Now we’ve finally got a road map of when Melbournians are allowed back in the cinemas, we can look forward to the… 7th of November. Which is still a long way off. So, here’s a list of four star + movies available for streaming while we wait get back to the big screen:
It’s a personel moment when a film reaches into your mind to take you on a journey. And I’m happy to say this is what the films below have given me over the past year.
Being an avid fan of the horror/thriller I was surprised when I realised IT didn’t make it into my top 10 for 2017. However, after a re-watch I found that, although a great coming-of-age film (still rating:★★★★), IT was more a monster movie than a thriller with Pennywise a little too animated for my taste.
So, brace yourself because it was more about the suspense and intellectual thrill that tickled the grey cells this year, with a bit of humour thrown in the mix.
Moonlight is unique in that it’s both raw and subtle, creating something else, a feeling that stays with you that’s beautiful because it’s laid bare. What a rarity and an experience you won’t soon forget.
Nolan has used his talent to bring the true story of Dunkirk to the screen without over-dramatising, allowing us to admire the courage and valour of the civilians of Britain who saved more than 330, 000 soldiers’ lives.
After writing the screenplay for the two highly regarded crime/thrillers, Sicario (2015) – which I gave a 5/5, and, Hell or High Water (2016), Taylor Sheridan has returned as writer and as director (debut) of the crime/mystery, Wind River: a tragedy based on actual events, beautifully told, where each moment, word and gesture show more than just the surface.
The Safdie brothers (Josh and Ben) return with their fifth feature film, building on their gonzo-style street films with Official Selection and winner of the Cannes Soundtrack Award, Good Time.
And that’s the quality of the film, subtle: complicated emotions yet, made to feel simple. A kind of gentle unfolding with an underlying darkness driving life into the shadows, but the shadows fighting back, like life…
Ah, don’t you love it when a movie makes you feel all moody when you leave the cinema!
Rian Johnson also wrote and directed, Looper (2012) and has brought that same attention to the script here, revealing layer upon layer of story to take the audience on a journey totally unexpected.
Unbelievable as it may be, but a documentary tops my list of best films of 2017: I felt like my soul was being fed by this symphony of poetry, imagery and sound.
A combination of sound and stomach clenching cinematography creates a thrill as people fly down slopes or jump into the air 1000s of feet above the earth, death defying leaps, where there really must be an element of insanity, to even think, yet, it’s not about thinking, it’s about feeling alive.
Produced by: Sabastian Bear-McClard, Oscar Boyson, Jean-Luc De Fanti, Terry Dougas, Paris Kasidokostas Latsis
Composer/Soundtrack: Oneohtrix Point Never
Cinematographer: Sean Price Williams
Starring: Robert Pattinson, Ben Safdie, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Tahliah Webster, Barkhad Abdi, Buddy Duress.
The Safdie brothers (Josh and Ben) return with their fifth feature film, building on their gonzo-style street films with Official Selection and winner of the Cannes Soundtrack Award, Good Time.
And I was hooked from the opening scene.
When Nick Nikas (Ben Safdie) is questioned by a psychiatrist (Peter Verby), you can tell there’s something not right with Nick. He’s slow. But asking for word associations for, ‘water and ‘salt’, the sadness and beauty and insight into the always lost but understanding all the same was given when Nick makes the association with the beach while tears run down his cheeks.
Then his brother, Connie (Robert Pattinson) bursts into the room, dragging his brother from a place that’s making him cry – it’s wrong to take Nick from a place trying to help him, but he does it for all the right reasons. It’s love.
Connie’s not a bad guy, he just does bad things. He wants his brother to feel what he feels.
Sharing the experience of robbing a bank seems easy. Connie’s smart. Street smart. He can manipulate others to get what he wants. He’s bad because he’s misleading but Connie doesn’t want to hurt people, he just wants to help his brother making the character all the more believable because people aren’t purely bad or purely good, there’s always that somewhere in-between.
After Nick gets caught by the police, Connie has to come up with ten-thousand dollars to get him out on bail. And he knows there’s only so many times Nick can change the TV and annoy the other inmates before he gets beaten to death. So there’s desperation to get that $10K. Nothing good comes from desperation.
Good Times felt like real life – a moment-by-moment record of controlled chaos. Like life, sometimes there’s just no time.
Decisions are made in the moment to try to get through and survive. The raw nature of the film reminding me of Oscar winner, ‘Moonlight’. But I related more to the 90s vibe here.
I enjoyed seeing Robert Pattinson embrace his role, the Safdie brothers pushing that Brooklyn element of the film.
Ben Safdie and Pattinson wrote letters to each other for weeks as Connie and Nick, discussing their lives in character to develop the relationship between the two brothers to translate onto the screen.
People will go to see Pattinson in a new role but the stand out for me was Ben Safdie as Nick.
And the soundtrack has to be commended.
The more I get into film the more I understand the integration of image and sound to give the story its emotional landscape.
Sound can give so much more than words.
Here, the thought of the ocean began the emotional tone of the film which continued with the soundtrack.
Daniel Lopatin who records under the name Oneohtrix Point Never has created an electronic-based score with the film ending with a song recorded in collaboration with Iggy Pop.
Add the dialogue, sometimes written just before recording, the film had a chaotic feel, making the fiction truthful – believable because only real life can be that strange.
I’ll be keeping an eye out for more from the Safdie brothers.
Good Time had balls with a dash of genius. And it wasn’t a harsh ride. It just felt honest.
Now we’ve finally got a road map of when Melbournians are allowed back in the cinemas, we can look forward to the… 7th of November. Which is still a long way off. So, here’s a list of four star + movies available for streaming while we wait get back to the big screen:
