Air

Official Australian release date: 5/4/23. Viewed: 7/4/23.
Director: Ben Affleck
Actors: Matt Damon, Jason Bateman, Viola Davis, Ben Affleck
Genre: Drama
Rating: M

‘Air’ (as in “Air Jordan” shoes) is Ben Affleck’s 5^th time directing, and while not as good as ‘Gone Baby Gone’, it’s slightly better than ‘The Town’ and ‘Argo’, and certainly better than ‘Live by Night’. In my opinion, he’s a far better director than he is an actor. Which is good, because he has an important role as Phil Knight, CEO of Nike, but too much screentime. The main star here is Sonny (Damon), who’s Nike basketball talent scout, and works with Rob (Bateman, mostly-serious), Howard (Tucker, good to see him back) and Peter (Maher) in Nike’s Portland headquarters in the mid-1980s.

Together, they set out to make something of Nike’s floundering basketball division, with all their revenue coming from selling running shoes, and being out-performed by Converse and Adidas. While Michael Jordan is central to the story, they specifically don’t show him at all, as this is the start of his journey to super-stardom – he’s represented by his mum, Deloris (Davis, always great), dad (Tennon) and agent David (Messina).

While it’s about negotiating a deal, that’s not the only focus, with most emphasis on Sonny and his relationships with his bosses, Jordan’s agent and parents and others in the real-world. Reminds me a bit of Damon’s performance in ‘Ford v Ferrari’ and how the film brings to life the passion and drama behind professional sports. It’s serves as a good companion piece to ‘The Last Dance’. Some good moments of levity – including the ending – some good 80s songs, some touching moments and all over in under 2 hours.

Overall: Solid acting, directing and writing make a film about a shoe interesting

Gav's Rating: 4 stars

John Wick: Chapter 4

Official Australian release date: 23/3/23. Viewed: 30/3/23.
Director: Chad Stahelski
Actors: Keanu Reeves, Donnie Yen, Bill Skarsgard, Ian McShane
Genre: Action
Rating: MA

‘John Wick: Chapter 4’ is perhaps an unexpected fourth film in this franchise, which seems to be getting increasingly longer (2 hours 45min this time), but this film ups the ante on everything. The plot is pretty simple – John (Reeves) wants to stop being hunted by assassins from the “High Table”, so sets out to kill the Marquis (Skarsgard, dodgy French accent), with some help from Winston (McShane) & Bowery King (Fishburne) as in previous films. Then there’s the ambiguous presence of fellow assassins Caine (Yen, great as always) and Nobody (Anderson, good newcomer) who have solid arcs.

It’s pretty impressive they’ve made four of these films in 10 years, when you take covid into account. The film sets the scene a little, then gets right down to business – Wick & his bulletproof suit killing plenty of “bad guys”. I lost count, but would guess it’s over 250 in the entire film, with over 100 to Wick! You pay to see action, and this film certainly delivers. The series now seems to be in a comfortable place with reality suspended – especially the Arc de Triomphe scene. There’s a lack of police, the “magic” suits, no one shooting Wick in the head for some reason – where he’s become a mix of The Punisher (shoots lots & lots of people, revenge in key driver), Wolverine (doesn’t seem to ever die, can use a sword) & James Bond (the suit, good at all forms of combat).

While long, the pacing is good, with enough breathers to keep it interesting. The whole assassin underworld thing is tenuous at best, but doesn’t weigh it down too much. There’s plenty of visually stunning shots and great use of colour, a good score and some exceptional fight scenes, including a long aerial shot in an abandoned building. There’s plenty of great moments where you either chuckle, groan or cheer.

