Archive for film

Film Review – If I had Legs I’d Kick You

Posted in Uncategorized with tags , , , , , , on November 14, 2025 by Reel Review Roundup

If I Had Legs I’d Kick You (MA)

Directed by: Mary Bronstein

Starring: Rose Byrne, Conan O’Brien

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Review by: Julian Wright

Linda’s (Rose Byrne) life is utter chaos at the moment.

She is a full-time therapist, her young daughter is being fed through a tube into her stomach and needs constant medical attention, her husband Charles (Christian Slater) is working out of town, and the ceiling in their apartment has just collapsed forcing them to live in a motel.

And that’s just the tip of the iceberg.

Linda is barely keeping it together – she displays the patience of a saint around her demanding child, but at night she retreats with a bottle of wine and a joint to disassociate.

Not even her therapist/colleague (Conan O’Brien) seems equipped to help.

The first thing you might do after watching If I Had Legs…is book a holiday because it feels like you have been on this exhausting rollercoaster blur of life events with Linda.

Director Mary Bronstein keeps the level of hectic consistently high, keeping the viewer on the verge of a a panic attack.

Linda is juggling so many balls in the air, it is just a matter of time until something has to give, right?

It isn’t just that a lot of things are going on in a short period of time, we are feeling how this impacts a person and how they deal (or not deal) with it.

It is all so scarily relatable.

Rose Byrne is astounding, her frustration and desperation always just bubbling under the surface as the fatigue slowly sets in and her eyes get heavier.

Just keeping up the level of energy required to film this is impressive in itself, fortunately she is skilled enough to bring levels of nuance to the performance.

The trippy interludes around the giant hole in the ceiling are a slight detour that cements its arthouse cinema status and are not entirely necessary.

If I Had Legs I’d Kick you is highly recommended viewing.

Not recommended is watching this in a double feature with Die My Love – give the two some breathing room.

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Film Review – Die My Love

Posted in Uncategorized with tags , , , , , , on November 14, 2025 by Reel Review Roundup

Die My Love (MA)

Directed by: Lynne Ramsay

Starring: Jennifer Lawrence, Robert Pattinson, Sissy Spacek

Rating: 3 out of 5.

Review by: Julian Wright

The stifling nature of domesticity and a growing mental illness sends a young mother into a nightmarish spiral in the harrowing Die My Love.

When New York creatives Grace (Jennifer Lawrence) and Jack (Robert Pattinson) move into their inherited cottage in the middle of Montana, it is supposed to be a beautiful new chapter in their lives.

Grace becomes pregnant and the couple begin raising their son – except Jack mostly works away, leaving Grace alone with the baby, no family, friends, or neighbours.

As the isolation and writer’s block takes its toll, Grace’s behaviour becomes erratic – but soon it appears that it is something much deeper that is affecting her.

Grace goes through the gamut of emotions associated with new motherhood: fatigue, low self-esteem, isolation, but it is compounded with this new lifestyle change that does not agree with her.

She is dying to express herself but doesn’t know how – it is frustrating and upsetting, for her and the viewer.

Lawrence is completely fearless and uninhibited in her portrayal of Grace, behaving child-like at certain times and then animalistic in others.

It is a performance that is fascinating to watch.

Die My Love is one of the best made films that captures exactly what it intends to and creates a mood and feeling that it intends to – the thing is it that the mood and feeling is dire.

Director Lynne Ramsay has such a strong hold and focus on the material that it is borderline documentary levels of realism.

This is a wonderful example of women telling stories about a woman’s experience, one that deserves to be told and explored, to allow visibility for those who have experienced it and educate those that have not.

And while it is definitely not a film intended to be enjoyed, it can certainly be admired, if one can endure the feeling of being different shades of frustrated, depressed and miserable for two hours.

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Film Review – The Long Walk

Posted in Uncategorized with tags , , , , , , , on September 10, 2025 by Reel Review Roundup

The Long Walk (MA)

Directed by: Francis Lawrence

Starring: Cooper Hoffman, David Jonsson, Judy Greer

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

Review by: Julian Wright

A group of desperate young men walk, talk and trauma bond in this tense and moving adaptation of a Stephen King novel.

