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Reviews
The Menu (2022)
Derivative
One of the benefits of going to curated film exhibitions in the early 70s is the exposure to out of the box movies. Eg Luis Buniels The Avenging Angel and Marco Ferreris' La Grand Bouffe. But lo and behold here we have a collision of those two with a little bit of unblinking psychopathy from Hannibal Lecter. Like listening to contemporary music where one can guess the album's that the musicians older brother played the writers of this frequently absurd and heavy handed " commentary" on cullinary excess and revenge is a direct descendant of the aforementioned films. Like Pretty Woman we have Anya Taylor Olsen playing an escort/hooker bit with all her teeth and no tattoos. Nicholas Hoult plays the same objectionable twat as he was in the series The Great. Overall a try hard attempt but not a winner.
Throwback (2015)
A long way to go
The director would do well to read a basic guide on directing, script writing, lighting, the development of mood, drama and especially obtaining a filmic look from a digital workflow. This film has the visual presence of a smartphone production. Not bad enough to be B grade schlock but not polished enough to stimulate any engagement. As a first effort it reflects the democratization of film making in the digital age. Any one can do it but should they? Getting a sharp well exposed result is easy but creating drama through lighting and an effective sound scape supporting a tight script is more difficult. This is no Mystery Road.
Aftertaste (2021)
Abysmal
If there is one skill Australian TV is missing it is script writing. Cliche after weak cliche and utterly unfunny. Sad to see locations, cinematography and sound production wasted on this hackneyed attempt at entertainment. A complete waste of time.
House of Gucci (2021)
Beautiful people - Ugly Lives
From Alien to Gucci it's a quantum leap for director Ridley Scott ( via The Kingdom of Heaven ). As a piece of eye candy this film scores high ( in the current company of Death on the Nile ). One glaring failure is the editing which has allowed scenes where the shot is rolling as the actor prepares to speaks lines. Lady Gaga? A self absorbed Italian playing a self absorbed Italian. I suspect her fame has put the blinkers on reviews somewhat. She is ok at best. Al Pacino - a crusty voiced old Italian man playing a crusty voiced old Italian man. The story moves along enough to fill the 2h 44min run time but only just. The film is more a spectacle of wealth than a Greek or Shakespearean tragedy. It's worth a look but is not really engaging.