Showing all posts about film
Barbie by Greta Gerwig earns one billion dollars at box office
10 August 2023
With Barbie, American filmmaker Greta Gerwig has become the first woman director to make a billion dollar earning movie. In addition, Barbie is, so far, just one of nine films to reach the milestone featuring a woman as the main protagonist:
Nine, that is, if you count female fish. Finding Dory (2016) swims in the billion dollar club, along with the animated princesses of Frozen (2013), Frozen II (2019) and Beauty and the Beast (2017). Two mega-franchises managed to spit out a billion-dollar film with women at the story’s heart: Star Wars: The Last Jedi (2017) and Captain Marvel (2019). Then, two other billion dollar one-offs: Titanic (1997) and a live-action Alice in Wonderland (2010).
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film, film production, Greta Gerwig
The Rooster, a film by Mark Leonard Winter, with Hugo Weaving
8 August 2023
A scene from The Rooster, a film by Mark Leonard Winter.
The Rooster, trailer, is the debut feature of Australian actor turned filmmaker Mark Leonard Winter, starring veteran actor Hugo Weaving, and Phoenix Raei. The Rooster had its world premiere on Saturday 5 August 2023, at the Melbourne International Film Festival (MIFF). This sounds like a brooding, atmospheric, Australian feature not to be missed:
Dan (Raei, Below, MIFF Premiere Fund 2019; Clickbait) works in a remote police outpost in regional Victoria, but when a childhood friend is discovered dead following an incident at the local high school, his judgement and credentials are thrown into question. Consumed with guilt and suspended from the force, Dan decides to camp out in the forest, where he encounters a cranky jazz-listening, shotgun-toting, ping-pong-obsessed misanthrope (Weaving, Lone Wolf, MIFF Premiere Fund 2021; Measure for Measure, MIFF Premiere Fund 2019). At first transactional, this bond soon becomes transformative for the broken men. But, surrounded by trees, far away from any trace of civilisation, is everything really as it seems?
I’m still looking for details about a wider theatrical release for The Rooster, but it will screen several times during MIFF, between now and Sunday 13 August 2023.
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Australian film, film, Mark Leonard Winter
Have film influencers killed off insightful film critique?
3 August 2023
London based film writer Manuela Lazić, writing for The Guardian:
If the internet has paved the way for the devaluation of cinema via streaming platforms, it has also done the same for film criticism. The democratising effect is undeniable, but so is the cheapening one, literally and figuratively. With so many more people writing about cinema online, fees for reviews have fallen to shockingly low levels and the expertise supposedly required of film critics has been forgotten – knowledge of the film history and good writing skills are less and less valued.
Once, many years ago, during a regrettable stint working in the corporate sector, I was called into division wide meeting by my boss. The CEO, whom my boss reported to directly, wanted to conduct a staff survey. The CEO was — so he said — keen to learn what people thought about working at the company. My boss was clearly terrified at what might be said, and sought to steer our thinking.
“I think it’s great of the CEO to offer us this opportunity to speak our minds, and accordingly, I think we should be positive,” he said, trying, but failing, to sound as matter-of-fact as possible. Whether he missed my colleagues and I side-eyeing each other, or only pretended to, I don’t know. My frazzled boss though was able to rest easy. A few days later it was announced the survey was being delayed, and that was the last anyone heard of it.
But the takeaway was clear. When asked to offer honest feedback, always be complimentary.
Ten years ago, I was being invited to film preview screenings left, right, and centre. I was, according to a marketer at one of the promotions agencies I was “partnering” with, an influencer. But I wasn’t an influencer, and I certainly wasn’t a film critic, even though I wrote a bit about some of the films I saw. What I did have though was a website, the content of which, at the time, ranked quickly and well, on certain search engines.
There it was: I was an asset. If I were to write about a film, chances were the review would be near the top of the search results. Now if only I could write positively about that film. Perhaps the excitement, the extravaganza, of being at the local premiere, where food was abundant, the alcohol flowed, and the stars were in attendance, would entice me to say something nice. Well, sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn’t. But I can’t say I didn’t enjoy the hoopla of it all.
Generally though, I heard little back from the agencies, regardless of what I wrote. It was apparent, from my web stats reports, that some of them looked, but that was all. A bad write up didn’t see me struck off the invite list. But times have changed it seems. All a would-be influencer cum film critic can expect today when being asked to review a film, is a free ticket to the show. Gone is the red carpet, the bubbly, and the assorted “free” gifts. Gone also are tickets to the next event, if a favourable social media post is not forthcoming.
An incentive, if ever there were one, to be complimentary, and positive.
And that’s it. That’s the way film reviews roll in the third decade of the twenty-first century, particularly where the big budget blockbusters are concerned. Experienced film critics seem to no longer be part of the process, or if they are, their thoughts are relegated to the fringes where few paying cinema-goers venture. Social media, and influencers, and a world where negative reviews never see the light of day: what a boon that’s been for the blockbuster film industry.
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Sigrid Thornton joins the Australian Film Walk of Fame
27 July 2023
Melbourne based Australian actor Sigrid Thornton was last night inducted onto the Australian Film Walk of Fame, at a ceremony at the Ritz Cinema, in Randwick, Sydney, where the Walk of Fame is located. Similar to the Hollywood Walk of Fame, on Hollywood Boulevard, in California, Australian actors are likewise honoured by a star embossed emblem on the footpath outside the Ritz Cinema.
Thorton’s prolific acting career, in film, television, and stage, spans five decades. Her film credits include The Getting of Wisdom, Snapshot, The Man From Snowy River, Face To Face (which I wrote about here), and Slant, the 2022 debut feature of Australian filmmaker James Vinson.
Thornton joins other acclaimed Australian actors who have a star on the Walk, including Deborah Mailman, Leah Purcell, Gary Sweet, Roy Billing, and Claudia Karvan.
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Australian film, film, Sigrid Thornton
Barbie nukes Oppenheimer on opening weekend in America
24 July 2023
Still from Barbie, a film by Greta Gerwig.
But all of these box-office taking numbers are staggering:
One of the prime records Barbie is breaking this weekend is the best domestic start for a movie helmed by a female director, with $155M. That figure beats 2019’s Captain Marvel, which was co-helmed by Anna Boden and had a $153M start. Globally, at an estimated $337M, Barbie is the second-best start for a movie from a female after Captain Marvel, which did $456.7M. Big numbers: the entire global haul for Gerwig’s awards-blockbuster crossover 2019 title, Little Women, was $218.8M.
I can’t say I’m surprised, and I think Barbie-mania was as big a thing in Australia as it was the United States. There was no missing the groups of young women and girls especially, adorned in pink, who were on their way to, or from, seeing Barbie at the movies. And this in a small town a couple of hours drive north of Sydney, where we’ve been the last few days.
The numbers for Barbie’s opening rival, the Christopher Nolan made Oppenheimer, are still impressive though. I wonder if the J. Robert Oppenheimer bio-pic will pick up on the long tail what it might have missed on the opening weekend.
Update: here are the Australian box office numbers for last weekend, the period Thursday 20 July through to Sunday 23 July 2023. Movies typically open on Thursdays in Australia (because, who wants to go to the movies on a Friday), hence the four day reporting period. Whatever, you can see Barbie well out in front of Oppenheimer.
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Christopher Nolan, film, Greta Gerwig
Napoleon, a bio-pic by Ridley Scott, parles-tu Francais?
24 July 2023
Still from Napoleon, a film by Ridley Scott.
British filmmaker Ridley Scott takes on the life of French military leader, and former emperor of the French Empire, Napoleon Bonaparte, in his new bio-pic feature, Napoleon. American actor Joaquin Phoenix stars in the lead role, along with Vanessa Kirby as Josephine, Napoleon’s wife, and Catherine Walker portraying the doomed Marie-Antoinette.
Although the majority of characters in Napoleon are French, the cast speaks in English, or at least they do in the film’s trailer. One detail though that has rankled some film commentators, is Phoenix’s seemingly unabashed American accent, a stark contrast to the predominantly British accents employed by the rest of the cast.
I can’t say I detected Phoenix’s American accent, or any particular accent for that matter, when I watched the trailer. I was more focussed on trying to comprehend what Phoenix’s Napoleon was saying, full stop, something Allegra Frank, writing for The Daily Beast, also picked up on:
It takes until the 35-second mark for us to hear Napoleon speak at all, with the trailer mostly cutting to him slightly parting his lips and staring ahead. But then we hear Phoenix mumble quietly for the first time, while facing down a rival army: “I promise you a billion successes.” At least, I think he says “billion;” his take on Napoleon is terrible at enunciating.
