Ramona Flowers: Princess Slayer

See, this is why I don't do casting news here at the blog! A couple of days later it gets canned!

Unfortunately, everyone's (and by "everyone" I mean the 57 people that actually see The Loved Ones) psychotic prom "princess" Lola Stone (aka Robin McLeavy) has in fact not been cast as the wife of Abraham Lincoln in Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter. Instead, the role has gone to Mary Elizabeth Winstead who y'all will remember as that hipster girl Ramona Flowers that had a baffling amount of attention being paid to her. The only excuse I've ever been able to come up with for Ramona's impossible pull with suitors is that before she moved to the universe of Scott Pilgrim she was not an actual miserable sadsack with annoying hair and was, in actual fact, a hottie cheerleader like the one Winstead played in Death Proof. It's my theory and I'm sticking to it.

Wait, how did this end up as an anti-Scott Pilgrim entry? Anyway, this is why I don't do casting stories.

Lola the Princess, Starmaking Role

I knew immediately after seeing Sean Byrne's sick and demented horror kick to the nuts The Loved Ones that "Lola aka 'Princess'" (her official character name on IMDb) would propel somebody somewhere to cast Robin McLeavy in a big time film and, whataya know, somebody has gone and cast her in a big time film. From the sounds of it it's nothing more than token love interest, but McLeavy has been cast in Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter (via My New Plaid Pants). I don't know much of anything about the film, but it certainly sounds like a juicy film, don't you think?

From sadistic prom queen to presidential vampire hunter's wife. Makes sense, really.

I first spotted Robin McLeavy in 48 Shades - an unfortunately forgotten Aussie teen comedy from several years back - but Lola was a brilliant performance in The Loved Ones so it's hardly surprising that somebody noticed her. And, hey, even if the film is a dud, we'll always have "I'm Not Pretty Enough".

Review: The Human Centipede

The Human Centipede
Dir. Tom Six
Year: 2010
Aus Rating: R18+
Running Time: 90mins

By now you have most certainly heard of and know about Tom Six's The Human Centipede. By now you have most certainly made up your mind as to whether you want to see it or not. By now you have most certainly decided, seen or unseen, whether the film is "disgusting", "sickening", "revolting" or whatever other word people have chosen to use to describe this movie in the past. Do I think it's disgusting, sickening or revolting? Yes and no. The acts described within The Human Centipede are enough to put you off food for a moment of time, but it's actually not all that visually confronting. Unfortunately, the real problem with The Human Centipede is that it is just so terminally dull and that is strictly unforgivable.

You want a plot? There really isn't much of one, but if you insist... two American girls get lost in Germany and end up at the house of a mad scientist surgeon who aims to recreate the image of his three pet dogs sniffing each other's butt's by grafting the mouths of human to the anus of another. Three of them in a row, creating a "human centipede". It certainly sounds sickening and there are several scenes that border on obscene in their suggestion, but there's nothing from a purely visually sense that audiences - at least those who are willing to actually sit down and watch a movie with this plot - have not seen before. And in far more detail, too, I might add. Recent local horror film The Loved Ones had far more graphic violence for the world to see.


Alas, the difference between a film such as The Loved Ones and The Human Centipede is not only a director that understands the difference between shock, gore and scares, but also a director that understands how to merge them to create something truly terrifying. Director Six knows how to shock in the most puerile, superficial and obvious ways - "omg the scene where the Asian guy defecates into the mouth of the girl omg totally gross" - but that's all it is. A grotesque act in service of nothing. Salo this most assuredly is not. I can't imagine anyone who seen more than ten of these sort of high-shock horror films being truly shaken by anything on display here.

Even then, I could have been perfectly on board with The Human Centipede as a sort of Grand Guignol of a movie, a horror freak show that you couldn't find anywhere else, but the entire affair is such an appalling one. The actors - if you can call them that, they may as well have been anonymous streetwalkers on the look out for easy cash - are either shrill, stupid, amateurish and with little command of the screen. Usually they're all of those things at once. It's interesting in a way, especially since we've been discussing the franchise so much lately, that on the dawn of Scream 4 we still very much have characters who have, apparently, never seen a scary movie in their lives. Helpful hint: When your car breaks down, don't get out and walk throughout the night through the woods. I don't want to say these characters deserve what happened to them, but I certainly didn't feel anything for them when it did.