In a dystopian, post-war America, the only hope for wealth young men have is to enter into an annual walking competition.

Sounds simple enough, but there is no set finish line – it is a walk cross-country to the death.

The men must maintain a certain speed and anyone who slows down or cops three warnings is shot on the spot.

Those left keep walking until there is one man standing.

Raymond Garraty (Cooper Hoffman) signs up and is dropped off at the starting point by his single mum Ginnie (Judy Greer).

He is immediately drawn to fellow competitor Peter McVries (David Jonsson) and the two get along like a house on fire, and quickly form a close camaraderie with a handful of other competitors.

Bonds form and motivations are revealed, which makes it even more devastating when they begin to meet their fate one buy one.

Who knew walking and talking could be so intense?

The Long Walk puts you through the gamut of emotions as we witness these likable characters trauma bond and develop deep connections with their competitors while fighting off the inevitable.

There are moments that are amusing, thought-provoking and downright shocking, and you will find yourself tearing up at least twice.

What is nice about this story is that the majority of these characters do not start out antagonistic despite being in competition with each other – they enter into this scenario with humility – an important tactic to ensure they are endearing to the audience.

This is one of the best depictions of male bonding on film with these young men allowed to be seen as sensitive and vulnerable.

Director Francis Lawrence has assembled a terrific cast of mostly unknowns – there is not a single weak link among them.

And in his dedication to realism, his adaptation doesn’t shy away from certain realities and how the men handle them – particularly bathroom breaks, which adds to the unflinching experience.

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Film Review – F1

Posted in Uncategorized with tags , , , , , , , , on June 25, 2025 by Reel Review Roundup

F1 (M)

Directed by: Joseph Kosinski

Starring: Brad Pitt, Jarvier Bardem

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

Review by: Julian Wright

“Someone call the 1990s…” a commentator says during a thrilling racing montage – an appropriate line in this loving throwback to action films of the era that had the formula down to a T.

Sonny Hayes (Brad Pitt) is a retired F1 race car driver whose heyday is long in the past (by about 30 years).

These days he lives out of a van and gambles in his spare time – of which he has plenty.

When his old mate/former F1 competitor Ruben Cervantes (Javier Bardem) is about to lose $350 million on his team of racers, he recruits Sonny to help get them a win.

With nothing to lose, Sonny joins the team, but there is immediate tension between the has-been and young hotshot Joshua Pearce (Damson Idris), and the two teammates clash over how to claim the top spot.

Meanwhile, sparks fly between Sonny and the team’s technical director Kat (Kerry Condon), who tries her best, despite his charms, to keep things professional (spoiler alert – she loses).

This Ehren Kruger scripted, Joseph Kosinski directed, and Jerry Bruckheimer produced film takes all the best and most entertaining elements of a 90s action film and repurposes them for a new audience.

With just enough plot and character outlines to hook us in, it is fuelled purely by star appeal (Pitt has never oozed more charisma), bouts of bristling banter and thrilling action sequences.

It walks that fine line of the perfect amount of plot, character development and story complications so that there is just enough substance to keep us interested, but not too much that we get bogged down and distracted from the action.

If it wasn’t for the technical advances in filmmaking, one could have easily mistaken this for a 90s video shop staple.

Kosinski gets the audience out on the track in innovative new ways, mounting the camera on the cars, and spinning them 180 degrees for a dynamic point of view among the action.

And jaw-droppingly, none of these high-stakes races appear CGI assisted.

Don’t know the first thing about F1 racing? Or any car racing in general?

No problem – F1 takes care to ensure audience members that don’t even know the difference between an automatic and a manual can still follow along, even when it pops into fourth gear.

Everything clicks in to place to deliver a hugely entertaining popcorn film in the best way.

This is the quintessential crowd-pleaser.

