Review: In Her Skin

In Her Skin

Dir. Simone North

Year: Who Knows?

Aus Rating: Ummm...

Running Time: 108mins

The path travelled by Simone North's debut directorial feature In Her Skin - previously titled How to Change in 9 Weeks, and since retitled I Am You in various territories - has been a long and difficult one. In fact, due to legal wrangling, the film hasn't even been released in Australia at all and I have only been able to watch it due to its recent release in America. Despite it's completion in 2009, a story ripped right from the headlines, a newfound fascination by local audiences of dramatised true life crimes and a big name cast, In Her Skin has languished at the centre of disputes between filmmakers and distributors and - in all honesty - I haven't the slightest idea what version of the film I watched.

In Her Skin sees North tackle the disappearance and subsequent murder of Rachel Barber (Kate Bell), a 15-year-old girl whose parents (a perfectly acceptable Guy Pearce and Miranda Otto) fought a fierce battle with the local police to get attention called to their daughter’s case. The film’s most interesting aspect is that of Caroline Reid, played here with a – pardon the pun – suffocating performance by Ruth Bradley. Caroline is a young woman prone to epilepsy and swinging depression that has gone strikingly undiagnosed by her father (Sam Neill in Sam Neill mode) and mother (a wonderful cameo from Rebecca Gibney). She’s called a “loner”, “odd” and Bradley is the film’s greatest asset, not just the character but the actress too.


Perhaps it's this aforementioned messy postproduction period that lead to several of the film's key issues. Was too much attention paid to the players behind the scene and no enough to the film at hand? In Her Skin as arguably one of the more perplexing narrative structures of the year as North and her editor Jane Moran use flashbacks and flash forwards at film’s beginning before introducing a three-pronged structure that follows the victim, her parents and her killer in individual strands. Both of these are then dropped for standard linear storytelling and this constant chop and changing plays havoc with various passages.

Other technical aspects, however, are nice. Cinematography by Jules O’Loughlin is especially bright and captures Melbourne’s inner suburbs really well. It does a fantastic job of setting In Her Skin apart from similar made-for-TV movies such as The Society Murders, Wicked Love: The Maria Korp Story and A Model Daughter: The Killing of Caroline Byrne. Not only that, but outside of Caroline Reid’s pig sty apartment, the film never succumbs to the drab, lifeless colour palates that dominated Snowtown. The inner suburban Melbourne locations are also nicely filmed, with the city’s abundant trams and trains filling the frame at odd angles.


The film’s I Am You title is a misnomer since, while it’s shown Caroline wished she was Rachel, she never adopts her victim’s life in any form. She never draws strength from the contemporary ballet dancer that she knows from their childhoods living across the street from one another and despite her desire to be “in her skin”, Caroline never once feels the satisfaction that she thinks comes with being a woman of Rachel’s prettiness. In Her Skin is a far better title since it implies not only Caroline’s desire to be, quite literally, in Rachel’s skin, but also the way Simone North has planted the view in the skin of Caroline. The very uncompromising death sequence and its immediate aftermath make the skin crawl and it really can’t be said enough how important Ruth Bradley’s performance is to this and I’ll say it again if you need me to. The film thankfully doesn’t exploit Caroline’s illness, but at the same time, it’s almost as if the filmmakers weren’t confident enough to centre the whole film on her. If they had, it would have been an even more powerful experience. B-

Scream to Scream, Scene by Scene: SCENE 25 of Scream 2 (1:14:55-1:21:30)

In this project I attempt to review the entire Scream trilogy scene by scene in chronological order. Heavy spoilers and gore throughout!



SCENE 25 of Scream 2
Length: 6min 35secs
Primary Characters: Gale Weathers, Dewey Riley and Ghostface
Pop Culture References:

• None
  

And so we come to my favourite scene in the entire trilogy. Yes, the entire trilogy. That includes the Scream opening, Tatum's garage death, the Scream 2 opening, any scene with Parker Posey in Scream 3... yeah, I love this scene that much! And I love that it gets it's own big, epic, gothic location intro shot complete with scared flying birds, ominous coloured skies and a composition that gives the false implication that this may be the scene of the big climax.

