What About Sal?

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I was thinking recently about resilience and the cinema. Take a moment to think about all the changes that have happened within the last 5-10 years that could have really posed a threat to the medium. The rise of streaming services and constant accessible content, and of course, Covid, being the big heavy hitters. But despite both these things, the cinema has continued to lure people into its theatres and delight them with an enjoyable excursion away from the couch. And I’m really thankful for this because if cinema had crumpled and then disappeared completely after Covid, then beautiful little niche films that exist in small reservoirs outside of the mainstream, would go completely unnoticed.

Despite it being a very cold and rainy night on Saturday, I took myself into Newtown and caught up with a friend to support Australian cinema. We treated ourselves to a beautiful little film written, directed, and starring John Jarratt: What About Sal?

When his mother is diagnosed with lung cancer Sal (Gerard O’Dwyer), a 30-year-old retail assistant with Down Syndrome, goes on a quest to find his father – a singer in a rock band that his mother had a one-time stand with thirty years ago.

This is a really sweet and moving little film that proves that you don’t need all the bells and whistles of big-name actors, fast-paced action, and eye-exploding special effects to have a nice time at the movies. A simple story featuring a tiny cast and filmed on the streets of Sydney during Covid, What About Sal? celebrates the simplicity of the quest narrative, enlightens audiences with the plight of a marginalised minority, and inspires audiences to hope that things can get better.

In three acts the film establishes this beautiful world in which Sal, his mother, and their close friends exist, breaks it apart when the mother is hospitalised and Sal runs away to find his father, and then reknits itself as Sal achieves his goal and then starts on a new quest to help his father overcome his alcoholism. Sweetness and sparkling hope flares from the darkest and dingiest spaces in this film and it’s really moving to see the hero, with his unique way of thinking, persevering and then achieving the impossible.

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The performances are all impeccable, the cast breathing so much life and substance into such a small production.

It’s a film about love, redemption, and proving one’s invaluable worth in the world. It’s truly lovely.

Director: John Jarratt, 2023

Cast: Gerard O’Dwyer, John Jarratt, Kaarin Fairfax, Justin Banks, Lewis Fitz-Gerald, Pearl Herbert, Ric Herbert, Peter Hehir, Camilla Ah Kin, Joanne Samuel & Kurt Ramjan.

Wicked Little Letters

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There is a lot of nastiness in the world that might never really go away because as a species humans are stubborn, overtly wary of change, and creatures of habit. Things like overzealous religious mania, misogyny, radicalism, racism, and self-loathing. But we can take some comfort in the idea of #notallhumans and that we have the artistic mediums of literature, art, and film to depict these kinds of harmful and poisonous characteristics of our species and hopefully, pique the human desire for change, progression, and evolution.

This line of thought was inspired last night by a strange and impressive little film that I watched that was based on a true story: Wicked Little Letters.

The film follows Edith Swan (Olivia Coleman) a sweet and conservative woman who becomes the victim of hate mail. Blame is immediately placed upon her neighbour, foul-mouthed, Irish single mother Rose Gooding (Jessie Buckley) who is arrested and put on trial. Rose is adamant that she is innocent and when police officer Gladys Moss notices discrepancies in the handwriting of Rose and the letter-writer, she embarks on a clandestine investigation to find out who the real author is.

This devilish black comedy tells an intriguing true story that I’m sure most people have not heard about. A confronting and strange little whodunnit, it’s set in England during the 1920s: a time that, for most people, was filled with fun, jazz, and freedom after the war and before the hell of the Great Depression. However, the Roaring ‘20s apparently did not extend to the town of Littlehampton where prejudice, ostracism, racism, and misogyny were ruling overlords. Despite the story taking a bit of a Mean Girls twist when Edith, being celebrated as a martyr, discovers from her friends that she’s not as well-liked as she thought, the real villain is the amount of injustice, inequality, and infuriating lack of basic respect that each woman in the cast suffers. Rose is shunned for being an Irish immigrant and single mother. Gladys is constantly being downtrodden by her misogynist superiors at the station. Edith’s whist group each receive looks of scorn and disapproval for not returning to being proper, upstanding ladies after the war. And Edith herself suffers constant abuse from her controlling father, played unnervingly well by Timothy Spall.

What makes the movie so intriguing and refreshing is that it’s a film about women overcoming adversity, but not in a romanticised, sisterly type of way. This is certainly no First Wives Club, Hidden Figures or A League of Their Own. What makes Wicked Little Letters so fascinating (and funny) is probably the fact that these woman don’t particularly like one another, but band together because the crap that is constantly being shoveled their way by the patriarchy is worse than their personal distaste for one another.

