Written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby is considered by many to be a literary classic. It’s no wonder, then, that in the time since the novel was published in 1925 it has been adapted for the screen on numerous occasions. The latest of which hails from director Baz Luhrmann and screenwriter Craig Pearce, who’ve created an ambitious – and visually sumptuous – interpretation. Continue reading “Review: The Great Gatsby (2013)”
Cindy (Jennifer Garner) and Jim (Joel Edgerton) are desperate to be parents. However, when they’re told by their doctor that this won’t happen naturally, they decide to indulge their dreams one final time by burying a box in their back garden filled with all the personality traits their ideal child would bear – kind, honest to a fault and musical, to name a few. Overnight, a magical storm occurs and Timothy (CJ Adams), a young boy with leaves on his ankles, is thrust into Cindy and Jim’s life. Continue reading “Review: The Odd Life Of Timothy Green (2012)”
Upon discovering an extraterrestrial lifeform, Dr. Sander Halvorson (Ulrich Thomsen) handpicks top minds, including student Kate Lloyd (Mary Elizabeth Winstead), to carry out experiments upon it at a remote Antarctic research site. When the alien breaks free, the team must combat unease and distrust to stop it before it’s too late.
Pitched as a prequel to John Carpenter’s cult classic, Matthijs Van Heijningen Jr.’s The Thing attempts to cleverly replicate the tone and Continue reading “Review: The Thing (2011)”
Animal Kingdom is an astounding, brooding and wonderfully measured Australian crime drama marking the directorial debut of writer-director David Michod.
The film centres on 17-year-old Joshua (James Frecheville) as he is thrown into the deep end forced to move in with his grandmother, Smurf (Jacki Weaver), and her three sons, Pope (Ben Mendelsohn), Craig (Sullivan Stapleton) and Darren (Luke Ford).
Joshua, or J as he’s referred to, is inevitably implicated into the Cody families nasty, nihilistic crime syndicate. His initiation itself is one of the most powerful scenes of the film, perfectly shot and illustrated, deepening the grip the film so expertly implants over the viewers.
Michod invites the audience into the Cody household, opening viewers’ eyes to a world of gritty, nasty and terrifyingly nerve-wracking violence. It’s a very powerful depiction, one that’s not been so masterfully achieved since Goodfellas or Scarface.
Natural, low-key lighting and obtrusive, yet restrained camera angles help to build, and maintain, the overall intensity and realistic nature of the film, never letting it slip into the artificial feel of most modern-day Hollywood crime films.
Each actor, Joel Edgerton and Guy Pearce in particular, provides a taut, emotive performance, effectively playing off one another to establish Animal Kingdom as a truly harrowing portrayal of underbelly life, one that deserves to be recognised for many years to come.
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