Lead actor Dieter Laser at least seems like he knows what movie he is in. He actually reminded me of Max Shreck from Nosferatu in that if he had no prior acting experience I would firmly believe that Tom Six had gone out and found an actually demented surgeon living in the German countryside. Still, he has no idea how to modulate his performance; he's always turned up to eleven. Six's camera is generally uninterested with anything other than screaming at the audience "look at what we've made!" and the film features two of the worst police officers I have seen (both performance and character) since Danny Glover's rehearsal footage somehow ended up in the final cut of Saw.



Tom Six, and I can't confirm this but I do have a sneaking suspicion that it's true, probably thinks long scenes where nothing much happens constitutes "tension". And trust me, there are a lot of scenes where no much seems to happen at all. The shock value found in the gore doesn't equate to scares, either. There isn't a single fright to be found amongst The Human Centipede's brief running time.

I am certain that Tom Six wants audiences to believe there is a reason for The Human Centipede. An "Oh, you just don't get it" type of thing. Similar to Eli Roth's Hostel where the film's defenders are eager to label the film as something something indictment something something America's bad something something today's culture. They have every right to, just as I have every right to dismiss the claims as bogus. Is it the subtitles that gives The Human Centipede this edge? Is it because Six has set the film in Germany, despite it being a Dutch production? I'm sure someone out there has justified this poor excuse for filmmaking in such a way, but I don't buy it for a second. I could try and come up with something equally deep and meaningful to make myself feel better, but I won't because it seems like a mission that will bear little fruit, and why give The Human Centipede more of my brain cells than I already have? The Human Centipede is like a neutered dog with no bite. It may look threatening, but actually delve closer and it's danger is all for show. D-

What's in a Rating?

New Australian horror film The Loved Ones opens around the country this Thursday. It's really quite an incredible piece of cinema, so completely and utterly brutal and committed in its portrayal of twisted violence and teenage madness. It's tag of "Pretty in Pink meets Wolf Creek" is a good one and I encourage anyone who enjoys horror movies to seek it out since movies like The Loved Ones don't come around very often.

When I saw the movie a couple of months ago I thought for sure it would receive an R18+ rating from the Office of Film & Literature Classification, Australia's rating body. R18+ is Australia's harshest film rating and yet unlike America it is not a hindrance. When a film receives an NC17 rating over there it all but condemns it to arthouse cinemas and minimal returns at the box office. That Wolf Creek was rated R18+ and, if memory serves, debuted at #1 at the box office proves that the rating is far from the scarlet letter it could be. Chopper, another iconic Aussie film from the last decade, also got hit with the rating and that didn't stop it from causing a sensation.


So I was completely staggered when I saw a poster for The Loved Ones recently and saw the little red box indicating an MA15+ rating. MA15+, surely they jest! No, no, apparently an MA15+ rating it gets, which, for anyone outside of these fair shores, means anyone under the age of 15 can see the film if they attend with an adult. Or, if they guy a ticket to Paranormal Activity 2 and sneak in. The Loved Ones' rating is based on "High impact violence", something that the film has in spades and yet somehow that violence, as highly impactful as the OFLC seems to think it is, is just as bad as Buried's "Strong coarse language", a justification for its own MA15+ just weeks prior.

While I think it's silly to be reductive about the rating system to say "well if [movie 1] is rated this way then [movie 2] shouldn't be", but there's simply no way I can fathom how a movie such as The Loved Ones can be rated MA15+ given the history of our ratings. Just last week Saw VII 3D was released in Australian cinemas with an R18+ rating. The OFLC's reasoning behind that very restrictive rating (nobody under 18 is permitted, even with a parent)? "High impact violence, blood and gore".

So, apparently, the existence of "blood and gore" tips it over the edge into R18 territory? What version of The Loved Ones did the ratings board see? The Loved Ones is a movie in which feet get nailed to the floor, drills meet flesh, blood is spilled and knives are drawn. And to compare it again to Wolf Creek - rated R18+ five years ago for "High level realistic violence, strong coarse language" - I'm not really sure how that one is any worse than The Loved Ones, but who can make heads or tails of the OFLC at the best of times? The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning was rated R18+ for "High level horror violence". Vague as they are, I'm not sure what the difference is, but what can you do?