Overall: Really delivers on the action and kill-count

Gav's Rating: 4 stars

65

Official Australian release date: 9/3/23. Viewed: 10/3/23.
Directors: Scott Beck & Bryan Woods
Actors: Adam Driver, Ariana Greenblatt, Chloe Coleman, Nika King
Genre: Sci-Fi / Action
Rating: M

 

‘65’ is a dinosaur film with a twist. It’s just a shame the twist doesn’t really add much to the overall film. Mills (Driver) is essentially the only actor, with his daughter Nevine (Coleman) and wife (King) appearing at the start – and Nevine in a few holograms/flashbacks – but then the only other actor being Koa (Greenblatt) who becomes almost a surrogate daughter when they’re stranded.

Not sure if it’s a spoiler or not, but Mills is piloting a spaceship from some other galaxy and crash-lands on Earth – it just so happens to be 65 million years ago and just as the asteroid is approaching Earth. This sets up a situation with one man + futuristic tech vs dinosaurs. You just have to go with it. Instead of making it more a ‘Prey’ or ‘Predator’ situation, the film instead focuses on what’s happened to Mills’ daughter and Koa and trying to establish a human connection, when we really don’t care. Was a bit disappointed there were only 3 dinosaur sightings/interactions in the first 45min.

Some good cinematography, filmed mostly in the forests of Oregon & swamps of Louisiana. There’s some tension occasionally built, but for a short 90min film, there’s far too much time with nothing really happening. Driver’s fine, but I’m not sure having a young child speaking a foreign language as his only co-star helped him. The ending is a bit ridiculous, but at least we see a few more dinos in the 2^nd half, but not enough to make this rewatchable.

Overall: Lots of potential, not enough dinosaurs

Gav's Rating: 2.5 stars. 

Living

Official Australian release date: 16/3/23. Viewed: 5/3/23.
Director: Oliver Hermanus
Actors: Bill Nighy, Aimee Lou Wood, Alex Sharp, Adrian Rawlins
Genre: Drama
Rating: PG

 

 

‘Living’ is a quick, uncomplicated little time capsule of a film. Set in 1953, it follows Mr Williams (Nighy) and his team of bureaucrats working for London Council – new recruit Peter Wakeling (Sharp), Mr Middleton (Rawlins), Mr Hart (Chris), Mr Rusbridger (Burton) and Ms Harris (Lou Wood). There we see the uprightness, formality and disguised politeness that is hard to fathom nowadays.

When Williams learns he has cancer, he struggles with how to respond and how to tell his son, Michael (Fishwick). Instead, he confides in Ms Harris and Mr Wakeling as he tries to find purpose. There’s no debauchery or anything sinister – just a good, boring man, realising that he is a boring old man and trying to make something of what time he has left.

Minimal score, great set/costume design – very authentic 1950s feel – and all wrapped up in under 100min, this is a very refined and assured film, with nothing spectacular happening, but a well-told story nonetheless (noting I haven’t seen Kurosawa’s ‘Ikiru’ yet). Nighy is understated and a pleasure to watch (and listen to) and the rest of the cast lend able support.

Overall: Finding dignity in the mundane

Gav's Rating: 3.5 stars. 

Cocaine Bear

Official Australian release date: 23/2/23. Viewed: 23/2/23.
Director: Elizabeth Banks
Actors: Keri Russell, Alden Ehrenreich, O’Shea Jackson Jr, Ray Liotta
Genre: Comedy / Thriller
Rating: MA

 

‘Cocaine Bear’ does exactly what it says on the box – it’s a film about a black bear in Georgia, USA, that gets high from some cocaine dumped in the forest and goes on a rampage. Very loosely based on a true story, where illegal drugs actually were thrown out of a plane and killed a bear. Needless to say, the bear is CGI. The cast is surprisingly strong, with the main cast of ‘The Americans’ present – Russell, Rhys & Martindale – along with Ehrenreich (from ‘Solo’), Jackson Jr (from ‘Obi-Wan Kenobi’), Whitlock Jr (from heaps of stuff) & Ray Liotta’s final ever role.

