS
Urban Cinefile
IMDb
At The Movies (ABC)
At The Movies - interview
OFFICIAL SITE
|
THE GIRLFRIEND EXPERIENCE USA 2008 (M)
Chelsea (Sasha Grey) is a highly paid, high-end Manhattan call girl, who deliver not only than sex
to her clients, but companionship, conversation and all the things one might expect from a real girlfriend. Chelsea
thinks she is in control of her life with a secure future (earning $2,000 per hour) and devoted boyfriend Chris
(Chris Santos), who accepts her lifestyle. But when you are in the business of meeting people, you never know who
you will meet, nor will you know how you will feel.
Review by Louise Keller:
It's a bit like an unsatisfying sexual encounter - full of anticipation but not complete. One thing that does deliver,
however, is 21 year old porn star Sasha Grey, who tantalises at every turn as the hooker who offers The Girlfriend
Experience. Steven Soderbergh's typecasting is effective, but not for the reason you might think. Apart from a hint
of nudity, there is no titillation, sex or eroticism. But Grey drips with on-screen presence and oodles of je ne
sais quoi. She has confidence is spades and has an appealing vulnerability - until you catch the glint in her eyes,
when we see a tough edge. But there is something about her that we want to discover. She knows what she's talking
about - and it shows.
It's a curious film about sex, relationships, money and business thrown together like pieces in a jigsaw puzzle
in which timeframes are thrown together higgledy piggledy and which beyond its fly-on-the wall appeal, feels like
an out of sequence snapshots and impressions. The fact that Soderbergh has set his film during five days during
the lead up to the 2008 presidential elections, allows the financial concerns of the various characters and clients
to flow naturally. Chelsea's jeweler client recommends investing in gold, rather than diamonds; a seedy 'Erotic
Connoisseur' (I didn't know there was such a thing!) wants a freebie as payment for a glowing review to promote
more business. A hustler is organizing a junket to Dubai where 'cash flows out of water faucets' ('It sounds like a
white slavery ring, but it's not'). It's all about growing her business. Yes, the sex business.
What do men want for a Girlfriend Experience? 'They want what they want you to be', Chelsea says. 'If they wanted
you to be yourself, they wouldn't be paying you.' It comes as somewhat of a shock that Chelsea has another life
beyond the fantasies of her paying clients. Her live-in boyfriend Chris (Chris Santos), who works as a trainer at
the gym reassures her she is the best at what she does, but there's a shift in Chelsea's confidence levels from the
beginning of the film's journey. Soderbergh also shot and edited the film, giving it an often jerky feel that
succeeds at making you feel that life is indeed a bumpy ride. When it all boils down, sex and money is what
it's about. Needs and dreams have to fit in the cracks.
78 minutes
Classification: (M) Coarse language, sexual references and nudity
|
|