Doesn't this shot remind you of the shots of Stu's house from the original? I think it does.


One reason amongst many for why it's my favourite - ya know, apart from it being scary and tense and the sorta stuff that makes it hard to keep breathing with great set up for the finale, a bonza chase scene, great acting and loving nods to the original - is the music. In a masterstroke of a decision, they chose not to use a piece of original film score by Marco Beltrami (who did the score for all four Scream movies), but instead used Hans Zimmer's music from John Travolta/Christian Slater nuclear missile thriller Broken Arrow. A curious addition, indeed, but this scene makes it work especially well, and it's sprinkled throughout other parts as well, notable mislabeled as "Dewey's Theme" since that twang score pops up whenever he's around.


"It's locked."
"Can you pick it?"
"That would be breaking and entering."
"No shit!"
Hah. Love it.

I actually think the main reason I like this scene so much is because it features, perhaps, Courteney Cox's greatest acting. Much like Drew Barrymore in the opening of Scream, there is something to genuine about her terror in the later part of this scene (which we're, obviously, get to very shortly). But even aside from that, the sprightly way she rings off dialogue like "no shit!" always makes me smile.




Cute! Ow, but cute!


There she is. Mrs Loomis admiring her handy work just like Gale suspected. Yet again, however, they don't show us Mickey, but instead we do get Hallie looking all shifty at Derek... hmmm...



It's almost as if they were setting them up as the killers or somethin'!

Meanwhile, can I mention the shoddy camera work of Joel the Cameraman? Not sure how this was ever meant to be edited into some sort of news segment for Gale's TV show. If I saw this footage I'd look like this, too!


I'd be all "This is what I was paying him for?"

I mean, you know it's pretty bad when the killer's voyeuristic kill-cam is steadier, clearer and has better quality than a profession. Although, I guess, this is Mickey we're talking about.


"You're cute when you're angry."
"Rude. I was being rude."
David Arquette, here at least, is cute when he's embarrassed and bashful! Love this moment. Love these TWO! Ugh. They slay me. Shame that Scream 3's treatment of these two turned them into idiots, but at least they were somewhat more realistic people in Scream 4 with actual problems and actual issues.


Nice streaks.


And bam! False sense of security. I like that this scene mirrors two from Scream. Firstly, the obvious make-out in the bushes scene where they kiss and Gale has to turn Dewey's attention to the mysterious object just feet away (in the original, Neil Prescott's car; here, a TV)...


... and secondly, the way a make out sessions leads to a it-looks-fatal-but-really-isn't stab scene. Well played Kevin Williamson, well played.


Ugh, this scene just works so well. The tension gets turned up to 11 within an instant and I like the way this sorta works as a reminder of how this film has followed it's own rules of there being more death scenes and aims a big ol' target at these two.


Aw, Randy! Imma go cry now, okay?


Holy shit! I vividly remember getting a sudden onset of pins and needles at this moment when I first saw Scream 2. Sure, it's seems so obvious that it was going to happen, but when you're so wrapped up in a movie you stop thinking "oh well this is gonna happen and this is gonna happen", preempting everything you possible can. I had that with Scream 4 as well where after a while I stopped trying to piece all the bits of information we'd seen in trailers and read about and just got swept up in the movie.


While I'm not quite sure how Ghostface got from up in this little room to downstairs behind the desk, this at least isn't quite as egregious of a logic problem as the Hallie death scene coming up. Although, perhaps, it was Mrs Loomis in the video control room to lure somebody up there, leaving the other alone at the bottom of the lecture hall giving Mickey ample opportunity to sneak in through the back entrance and attack.

Still, I've always found myself slightly confused as to the timeline between this and the car chase sequence coming up. Are they the same killer? If so, how much time is elapsing and, as Mickey jokes, if it were just him it would mean he's running around all over campus by himself, which would be exhausting. Then again, something tells me Mrs Loomis is inside a Ghostface costume at some point here because she is outside the building on the telephone later when Gale escapes... but in the sound proof booth section of this scene it looks quite silly to imagine Mrs Loomis there. Aaagh, so confusing. And yet, I don't really care because it's just so good!