Napoleon opens in Australian cinemas on Thursday 23 November 2023, according to Flicks Australia.
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film, Joaquin Phoenix, Ridley Scott
A sequel to The Way on the way says filmmaker Emilio Estevez
20 July 2023
I mention Emilio Estevez’s 2010 movie The Way one day, and the next I learn the American director is working on a sequel to the film, which was set on the Camino de Santiago, in Spain.
I also discovered The Way was re-released in American cinemas last May. Estevez describes the film as being more of its time today, than when it was made thirteen years ago, given people’s desire to embrace travel again after the Covid lockdowns. There’s clearly something in that sentiment, as I know of several people who have spent time walking the Camino this year.
Martin Sheen, Estevez’s father, and star of The Way, has indicated interest in being involved in the sequel, but aside from that little else is known about the proposed new film, with Estevez still to work out the finer details of the story:
We’ve been talking about doing a follow up, a sequel of sorts. Martin says he’s up for it and I’ve cracked the code for what it would be. I will go to Spain to do promotion for this, but also testing the waters for what a sequel might look like.
As of time of writing, there’s no mention of the sequel on Estevez’s IMDb page, meaning the project isn’t even in pre-production yet, so fans of The Way will be waiting sometime for it to arrive.
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Emilio Estevez, film, film production
Camino by Birgitte Stærmose, a remake of The Way by Emilio Estevez?
18 July 2023
Still from Camino, directed by Birgitte Stærmose.
When I first saw the trailer for Camino, the latest feature by Danish filmmaker Birgitte Stærmose, I couldn’t help but see parallels with The Way, trailer, a film made in 2010, by American actor and director Emilio Estevez. At first, some of the similarities made me wonder whether Camino was a remake of The Way, which I saw in 2012, but likely that was my imagination running away with me.
Certainly though, both stories feature a number of commonalities.
The first, and indeed most obvious, is their shared setting, the Camino de Santiago, or Camino, which is sometimes referred to as the Way of St James. The Camino is a network of pilgrimage routes spanning the north of Spain. The networks, or pathways, lead to what many believe is the tomb of Saint James, an apostle of Jesus, a preacher and religious leader, who lived in the first century of the Common Era. Some of the Camino pathways can take weeks to walk.
The family dynamics in both films are also comparable, with a father-adult child estrangement being a central plot point. In the case of Camino, this is discord between a woman, Regitze (Danica Curcic), and her father, Jan (Lars Brygmann). Both stories feature a death in the family, and a subsequent obligation to walk the Camino, or at least part of it.
The protagonists in both movies frequently encounter other Camino walkers, who often seem to be possessed of strong, or colourful personalities. And finally, both stories are comedies, infused with elements of drama and tragedy. But despite these similarities, Camino is not a remake of The Way.
For those who want to see for themselves though, Camino premieres in Australia as part of the 2023 Scandinavian Film Festival, with the first screening taking place in Sydney on Sunday 31 July 2023.
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Birgitte Stærmose, Emilio Estevez, film
Films that influenced Barbie, the movie by Greta Gerwig
17 July 2023
American filmmaker Greta Gerwig shares thirty-three films influencing her new feature, Barbie, and a varied collection it is. Titles include Saturday Night Fever, Playtime, The Truman Show, The Philadelphia Story, Heaven Can Wait, Gold Diggers of 1935, and (of course) 2001: A Space Odyssey.
There’s quite a few films here that I haven’t seen. It seems to me if you’re looking for some film watching inspiration, Gerwig’s list makes for a great starting point.
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2001: A Space Odyssey, film, Greta Gerwig
The fiery brilliance of Oppenheimer was achieved with no CGI
11 July 2023
Oppenheimer, American filmmaker Christopher Nolan’s bio-pic about J. Robert Oppenheimer, the American scientist often referred to as the “father of the atomic bomb”, opens in Australian cinemas on Thursday 20 July 2023.
This is a film that stands to be remarkable for many reasons, but few people would have ventured to say that would be on account of computer-generated imagery (CGI), or, as the case may be, lack thereof. But according to Ryan O’Rourke, writing for Collider, Nolan has said Oppenheimer contains no CGI whatsoever.
Take a look at all fiery explosions we see in the trailer. Is the absence of CGI incredible, or what?
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