Passion (2012) MIFF Film Review

USA 100 mins

Christine (Rachel McCadams) is the boss of one branch of an international advertising agency, and she manipulates everyone around her to get her way. Isabelle (Noomi Rapace) is her assistant who is on the rise. When Isabelle seems to be reaching her peak, Christine will do anything to destroy her. But she has not counted on the human requirement for revenge.

Appalling. Absolutely appalling. There was almost no original idea in this film. Almost ever suspense film cliché was included, the characters were shallow and unbelievable, the plot was nonsensical, the use of musical stings to highlight the points of revelation were embarrassing and the noir lighting was overly obvious, even for someone who has never studied film. There were only two things that I genuinely enjoyed in the film. The first was the extremely creepy staring ballet sequences and the second was the scream that the woman behind me let out at one moment in the film.

It really was a fun cinema experience, only because the cinema was three-quarters full and it seems most people found the film as unintentionally comical as I did. Ah, dear.

Passion screens at the Forum Theatre on Friday, July 26 at 4pm and at the Kino Cinema on Monday, July 29 at 9pm and at Greater Union on Thursday, August 8 at 9pm. To book tickets, visit http://miff.com.au/

Prometheus (2012) Film Review

I recall when this came out earlier in the year, it was panned. Film Fandango, a podcast I listen to from Absolute Radio in the UK totally ripped into it, and listening to their discussion of the appallingness of the film totally put me off watching it. Plus, it’s not my genre – sci fi with some suspense. Most thrillers kill me. But, recently I decided to try to watch all of the films that have been nominated for Oscars – I’ve never done it before, and can’t explain why it matters to me this time, given that I hold little truck for the Oscars.

Prometheus is kind of a prequel to Alien. Set in some future world, a couple of archaeologists find evidence that humans were life forms created by an alien race. They are sent to a particular star system with a crew to try to meet these life forms and get answers. But, once on the planet, things turn awry. There are freaky snake creatures and the man archaeologist gets really sick so they burn him, but he comes back. Then the lady archeologist who had sex with the man archaeologist is now pregnant with some creature, so goes into a weird self-serve surgery capsule and has the creature removed, and after being stapled up, she’s well enough to continue running around the place. It’s totally absurd and annoying and weird.

The only thing more absurd than the plot of this film is the fact the Guy Pearce turns up with a crazy amount of make-up on to be the old man who is the founder of the company that owns the ship they are travelling in. Given his brilliant talent and the high standard of his usual films, this is a shock.

Prometheus was nominated for an Oscar for Visual Effects, and that’s fair enough. It might be a crap film, but it looked pretty awesome. It was also nominated for a BAFTA for Special Visual Effects.

Sherlock Holmes in A Game of Shadows (2011) Film Review

Ah, Robert Downey Jnr. Can you do anything wrong? (I suppose apart from all those things you’ve allegedly been arrested for and stuff, but that was a long time ago, and besides, I’m talking strictly films here) Sherlock Holmes has held a fascination for people for such a long time, and the recent BBC adaptation was, without a shadow of a doubt, brilliant. That doesn’t take away from the awesomeness of this film, however.

In this film, Holmes becomes involved in Moriarty’s scheming to unsettle Europe and start a war. With a lot of fist fighting, guns and even bigger guns, Holmes and Watson are out to solve the puzzle.

This is a sequel to the film Sherlock Holmes, for which Robert Downey Jnr was awarded a Golden Globe. I don’t believe that there is anything crucial from the first film that you need for this sequel. I wasn’t lost at any time. The Guy Ritchie directing is back, strong as ever, with cool filmic techniques (such as film speed changes during the fight sequences, highlighting the crucial moments).

Sherlock Holmes is another series of films featuring Robert Downey Jar that I want to see more of. More Iron Man and more Sherlock Holmes, please. On a side note, I am looking forward to Elementary, the new US version of Sherlock Holmes featuring Johnny Lee Miller as Sherlock Holmes and Lucy Liu as *shock horror* a female Dr Watson. I can’t see any way that it will measure up to the BBC series, but what I am hoping for is something like Lie To Me – an American cop drama type show, but with brains.