Review: Snowtown

If recent cinematic exports from the country are anything to go by, Australia is a horrible place to live. Every major Aussie release I've seen over the last year or so has been a parade of violence, dingy environments and social collapse. Samson & Delilah was poetic but unflinchingly grimy. Animal Kingdom was a vibrant but violent slice of urban decay. Beautiful Kate was rural grimness redefined. Only the The Tree didn't seem to wallow in the filth, and that suffered from the affliction of not being a terribly good film in the first place. Snowtown is another film that fails to do the Australian Tourist Board any favours.

An open letter to all Twilight fans

Director: So. How do we make this love scene more cliched?

 
Good evening,

If you're reading this, I'm going to presume you're either a Twilight fan or someone who's bored and decided to click into here for a chuckle. Whatever your backstory, welcome, but be aware post is directly directed at anyone who might be planning on going to see The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1; a shoo in for a nomination in 'titles that really aren't suited to twitter discussion' Oscar category this year, along with the really long winded Harry Potter title.

Review: The Chef of South Polar

Itadakimasu!

Unlike others I've spoken to over the years, there's not many 'genre' films I'll be instantly enamored with for merely belonging to said genre and being bascially cinematically competent. There is however, an underpopulated sub-genre whose existence fills me with great joy. Thus far, I had only discovered one film I would have categorised in the glorious realm of Japanese Food Pornography, and that was the scrumptious and deliciously eccentric Tampopo. But now I have hungrily stumbled upon another: The Chef of South Polar.

Review: Twin Falls Idaho

Just the two of us

Twin Falls Idaho kicks off with moments of quirky surrealism that threaten to hurl the film in various fantastical directions. As prostitute Penny (Michelle Hicks, who I've only now pegged as the same actress who played the almost cartoonishly despicable Mara in The Shield) heads towards an appointment, she's given a two dollar bill by a peculiar taxi driver. In the hotel elevator, she engages in dream-like conversation with an elderly bellhop. And, finally arriving in the dingy hotel room, she's surprised to discover her client is in fact a duo: Siamese twins Blake and Francis Falls.

The Runway / A Film With Me In It

Double Feature

This article originally appeared on www.bone-idle.ie. Give them hits, y'all!

Here we have two films that share a few things in common. Firstly: they’re both Irish. Secondly, and this is related to the first point: they’re Irish films that try something somewhat different than your typical grim urban / rural social dramas, which is admirable. Thirdly: they both feature distractingly weird performances from Mark Doherty. Fourthly: they're both directed by chaps called Ian. Fifthly, and finally: neither is particularly good.