Artie (Nicholas McAnulty) and Joe Warr (Clive Owen)
Shine and Glass: A Portrait of Philip in Twelve Parts director Scott Hicks returns to Australia with this UK/Australian production based on Simon Carr’s memoir The Boys Are Back In Town. Clive Owen plays Joe Warr, an English sportswriter living with his family in Australia in what the early stages of the film depict as an almost completely idyllic domestic bliss. After the death of his wife, Joe is left to raise his 6-year-old son Artie (Nicholas McAnulty) and then also Harry (George MacKay), his 14-year-old son from a previous marriage. Joe copes with his loss, fatherhood and his new responsibilities by adopting a “Just Say Yes” policy of no rule making. The almost complete lack of discipline results in a home environment that is partially wickedly anarchic and fun but also increasingly unsettling in its recklessness and declining standards.
The Boys are Back is a film that peaks very early with a truly astonishing portrayal of a family responding to the decline and then death of a loved one. Scott avoids repetitive scenes of weeping and wailing so that when characters do breakdown it is at moments where it really counts. Owen plays Joe perfectly, embodying a man who is trying to appear strong and stoic while his world collapses around him. He is a man with avoidance issues who is emotionally distant from his sons but has a genuine desire to connect with them, despite the debatable methods that he uses to do so. His lack of concern for the safety of his sons will traumatise some audience members while delighting others.
Unfortunately as The Boys are Back develops it never manages to sustain the same intense engagement that the opening scenes commanded. There is an interesting dynamic between Joe, Artie and Nicholas but it never amounts to anything truly substantial. The characters evolve adequately and the film contains its necessary crisis points but it feels all a bit too safely played out. A romantic subplot goes nowhere and some of the secondary characters lack depth. Joe’s mother-in-law Barbara (Julia Blake), in particular, does little but act disapprovingly in true stereotypical mother-in-law fashion.
The Boys are Back is a good film but it is frustrating that it is not a great film. As well as the very strong opening and its mostly strong performances, it is beautifully shot by cinematographer Greig Fraser (Last Ride) and the use of the heartbreaking songs by the Icelandic group Sigur Rós is inspired. In fact, while Sigur Rós have featured on other soundtracks before, you do wonder why no other filmamaker had thought about using their very emotive and cinematic music so extensively. The Boys are Back is a good drama but it does leaving you feeling like it could have been so much better.
© Thomas Caldwell, 2009
Posted by Thomas Caldwell 
The big special effect sequences depicting a lot of stuff getting destroyed mainly consist of elaborate CGIs but they are mostly exhilarating and emotionally engaging. Curtis and his family’s escape first from an earthquake in Los Angeles, and then a volcano in Yellowstone are incredibly impressive sequences that seriously get the adrenalin pumping. While the CGIs work when being used to replicate recognisable objects they are less successful in creating the unfamiliar objects that feature heavily in the final act of the film and overall 2012 does lose its momentum about half way through. Nevertheless, the resolution is serviceable and for the most part 2012 delivers in terms of spectacle and character engagement.
Posted by Thomas Caldwell 
While many of Moore’s stunts, like trying to go into the head offices of the major banks to reclaim bailout money and make citizen’s arrests, often feel a bit mild there is still much to admire about Capitalism: A Love Story. Moore very cleverly enlists the support of various religious leaders, one of whom describes capitalism as ‘radical evil’ that goes against everything Jesus stood for. Moore largely avoids using the dreaded S-word although he does wickedly point out that the current widespread misuse of the word ‘socialism’ has resulted in a new generation who are curious about finding out what socialism actually stands for. However, the most impressive aspect of Capitalism: A Love Story is that Moore demonstrates actual workable alternatives to the system in the form of various co-operative workplaces and successful acts of civil disobedience. There’s hope in this film but there is also a call to arms and Moore’s impatience with the status quo rings out loudly as he parts by telling us, “I refuse to live in a country like this. And I’m not leaving.”
Posted by Thomas Caldwell 
Clough is played by Michael Sheen and after his incredible work in The Queen and Frost/Nixon, Sheen has yet again distinguished himself as an actor who is highly talented in portraying real life personalities. Much of the pleasure to be had in The Damned United is watching Sheen channel Clough’s extraordinary charm, confidence and arrogance. Timothy Spall provides a wonderful contrast to Clough’s exuberance as Peter Taylor and the overall excellent cast includes Colm Meaney as Don Revie and Jim Broadbent as Derby Chairman Sam Longson, whom Clough had several run-ins with.
Cinema Autopsy on the 2009 Samsung Mobile AFI Awards Feature Film Nominees
29 October 2009Damon Gameau as Greg Shackleton in Balibo
The nominations for the 2009 Samsung Mobile AFI Awards have come out and in a year that has been very strong for Australian cinema the nominations have nicely captured the diversity of Australian films that were eligible. This was the first year that I voted in the individual categories as a professional member of the Australian Film Institute and while the nominations don’t 100% reflect how I voted, I would have never expected them to and I’m overall pleased with the outcomes.
