Triplux

Nostalgia de la luz (Nostalgia for the Light) (2010) A remarkable documentary from Chile which juxtaposes three different threads of the country’s history - pre-Columbian shepherds, the struggle of people exposing the brutality of the Pinochet regime, and astronomy in the Atacama desert. Each of the stories has a haunting tone and each presented with the kind of passion for the material and search for truth you’ll find in a Herzog or Errol Morris documentary. In addition, the interwoven stories are beautifully shot by Patricio Guzmán, who also also directed the excellent Allende documentary from 2004. Recommended


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30 Minutes or Less (2011) Director Ruben Fleischer demonstrates that Zombieland was little more than a fluke by producing this mind numbingly terrible comedy about a pizza delivery guy who is forced to rob a bank. To quote a review from Time’s Richard Corliss: “For a soul-sucking 83 minutes, you’re trapped inside the film’s tiny, ugly mind”. Just awful. It’s rubbish like this that is driving people away from the theaters. Avoid


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Les petits mouchoirs (Little White Lies) (2010) A French comic-tragedy about a group of friends who gather at beach house near Bordeaux, and the pressures that break down their relationships over the course of a week. It puts forward a good case for the two-and-a-half hour runtime providing more interesting character development. Even though things don’t really feel like they go anywhere new, it’s still entertaining viewing. An eclectic selection of music also makes the time more enjoyable - including an unmissable placement of Moonage Daydream. Recommended


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La vida de los peces (The Life of Fish) (2010) Out of Chile comes the best relationship film I've seen in a very long time. A man returns home to the friends of his youth after ten years of living overseas as a travel writer. Over the course of a single night the emotions of the past are brought to the surface with painful realism. The acting is superb and convincing, but the writing is where this film shines - it's sublime and mature, giving the viewer only what they need and holding back on the histrionics. Winner of the Goya for Best Spanish Language Foreign Film. Essential


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Warrior (2011) A mixed martial arts spectacular that wants to be a serious contender this awards season. Its strength lies in the fight scenes and interaction between two estranged brothers and their alcoholic ex-marine father (the role Nick Nolte was born to play). As with any fight tournament film, the drama in the early rounds needs to be interesting enough to stave off the predictability. This aspect is handled well and the action in the cage is where most of the interest is. The background drama is a little too melodramatic and manipulative - a middle class couple losing their house doesn't really qualify as high stakes in my book. Outside of the lead trio, almost all of the supporting threads feel awkward as they are either poorly written, edited in, or acted. These lesser elements drag it down from an otherwsie well earned spot amongst the best in genre. Average


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Carnage (2011) Set inside a New York apartment, two couples meet over a schoolyard tussle involving their sons. This is classic Polanski material as he analyses what lurks beneath and the characters primal motives. It's a cynical take on liberalism and the hypocrisy in contemporary society. Good performances from Foster, Waltz and Reilly - not so great from Winslet. Average


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The Debt (2011) I love a good Cold War thriller so I had high hopes for this film set in East Germany about an Israeli mission to bring a Nazi war criminal to trial. There’s a lot of potential here, it captures the mood very well, but is let down by a plot that is laden with implausibly ridiculous decisions and motivations by the characters. Average


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Restless (2011) Can we stop with the Harold and Maude homages already. Gus Van Sant, what has become of you? A sappy romance between death-obsessed teens. Is this the kind of phony drivel we can now expect in a post-Twilight world? Henry Hopper (son of Dennis) delivers the most excruciating performance of the year. Just awful. Avoid


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Tropa de Elite 2 - O Inimigo Agora É Outro (Elite Squad: The Enemy Within) (2010) Jose Padilha’s ambitious followup is once again a brutal and intense mix of action and political thrills on the streets of Rio. Thirteen years has passed and in this time a new form of corruption far worse than gangs threatens society. Seemingly on a crusade to expose the real world injustices, Padilha portrays everyone as corrupt or corruptible and the mechanisms that protect this state. Domestically it was a box office smash, taking the record for a locally produced film in Brazil. Recommended


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Bruce Pennington for the cover of A.E. Van Vogt’s Children of Tomorrow