Even though it has funny parts, there’s probably not enough consistently funny jokes or moments to be a true comedy. Likewise with the horror/thriller aspect – there’s some scary moments, but nothing sustained or truly horrific. A bit of gore and I think the death tally reached 9 in the end, but probably needed to be a few more to reach actual horror territory.

It’s basically a creature feature, and I’d put it alongside ‘The Meg’ and ‘Piranha 3D’, rather than ‘Jaws’ or ‘King Kong’. The cast are all likeable, but their skills are severely underutilised. The score is good and some of the shots of the Chattahoochee forest are nice. The ending is a bit underwhelming with too much family drama.

Overall: Tongue not quite enough in cheek

Gav's Rating: 2.5 stars. 

Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania

Official Australian release date: 16/2/23. Viewed: 15/2/23.
Director: Peyton Reed
Actors: Paul Rudd, Evangeline Lilly, Kathryn Newton, Jonathan Majors
Genre: Action / Sci-Fi
Rating: M

 

‘Ant-Man & the Wasp: Quantumania’ (or Ant-Man 3) is the thirty-something-th MCU film, but it’s always good to see Paul Rudd back as Scott Lang – he brings the right level of charm and goofball-ness, balanced with his determination and morality. Good to see the one director get to do all three films in a trilogy, with a few nods back to the original film (now 8 years ago!).

“QuANTuMANia” follows the combined family – Scott, Hope (Lilly), daughter Cassie (Newton), Hope’s Mum Janet (Pfeiffer) & Dad Hank (Douglas) – as they’re sucked into the quantum realm and try to get their way back to Earth. I like the concept of the quantum realm – no-one to call for help, existing outside of space & time, lots of exotic things/creatures + it looks cool with all the CGI! They’re sucked into a war that they didn’t know Janet had been part of and we get to meet Kang The Conqueror (Majors), who looks like being the new Thanos for the next series of MCU films.

There’s some similarities to the Star Wars sequels, especially with the “aliens”, otherworldly colours/settings and the final act. But, as with the other two Ant-Man films (this might be better than the 2^nd one), Hank Pym (the real Ant-Man) & Hope (the Wasp) are the real unsung heroes. All the actors get something to do, there’s a few good cameos, but nothing too substantial and the film doesn’t always go where you expect. Some funny moments, but nothing too hilarious or overbearing.

Overall: Another solid entry, great visuals and satisfying ending.

Gav's Rating: 3.5 stars. 

Knock at the Cabin

Official Australian release date: 2/2/23. Viewed: 3/2/23.
Director: M. Night Shyamalan
Actors: Dave Bautista, Jonathan Groff, Ben Aldridge, Kristen Cui
Genre: Thriller / Mystery
Rating: M

 

‘Knock at the Cabin’ is the new M. Night Shyamalan thriller. I’ll try not to give much away, but it’s sort of hard to describe anyway – it’s got some light horror, a lot of tension, plenty of mystery and onion-layers. There’s really only 7 characters – Eric (Groff) & Andrew (Aldridge) with their daughter, Wen (Cui) on holiday in a cabin in the woods, when 4 strangers show up – Leonard (Bautista), Sabrina (Amuka-Bird), Ardiane (Quinn) & Redmond (Grint). It’s definitely not what you might think – certainly no ‘Evil Dead’.

All the actors are good, but Wen is the best character, but unfortunately she doesn’t get to do too much. There’s some flashbacks to give background on Eric, Andrew & Wen, because it all kicks of pretty quickly, posing all sorts of questions early on. Another good cameo from the director, as is standard.

While always having some inkling of where it’s heading, and definitely not being a typical horror/thriller, yet it doesn’t have as many twists/turns/fun revelations as I was hoping for. It’s by no means a bad film – not as good as ‘The Sixth Sense’ or ‘Split’, but similar to, and slightly better than ‘Old’ and ‘The Village’.

Overall: The less you know, the better

Gav's Rating: 3 stars.