Well, being framed like that was never a good sign for a character in a horror movie now was it?

Review: Cars 2

Cars 2
Dir. John Lasseter & Brad Lewis
Year: 2011
Aus Rating: PG
Running Time: 113mins

That sound you hear is the screeching of breaks on the seemingly unstoppable Pixar express. After 15 years of peerless computer animation and cinematic magic, the Pixar juggernaut has come to a severe end with Cars 2. A follow-up to their 2006 charmer Cars, this year’s annual Pixar entry lacks everything that makes their movies so good. Missing the emotion, pathos and laughs (for anyone over the age of ten) Cars 2 places merchandising revenue over quality entertainment, with the film being excessive and overwrought in every department.

Read the rest at Trespass Magazine
It's not good. D+

Scream to Scream, Scene by Scene: SCENE 24 of Scream 2 (1:12:08-1:14:54)

In this project I attempt to review the entire Scream trilogy scene by scene in chronological order. Heavy spoilers and gore throughout!



SCENE 24 of Scream 2
Length: 2min 46secs
Primary Characters: Gale Weathers, Debbie Salt, Joel the Cameraman and Dewey Riley
Pop Culture References:

• None
  

Ya know, considering the fashion crimes going on around her - the floral mini-skirt! THE SLEEVELESS PANT-DRESS THING WITH WHITE PANTYHOSE!!!! - it's surprising how Gale Weathers gets out of Scream 2 unscathed. And once she takes the blazer off and is running around in that white top and black pant ensemble she looks positively rockin'! No hyper fluorescent green dresses for her this time!


I randomly adore this shot. I like that they don't cram every frame with stuff. Sometimes, this this moment, they do interesting compositions. Out of context, this looks like it's from a completely different movie and I love it.

Meanwhile, loving the way that they do actually keep having Debbie Salt around, not always doing something, but certainly making her more of a presence than Mickey or whatshisface in Scream 3. And I like how Debbie is standing back, like she's waiting to pounce on Gale, not even pretending to be a proper journalist like she others by scraggling for a quote from Cotton Weary. Actually... that's exactly what she says the killer must be doing. Sneaky!


"How are you holding up, Gale? It must be scary knowing somebody is out there, waiting and watching, enjoying all this. How does that make you feel?"


"Look local woman. I know that you hold me up as your career template and it gives you some sorta charge to challenge me... but GIVE IT A REST!"

See, if this were Scream 3 or Scream 4, Joel the Cameraman here would be knife food by film's end - and, let's face it, even though he says he's leaving the scene of all these crimes, we all still kinda expected him to pop up in the final reel with his tongue sticking out and his eyes gouged out, yeah? I like that one of the black characters is the smart one and gets outta this murder capital.


"I feel bad, Dewey. I feel really bad. I never say that because I never feel bad about anything! But I feel bad now."
Aw, Gale has a heart!


"Is this just another brilliant Gale Weathers performance?"
"There are no cameras here. I just wanna find this fucker!"
Teehee, I love that bit: "I just wanna find this fucker!" One of my favourite lines, for sure.



Aw, they're so cute together. Investigatin' crimes and solvin' mysteries. It's a shame they couldn't make it work. Wait, am I talking about Gale and Dewey or Courteney and David? Who knows, aren't they one and the same?

But do you know what time it is? Oh you know what time it is. !!!!!! *explodes*

Scream:
Intro, Scene 1 Scene 2, Scene 3, Scene 4, Scene 5, Scene 6, Scene 7, Scene 8, Scene 9, Scene 10, Scene 11, Scene 12, Scene 13, Scene 14, Scene 15, Scene 16, Scene 17, Scene 18, Scene 19, Scene 20, Scene 21, Scene 22, Scene 23, Scene 24, Scene 25, Scene 26, Scene 27, Scene 28, Scene 29, Scene 30, Scene 31 Scene 32, Scene 33, End Credits

Scream 2
Scene 1, Scene 2, Scene 3, Scene 4, Scene 5, Scene 6, Scene 7, Scene 8, Scene 9, Scene 10, Scene 11, Scene 12, Scene 13, Scene 14. Scene 15, Scene 16, Scene 17, Scene 18, Scene 19, Scene 20, Scene 21, Scene 22, Scene 23

