To-do: Week starting Thursday 24th March: Kaboom, Biutiful, Barney’s Version, Eisenstein, Rosemary’s Baby, Rolling Thunder, MQFF
Week starting Thursday 24th March:
New releases this week are:
Kaboom, a science fiction film from Gregg Araki (Mysterious Skin, The Doom Generation) about a sexually promiscuous film student whose dreams become manifest in his waking life.
Biutiful is a sure to be dour film about “the state of the world” from Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu (Babel, Amores Perros). The Village Voice’s J Hoberman remarked that “this blatantly artistic movie isn’t just awful but confidently so”.
Barney’s Version is a comedy-drama starring Paul Giamatti. Based on the novel by Mordecai Richler about a curmudgeonly philanderer who goes from being a struggling friend of artists in Paris to becoming a successful TV producer in Quebec, entertains three marriages throughout his life and is a suspect in the murder of one of his friends.
Festivals:
The 21st Melbourne Queer Film Festival continues until March 27. Expect films that are a bit more mediocre than usual but with maybe one vaguely arousing sex scene. Expect cringe-inducing program titles like “Cock Tales” (Get it? Males have penises lol). Website is here if you have money to burn.
Second run:
The Melbourne Cinematheque begins its 3-week retrospective of revolutionary film director Sergei Eisenstein. This week’s films are Battleship Potemkin and Alexander Nevsky. At ACMI, March 30.
CineCult303 present Rolling Thunder, a 1977 revenge film about a returned Vietnam vet whose life is destroyed by petty robbers. Written by Paul Schrader (Taxi Driver, Raging Bull, Blue Collar). At Bar303, March 29.
Rosemary’s Baby is one of Roman Polanski’s most beloved films, a horror about an expecting mother (Mia Farrow) who fears her husband (John Cassavetes) may have promised their baby to the devil in exchange for a successful acting career. At the Astor, March 27.
Blue Valentine is the 2010 romantic drama starring Michelle Williams and Ryan Gosling. Also features a score from Grizzly Bear. At Rooftop Cinema, March 26.
Kiki’s Delivery Service and Princess Mononoke screen together as a Hayao Miyazaki double bill. At the Astor, March 28.
Also opening this week:
Waiting For Superman, a right wing attack on the American public school system by the director of An Inconvenient Truth. Cornel West of Princeton University criticised the film for scapegoating teachers’ unions, a comment with a special sting in light of the recent union battles in Wisconsin.
Red Riding Hood, a dark adaptation by Catherine Hardwicke (Thirteen, Twilight) of the famous fairytale that has received almost universally bad reviews. This must mean it’s worth watching.
Battleship Potemkin (Sergei Eisenstein, 1925)