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Film Review – A Minecraft Movie

Posted in Uncategorized with tags , , , , , , , on April 4, 2025 by Reel Review Roundup

A Minecraft Movie (PG)

Directed by: Jared Hess

Starring: Jason Momoa, Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

Review by: Julian Wright

Hollywood hunk Jason Momoa and funny-man Jack Black team up for a big screen adaptation of a video game – with pleasantly surprising results.

When bored office worker Steve (Jack Black) finds a magical glowing blue cube that opens a portal to another world, he steps in and starts exploring.

He falls in love with the endless imagination and creativity that this cubic world offers (everyhting from buildings to people and nature have a block-like appearance), closes the portal with the cube hidden under his bed (he admits, a lousy hiding spot) and never returns home.

Years later and in his hometown, the washed-up video arcade competition champion Garrett (Jason Momoa), siblings Henry (Sebastian Hansen) and Natalie (Emma Myers) and quirky real estate agent Dawn (Danielle Brooks) find the cube and enter this other world.

Together, they must navigate the world, their new-found capabilities, battle local villain Malgosha (voiced by Rachel House) and get back home.

There are definite Jumanji vibes about A Minecraft Movie, and the internal logic of the cubic world was unclear – at one point, Natalie utters “This place makes no sense” and honestly, she wasn’t wrong.

But when the laughs are so consistent, the cast is engaging and the action a pleasant distraction, it is easy to overlook the convolutions.

Momoa and Black bring a lot of charm to their block-head roles, with Momoa in particular thriving in his “The Rock does comedy” era.

Jennifer Coolidge is utterly delightful, delivering some of the biggest laughs (if you are a fan of her style of comedy, and it seems lately, many of us are), in a completely superfluous B-plot that could be easily removed and have no impact on the film.

The film zips along at a great pace so to avoid boring young ones and game fans – the frenetic action pausing only on occasion to reiterate that creativity is good and should be encouraged, nurtured and supported (positive message – check).

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Film Review – Dìdi

Posted in Uncategorized with tags , , , , , , on November 20, 2024 by Reel Review Roundup

Dìdi (MA)

Directed by: Sean Wang

Starring: Izaac Wang, Joan Chen, Shirley Chen

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

Review by: Julian Wright

It is 2008, and the last month of summer break turns out to be the most tumultuous, confusing and frustrating yet for 13-year-old Taiwanese American Chris Wang (Izaac Wang).

Not only do his older sister Vivian (Shirley Chen) and mother Chungsing (Joan Chen) continue to be a daily source of embarrassment, but he begins the awkward discovery of girls, the cool groups, drugs, rejection from so-called friends and general growing pains.

It is a moment in time in which Chris struggles to find out where he fits in this world, and it is a painful journey figuring it out.

Dìdi takes a refreshing approach to the teen angst sub-genre by digging deeper into the teenage experience than we have seen in some time, and with subtlety and delicacy.

The setting provides bouts of nostalgia when it comes to Myspace, the early days of Facebook, instant message chats and grainy Youtube videos for those who were online during the mid-2000s.

But their depiction in this film as important tools for the way that generation began interacting rings true, and the chats seem ripped from real life.

Dìdi is one of those films that runs the gamut of emotions, as per the highs and lows of teen years, but there are truly heartbreaking moments that are even more affecting due to the naturalistic performances.

Wang is such a fresh talent, it is as if he doesn’t know how to act, untarnished by classes, training, theories or other film acting style influences.

Wang, and indeed his co-stars, never seem to be acting; instead they are being, experiencing, and it is one of the most wondrous examples of naturalistic performing, to the point that Dìdi feels positively documentary-like.

Unsurprising, given that this is the feature film debut of documentary filmmaker Sean Wang, a remarkable achievement in authenticity.

His endeavour to capture real-life and eye for details are unmatched, casting age-appropriate people, with messy hair and acne, rather than the Hollywood standard of what should appear on screen, goes a long way in creating as realistic film as possible.

He has truly created something quite special.

Didi is screening as part of Perth Festival – Lotterywest Films November 25 – December 1.

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