Review: Sleeping Beauty

Sleeping Beauty
Dir. Julia Leigh
Year: 2011
Aus Rating: MA15+
Running Time: 105mins

There comes a moment about two thirds of the way through author-turned-director Julia Leigh’s debut Sleeping Beauty where a character breaks the fourth wall and recites a lengthy monologue directly to camera. It’s a particularly intriguing and brave moment, in a film that is filled with intriguing and brave moments, that solidifies Leigh’s intention to completely ignore the fundamentals of cinema. She all but states with this scene late in Beauty’s proceedings that there will be no neat and tidy bows tied to this story of high class high creep prostitution. She’s been confounding the audience up until this point and there’s no way she’s about to stop just so we mere mortal filmgoers can walk out the cinema feeling as if we know what we just witnessed.

Let’s go to the start though, shall we?

Read the rest at Onya Magazine

Review: The Tree of Life

The Tree of Life
Dir. Terrence Malick
Year: 2011
Aus Rating: M15+
Running Time: 140mins

The Tree of Life begins with a dance, as ribbons of colour and light flirt amidst the empty nothingness of space. This is the dawn of time as seen through the eyes of writer/director Terrence Malick in his sprawling 140-minute look at the meaning of existence. In between the dancing space clouds and dinosaurs (yes, there are glorious dinosaurs) is a story of the trauma inflicted by a father onto his sons and the painful emotional scarring that continues to root deep into the psyche long into adulthood. It’s an ambitious film and an important one; but Malick’s soliloquy to the long-gone period of American life that he grew up in, occasionally gets lost amidst its formless structure and picturesque images.

Read the rest at The Tree of Life
For sure, The Tree of Life is a difficult film to discuss in only < 450 words, but I think I managed to get my main points across. Also: I would've liked more dinosaurs. Then again, every movie could use more dinosaurs.

Scream to Scream, Scene by Scene: SCENE 23 of Scream 2 (1:09:16-1:12:07)

In this project I attempt to review the entire Scream trilogy scene by scene in chronological order. Heavy spoilers and gore throughout!



SCENE 23 of Scream 2
Length: 2min 51secs
Primary Characters: Sidney Prescott, Dewey Riley, Hallie, Cotton Weary, Gale Weathers, Chief Hartley, Officer Andrews and Officer Richards
Pop Culture References:

• None
  

Again, I apologise for the delay. Life happens and I don't have as easy access to time and resources needed to do this project. But, hey, look at the bright side! ...umm...


"Ms Prescott and I... have a very complicated past."
You can say that again, Cotton!


"It shouldn't have been Randy. It should've been me."
You know what? Sidney's probably right. All Randy did was sleep with that chick at the video store and lost his virginity. Now he's dead and it's all because Sidney and her mother (who's no Sharon Stone.) Still, I really like this bit and I think they did the right thing by not showing Sidney being told about Randy for the first time. That's pushing on a line that is just too real for the midway mark of a slasher movie.

Although this scene in Scream 2 is somewhat ruined by having seen Scream 3 and picturing Heather Matarazzo as Randy's sister Martha back home in Woodsboro crying into her hypercolour leggings and covering her bloodshot eyes with her yellow-tinted hippy glasses. Oh gawd, we are going to have SO MUCH FUN when we (finally - in three years time!) get to the Martha Meeks scene of Scream 3.


Oh hai Gale! Nice of you to show up here.


This bit here - this dialogue exchange between Gale and Cotton - is one of those little moments I keep mentioning. I love Gale's "What do you think you're doing? ... Don't do anything stupid, Cotton" line, exposing the almost maternal nature she has over her stories and the protective feelings she has for Cotton in particular. And Cotton's "you're not having character doubts now" is a golden bit of dialogue and Liev Shreiber's sly smirk makes it even better.


"We're gonna take you somewhere safe, Sid."
"Oh yeah, where's that?"
"I dunno, but I'll be there with you."
THAT'S BECAUSE YOU'RE THE KILLER, HALLIE!!!

