Movie Club - Happy-Go-Lucky

This month the Movie Club will be screening 'Happy-Go-Lucky'. Written and directed by Mike Leigh, ‘Happy-Go-Lucky’ is a character-driven film that follows the protagonist, Poppy, as she experiences some ups and downs in her life. Poppy is a 30-something school teacher living in London. She is optimistic, chirpy and happy all of the time, it is not a superficial act, it is just who Poppy is. Poppy lives with her friend and co-worker, Zoe, who acts as a kind of moral compass in a film that combines extreme optimism with extreme pessimism (in the form of Scott). Scott is a narcissistic driving instructor whom Poppy seeks out for driving lessons.

The film relies on a series of events that slowly reveal the characters of Poppy and Scott. There is no major dramatic plot or action sequence, rather we meander through the everyday life of Poppy: as she goes to work and deals with a problematic student, as she converses with a homeless man, as she takes salsa classes, as she visits her younger sister Helen, as she takes driving lessons with Scott. It is through these sequential shots of Poppy’s life that we build-up a knowledge base that reveals layers of Poppy’s character. Dramatic tension is maintained throughout by the relationship between Poppy and Scott.

 

The film is interesting not only for its character study of Poppy, but also its depiction of gender and stereotypes. Most of the characters in the film are female, except for Scott and Tim. Tim is only a minor character, and Scott is presented as aggressive, impulsive and an unlikeable male. The lead character here is Poppy, the film is Poppy’s film, and there is no male counter-part that she ever needs to rely upon. To add to this, Poppy defies the norms of female happiness; rather than gaining a sense of meaning from a man, children or family, Poppy sources fulfilment from things such as work, flamenco dance classes, trampolining, and friends.

Nominated for an Academy Award, the film is funny and light, yet full of wise lessons and deep emotion.

'Happy-Go-Lucky' will be showing on Wednesday 8 March, 6pm at Narellan Library. Tea, coffee and biscuits provided, BYO snacks are more than welcome. Stay after the screening for a short discussion about the film.

 

Movie Club—It's a Wonderful Life

This month the Movie Club will be screening It's a Wonderful Life, starring James Stewart and Lionel Barrymore, and directed by Frank Capra.

George Bailey (Stewart) is a good sort. He saved his kid brother drowning, he stopped a depressed druggist from accidentally poisoning someone, and he gave up his dreams to continue his father's savings and loan business to stop the old Scrooge-like Henry F. Potter (Barrymore), from gaining a complete monopoly of the town. But George is at a crisis, and contemplates ending it all one Christmas Eve, until Clarence, an unlikely guardian angel, shows him what the world would be like without him, and the vision is more hellish than he could possible imagine.

The film is one of many sentimental dramas by Capra, but it is perhaps the most complete. The film itself has gone on to become the quintessential Christmas movie despite the fact that Capra himself never wanted the film pigeonholed as a "Christmas picture" and instead wanted it to celebrate the lives and dreams of ordinary American citizens. It has nonetheless had a long life after its initial release with countless TV reruns and DVD/bluray purchases. The film itself is well directed, perfectly cast with Jimmy Stewart's "awshucks" good fella routine serving him well and Lionel Barrymore clearly having a great deal of fun as the miserly Potter.

The film will be screened on Wednesday 14 December at 6pm at Narellan Library, Corner of Queen and Elyard Street, Narellan. Tea, coffee, and biscuits provided, but BYO snacks are more than welcome. Stay after the screening to share your thoughts about the film and join in a discussion about the many wonderful moments in the film.

Movie Club—Do The Right Thing

This month the Movie Club will be screening Do the Right Thing, written and directed by Spike Lee and starring Lee, Danny Aiello, and John Turturro.

On one of the hottest days in the summer, tensions in a racially mixed neighbourhood in Brooklyn start running high as the temperature rises. Mookie (Lee) works as a pizza delivery man for Sal (Aiello), and Italian-American who has been running the business in the neighbourhood for decades. When Buggin' Out (Giancarlo Esposito) questions Sal for only having Italian-Americans and no African-Americans on his "Wall of Fame" the confrontation that follows becomes the first sign of many culturally run-ins that the day has in store. With personal tensions coming to the fore and the frustrations of clashing cultures stewing, the day comes to an explosive end.

