Moon (2009)

Released October 8, 2009



Old-School Oddity

Recent science-fiction films have preferenced thrills over ideas. Breaking that trend and harking back to classics such as Alien, Silent Running and 2001: A Space Odyssey, this one man show for Sam Rockwell is refreshingly willing to ponder the philosophical implications of its premise.

Trudging through the sterile corridors of a mining base on the moon, Sam Bell (Rockwell) has only the A.I. GERTY for company. Retro in design, GERTY is voiced by Kevin Spacey as a seemingly benign being with amusingly adorable smiley faces in place of emotion. Of course, you can never quite tell what he's really up to; HAL seemed friendly enough at the beginning too. Coming to the end of his three year term, Sam eagerly awaits being sent home to Earth to be reunited with his wife Tess and three-year old daughter, Eve.

With much of the facility and harvesters automated, Sam’s presence almost seems superfluous were it not for needed maintenance and repairs. He certainly feels that way. As he becomes more and more emotionally distant and disenchanted with his lowly place in the corporate hierarchy, Sam’s physical and emotional health begins to deteriorate.

What happens next is better left unexplained, and is less important than the establishment of the introspective mood. Suffice it to say there is an escalating feeling of unease and claustrophobia as Sam makes unexpected discoveries that may or may not stem from irrational paranoia.

Director Duncan Jones, partly by fiscal necessity and by choice employs a blend of cheaper traditional models and CGI with a deliberately retro aesthetic. More tangible than their CGI-only counterparts, he shows tremendous creativity in constructing what is an ambitious science-fiction film with a budget of only $5 million. With his next film a salivating-inducing dystopian noir set in a future Berlin, Moon is an inspired debut from an obvious talent.

The Bealtes: Rockband

To the cheer of Beatles fans around the world, the Beatles CD catalogue has finally been digitally re-mastered. To coincide with this release, EA Australia has released the latest in the Rockband series, this one consisting solely of classic Beatles tunes: The Beatles: Rockband.

At the press launch held at the Diamant hotel near King's Cross in Sydney, representatives from EA were joined by up-and-coming and young rock-punk-glam-electro band Short Stack. Donning the Beatles’ Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club outfits, they did their best to play a song in the game, but the guitarist curiously missed almost every beat (though apparently the controller was set up incorrectly). To the complete indifference of the audience they then played two songs from their new album, before giving up the stage to allow the attendees at hands-on experience of the game.

Anyone who's played the other Rockband titles or Guitar Hero would be instantly familiar with the gameplay – almost nothing has changed except unique addition of three-part vocal harmonies. Players can choose from four instruments - guitar, bass, voice or drums. One of the games unique selling points are the replicas of instruments made famous by the band, including the Höfner base used by Sir Paul McCartney. The drums kit is also a very cute imitation of Ringo's pearl-finished set.

Over 45 songs from the Beatles catalogue have been included, the songs themselves divided up into the different venues featured in the game, which include the Cavern Club, the Ed Sullivan Theatre, the final rooftop concert and, of course, Abbey Road. While 45 songs are on offer, including classics such as “Can't Buy Me Love”, “I am the Walrus”, “Yellow Submarine” and “While my Guitar Gently Weeps”, a mass of material is missing, some of which will be available to download, beginning with Abbey Road in October.

While I was not given a chance to extensively playtest the game, particularly impressive were the cell shaded animations of the fab four in concert and the particularly surreal video accompanying “I am the Walrus”, which was as visually creative as many recent animated films.

The career mode of the first Rockband game has been replaced by a similar “story” mode which chronologically maps out the band's career. Also akin to the previous titles, you can play any song cooperatively or competitively at difficultly levels ranging from “Easy” to “Expert”. Hence, The Beatles: Rockband doesn't do a lot to advance the already established gameplay, but it doesn't need to. The very presence of their classic songs is sufficient to warrant this an essential purchase for fans of the series or of the band. If for some inexplicable reason you don’t fall into either category, then this is a great opportunity to interactively become familiar with some of the most iconic musicians of the 20th century.

The Beatles: Rockband is now in wide release with a RRP of $79.99 for Wii and $89.99 for Xbox 360 and PS3. The limited edition bundle including the unique set of controllers retails at $369.99.

Stone Bros. (2009)

Released September 24, 2009

Billed as “Australia’s first Indigenous comedy”, there’s something amiable about this often funny film that mixes filthy humour with timely jabs at race-relations.