Oh wait, no you're not. You were the killer and then some fuckwit leaked the script. I so wish Hallie had been the killer. It would've been awesome, plus her lame/logically flawed death scene (coming up soon, obviously) wouldn't exist. Or, would at least wouldn't look as lame in retrospect. Anyway. Moving on.


Oh bai Gale.

Scream:
Intro, Scene 1 Scene 2, Scene 3, Scene 4, Scene 5, Scene 6, Scene 7, Scene 8, Scene 9, Scene 10, Scene 11, Scene 12, Scene 13, Scene 14, Scene 15, Scene 16, Scene 17, Scene 18, Scene 19, Scene 20, Scene 21, Scene 22, Scene 23, Scene 24, Scene 25, Scene 26, Scene 27, Scene 28, Scene 29, Scene 30, Scene 31 Scene 32, Scene 33, End Credits

Scream 2
Scene 1, Scene 2, Scene 3, Scene 4, Scene 5, Scene 6, Scene 7, Scene 8, Scene 9, Scene 10, Scene 11, Scene 12, Scene 13, Scene 14. Scene 15, Scene 16, Scene 17, Scene 18, Scene 19, Scene 20, Scene 21, Scene 22

Review: Oranges and Sunshine

Oranges and Sunshine
Dir. Jim Loach
Year: 2011
Aus Rating: M
Running Time: 105mins

When Phillip Noyce’s Rabbit-Proof Fence – his searing portrayal of the plight of the stolen generation – was released in 2002 it had a vast and immediate impact. Thankfully, it was also a great movie made by a director at the peak of his talents and was made at a time that allowed it to have the strongest power. Now, in 2011, we get another socially conscious movie attempting to publicise a horrible injustice inflicted upon children, this time by the British government’s forced relocation of children to Australia. Oranges and Sunshine, based on the non-fiction novel Empty Cradles by British social worker Margaret Humphrys, is not the exceptional piece of filmmaking that Rabbit-Proof Fence was, but it is nevertheless a moving film about a disgraceful act that had been forgotten to the annals of history for far too long.

Read the rest at Onya Magazine
It's been good to see this movie do well at the box office, alongside the more boutique successes of Snowtown (review) and Mrs Carey's Concert (review) has been good to see in a year where so many other local product has floundered. Let's hope it continues.

Review: Bridesmaids

Bridesmaids
Dir. Paul Fieg
Year: 2011
Aus Rating: MA15+
Running Time: 125mins

“The female Hangover!” is what people are calling Bridesmaids, a description that’s both apt and thankfully not all true. They’re similar in that Paul Feig’s “raunchy” comedy involves a group of women getting into “comical adventures”, but where it differs are that its finest moments are those that are handled with a poignancy and sweetness that leave the unlikeable man-children of The Hangover in the dust.

Read the rest at Trespass Magazine
Let it be known that I enjoyed the first Hangover a lot, but those characters were indeed vile. The sequel, however, was a shithouse and the characters less unlikeable than just pure boring. Oh well.

I was writing this review while drinking a glass of red wine and i really did occur to me that I fully anticipate being as pathetically depressed as Kristen Wiig's character is in Bridesmaids in no time at all. That moment where she looks at her pay slip and I pretty much went "yeah, that's me." Still, Annie can join a long line of amazingly awesome pathetic mildly alcoholic characters played by fantastic comediennes: Jules (Courteney Cox) in Cougar Town, Liz Lemon (Tina Fey) in 30 Rock, Old Christine (Julia Louis Dreyfus) in The New Adventures of Old Christine... may this newfound comedic cliche be the gift that keeps on giving!

Hit Me With Your Best Shot: Moulin Rouge!

Lift your skirt up for Moulin Rouge! It turned ten years old last week (it was released in Australia on 24 May) and that means it's been ten whole years of deep affection for Baz Luhrmann's extravagant, revolutionist movie musical. I saw it eight times at the cinema and would happily see it again if it, like other classic musicals, was rereleased at anniversary intervals (hello Astor Theatre). To say I was "obsessed" would be putting it mildly. I hailed it the no. 2 film of the decade and it would have been an east no. 1 if David Lynch hadn't thrown his hat into the ring in the same year with Mulholland Drive.