40 Days ago

50/50 (2011) The prospect of watching a 27-year-old guy (played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt) progress from a cancer diagnosis through to an eventual outcome is surely nobody’s idea of a good time in the theatre. The partial solution is to feature Anna Kendrick (Up in the Air) as the love interest and Seth Rogen for comedic lift. The outcome is unfortunately unbalanced and does not add up to much. Some aspects fall flat and others are manipulative and predictable. However, there’s enough good stuff and bittersweet performances to make it worthwhile. Average


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41 Days ago

Le gamin au vélo (The Kid with a Bike) (2011) This year’s Grand Prix winner at Cannes is another thought provoking study of both character and society from France's Dardenne brothers (L'Enfant). A young boy is abandoned by his father in a state home, but pseudo-adopted by a hairdresser on weekends. There is the inevitable conflict and despite the simple nature of the story, the drama is powerful and the pacing is spot on. Some first class acting from Thomas Doret who plays the kid. Recommended


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42 Days ago

Horrible Bosses (2011) A handful of laughs and a few interesting performances hold together a flimsy story about a group of three friends who conspire to kill their intolerable bosses. However this is low grade crude comedy and you could save yourself the time and catch all the best moments nicely summed up in the trailer. Disclaimer: I caught this on a plane and so my capacity to laugh was severely impaired by a 24 hour transit period. Average


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43 Days ago

Violeta se fue a los cielos (Violeta Went to Heaven) (2011) Established Chilean director Andrés Wood takes on the subject of one of Chile’s most loved and respected artists and folklorists, Violeta Parra, and delivers the country’s best film since his powerful 2004 historic epic, Machuca. It’s beautifully made with unsettling honesty. You can never tell the complete story with a film like this, and Wood has instead opted to structure the film around a candid TV interview Parra gave in 1962. Though it is told in non-linear style, vignettes of her life are interwoven with her music and bound together using recurring motifs. It works and the result was been given the nod as Chile’s official submission to the Best Foreign Language Film - if successful, it will be their first nomination in the award’s history. Recommended


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46 Days ago

Tabloid (2010) Errol Morris has established quite a career out of documenting eccentricity and obsession. Here he tells the true story of former Miss Wyoming, Joyce McKinney, and the salacious details of her tabloid exploits during the 70s. Things go well beyond a typical kidnapping case and Morris teases out the details of her life - perhaps to the point of exploitation, though without being judgemental. Not his best work, but recommended for fans of his previous films. Recommended


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46 Days ago

The Ides of March (2011) A nicely made political thriller with all the cynicisms of the current era in US politics. But the script isn't up to the weight of the acting talent involved - it needed more wit and/or and higher stakes. Average


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49 Days ago

Melancholia (2011) Regarding Lars von Trier - I have seen his last ten feature films and openly declare I’m a huge fan. Add to this that Melancholia is clearly a very personal work for him about his own struggle with this very subject matter. But I just wasn’t feeling it with this end-of-the-world drama. That’s not to say it isn’t expertly made - the themes work well with the visuals and the atmosphere is suffocating in depression. But it doesn’t offer anything the resonates at the same level as his previous portrayal of the same material, Antichrist. Average


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Cave of Forgotten Dreams (2010) First off, this really didn’t need to be in 3D. Handheld 3D is surely an experiment we can file under failed attempt at creativity. But thankfully Werner Herzog’s latest film, where he once again plays documentarian, has so much more to offer. The subject matter is spellbinding - an exploration of the Chauvet caves in Southern France which contain the oldest known pictorial creations of humankind. Every aspect of their origin and meaning is explored. It’s not until the last chapter that we are given a more contemplative view of the cave walls, and I’m still in awe. Remarkable. Recommended


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The Help (2011) I truly did only watch this to see Emma Stone - her voice does things to me. But I unknowingly fell into a clever trap by the studios to get me to endure a ghastly overly simplistic tale about white families in the 1960’s and their treatment of African-American maids. Make no mistake - this is a chick-flick masquerading as an award season darling. Using the civil rights movement as a vehicle to pedal this kind of chick-flickery does an injustice not only to history, but the people who lived it. Average


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The In-Betweeners (2011) As a fan of the juvenile British comedy series I naturally had low expectations going into this adaptation for the big screen (when has this ever been done right?). But it’s not a complete misfire, in fact it’s exactly what you might expect from a 97 minute episode. It’s the same formula - but let’s recap: Jay gets all the good lines, Simon is annoyingly obsessed with Carli, Neil is loveably dim-witted and Will is particularly socially inept. The plot is irrelevant and it’s not note-perfect comedy, but at its crude best it delivers laughs at a consistent rate. Recommended


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Drive (2011) Quite simply, this is a great LA movie. The more knowledge of this style of cinema you bring to it, the more you get out of it. Not just highly stylized and sophisticated eye candy - this is well written yet calculated for mainstream appeal. It’s best of genre stuff, and the first must-see film of the year for me. Essential


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Frits en Freddy (2010) It sounded like a fun idea - a Belgian film (in Flemish) about two unsuccessful bible salesmen who get in over their heads when they take offense at a rejection from a crime boss. It never reaches laugh-out-loud levels for me but was amusing to see something different from Belgian cinema. Average


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Huacho (2009) A simple reflection on a provincial Chilean peasant family and their way of life which is at odds with the modernisation of society. It’s a well made family drama with solid performances from what appears to be an amateur cast. Recommended


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The Son of No One (2011) A poorly executed cop thriller with the must uninteresting plot-twists I’ve witnessed in a long time. You might expect this from Channing Tatum, but to see Al Pacino, Ray Liotta, Katie Holmes and Juliette Binoche involved you would think there might be some substance. The real crime is the excessive use of the score as a crutch. Avoid


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Sexo con Amor (Sex With Love) (2003) Sex and the City, Chilean style? A young schoolteacher Luisa is starting a debate on the introduction of sex education into her classes and this in-turn causes reflection amongst the parents of the young students. I found it interesting to see the cultural differences and perceptions - particularly as much of the subject matter that is exposed and explored is still classified as taboo in Chile. Fun story but never rises above the ordinary. Average


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Now Blogging from Santiago, Chile

As many followers may already be aware a lot has happened in the past few weeks of my life.

My side project goal-setting social network Day Zero Project was given a giant boost when it was selected to participate in the Start-Up Chile entrepreneur program. This is a Chilean government backed grant which is aimed at attracting world-class early stage entrepreneurs to start their businesses in Chile.

So as of last week I am now located in the beautiful and richly cultured city of Santiago!

I'm also blogging about this experience on a separate site called La Estrella Solitaria. I’ll try to capture the things I learn along the way and illustrate this with photographs of experiences and observations of life in South America from the perspective of this Kiwi.

80 Days ago

Bollywood film 3 Idiots just snuck into the IMDb Top 250. I caught this on the plane home from India. Zany comedy! #

94 Days ago

Biutiful (2010) Alejandro González Iñárritu’s much anticipated followup to the Oscar nominated Babel. You already know going in that it’s going to be grim viewing, with Javier Bardem playing a man dying of cancer, his broken family life and the Barcelona underworld in which he scrapes together a living. The outlook is bleak in every facet of his existence and the many threads of this film combine to create a meditation that turns back to how we are living our lives and the kind of society we are evolving into. Despite the plaudits it generating during awards season, critics were largely divided over whether there was something meaningful here. Decide for yourself. Recommended


Director:	Alejandro González Iñárritu
Genres:	Drama
Runtime:	2 hrs 28 mins
Plot:	Uxbal, single father of two children, finds his life in chaos as he is forced to deal with his life... (Source: IMDb)
Amazon:	Biutiful (2010)

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105 Days ago

Salvador Allende (2004) This was my first real insight into Allende, who most would know as the Chilean leader who was overthrown by the military coup in 1973 that would lead to Pinochet taking control of the country. It’s a great document of this period in history, made even more special through interviews with those who knew him. Though despite the many anecdotes I never felt I got a true sense of the man at a personal level - he appeared to me to be unlikable, detached, and uncompromisingly flawed. While the film is clearly aiming to construct a sympathetic portrait, the interview segments with Edward Korry, the former U.S. ambassador to Chile are a blunt reality-check on how the West generally regarded (despised) Allende. Recommended


Director:	Patricio Guzmán
Genres:	Documentary, Biography
Runtime:	1 hr 40 mins
Plot:	From his childhood in Valparaiso to his death during the Pinochet military coup on September 11, 1973, the life and works of Chilean president Salvador Allende. (Source: IMDb)
Amazon:	Salvador Allende [Import NTSC Region 0] Patricio Guzman (2004)

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105 Days ago

The list of all candidates for the 2012 Best Foreign Language Film has been published at Awards Daily. I love delving into these lists and amongst the 59 countries is New Zealand's very first appearance, for the Samoan-language feature The Orator (O Le Tulafale). It looks fantastic - go check out the trailer. Best of luck making the cut.

Pa Negre (Black Bread) (2010) A dark tale of the social impact the Civil War had on the lives of people in a Catalonian village as told through the eyes of a young boy who is trying to make sense of the stories and fables he hears from the adults. Some great performances, particularly from the wide-eyed young lead. The story unravels at a nice pace and while the complexity of the plot lost me a few times, it all came together at the end. Totally cleaned up at both the 2011 Goya Awards and (not surprisingly, the Gaudí Awards). Recommended


Director:	Agustí Villaronga
Genres:	Drama
Runtime:	1 hr 48 mins
Plot:	In the harsh post-war years' Catalan countryside, Andreu, a child that belongs to the losing side, finds... (Source: IMDb)
Amazon:	Black Bread ( Pan negro ) ( Pa negre ) [ NON-USA FORMAT, PAL, Reg.0 Import - Spain ]

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Submarine (2011) A very British coming of age tale, created as a very French New Wave homage and set in mid-Eighties Swansea. A 15-year-old boy is dealing with the breakdown of his parents marriage whilst pursuing his own love interest. It’s clever, but in a self-conscious way that will draw inescapable comparisons with the likes of Harold and Maude, Rushmore, and The Graduate - yet without really contributing enough of it’s own spirit to become something more. The humor works best in the most subtle of moments and understated dialogue, and not so much in the socially awkward encounters. It’s fun and engaging for a while but rounding into the final third I completely lost interest. Average


Director:	Richard Ayoade
Genres:	Comedy, Drama
Runtime:	1 hr 37 mins
Plot:	15-year-old Oliver Tate has two objectives: To lose his virginity before his next birthday, and to extinguish the flame between his mother and an ex-lover who has resurfaced in her life. (Source: IMDb)
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Suddenly (1954) An excellent example of how a simple concept can build incredible tension and create an edge-of-your-seat climax that many modern thrillers can’t come close to. It’s post-war America and three gangsters hold a family hostage in their own house on top of a hill overlooking a railroad station - their intention is to kill the president of the USA. Some of these performances have aged, but Sinatra is outstanding as the lead villain. Recommended


Director:	Lewis Allen
Genres:	Crime, Drama, Film-Noir, Romance, Thriller
Runtime:	1 hr 15 mins
Plot:	In the city of Suddenly, three gangsters trap the Benson family in their own house, on the top of a hill nearby the railroad station, with the intention of killing the president of the USA. (Source: IMDb)
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Post Mortem (2010) Set during the last days of Salvador Allende’s presidency, the director and star of Tony Manero once again team up to produce another disturbing dramatic depiction of Chile’s dark history. The film starkly depicts the violence of the Pinochet coup by way of a stone faced civil servant who transcribes autopsies. Director Pablo Larraín maintains this story arose from his fascination with the autopsy of Allende and his own desire to explore the transformation of Chile during this period. Recommended


Director:	Pablo Larraín
Genres:	Drama
Runtime:	1 hr 38 mins
Plot:	In Chile, 1973, during the last days of Salvador Allende's presidency, an employee at a Morgue's recording office falls for a burlesque dancer who mysteriously disappears. (Source: IMDb)
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Mine Vaganti (Loose Cannons) (2010) An Italian comedy/drama about two sons in a wealthy and successful family who are dealing with uncloseting, and the stigma they face. The tone is mixed, with moments of melodrama and farce seeming at odds with the tragic nature of the story - which doesn’t really develop in any meaningful way. Average


Director:	Ferzan Ozpetek
Genres:	Comedy, Drama, Romance
Runtime:	1 hr 50 mins
Plot:	Tommaso is the youngest son of the Cantones, a large, traditional southern Italian family operating a pasta-making business since the 1960s... (Source: IMDb)
Amazon:	Loose Cannons (1990)

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