Tuesday 8 January 2008

Enough about movies already!

Okay, okay, but just let me tell you about these last two that have restored my faith in cable television...

  • Candy

A brilliant Australian movie (haven't seen enough of these lately) that is heartbreaking and confronting in its bare honesty. Make no mistake - this movie is heavy. Heath Ledger and Abbie Cornish are fantastic as a couple of young lovers who become involved in drugs - namely heroin - and then hit the downward spiral. Geoffrey Rush is also brilliant (as always) as Uncle Casper, a sort of father figure for the two lovers. The film starts off in a happy place, but with addiction there is only one place it can go from there - downhill, and fast. Four stars.

  • The Chumscrubber

Triple J's film reviewer Megan Spencer raved about this one. Usually, that's enough to put me off a film, but I thought I'd give it a go. And I'm so glad I did. A brilliant indie flick about a 'perfect' little suburban town in which the resident shoolyard drug dealer hangs himself. The seriously dysfunctional family relationships and simmering tensions threaten to explode as three teenagers kidnap the drug-dealer's friend's brother, in order to make the friend retrieve the drugs for them. It's been a long time since a movie has had me squirming so uncomfortably in my seat one moment only to rip my heart out of my chest the next. I cannot recommend this movie enough. Four and a half stars.

5 comments:

Jessica said...

I love indie flicks--it's the best thing about Netflix. Movie's I've never heard of show up in my recommendations. It's not the best movies that win awards and get recognition, rather the films with the richest backers.

Dave said...

Unfortunately, that's usually the way...

my name is kate said...

Wow I um really hated Chumscrubber. Heh. But I went in expecting to like it a lot so maybe that was my downfall. I also thought Candy was good though.

Lindsay said...

I will give it a go on your recommendation Johnsy. Loved Candy, but Megan Spencer has a mole-face. She always sits side on to the camera to hide it.

Dave said...

Really? I never knew...