When the mission came to choose a "best shot" for Nathaniel Rogers' Hit Me With Your Best Shot project at The Film Experience I quite obviously found it a daunting task indeed. Visually, Moulin Rouge! is one of the grandest films you'll ever come across. A large amount of the film's enjoyment hangs on Catherine Martin's art direction and costume design (Oscar winners, each) and the cinematography, editing, make-up, visual effects, etc, and how they all connect via Luhrmann's astonishing directorial vision. The film is obviously much, much more than the visuals, but this is a feature dedicated primarily to what we perceive as aesthetically pleasing so we'll stick to that path.

The first shot that I considered was the moment Kylie Minogue enters the picture as "The Green Fairy", a hyper hallucinatory after effect of drinking Absinthe. Minogue's appearance at nine minutes into the run time is like a eyebrow raising dare to the audience - "Can you handle this? Here's Kylie fuckin' Minogue!"


And then but mere seconds later - "Oh, I'm sorry. You're not a fan of Kylie Minogue? HERE ARE TEN MORE!"


It's as if Baz Luhrmann dared himself to out-camp Strictly Ballroom and Romeo + Juliet combined and commits himself to it like it's going out of fashion.

There are whole lot of micro shots within this opening "Welcome to the Moulin Rouge" montage sequence that would be worthy contenders for the title of "best shot". One of my favourites is the following of Lara Mulcahy's Môme Fromage swinging around with her bosom, only partially housed within the hot pink polka dot cancan dress, sticking out like it's on a platter and her face giving of the expression of unbridled sexy frivolity.



The next shot I considered was this one of just romanticism - and yet, it's one of the very sort of shots that the movie's "haters" would point to as a reason why it's awful. As the lights pop up all over Paris to the tune of Ewan McGregor's voice, it's a gorgeous moment that continues Luhrmann's determination to throw as much at the audience as possible. It's followed mere seconds later, however, by a far more personal and simple shot of Nicole Kidman reacting that is sublime.



There's something about this shot of six bald-headed men in tails sitting around a piano during the "Come What May" number that I really like. I used it in my Black & White Friday entry for Moulin Rouge! and it looked better in black and white so I'm not using it as my "best shot". Still, I do like it for reasons I can't quite put my finger on. Perhaps its just the pure oddity of the scenario that does it for me?


"The Show Must Go On" is perhaps the film's most underrated number. It's exclusion from the soundtrack certainly didn't help, but I think it's Kidman's finest vocal work and is filled with amazing shots like the ones below.




And, really, who can't love this shot from the "Come What May" climax?


The "El Tango de Roxanne" sequence is filled with potential best shots. How about these two, which I absolutely adore (Caroline O'Connor... I wish you'd return to the silver screen!)



But the "Roxanne" shot that I very nearly went with was this one. In fact, I had decided upon it until I revisited an earlier scene just to make sure and in fact found one I'd realised I was silly for not chosen before. Just look at this shot and you'll surely understand why I was so close to hailing it as the best. That deep rich navy blue surrounded by a pool of black, Nicole Kidman's face bathed in light, but silhouetted by a lacy curtain that's accentuated further towards the bottom, adding a lovely visual flair. It's a truly astonishing image and it reminds me of this wonderful poster for The Barefoot Contessa, but upon further thought I'm glad I went with the shot I eventually used because, if anything, this one shot is too dark for a film like Moulin Rouge!


A film like Moulin Rouge! needs to be represented by something brash, bold and bright. Something that's as in your face as the film itself. While the following shot, of an unknown actress' undergarments, would perhaps be seen as a crude and throwaway shot - nothing more than one out of a thousand shots that Luhrmann and his editor Jill Billcock throw at the audience amidst the Moulin Rouge introductory sequence that is such a sensory overload - but I think it represents so much about Luhrmann's movie. It is brash, it is cold, it is bright. It's colours leap out of the screen, the sex oozes from the frame and its imagery is shoved in the audience's face. Hit me with your best shot? Here it is: