Departures: Save Kyneton's Bluestone Theatre

The Friends of the Bluestone Theatre are disturbed that of the $4 million allocated for new capital works expenditure for Recreation and Culture in the draft Macedon Ranges Shire Council 2013-14 Budget, the entire $4 million has been allocated to Recreation and absolutely nothing has been allocated to Culture.

The Friends are particularly concerned that nothing has been allocated for the restoration of Kyneton’s Bluestone Theatre which is an urgently needed community cultural resource that was allowed to deteriorate in recent years. This is a back-flip by the Council who at their meeting on 28 November, 2012, voted to allocate $90,000 to the Theatre in the 2013 budget.

The Friends of the Bluestone Theatre have set up an online petition that will be presented to the Council as part of their community campaign to have the funding decision reconsidered.
The nature of Macedon Ranges Shire is changing. Sport and recreation are important but they are no longer the sole pursuit of its citizens. This year Kyneton Football Club was unable to find enough players to field a senior team. On the other hand the Council boasts on its tourism website: “Per capita, the Macedon Ranges has more professional artists working in the arts than anywhere else in Victoria.“

The Bluestone Theatre is the only publicly available medium-size drama theatre in the shire. In the past it has been home to the Kyneton Theatre Company, who mount two musicals a year and other productions; to the Kyneton One-Act Play Festival, Victoria’s longest running drama festival, which brings entries from all over the state; and to the youth theatre group, Q’riosity, which performed an extremely valuable function in providing an outlet for the young people of the region and helping them to gain confidence and a sense of achievement. The Bluestone also hosted visiting productions from Melbourne and a local Drama School.

Action on the Bluestone is urgent. If action is not taken now, the Shire may loose an essential resource. The building is deteriorating each day and unless the Council acts immediately to stop the rot, the Shire may lose not only a valuable heritage-listed asset, but a theatre company, a festival and an important resource for the youth of the area.

The Friends of the Bluestone have been doing their bit with fundraising already by raising $8,000 and many more fund-raising activities are planned. They are also developing a business plan which will show how the Theatre will be utilised by the community for virtually all the year and generate income. It is up to the council to move with the times and start supporting culture as well as recreation in their capital works program.

Assuming that recreation and culture are equally valuable, one would expect roughly equal commitments to each. Some have questioned the appropriateness of the massive $1.615 million being committed to Hanging Rock in the Recreation and Culture capital works budget, but if we set that aside, and split the remaining $2.396 million in capital works fairly between culture and recreation then about $1.2 million should be spent on culture. The Bluestone Theatre needs only about 10% of this, or 0.6% of the total Shire Capital Works Budget, to become viable as a theatre again.

Multi award-winning actor and Kyneton resident Maggie Millar is horrified at the neglect of this heritage listed building. “I have played in theatres in the UK, Europe, New Zealand and Australia,” she said, “and the Bluestone is a real jewel. For the council to neglect such an asset to patrons and performers, in favour of sporting and recreational activities, shows a disturbing lack of understanding of the importance of such creative endeavours in our lives. I only hope they will see the light, reconsider their position, and follow through with the support they initially voted for.”

It’s not too much to ask.

Film Review: Star Trek Into Darkness

Star Trek Into Darkness. Rated M (action violence). 132 minutes. Directed by J J Abrams. Screenplay by Roberto Orci, Alex Kurtzman and Damon Lindelof.

Verdict: A thrilling, big screen adventure.

With his magnificent reboot of the Star Trek film series in 2009, J J Abrams set the bar incredibly high for the two planned sequels, of which Star Trek Into Darkness is the first. Fortunately, everyone who collaborated with Abrams on Star Trek is back on deck for the sequel, and his spirited young cast – led by Chris Pine as James T Kirk and Zachary Quinto as Spock – all deliver fantastic performances of great depth and passion.