The absurd frizzy-haired and dope-smoking Charlie (Leon Burchill) joins his more sensible but equally doped up buddy Eddie (Luke Carroll) on his quest to return a precious rock to his family. Setting off on the 600km trip West from Perth to Kalgoolie in a boxy-old Ford, they quickly fill the car with smoke before picking up an Italian rock-wannabe, Vinnie, who looks a lot like Russell Brand but with a less ridiculous accent. From there, they’re off a road-movie adventure that also involves drag queen Reggie (or is that Regina?), prison, evil spiders and a demonic puppy.

The gags are hit and miss; frequently a zinger will be followed by an awkward audience silence and the plot is merely an excuse to create mayhem. What come across most strongly is writer/director Richard J. Frankland’s genuine love for his characters, love for the land, respect for family and the importance of reconciliation. By conveying this message though comedy he cleverly makes his obvious intent more palatable.

Shot on location in Western Australia, the film spends little time savouring the vast landscape, the screenplay instead jumping from incident to another. While mostly adhering to some semblance of reality, it is weakened by an absurd sequence where our heroes are chased by a possessed dog with glowing blue eyes. Poorly assembled, it looks like its been pulled from an episode of The Goodies but with none of their comedic timing. A key moment with a persistent spider living in their car also misfires - problems that could have been easily solved simply with a quick rewrite and tighter editing.

These imperfections however, do not overly dampen a film admirable in theme and spirit, and merely just add to its goofball charm.

Defiance (2009)

DVD Released September 2, 2009

Upon its cinematic release, many accused Ed Zwick’s holocaust drama of being unfaithful to the true story of the Bielski brothers and their band of rebellious partisans. Responsible for saving over one thousand Jews from the Nazis, they have been labeled either heroes or “Jewish-communist bandits”, depending on who you ask. As portrayed by Daniel Craig, Liev Schreiber and Jamie Bell, Tuvia, Zus and Asael respectively, they sit comfortably in the former category.

That is not to say, however, that decisions always came easily. In this version, after escaping the slaughter of their family, the brothers flee into the woods. With an ever growing band of refugees under their wing, the constant challenges of food, shelter and avoiding capture pressure the brothers' relationship. Dissatisfied with Tuvia’s preference for survival instead of taking the war to the Nazis, Zus leaves to join a neighboring band of Soviet partisans, who are not without their own anti-Semitic prejudices. And the dilemma central to many a holocaust drama emerges – are the characters able to stay whole in the face of so much inhumanity?

These omnipresent issues are often unfortunately drowned out by Zwick’s broad emotional strokes. Despite directing some superb Hollywood dramas such as Glory and The Last Samurai, subtlety is not part of his arsenal. Like those excessive but engaging renditions of historical events, Defiance feels sanitized and simplified.

It’s been glorified too – nowhere in the archives will you find records of their battle with a Wehrmacht tank. The Deux Ex Machina that follows also tells of a screenwriter desperately trying to tie his story into a neat bow. For the real partisans, of course, no such catharsis was forthcoming.

Push (2009)

Released September 10, 2009

One thing is for certain: Dakota Fanning is a star. Throughout this ridiculous excuse for a thriller she managers to make expositional and inane dialogue believable while her co-stars fail to infuse life into their stereotypes: hers is the only character who is a character.

Admittedly they were working from a screenplay that has plenty of good ideas and no idea what to do with them. The premise is that governments all over the world have secretly created people with supernatural abilities. Some have the power of telekinesis (“movers”) while others can pretend they're Obi-Wan and perform Jedi-mind tricks (“pushers”). Planning to exploit them for their own nefarious ends, a group known as the “The Division" hunts for the rogue psychics who dare rebel against them. That would be mover Nick Gant (Chris Evans), pusher Kira (Camilla Belle) and Fanning as Cassie, a "watcher" who has the power to see the future.

All the elements seem to be there for your typical Hollywood thriller. Unique hook? Check. Reluctant hero? Check. Angry Bad Guy? Check. Lots of Action? Check. The only problem is that none of it works. Taking itself far too seriously, it wastes too much time trying to be cute with plot mechanics instead of establishing character.

You’d think the film's setting of Hong Kong would lend it some action pedigree, but most of it is unintentionally hilarious. I want to know at what story board meeting a telekinetic gunfight seemed like a good idea. In this particularly memorable scene, our adversaries’ hide behind two pillars as the guns float in between them. I'm curious as to how they were being aimed - do they have invisible floating eyes as well?

Director Paul McGuigan also made The Wrong Man, which was a clever piece of second-rate Tarantino. His flashy technique however can’t save Push, whose problems should have been solved at the script stage.