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While the themes and depictions of sexism, racism, and familial tyranny are confronting and very uncomfortable for the modern audience, the film cleverly sprinkles in delightful moments of comedy that help to lift the mood. Admittedly they are small and sometime far between, but they carry such weight that the smile sparked by them stays planted on your face for a good couple of scenes.

The performances are all excellent. Coleman is sweet and selfless, yet there is always something going on underneath her shining eyes and smile. Buckley provides a glorious contrast being loud, crass, and delightfully brazen. And then there is the prim and perfectly mannered Gladys played by Anjana Vasan. There’s a professional veneer about her all the time, but inside you know she is constantly screaming, she’s just wonderful to watch.

A more dramatic and quirky black comedy, Wicked Little Letters is a very enjoyable film.

Director: Thea Sharrock, 2023

Cast: Olivia Coleman, Jessie Buckley, Anjana Vasan, Gemma Jones, Malachi Kirby, Alisha Weir, Paul Chahidi, Eileen Atkins, Lolly Adefope, Joanna Scanlan, Hugh Skinner & Timothy Spall

Ruby Gillman: Teenage Kraken

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The appeal of animated family films, aside from the bright colours and, memorable characters, and scripted life lessons, is the fantasy of them. Dreamworks has been consistently coming out with some fresh and fun takes on celebrated stories and genre, often twisting traditional representations of fantasy creatures around so that they become loveable leading characters rather than the monsters of their original texts. Within the span of 90 minutes, ogres can go from vicious maneaters to sweet and misunderstood romantics or, in one of Dreamworks’ most recent films, krakens can go from shipwrecking monsters to protectors of the ocean.

Ruby Gilman Teenage Kraken tells the story of Ruby Gillman, a young kraken living with her family in a seaside human town. Her problems are just like any other teenager’s; maths, trying to prompose to her dream guy, and keeping up the façade that she’s from Canada rather than a kraken. But when she rescues her dream guy from drowning, something awakens in Ruby and she transforms into a giant kraken. Suddenly a promposal is the least of her worries, as she discovers she’s a warrior princess destined to protect the entire ocean from the clutches of the evil mermaid queen Narissa.

This is a fun Little Mermaid story that flips the roles of the heroes and villains. Just imagine that final climactic battle scene, except both Arial and Ursula are ginormous and Arial’s wielding the trident and laughing maniacally. Internally, it’s a sweet coming-of-age story about finding one’s a place in their community and being true to oneself.

The animation is very pretty with the giant krakens themselves being particularly beautiful: all sparkling and luminescent. There’s a fun cast of eccentric characters that each have their time to shine, and a modern, poppy soundtrack to round out the fun.

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It’s not the most incredible family film that Dreamworks has come out with, but it’s a harmless way to while away some of the afternoon.

Director: Kirk DeMicco & Faryn Pearl (2023)

Cast: Lana Condor, Colman Domingo, Liza Koshy, Ramona Young, Blue Chapman, Jaboukie Young-White, Sam Richardson, Toni Collette & Jane Fonda.  

Ghostbusters: Afterlife

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Whenever a beloved film from a bygone era gets targeted for a reboot, the initial response is always dubious. And rightly so. Cinema’s history, particularly the time ranging from the naughties through the 2010s is littered with the withered husks of fantastic films that got turned into franchises and milked for all they were worth. So it’s really a lovely surprise to watch a reboot and get to the end and go, ‘huh that’s was actually very entertaining and well done’. This is the feeling that I am currently experiencing, having just finished watching Ghostbusters: Afterlife (I’ve got tickets to the new one as a perk from my job so I figured I’d better watch its predecessor).

When Callie is evicted from her apartment she hopes to find a silver lining in inheriting the house of her late father. But when she and her kids Trevor and Pheobe get there, they find a dilapidated manor on the outskirts of a town in the middle of nowhere. While Callie and Trevor bemoan the loss of their city life, Pheobe discovers some very strange things about their new home including a basement filled with scientific gadgets, a garage with a very odd car, and a ghost. With the help of her new friend Podcast and her summer schoolteacher Mr. Grooberson, Phoebe discovers that her grandfather wasn’t some crazy old man like everyone says, he was a Ghostbuster intent on saving the world right to the end.

