Film Review: The Avengers

The Avengers. Rated M (action violence). 142 minutes. Written and directed by Joss Whedon. Based on the Marvel comics by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby.

Verdict: A truly joyful and joyous cinematic smorgasbord of laughs, action and an outstanding ensemble at play.

In precisely the same way as an all-you-can-eat smorgasbord is likely to satisfy every appetite, so too does Mr Whedon’s (Buffy the Vampire Slayer) Marvel superhero mash-up that gleefully ticks every ‘superhero action movie’ box on its way to a dazzling final confrontation between the invading alien Chitauri forces and our team of superheroes.

When Thor’s (Chris Hemsworth, pictured above, left) adoptive brother Loki (Tom Hiddleston) hijacks the Tesseract (an energy source being developed to supply Earth with an abundant supply of energy), he uses it to create a portal connecting Earth to outer space – where his Chitauri army are waiting to attack.

With the impending battle likely to decimate the human population, Strategic Hazard Intervention Espionage Logistics Directorate (SHIELD) director Nick Fury (Samuel L Jackson) assembles the Avengers – Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson), Dr Bruce Banner/The Hulk (Mark Ruffalo), Tony Stark/Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr), Steve Rogers/Captain America (Chris Evans, pictured above, right), and Thor – as the only hope of surviving the impending slaughter.

It is an unmitigated delight to watch this outstanding ensemble (which also includes Clark Gregg’s Agent Philip Coulson and Jeremy Renner’s Clint Barton/Hawkeye) at play in roles that fit them like gloves, while production designer James Chinlund’s (Requiem for a Dream) superb contribution includes a spectacular Helicarrier (SHIELD’s state-of-the-art flying aircraft carrier) and the Chitauri’s brilliant, giant fish-like spaceships.

Working perfectly in sync with Mr Wheldon’s fine (and unexpectedly hilarious) script, cinematographer Seamus McGarvey (Atonement, The Hours) and editors Jeffrey Ford (Captain America: The First Avenger) and Lisa Lassek (The Cabin in the Woods) bring extraordinary levels of skill to the proceedings – especially the big, action set-pieces which are often astonishing in the breadth of their vision and the pace at which they unfurl before us.

With a sneaky post-credits snapshot of the impending sequel, now is the time to familiarise yourself with the Marvel Universe if you haven’t already – even if it is difficult to imagine how much better it could possibly be.

This review was commissioned by the Geraldton Newspaper Group.

Departures: Declan Greene wins The 2012 Max Afford Playwrights' Award

The Trust Company as Trustee, today announced Declan Greene as winner of the $20,000 Max Afford Playwrights' Award 2012. Mr Greene was awarded the highly-acclaimed national prize for his script Eight Gigabytes of Hardcore Pornography.

Described by the judges as “compelling and repulsive” Eight Gigabytes of Hardcore Pornography immerses the audience "in the lonely world of over 40's internet dating".

Mr Greene (pictured), 27, receives $10,000 prize money plus a sought-after creative development opportunity at the forthcoming PlayWriting Australia's National Script Workshop in Sydney.

The Melbourne-based writer and theatre-maker said: "I am absolutely honoured to receive the Max Afford Playwrights' Award. Eight Gigabytes of Hardcore Pornography isn't an easy play to love – it's ugly, bleak, and still very raw. So I'm incredibly thankful to the judges for seeing its potential and giving it this opportunity to develop."

The judges of the 2012 award include Chris Mead, artistic director of PlayWriting Australia; playwright, director, and dramaturge, Damien Millar; and actor, writer and teacher, Katrina Foster.

Mr Mead said: "It's thrilling to read a play as effortlessly bold, as contemporary and as moving as Declan Greene's new work. Compelling and repulsive Greene immerses us in the lonely world of over 40's internet dating, its everydayness, joy and gut-wrenching misery. Out of a very strong field this play stood out because it is very, very funny, quite appalling, minutely observed and an extremely modern telling of a very old story: that we are human, all too human."

Three talented young playwrights have also been highly commended: Duncan Graham for Dreams in White, Rick Viede for Oranges and Lemons and Chris Summers' for Roots.

John Atkin, CEO of The Trust Company said: "As Trustee for this biennial award, it is great to see it growing in prestige and we take great pride in honouring the legacy of our benefactors. It was set up by the will of the late Thelma May Afford in memory of her prominent playwright and novelist husband, Max. The Max Afford Playwrights' Award aims to encourage, promote and support talented young Australian playwrights."

Departures: Himalayan Meltdown doco wins top prize

United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) film Himalayan Meltdown won the prestigious Platinum Award in the broadcast documentary category last weekend at the 45th Annual Worldfest International Film Festival, the oldest independent film festival in the world.

The one-hour film examines the shrinking glaciers of the Himalayas and the effects they have on the lives and livelihoods of billions of people in Asia. The movie illustrates solutions, small and large, simple and technologically complex, for coping in a changing environment that can make the difference between survival and disappearance. 

Revealed: The Himalayan Meltdown was produced by UNDP and Arrowhead Films to examine the human development impact of the glacial ice melt on communities in Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, India and Nepal. It shows the plight of the affected countries and the ways they are adapting, adjusting and preparing for tomorrow’s inevitable changes in the Himalayan glaciers. 

“This film highlights the challenges faced by those exposed to the effects of the Himalayan glacial melt in building resilience to the impact of climate change, and the solutions they are pursuing at the local level”, said UNDP Administrator Helen Clark. “UNDP is honoured by the award and hopes the film will help stimulate a stronger international response to meeting the challenges of climate change and a stronger commitment to achieving sustainable development. The recognition the film is receiving is especially timely in the lead up to the Rio+20 UN Conference on Sustainable Development in June.”