All of this is basically to say "I have no idea what goes on at the ratings board". As much as I want The Loved Ones to be successful, I think it would be absurd for parents do not take their children to see it. When I saw Buried two parents had brought along their two children, both of which looked under 10. I hope those children kept their parents awake all night with their nightmares of being buried alive. Really. Still, at least the OFLC aren't as weird as America's MPAA, an organisation that allows horrific violence to be exhibited to anyone, but the moment two adult characters even hint at being sexual with one another they get slapped with a heavily restrictive rating. Case in point being the recent NC17 rating handed to Derek Cianfrance's Blue Valentine. It will be interesting to see how the OFLC handle that film later in the year.

18 Thoughts About the AFI Nominations

In honour of the record breaking nomination haul by David Michôd's Animal Kingdom at today's Australian Film Institute Award nominations, here are 18 thoughts/musings/reflections/etc. The entire list of contenders can be found at the AFI website, so please head over there and save me the effort of copying and pasting like a lazy git typing them all out.

1. 18 Nominations for Animal Kingdom?
As if its status as one of the most acclaimed and important films in Australian history, today it had to go out of its way and nab itself 18 nominations! That's a record as far as I can tell (nobody seems to have corrected me yet). Of course, it helps to get three out of four Best Supporting Actor nominations (Guy Pearce, Joel Edgerton and Sullivan Stapleton) and two Best Lead Actor nominations (Ben Mendelsohn and James Frencheville). Throw in some (shall we say) curious technical nominations like Cappi Ireland's for Best Costume Design and Best Production Design for Jo Ford and that means Animal Kingdom received a nomination in every single category that it was eligible for!

2. The Waiting City is this year's Disgrace
Eyebrows were certainly raised last year when Steve Jacobs' critically acclaimed Disgrace, starring a career best John Malkovich, failed to receive a single nomination and it looks like that honour has been bestowed upon Claire McCarthy's The Waiting City in 2010. Oh sure, Denson Baker received a well-deserved Best Cinematography nomination, but that's it. I didn't expect it to get nominations across the board, but the exemplary work by Joel Edgerton and Radha Mitchell (giving perhaps their best ever performances in my eyes) seems like good solid Best Lead Actor and Actress nominees. Not the case. I wasn't as anti-James Frencheville as some, but his nomination over Edgerton (or Peter Marshall in The Horseman for that matter) is baffling.

3. Bright Star was remembered.
I am so happy that not only was Bright Star remembered in the Best Film category, but Jane Campion and Abbie Cornish, too, in their respective fields. Campion's stunning film about poet John Keats was released late last year (along with The Boys are Back, which also had a solid nomination tally) and could have easily been passed over for more recent fare. Note, Campion is nominated for Best Original Screenplay, not Adapted like the Academy tried to make out that Bright Star was (pish posh, obviously!)

4. Women make up half the Best Direction category
It's true. And it's interesting that they went with Julie Bertuccelli, a foreigner.

5. Don't feel sorry for Kodi Smit-McPhee
Sure, he's the lone representative for any movie that is not Animal Kingdom in the Best Supporting Actor category, but since he is nominated for a film that was a flop and an awards day dud (that'd be Matching Jack), not to mention his second nomination for The Road in the International category, let's not get too sad for the kid. He's already won an AFI and another nomination in his brief time plus he's making critically acclaimed films overseas, so he's going all right!


6. Speaking of those International Awards...
You have to just accept Sam Worthington being nominated for Avatar, but Mia Wasikowska for Alice in Wonderland? When she gave a great performance in The Kids are All Right? That's crazy talk! Meanwhile, Naomi Watts received what will probably be her only nomination for Mother & Child and she should probably win the category, unless voters are feeling partial to Toni Collette in The United States of Tara for a second year in a row.

7. Favouritism
Yeah, Jacki Weaver was great and all and seeing her nominated (and surely win) was great (although I'm more excited about her Oscar prospects right now), the top nomination of the day for me was that left field, but oh so rockin' nomination for Daybreakers in Best Original Screenplay. You can't say that isn't an interesting citation. I'd say a deserved one, too.

8. Tomorrow when Ashleigh Cummings is a star
I was happy to see Ashleigh Cummings got a nomination in the Best Young Actor category for her work as "Robyn" in Tomorrow When the War Began. As I get further away from seeing that film, a good one and one that got several major nominations including Best Film, it is without a doubt she and Deniz Akdeniz that linger as the standouts. That shot of Cummings walking towards the camera as she fires her rifle is one of the finest individual moments from any of the AFI contenders.

