Sydney Film Festival: Unconventional Creature Features

Glenn here offering some final thoughts on films at the Sydney Film Festival...

Let's talk about a couple of new documentaries and a horror-romance hybrid. 

The Russian Woodpecker
Chad Garcia’s The Russian Woodpecker is fascinating. It’s a wholly unexpected surprise from this debut director that not only presents an involving story that links the nuclear devastation of Chernobyl to the modern day revolution of Ukraine with plenty of conspiracy theory intrigue, but also presents it in a formally adventurous way. The film’s central figure is the eccentric artist Fedor Alexandrovich and he’s the sort of man that would drift through a party before promptly leaving and making everybody turn to each other and say, “Well he was a character!” If this wasn’t a documentary he would almost be too hard to believe as he rattles off his (as it turns out, not entirely absurd) theory that the Chernobyl nuclear disaster was a planned plot by the Russian government to disguise the failure of a nearby Soviet-built radar tower that emitted a persistent clicking sound known as “the Russian woodpecker”.

Alexandrovich’s amateur sleuth skills are hardly credible, but his growing unease at his proposed discoveries – his interviews with former workers of the radar tower seethe with barely contained tension – leads brilliantly into a navigation of the current political unrest on the streets of Kiev and his growing unease with choosing to bring these Russian grievances to light. Visually arresting, Garcia’s film is an uncomfortable must-see.

Oscar? I'd like to think it can find a general release and compete for Oscar. After a few years of music and sport films winning, perhaps last year's win for Citizenfour will turn them back to politics. Barring The Look of Silence, nothing has emerged out of the festival circuit looking like a winner so it's an open playing field.

Horror on the Italian seaside and an elephant in Hawaii after the jump...

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Victoria sweeps German Film Awards

Sebastian here with a quick update from the German Film Awards (Deutscher Filmpreis).

A still from VICTORIA

Fresh off its Silver Bear win at the Berlinale, Sebastian Schipper's Victoria, a two hour and twenty minute thriller filmed in one continuous shot without editing or camera tricks, dominated Friday night's Filmpreis ceremony, claiming "Lolas" in six categories, including Best Picture, Director, Actress (Laia Costa), and Actor (Frederick Lau).

Other prizes went to dramas Phoenix (Supporting Actress Nina Kunzendorf) and Germany's 2014 Oscar submission Beloved Sisters (Costume Design, Makeup), the thriller Who Am I (Editing, Production Design, Sound), and Citizenfour (Documentary).

I'm a huge fan of Schipper's previous work, especially his debut film Absolute Giganten (1999), so I was rooting for Victoria even without having seen it - in a cruel twist of faith the one movie I was eager to see that I didn't have to worry about being dubbed didn't open in my town at all. Adopt Films has acquired Victoria for distribution in the US and "plans a late summer/early fall 2015 release." Though Victoria beat last year's Oscar submission and two more traditional Oscar submission hopefuls (Labyrinth of Lies and Elser both deal with WW II or its repercussions) for the 2015 Lola, this doesn't necessarily mean it will be Germany's Oscar submission. We'll have to wait and see who takes that honor later in the year.

Happy Nicole Kidman Day !

Proposal: Since Australia (grew up there, family and friends) and the US (born in Honolulu, lives in Nashville) share the one and only Nicole Kidman with citizenship and residence, a national holiday won't do. We propose an International Nicole Kidman Day, each June 20th to mark the birthday of one of the big screen's bravest and best and most beautiful.

Herewith a few lists to mark the day...

SIGNATURE WORK
The roles with which she'll arguably always be most associated

1. Moulin Rouge! (2001) -which speaks to her bonafide movie-star charisma
2. The Hours (2002) -which boldly underlined her cool (divisive) persona and intelligence
3. To Die For (1995) -her breakthrough and which initially and ungenerously clung to her rapid rise as a star on another star's arm

BRAVEST PERFORMANCE

1. The Paperboy (2012) - the psychic sex, the skanky past her prime makeup, the death wish
2. Birth (2004) - "you're a little liar, aren't you?"
3. Dogville (2003) -Here are some chalk lines, hyper stylized dialogue, and precious tchotchkes. Action!

SEXIEST PERFORMANCE

1. Moulin Rouge! (2001)
2. Eyes Wide Shut (1999)
3. Batman Forever (1995)
4. To Die For (1995)
5. The Paperboy (2012)

FUNNIEST PERFORMANCE

1. To Die For (1995)
2. Moulin Rouge! (2001)
3. Herself... on talk shows

MOST AWARDS LOVE

1. The Hours (2002) - Oscar & Globe & BAFTA & Silver Bear wins, SAG nom
2. Moulin Rouge! (2001) - Globe & MTV win, Oscar, SAG & AACTA noms
3. To Die For (1995) - Globe & BFCA win, BAFTA nom
4. Rabbit Hole (2010) - Oscar, Globe & SAG noms
5. The Paperboy (2012) - Globe & SAG & AACTA noms

IT'S ALL IN A NAME 

1. "Grace" 3 characters: The Others (1995), Dogville (2003), Grace of Monaco (2014)
2. "Isabel" 2 characters: Bewitched (2005) and Portrait of a Lady (1996)
3. "Julia" 2 characters: Wills & Burke (1985) and The Peacemaker (1997)

BIGGEST GLOBAL HITS
*Movies that were far far more successful overseas than in the US

1. The Golden Compass (2005) $372* 
2. Batman Forever (1995) $336
3. Paddington (2015) $259*
4. Just Go With It (2011) $214
5. Australia (2008) $211*
6. The Others (2001) $209
7. Moulin Rouge! (2001) $179*
8. Cold Mountain (2003) $173
9. Eyes Wide Shut (1999) $162* 
10. Days of Thunder (1990) $157 

MOST COMMON ONSCREEN PROFESSIONS

1. Actress - 4 roles: Grace of Monaco, Nine, Bewitched, Moulin Rouge!)
2. Writer - 4 roles: Margot at the Wedding, The Hours, Hemingway & Gelhorn, Genius)
3. Reluctant Sexworker (or thereabouts) - 3 roles: Moulin Rouge!'s whore, Birthday Girl's mail order bride, Far and Away's temporary burlesque dancer)
4. Psychiatrist - 2 roles: The Invasion, Batman Forever
5. Boss Lady Who Moonlights in Kidnapping - 2 roles: The Golden Compass, Paddington

MOST FREQUENT CO-STARS

1. Tom Cruise (Marriage + 3 films: Far and Away, Days of Thunder, Eyes Wide Shut)
2. Colin Firth (3 films: Before I Go To Sleep, The Railway Man, and the forthcoming Genius)
   [tied with] David Wenham (3 films: Australia, Moulin Rouge! and the forthcoming Lion) 
3. Jude Law (2 films: Cold Mountain, and the forthcoming Genius)
   [tied with] Ben Mendelsohn (2 films: Australia, Trespass), Daniel Craig (2 films: The Invasion, The Golden Compass), and Dianne Wiest (2 films: Practical Magic and Rabbit Hole)

WHAT WE'D LIKE TO GIVE HER FOR HER BIRTHDAY

1. More of whatever makes her happy
2. One more classic as beloved as Moulin Rouge! or as Oscar-honored as The Hours or as widely argued over / prestigey as Eyes Wide Shut or as audience-friendly as The Others (we're not picky/greedy... any of those will do)
3. A project to do with her bestie Naomi Watts. It's been since Flirting (1991) c'mon... 
4. A project to do with Ewan McGregor (Moulin Rouge!) or Stephen Dillane (The Hours) because MY GOD THE CHEMISTRY in both of those cases. Why hasn't she worked with either again? 

Naturally, in the comments you'll want to share your five favorite things about this goddess and what you'd give her for her birthday

Emmy FYC: "The Leftovers" for Best Drama Series

A lot has been made of so-called “watercooler TV”, or what in today’s world we might call “hashtag-worthy TV”. But I’ve never really understood it. Discussions of “watercooler TV” mostly revolve around plot: “OMG did you SEE what happened on show X last night?” “LOL how freaking hilarious was that one moment on show Z?!?” But those watercooler or hashtag conversations rarely go much deeper than “What do you think is going to happen next?” TV shows typically prioritize this kind of storytelling over the much more interesting, engaging kind of storytelling - the kind that asks

What do you think this means?”

By that measure, The Leftovers, created by the formerly Lost Damon Lindelof and author Tom Perrotta, based on the latter’s novel of the same name, is the most deeply engaging show of the new millennium.

The show tells the story of the residents of Mapleton, NY in the aftermath of a terrifying event: The “Sudden Disappearance” of 2% of the world’s population. What exactly happened, no one is sure, and no answers are forthcoming. But what happened, how, and why, isn’t what’s important. What’s important is what people are doing in the present, how they are grappling with that event, and why.

Often ambiguous, deeply symbolic, and allegorical in its storytelling, The Leftovers is one of the most difficult shows to watch that any network has dared to air in quite some time. It also makes for one hell of a hypnotic viewing experience. The show isn’t afraid to barrage you with difficult questions. Not questions of plot or character, but of subtext and theme. Not what a certain action means for the narrative, but what it means to the viewer. This is a television show that invites deep discussion on a weekly basis - discussion that will reach far beyond the show and the (incredibly real) world it creates. And that is something we should be honoring.

previous Emmy FYCs

Inside Out My Mind

Manuel here sharing the funniest Inside Out Twitter thread around.

Nat and I inadvertently (though perhaps not surprisingly) went for Kidman-related images (it IS her birthday after all!)

Laurence suggested we begin a trending hashtag #InsideOutMyMind, so tell us, what do your Inside Out emotions look like?