The film has been noted as "a polemically charged portrait of contemporary race relations" and "became a subject of controversy at the same time that critics praised its allusive imagery.” (Monaco, J. How to Read a Film: Art, Technology, Language, History, Theory. Oxford, New York, 2009. p. 410). It features a colourful set design and many tumultuous cultural explorations while being a solidly crafted ensemble piece and saw Lee shift from an independent filmmaker to become one of Hollywood's main iconoclasts.

The film will be screened on Wednesday 9 November at 6pm at Narellan Library, Corner of Queen and Elyard Street, Narellan. Tea, coffee, and biscuits provided, but BYO snacks are more than welcome. Stay after the screening to share your thoughts about the film and join in a discussion about the many though provoking moments in the film.

Film Review - Big Eyes - By Tim Burton

Big eyes is a drama about the life of painter Margaret Keane and her struggles for recognition as a painter.

It shows the legal difficulties and abuse she suffered at the hand of her husband who liked to claim credit for her work. It is beautiful to witness the journey of her coming into her own. Anne

Film Review—Big Eyes by Tim Burton

Margaret (Amy Adams) leaves her husband and moves to San Francisco to make a living as an artist in the bustling 1950s art scene. She finds it difficult to promote her works, despite their unique ‘big eyed waif’ quality. She meets Walter Keane (Christoph Waltz), who is also trying to strike it big with his European street scenes. Walter is a charmer and helps Margaret sell her paintings by pretending they are his works. It’s a success, but the strain of lying to everyone, including her daughter, takes its toll on Margaret, and Walter’s shady stories and past start to unravel.

Big Eyes is a refreshing change from Tim Burton, dropping the zany lead in a bizarre world and adopting a more real world setting, although still with his flair for perfectly framed shots with rich colour and stylised vistas. Here Burton adopts a domestic tale, where Margaret’s desires and skills are usurped by Walter’s own plans despite a lack of skill, giving a direct, if obvious feminist tale. The plot is straightforward, but has some interesting moments between Adams and Waltz. Adams’ delicately brittle performance couldn’t be appropriate, but Waltz, although entertaining as always, fell into the predictable, once again playing the charming deviant. Half way through the film you start thinking a more subtle performance would have aided the story.

Big Eyes is an invigorating and much welcomed development in Burton’s unique filmography.
Andreas

Film Review - Outlander By Creator Ronald D. Moore

In Outlander the series follows the intriguing story of Claire Randell a combat nurse from 1945 who mysteriously ends up back in time in 1743. Being accused of spying and longing for her husband she has to quickly adapt to life in this era.

 She has a new love interest in a chivalrous and romantic young Scottish warrior. Claire's heart ends up being torn between two men in two completely different lives.
An interesting series which includes drama, romance and sci-fi. Anne

Film Review - The Real Housewives of Melbourne-Season 1

 The Real Housewives of Melbourne follow the lavish lives of several women in Melbourne. The characters include- Gina Liano who is a barrister and single mother and lives in South Yarra. Lydia Schiavello is married to a famous Australian architect and is studying design and has 6 children in total. Janet Roach is a property developer with 2 sons. Jackie Gillies is a psychic and wife of Silverchair drummer Ben Gillies. Chyka Heebaugh is the owner of 3 event companies and has 2 kids. And lastly Andrea Moss has a skin specialist business and has children and is married to a plastic surgeon.

From glamorous cocktail launches, to romantic getaways, these women enjoy the finer things in life and also relish the drama created between them.

Rating-M Sexual References and course language

I found the series interesting to see how other people live, especially when they have excesses of money. Anne 

Film Review—Still Alice

Alice Howland (Julianne Moore), a linguistics professor at Columbia University, is forgetting words. These slips of vocabulary start to become one of many signs that she may be losing her memory, and she is eventually diagnosed with early onset familial Alzheimer's disease. As Alice comes to accept her condition she comes to realize that the ramifications will spread to everyone in her family.

The performance of Moore is fantastic. In every scene there is a little bit less Alice, a little bit less of the life, the career, the self. Her subtle, moving performance is alone worth seeing the film, and in fact the only reason to see it. The material feels as though its lifted from a Hallmark 'disease-of-the-week" TV drama. The rest of the cast is uneven with the characters being types rather than people with predictable development reserved only for a select few. And despite Moore's heart wrenching performance, the script does not fully utilize the various aspects of Alice's ever receding life, with details like her career as a linguist used more as short hand for memory loss than engrossing exploration.

Although overly sentimental and over worn material, Still Alice has a solid, moving performance that overcomes the films shortcomings.
Andreas