This was just a really fun film. Set in the present day, but in a universe where the events of the original Ghostbusters happened, it follows in the awkward and silly footsteps of the original; neither being too whimsical nor too serious. What I really liked about it was that it was made with love and respect for the original film. Ghostbusters is such a beloved classic from the ‘80s and it was really lovely to see a reboot that not only tied in elements of the original story, but employed the same humour, and didn’t rely too heavily on computer wizardry. In fact the reprisal of a few computer generated characters are actually really tastefully done with the holographic visage of a deceased actor and the janky ridiculousness of the famous hellhounds. It was fresh, but also nostalgic and I think that’s what really made it so enjoyable.

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In the ‘80s it was the band of bumbling male scientists, in 2016 it was the committed crew of female leads, and now it’s time for the kids to drive. The performances are all very good with a fun assortment making up the motley crew. We’ve got an awkward teenager tyring to be cool, an introverted and socially challenged 12-year-old, an overly enthusiastic young content creator, and a cool, down-to-earth teenage girl. Minus the delightful cameos during the climax, the gender divide is pretty well-bridged, bringing new elements and chemistry into the mix.

I really rather enjoyed Ghostbusters: Afterlife; it was both nostalgic and refreshing, it treated the original source material with respect, and it held something for those who have seen the original film and those who haven’t.

Director: Jason Reitman, 2021

Cast: Carrie Coon, Finn Wolfhard, Mckenna Grace, Logan Kim, Celeste O’Conner, Paul Rudd, Annie Potts, Dan Akroyd, Ernie Hudson, J. K. Simmons, Bill Murray & Sigourney Weaver.

Kung Fu Panda 4

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Perhaps it’s because I don’t go to the cinema as often as a I used to, or perhaps it’s simply because I’m an adult now and therefore not paying all that much attention to children’s films, but it seems to me that there is a real lack of good family movies around at the moment. With Disney’s family successes being far and far between, and other studios like Dreamworks and Illumination not coming out with things as regularly as they used to (I think before the pandemic), there’s not a whole lot of family fun happening at the movies – at least not as much as I remember. It really makes you consider how cinema has changed thanks to the pandemic and the general way in which society is evolving and changing the way we consume media.

This chain of thought was brough to my mind because I recently went and saw Kung Fu Panda 4.

Po has successfully made the most of out of his life, going from humble beginnings working in a noodle shop to becoming the famous Dragon Warrior, achieving inner peace, and rising to the role of protector of the Valley of Peace. But his journey his not over. Po must now choose an apprentice to whom he can hand over the title of Dragon Warrior so that he can become the Spiritual Leader of the Valley of Peace. But Po’s not too keen on this idea. Thankfully, the pressure is lessened when a thief breaks into the Hall of Heroes around the same time that reports of sightings of Tai Lung come to the valley. Po discovers that there is a dangerous sorceress at large with plans of world domination, so he teams up with the thief, a fox named Zhen, and goes on another adventure of spiritual growth and butt-kicking kung fu.

While this movie is certainly not bad, it was not asked for nor do I think it was needed. And Kung Fu Panda is my favourite Dreamworks franchise. This film is a clumsily written story of emotional maturity and character growth that absolutely works but is uninspiring and definitely lacking in the emotional payoff that the previous films have. While I could feel that there was some love that went into it, for the most part this movie feels more like a pay cheque than anything else, with lackluster writing and performances just not reaching for the same heights as before.

I’ve already touched on the story being clumsily constructed, uninspired, and relatively predictable, but I think the fact that there is no Furious Five in the mix also had a major impact on the film. Without the awesomeness of these characters to look up to and their friendship to relish in and bounce off, Po’s bubbly and sweet character loses its fizz and now sits flat. There’s still flavour, but it’s not as enjoyable as before. It really goes to show just how important supporting characters are!

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But to give credit where it is due, the animation is still incredible especially surrounding the villain: a shapeshifting chameleon with magical powers that allow her to basically become a kung fu master chimera during the third act.

At the end of the day, Kung Fu Panda 4 is not a bad movie, it just seems that the franchise has run out of steam. The film is still fun, heartwarming, and entertaining, btu I won’t be adding it to the library.

Ooh but do stay for the credits, because Tenacious D do a cover of Baby One More Time and it’s awesome!

Director: Mike Mitchell & Stephanie Stine (2024)

Cast: Jack Black, Awkwafina, Dustin Hoffman, James Hong, Bryan Cranston, Ian McShane, Ke Huy Quan & Viola Davis

Madame Web

Image credit: cine.com

It should come as no surprise that studios are still scrabbling to get a piece of the Marvel multiverse action. Marvel is now a label that instantly draws an audience, even when the trailers and marketing of the project is not particularly interesting. It’s a real shame then when a character or comic series from the Marvelverse gets picked up excitedly by a crew and then through the filmic process becomes something far below the initial expectations. This is the case with a film I went and saw last night (thank goodness I had free tickets): Madame Web.