Among the feature film nominees I’m particularly happy to see Balibo, Samson and Delilah and Mary and Max – the three films that I regard as easily the best Australian films of 2009 – to be nominated for both the AFI Members’ Choice Award and the Samsung Mobile AFI Awards for Best Film. I’m less enthusiastic, but not surprised, about Beautiful Kate and particularly Mao’s Last Dancer also getting nominations in both these categories but I certainly don’t begrudge the fact that are included. Having said that, I would up upset if Mao’s Last Dancer won anything over the far superior films that it is up against.
Trisha (Anastasia Baboussouras) and Katrina (Sophie Lowe) in Blessed
The interesting point of difference between the two best film categories is that Australia got the sixth nomination for the AFI Members’ Choice Award while Blessed received the sixth nomination for the Samsung Mobile AFI Awards for Best Film. Both films are flawed but nevertheless contain elements of considerable merit. They also curiously represent the growing divide between the different types of films that various commentators argue we should be making more of or less of depending on where these commentators stand on the whole art versus commerce debate.
There were a number of films not represented in the nominations that I would have liked to see included but in the majority of cases their absence is understandable. I only saw Newcastle recently and was completely bowled over but its energetic depiction of youth surf culture, however I am aware that I am somewhat on my own with just how highly I regard Newcastle. Lake Mungo, Van Diemen’s Land and $9.99 are other films that I wish had picked up at least a couple of nominations each but they are all niche films and their absence is hardly surprising.
David Lurie (John Malkovich) and Lucy (Jessica Haines) in Disgrace
The real shock this year is the complete lack of nominations for Disgrace. While it is a film I had issues with (although I am increasingly realising that was exactly the point) I am still very surprised not to see it represented at all. It is an acclaimed film, technically very impressive, it contains strong performances and it is adapted from a well-renowned novel. So what went wrong? Perhaps it was too challenging and confronting. This is an unlikely explanation considering the number of nominations for other ‘challenging and confronting’ films such as Balibo, Samson and Delilah, Mary and Max, Blessed and Beautiful Kate. Maybe Disgrace wasn’t considered Australian enough (which is reasonable) and didn’t attract votes as a result (which is not so reasonable). Again, if that was the case then how do we explain the large number of nominations for Mao’s Last Dancer? I honestly have no brilliant explanation but the complete exclusion of Disgrace is the only significant sour note in the nominations this year.
Hopefully I’ll get the chance to discuss each category in more detail closer to the 2009 Samsung Mobile AFI Awards Ceremony on Saturday 12 December and I’ll also then mention the mostly brilliant feature length documentaries, short fiction films and animated shorts that have been nominated this year.
In the meantime, below is a personally ranked list of all the feature films that were eligible for nomination:
✭✭✭✭✭
Balibo (Robert Connolly, 2009) 14 nominations
✭✭✭✭✩
Samson and Delilah (Warwick Thornton, 2009) 11 nominations
✭✭✭✭
Mary and Max (Adam Elliot, 2009) 4 nominations
✭✭✭✩
Disgrace (Steve Jacobs, 2008)
Newcastle (Dan Castle, 2008)
Lake Mungo (Joel Anderson, 2008)
Van Diemen’s Land (Jonathan auf der Heide, 2009)
$9.99 (Tatia Rosenthal, 2008)
Cedar Boys (Serhat Caradee, 2009) 1 nomination
The View from Greenhaven (Kenn MacRae and Simon MacRae, 2008)
✭✭✭
Blessed (Ana Kokkinos, 2009) 4 nominations
My Year Without Sex (Sarah Watt, 2009) 2 nominations
The Combination (David Field, 2009)
Beautiful Kate (Rachel Ward, 2009) 10 nominations
Australia (Baz Luhrmann, 2008) 6 nominations
Dying Breed (Jody Dwyer, 2008)
✭✭✩
Last Ride (Glendyn Ivin, 2009) 2 nominations
Charlie & Boots (Dean Murphy, 2009)
Two Fists, One Heart (Shawn Seet, 2008)
Mao’s Last Dancer (Bruce Beresford, 2009) 9 nominations
Stone Bros. (Richard Frankland, 2009)
✭✭
Lucky Country (Kriv Stenders, 2009) 1 nomination
Closed for Winter (James Bogle, 2009)
✭✩
Under a Red Moon (Leigh Sheehan, 2008)
✭
Beautiful (Dean O’Flaherty, 2009)
✩
Sweet Marshall (Eva Acharya, 2009)
© Thomas Caldwell, 2009