— son of a gun —

Australian cinema is getting better and better. The Babadook was arguably one of the best horror flicks of the year gone past, and with films like The Rover, that linger for a while after you’ve seen it, I am excited to see what is in store in the future. Son of a Gun is the directional debut of director Julius Avery, and you have to hand it to him, it’s not a bad attempt for his first round.

What got me instantly was the score, at first I was convinced it was the same composer from The Rover, Anthony Partos, but when I looked it up, I was wrong, it was actually the same composer for The Babadook, I knew I had heard similar musical arrangements before! Jed Kurzel is responsible for the eerie and foreboding strings in Son of a Gun, and the choice of soundtrack isn’t bad either. I honestly think that if it wasn’t for the score, this film would not have had as much appeal as it did.

In terms of believability, this films stay believable for a good 20mins, which isn’t bad for this type of genre, crime, action, drama. By that point you’re kind of hooked, so you keep watching, and the film kind of falters for a little while, but manages to regain it’s composure for the final act. The ending is somehow touching, and leaves you with a sense of hope.

Brenton Thwaites (JR) has been in quite a few films lately, and I am sure we will be seeing him in more large ticket films. His performance is composed and his character constantly seems like a mystery, but in an interesting interchange with Brendan Lynch (Ewan McGregor), he says that he’s a “bonobo”, after Brendan has stated that there are two types of people, “fighters of lovers”, “chimps or bonobos”. I think this is oversimplifying the diversity of humanity, but it’s valid for the purposes of this 108 minute heist film. The character interactions between Ewan and Brenton hold this film together and some how manages to give it meaning.

Alicia Vikander is another actress that we have been seeing plenty of, but her acting here was not entirely convincing for me, and I really believe that it was because of the way her character was written. Her character is pivotal to the film, so I think that the director/writer could have taken the time to flesh out her character and add depth to her, therefore being able to make the connection between her and JR deeper.

Overall this film provides some entertaining sequences and makes this overly exhausted genre seem fresh. I am not saying that this film is a classic, but that I think it had the potential to be, and that it will be very interesting to see what Julius Avery presents to us next! Enjoy FilmMunchers.

Grab a copy here.

TRIVIA COOKIE: Brenden Abbott known as “The Post Card Bandit” and his apprentice Brenden Berichon provided some of the inspiration for this film.

— the infinite man —

Why are we as a culture so fascinated with time travel? Not only is time travel a source of entertainment but it also continues to be a subject of study and debate among scientists. Will we achieve time travel one day? Will time machines become a commercially available piece of technology one day? Can we imagine Tim Cook at an Apple event saying, “today we re-invent time, this is AppleTimeMachine!” Well, perhaps this won’t happen, but in the meantime, if you’re  a lover of time travel, then The Infinite Man is a great time travel romantic comedy, a must see for all Film Munchers.

The Infinite Man was filmed in Woomera South Australia, this is really outback territory, and it calls for a quite picturesque backdrop for this clever and humorous tale. It’s hardly a time investment with only a runtime of 85 minutes. But having said that, this film may require a number of viewings, not only to try and understand it, but simply because its very entertaining. It has a certain sweetness to it, a real onscreen chemistry between Josh McConville and Hannah Marshall, who play Dean and Lana respectively. Alex Dimitriades is the comical villain. This extremely small cast of only three all deliver great performances.

With clever editing and an amazing score, this film will make you smile from beginning to end, as the story unfolds and overlaps and overlaps, it all seems relatively easy to follow. I love watching a film that is gripping and entertaining at the same time, a film that makes you want to find out this instant, “what happens next!?”

This is Hugh Sullivan’s feature debut, and with all the attention this film got during various film festivals I am certain we will see more from this clever story teller.

I just want to mention how amazing a year in film it was for South Australia in 2014. Predestination, The Rover, The Babadook and The Infinite Man were all filmed in South Australia, this is exciting indeed, for those of us that live in South Australia!

You won’t want to go back in time and not watch this film, enjoy Film Munchers.

TRIVIA COOKIE: Hugh Sallivan has been involved in a number of short films, including a number of Television Commercials, some of which can be viewed at this site: Kojo

— the babadook —

The Babadook is about a bad book. William Friedkin, director of The Exorcist said, “I’ve never seen a more terrifying film than The Babadook!” Well, perhaps I don’t entirely agree with him, I’d be more inclined to say that his, The Exorcist is the most terrifying, but…The Babadook is a pretty creepy film. Keen on letting The Babadook in?

The Babadook was filmed in South Australia, I happen to live in South Australia, so you might think that I am being partial, when I say that this film is good. With a metascore of 87 you’d hope its good! It’s a hard genre to critique because everybody is different, in terms of what they find ‘terrifying’ or scary, not every slow and dark scene will make everyone jump. So, I think that like all films, you just have to check it out for yourself and see if it indeed is as good as they say.

Clever editing and amazing performances makes this film thoroughly entertaining. The sound department also did a stellar job in creating a dark and haunting feel for the film, having said that, please watch this on a good sound system!

Essie Davis delivers an insane performance along with Noah Wiseman. This young man, Noah Wiseman, if indeed he does continue as an actor, will go far. The movie, the performances and Director Jennifer Kent have all been awarded a number of times, in a variety of award ceremonies.

The Ba-ba-ba-dook-dook-dook is worthy of serious consideration. With only a budget of little over 30,000, its really amazing to see what they’ve managed to achieve here. Turn the lights out, turn the bass up, find a cuddle buddy or a cushion to squeeze and enjoy this South Australian horror flick!

TRIVIA COOKIE: The particular scene below was shot at The Botanical Garden in Adelaide, South Australia. This exact location was were my beautiful wife and I had some of our wedding photographs taken, by the exact same tree and bench!