Star Trek Into Darkness begins with a stunning sequence in which the crew of the USS Enterprise are attempting to stop a volcanic eruption on Planet Nibiru that threatens to exterminate the population. When Spock’s life is at risk in the depths of the volcano, Kirk decides to break the rules and rescue him, revealing the Enterprise to the primitive inhabitants of Nibiru in the process. It’s not only a wonderfully adventurous way to begin the film, but one that sets the breath-draining pace for all that is to follow. Upon their return from the mission, Kirk is demoted for breaking ‘prime directives’ by revealing the Enterprise to other civilisations. But when Starfleet headquarters is ruthlessly attacked by a rogue agent John Harrison (a perfect Benedict Cumberbatch), the young and ambitious crew of the Enterprise – with Kirk back in charge – set out to find Harrison and hold him to account.

Abrams (Mission: Impossible 3, Star Trek, Super 8) is at his super-confident best here, with a screenplay that (for the most part) blends generous amounts of humour and intriguing moral dilemmas with lavish and brilliantly realised action set pieces. The only stumble is an anti-climactic punch-up between Spock and Harrison, which seems to belong to some other less visionary film rather than this fearless story about the clash of not only civilisations, but also generations.

Scott Chambliss’s (Cowboys & Aliens, Salt, Star Trek) production design is, once again, exemplary – with the first appearance of the Enterprise rising out of the ocean simply breathtaking. Dan Mindel’s (John Carter, Star Trek) cinematography is never less than superb, while Maryann Brandon (Star Trek, How to Train Your Dragon) and Mary Jo Markey’s (Star Trek, Super 8) masterful editing and Michael Giacchino’s (Cars 2, Super 8) thumpingly good score ensure that Star Trek Into Darkness is a thrilling adventure that demands to be seen on the big screen.

This review was commissioned by the Geraldton Newspaper Group.

Film Review: Drift

Drift. Rated M (drug use, coarse language, mature themes, violence and sexual references). 113 minutes. Directed by Ben Nott and Morgan O'Neill. Screenplay by Morgan O'Neill.

Verdict: Marvellously assured directorial debuts are a worthy cause for celebration.

Australian filmmakers making their feature length directorial debuts is a worthy cause for celebration – particularly while we are in the midst of a seemingly endless cycle of excessively violent, destruction-focussed, 3D, CGI-heavy slap downs from Hollywood.

With Drift, Nott and O’Neill make marvellously assured debuts as directors – particularly in the stunning opening sequence, shot in black and white, where Kat Kelly (Robyn Malcolm) and her young sons Jimmy and Andy flee their violently abusive home life. Leaving Sydney and heading west, the trio eventually arrive at Margaret River where Kat hopes to begin a new life for herself and her boys. As the film makes a wonderful transition to colour, Jimmy (Xavier Samuel) and Andy (Myles Pollard) have fully embraced the surf culture of their new home, and in a moment of divine inspiration, Andy decides to open a surf shop to service the burgeoning surf gear market up and down the west coast.

When it is not feeling as though it is padded out with clichéd and contrived conflict simply for the sake of it, O’Neill’s screenplay is fascinating. The storyline involving Aaron Glenane (The Black Balloon) as the brothers’ friend Gus who gradually sinks into a terrifying cycle of drug addiction is immensely powerful, and resolved with a stark, ritual brutality that is at odds with the freedom and abandonment with which many of the other characters exist in the world. Glenane’s is the best performance of the film, matched by Kelly’s perfect turn as the mum determined to do whatever it takes to ensure her boys are safe.

Sam Worthington delivers a fine performance as JB, a photographer who helps the Kelly brothers capture the essence of their surf-based world, while Lesley-Ann Brandt (TV’s Spartacus: Gods of the Arena) is perfect as JB’s travelling companion Lani, with whom both of the brothers fall in love.

The mighty Margaret River locations are beautifully photographed by cinematographer Geoffrey Hall (Chopper, Red Dog), while the abundance of fantastic wave action is superbly photographed by surf cinematographers Rick Rifici and Rick Jakovich. Editor Marcus D’Arcy (Tomorrow, When the War Began) ensures that the film moves at an immensely agreeable pace, while the production design from Clayton Jauncey (Beneath Hill 60) recreates the 1970s perfectly.

This review was commissioned by the Geraldton Newspaper Group.

Film Review: Escape from Planet Earth

Escape from Planet Earth. Rated PG (mild animated violence). 89 minutes. Directed by Cal Brunker. Screenplay by Bob Barlen and Cal Brunker.

Verdict: A family-friendly adventure for the little ones.

With much to redeem it, but little to make it truly memorable, Escape from Planet Earth wins points for blissfully filling the gap in the market for films specifically aimed at younger children who might have occasionally found the recent animation offerings (such as The Croods) a little too dark and frightening. Escape from Planet Earth is a challenge-free zone, boasting an abundance of colour and movement that will keep its target audience buzzing with expectation and excitement.

While the alien population of Planet Baab are celebrating the success of the latest daring rescue mission by their hero Scorch Supernova (voiced by The Mummy’s Brendan Fraser), an SOS is received from the ‘Dark Planet’ (Earth). With Scorch’s geeky brother Gary (Rob Corddry) sacked from his position at Mission Control, Scorch departs on a rescue mission to the dangerous planet, only to discover that the evil General Saunderson (William Shatner) plans to exploit Baab’s reserves of weapons-grade ‘blutonium’ and use his new weapons to rule the galaxy.

Barlen and Brunker’s cheerfully derivative screenplay contains a couple of direct hits for the adult members of the audience, but it is essentially a laughter-free, action-packed caper with a fine thread about the importance of family. While Gary is seen as the under-achieving brother, he is also happily married to Kira (Sarah Jessica Parker) and their son Kip (Jonathan Morgan Heit) is typically torn between the love he has for his serious, responsible dad and his admiration for his famous irresponsible uncle’s exploits. Scorch, on the other hand, is more concerned with his heroic adventures (and their commercial value) than he is about settling down and raising a family of his own.

Brunker and cinematographer Matthew Ward (who are both making their feature debuts) certainly have futures in the world of animation, with some of the sequences (such as the one where Gary’s spaceship crashes onto Earth) delivered with supreme confidence and skill. But as is increasingly the case, it is Barry Jackson’s (The Ant Bully) production design that beautifully accounts for all the wonderful sci-fi inspired possibilities that remain the most memorable aspects of this charming, family-friendly, big screen adventure.

This review was commissioned by the Geraldton Newspaper Group.

Film Review: Oblivion

Oblivion. Rated M (science fiction violence and infrequent coarse language). 125 minutes. Directed by Joseph Kosinski. Screenplay by Joseph Kosinski, Karl Gajdusek and Michael Arndt.

Verdict: A verbose, fatally-flawed script mars a potential classic.

With his directorial debut TRON: Legacy (2010), Kosinski was revealed to be a filmmaker of our time. His masterful use of state-of-the-art motion picture technology that powered the story rather than distracted from it (or replaced it entirely), marked him as a director to watch. Darren Gilford’s flawless production design and Claudio Miranda’s (Life of Pi) superb cinematography ensured that Kosinski’s vision for his film was brought to the screen in breath-taking visual style. Expectations for the trio’s next big-screen adventure were high, so the only question that needs to be asked in relation to Oblivion is why has it all gone so wrong?

Film Review: The Host

The Host. Rated M (science fiction themes and violence). 125 minutes. Written and directed by Andrew Niccol. Based on the novel by Stephenie Meyer.

Verdict: Love conquers all when you have a soul.

In the popularity stakes at least, something is going terribly right for Stephenie Meyer. Her best-selling Twilight books, and the big screen adaptations that followed, have guaranteed Ms Meyer a generation of devoted fans and followers around the globe. The interesting question, though, will be whether those same fans will give this film version of Meyer’s best-selling novel the same amount of fiercely loyal devotion.

Film Review: The Croods

The Croods. Rated PG (mild themes). 98 minutes. Written and directed by Kirk De Micco and Chris Sanders.

Verdict: A visually dazzling adventure about the importance of learning from one another.

While live action filmmakers are often preoccupied with futuristic worlds riddled with explosive conflict and war-mongering, animators have been equally preoccupied with the distant past. From The Flinstones (1960–1966) to the Ice Age films (2002–2012), there is something liberating about imagining pre-historic possibilities – perhaps that the imperative for the results to be as ‘life-like’ as possible is eliminated. What we get instead, are pure flights of fantasy and imagination – hallmarks of the great, animated adventures of recent times.