“We wanted to make this movie because the glacial ice melt in the Himalayas is already altering lives and could potentially affect billions of people,” said UNDP Communications Advisor for Asia Pacific and Himalayan Meltdown Executive Producer Cherie Hart, who accepted the award on behalf of UNDP. “The film shows the ingenuity and resourcefulness of communities that are struggling to survive.”

As part of the week-long film festival in Houston, the WorldFest competition includes the following categories: TV Production, Documentary, Corporate and Business Films, Student and Experimental, TV Commercials, Film and Video Production, Music Videos, New Media (Interactive and Web Sites) and unproduced Screenplays. Himalayan Meltdown won the highest award, the Platinum Prize, in the broadcast documentary category.

According to Himalayan Meltdown, developing countries are more vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, but are less able to afford to adapt to it.  For them, the future is now – they must already adapt to the changing climate and prepare for an uncertain tomorrow.

The film offers examples of how countries and communities affected by the Himalayan glacier melt are responding to the problems. Technological advances from leading glaciologists, and experts at the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development, NASA and UNDP present insights into what research and applications are in progress and what still needs to be done for countries to address the Himalayan ice melt.

Film Review: Titanic (re-released in 3D)

Titanic. Rated M (mature themes and coarse language). 195 minutes. Written and directed by James Cameron.

Verdict: ‘Pop-up’ Titanic betrays the splendid original, but it’s an undeniable pleasure to see it on the big screen where it belongs.

Following its original release in 1997, James Cameron’s epic telling of the fate of the legendary, ‘unsinkable’ RMS Titanic went on to create motion picture history. Until Mr Cameron’s Avatar (2009), Titanic was the highest-grossing film of all time – raking in over $2 billion dollars in box office receipts worldwide. Titanic was also nominated for a record-equalling fourteen Academy Awards (a record shared with All About Eve), of which it won eleven (as did Ben-Hur and The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King), including Best Picture. Its stars – Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet – were catapulted to unequivocal movie stardom.

Re-released in retrofitted 3D to coincide with the centenary of the ill-fated ship’s catastrophic maiden voyage, Titanic remains a stunning cinematic achievement. Apart from providing some younger audience members with the opportunity to see it on the big screen for the first time, the timely re-release provides others of us with the opportunity to revisit an old friend – and Titanic (in 3D or not) demands to be seen at least once in the cinema.

Film Review: Battleship

Battleship. Rated M (science fiction violence). 131 minutes. Directed by Peter Berg. Written by Erich Hoeber and Jon Hoeber.

Verdict: An annihilation-fuelled, action-packed sci-fi war movie hybrid that is as long as it is loud.

For many of us, they were little blue boxes with their plastic grids into which you placed your little plastic grey battleships before calling out coordinates to your opposing fleet commander. Then, using oddly-shaped plastic ‘hit’ and ‘miss’ markers, you would begin to record your success – with the first fleet commander to sink the opposing fleet winning the game.

Fond memories of somewhat more passive and relaxed rules of engagement on the high seas were momentarily re-ignited before being pummelled to near death by the end of this long, loud, explosive, high-tech take on the strategy of naval warfare – turning the simple game of strategy and luck into a no holds barred Terminator/Predator/Transformers/Aliens inspired assault on the senses.

When his directionless younger brother Alex (Taylor Kitsch) falls foul of the law impressing the beautiful Samantha (Brooklyn Decker), Stone Hopper (True Blood’s Alexander Skarsgård) insists that Alex finally learn the importance of self-discipline by joining him in the navy. Having dutifully signed up, Alex joins his brother participating in the Rim of the Pacific Exercise – the largest international maritime exercises held near Hawaii. Shortly after the exercises have commenced, the participants discover that alien spaceships have arrived to exterminate the human race and take over our planet.

Film Review: The Pirates! Band of Misfits

The Pirates! Band of Misfits. Rated G (very mild comedic violence and coarse language). 88 minutes. Directed by Peter Lord and Jeff Newitt. Written by Gideon Defoe.

Verdict: The celebrated creators of Wallace and Gromit move in – spectacularly – on the bloated ‘Pirate Movie’ genre.

Buoyed by the success of the ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ film series that began in 2003 with Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, swashbuckling adventures on the high seas are obviously back on the list of subject matter guaranteed to attract young audiences around the world.

In many ways, it’s an odd choice for the celebrated stop-motion clay animation team from Aardman Animation Studios, who first burst onto the international scene with their inspired inventor Wallace and his dedicated companion Gromit, who starred in A Grand Day Out (1989) and the Academy Award-winning The Wrong Trousers (1993) and A Close Shave (1995).

Film Review: Mirror Mirror

Mirror Mirror. Rated PG (mild themes and violence). 106 minutes. Directed by Tarsem Singh. Screenplay by Melissa Wallack and Jason Keller.

Verdict: A veritable feast for the eyes, but not necessarily the ears.

Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm’s (the Brothers Grimm) fairytale Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs was most famously produced for the screen by Walt Disney in 1937. Celebrated as the first cel-animated feature film in motion picture history, Disney’s Snow White … , (with its unforgettable songs by Frank Churchill and Larry Morey including ‘Heigh-Ho’ and ‘Some Day My Prince Will Come’) remains an extraordinary artistic achievement.

And while you certainly won’t be inspired to sing ‘Heigh ho, heigh ho, it’s off to work we go’ at the end of this sumptuously costumed and designed adaptation, there is a good deal to enjoy – especially for fans of Julia Roberts, who parades the late Eiko Ishioka’s spectacular costumes most memorably. Relentlessly upstaged by the frocks, Ms Roberts’ performance as The Queen is, otherwise, curiously restrained – and with a few exceptions, the film suffers from a fractured sense of everyone being unsure just how over-the-top to go with the material.