Cinema Autopsy

Nicole Kidman as Erin Bell in Destroyer

While rapidly approaching rock bottom, former undercover cop Erin Bell attempts to track down a sinister figure from her past in Destroyer. Nicole Kidman is astonishingly good as Erin, giving her character just the right amounts of toughness, pathos and despair to make her a classic anti-hero detective figure in this gritty hardboiled crime thriller, which delivers all the meticulous plotting, low-life supporting characters, sun-drenched cynicism and fury that you would want from a Los Angeles-set neo noir.

Leaving Neverland

Leaving Neverland is a devastating documentary about two boys who were allegedly sexually abused by Michael Jackson. The film looks in depth at the grooming process, the manipulation of parents, the coaching that resulted in the two subjects originally defending Jackson for many years, and the long term effect it had on the boys – now adult men – and their families. It also raises many issues about how children experience abuse and the way the law and public opinion often fail them. Streaming on 10 play.

Dev Patel as Arjun in Hotel Mumbai

Hotel Mumbai dramatises the 2008 terrorist attacks in Mumbai, focusing on the incidents inside the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel. Australian filmmaker Anthony Maras makes the film both a gripping thriller, as the audience follow the nightmarish experiences of multiple characters, and a moving tragedy about the senseless loss of life. Highlighting the actions of guests, hotel staff and police, it is also a sombre tribute to the extraordinary heroism by everyday people in an extreme situation.

Bill Nighy as Alan in Sometimes Always Never

As retired tailor and Scrabble enthusiast Alan, Bill Nighy delivers what is possibly a career-best performance in Sometimes Always Never. While being overtly stylised and theatrical, the film often unexpectedly resonates extremely deeply during its tonal switches from deadpan humour to something far sadder as it delves into exploring an estranged father/son relationship and the nature of loss and grief. This funny, charming and poignant film is a wonderful surprise.

Dumbo

Tim Burton‘s Dumbo, which is a remake and expansion of the original 1941 Disney film, delivers everything I wanted as an unashamed Burton fan who adores the original. It’s Burton’s best live action film since he so fully embraced CGI at the start of this decade, and it’s full of the auteur’s trademark style and favourite theme of championing society’s misfits and outsiders who overcome adversity. It is also a very touching tribute to the bond between children and parents. This is cinematic comfort food for me!

The Green Fog

The found footage film The Green Fog has recently been released on a handful of streaming platforms in Australia. Filmmakers Guy Maddin, Evan Johnson and Galen Johnson reproduce Alfred Hitchcock’s 1958 masterpiece Vertigo through a super cut of clips from over 100 other San Francisco-set films and television shows. The result is something that most cinephiles will find utterly delightful, if for no other reason than for the playfulness and humour on display in the shot selection and editing.

Ben Dickey as Blaze Foley and Alia Shawkat as Sybil Rosen in Blaze

The Ethan Hawk-directed Blaze, a biopic of the largely unknown American country singer-songwriter Blaze Foley, is also now streaming in Australia. The film takes an unconventional approach to deliver a series of non-linear impressions of Foley capturing his contradictions as a musician of great talent who was also completely self-destructive. The real highlight of the film is the tender relationship between Foley and partner Sybil Rosen, who wrote the film with Hawk and is played beautifully by Alia Shawkat.

Thomas Caldwell, 2019