Cassie Web (Dakota Johnson) is a paramedic who, after technically dying on the job, comes the realisation that she has the power of foresight. Unsure how to control or what even to do with this power, Cassie sees a vision in which three girls are attached by a man that can crawl, spider-like, on the ceiling. Suddenly Cassie finds herself in charge of protecting these girls who will one day have powers like her and use them to save the world.

This could have been good. The characters are interesting enough to root for, the story is just different enough of a superhero origin story to pique interest, and there are some cool moments for special effects to take the wheel. Let us have a moment of silence for what could have been.

The film looks fine. There are some fun bits where we get to see Cassie’s powers at work, although if you’re unfamiliar with the comic or character in general, it can take a little bit of time to work out what’s actually going on. Ultimately what really brought this film low was the script. I saw this with a friend and they turned to me during the credits and said, ‘I think that script was written by AI’. It’s a very boring and generic script with no flavour to speak of: no salt, sweetness, or even tang. And then there are the ham-fisted references to Spider-Man, which are really, really on the nose. 

And because the script was boring, the performances were boring too. Fair play to the central cast for trying to inject some life into a dead spider, but sometimes there’s just no coming back from lifelessness. I think everyone gave up midway through. Johnson as a reluctant heroine is fine and there is some chemistry between her and the three girls that’s sweet and heartwarming. The villain is a real letdown, quite possibly the most uninteresting villain that I have seen in a superhero movie.

Image credit: imdb

If you have any interest in seeing Madame Web, I would recommend waiting until it comes to a streaming service, it’s certainly not worth the price of a ticket.

Director: S.J Clarkson, 2024

Cast: Dakota Johnson, Adam Scott, Sydney Sweeney, Isabela Merced, Celeste O’Connor, Tahar Rahim, Jose Maria Yazpik, & Emma Roberts

Nyad

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There is so much in this great, wide world. So much culture, history, facts, stories, jokes, relationships, people, places, and dreams. It’s impossible for one person to know it all, and it is impossible for one person to fathom, understand, and absorb it all. While we as a species have made some truly epic blunders, catastrophic mistakes, and unbelievable cockups over the course of our history, one thing we have done right is the telling, sharing, and recording of stories; true stories, fantasies, dreamed stories and everything in between. Literature and cinema are my two favourite things to come out of our species, aside from maybe food. And I just finished watching a movie that reminded me of this: Nyad.

Diana Nyad (Annette Bening) is a retired marathon swimmer whose life has lately been missing the drive, excitement, and adventure of yesteryear. Shortly after her 60^th birthday she decides to start training again so as to finally achieve her dream of swimming 110 miles from Cuba to Florida – a feat she attempted thirty years ago but was forced to abandon. With her best friend and coach Bonnie (Jodie Foster) by her side, Diana assembles a team as crazy and driven as she is, and she braves sharks, jellyfish, fierce currents, and physical and mental exhaustion to prove that you are never too old to achieve your dreams.

What an amazing story and it has been made into an amazing film. This feature debut from Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin not only chronicles the life achievements of an amazing woman who used her indomitable spirit to combat the limitations of age, but it’s a beautiful and inspiring look into the importance of relationships at every stage of life and a reminder that the Aged still have voices that can and will be heard.

A biographical sports drama, the film flicks back and forth between the current narrative and the context of Nyad’s past. These contextual scenes use genuine footage and commentary from interviews and media broadcasts of Nyad’s achievements and, mixed in with some interpreted and reenacted scenes from Nyad’s childhood, does a magnificent job of show-don’t-tell, giving the audience all the dramatic context they need without having to spell it out and make a big scene out of it. It’s all very tasteful and it sets the rhythm of the film beautifully.

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Then we have the performances from Annette Bening and Jodie Foster; two incredible actresses who are the perfect cast choice for this film as they are both strong women achieving great things past a certain age, especially in an industry that makes it hard for women to do that. Bening leads the charge with command and charisma, but it’s Foster that really gives the film its beautiful and heartwarming edge. She’s so lovely and down-to-earth and yet so captivating in her depiction of unwavering and fierce loyalty and friendship; she is definitely the heart and soul of the film.

Filled with ambition, drama, loyalty, and love Nyad is a gorgeous film that tells an incredible story.

Director: Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi & Jimmy Chin (2023)

Cast: Annette Bening, Jodie Foster, Anna Marie Kempf, Johnny Solo, Eric T. Miller, Anna Harriette Pittman, Hanler Rodriguez, Carolyne McCormick & Rhys Ifans