9. No The Horseman
I know it was a very longshot, but it would have been great to see Steven Kastrissios' intense revenge horror film The Horseman get something. Peter Marshall's performance is the best male performance of the year, too.


10. Ben Mendelsohn will finally win a Lead statue
He's like Meryl Streep. He won way back 1987 for Best Supporting Actor in The Year My Voice Broke, but despite six nominations in the Lead categories (one was for Lead Actor in a TV Drama for Love My Way) it appears he will finally get that Lead Actor AFI award. I thought he deserved it last year for Beautiful Kate over the eventual winner, Anthony LaPaglia for Balibo, but who can deny him this year? James Frencheville is the Queen Latifah to Mendelsohn's Catherine Zeta-Jones, if you know what I mean.

11. Doubling up
This doesn't happen to often. Not only are two actors from the same film represented together in Best Lead Actor (the aforementioned Mendelsohn and Frencheville from Animal Kingdom), but the Best Lead Actress category, too, as French actor Charlotte Gainsbourg joins her young The Tree co-star Morgana Davis. I was hoping for one, but didn't expect both!

I keep a running "ballot" document for each year as it goes by and I have Davies and Gainsbourg listed together under Best Actress purely because they feel so intertwined in that film that it feels impossible to separate them. No one is going to deny Jacki Weaver in that category at the AFIs, but I reckon Morgana Davies would've won this in a walk if Weaver had have been submitted in the Best Supporting Actress category, but that's not how the AFI Awards work.

12. International names on the list
We've already mentioned Julie Bertuccelli (Best Direction) and Charlotte Gainsbourg (Best Lead Actress), but Clive Owen too snuck in on goodwill for The Boys are Back, a likable if unremarkable film that still wormed its way to nominations.

13. Ernie Dingo?
Did this well known actor's recent string of bad publicity and alleged criminal activity cause him to be snubbed for Bran Nue Dae. I don't know anyone who doesn't say he gives the best performance of that indigenous road trip musical, a Best Film contender, and yet he was absent from the ballot. Was surprised to see Geoffrey Rush not nominated, either, in the Supporting Actor category since he is so revered.

14. John Edwards, but not the psychic one
Is John Edwards the most respected man in Aussie television right now? The AFI TV categories are filled with projects he is involved with. In fact, of the four Best Television Drama series nominees, only one (ONE!) does not list John Edwards as one of the producer nominees. Rush (Network Ten), Spirited (W) and Tangled (Showcase) have all been shepherded by the man, which is a remarkable achievement. That his three shows are all quite good is another matter entirely. How about Claudia Karvan and Jacquelin Perske, too? They have a new show? Nominate it!


15. Network Ten, for better or worse
Whether you like Network Ten's programming - and I wholeheartedly agree with piece by Clem Bastow at The Vine re James Packer's recent purchase of the channel - it's hard to deny, as I look over the TV nominations that without them the list would be... barren, for lack of a better word. Hell, the Best Telefeature/Mini-Series category wouldn't even exist! And I think we can all be thankful that Rush is there to save us from an embarrassing Packed to the Rafters/Rescue Special Ops situation.

16. Five outta six ain't bad!
Back to the films, I wasn't a fan of Beneath Hill 60, but the nominations are all pretty impressive. Sure, the Animal Kingdom love went a little bit overboard like Goldie Hawn, and The Waiting City's egregious snubbing is more than a little sad, but one bad movie out of a bunch (and, yes, I am admittedly in the minority in regards to my feelings about Jeremy Sims' WWI movie) is a good stat.

17. Struck out
Films to receive no nominations at all are Accidents Happen, The Horseman, I Love You Too, Lou, Mother Fish and Subdivision. Nothing too upsetting about those apart from The Horseman, which I've already spoken about.

18. Next year?
We've already seen several contenders in the form of The Loved Ones, which should be nominations across the board, but I'll be specifically cheering on nominations for Best Production Design, Best Costume Design and Robin McLeavy for Best Lead Actress, giving a performance that can instantly be regarded as one of the greatest horror performances of all time. Yes, I am being serious. We've also got Red Hill, which should do well in the technical categories, and - depending on eligibility issues - The King's Speech. That Oscar contender is an official UK/Australia co-production, but is it enough of one to qualify? Well, that's too far away to think about, so let's just stay with 2010, okay?

But Is She Pretty Enough?

Last July we got a look see at the trailer for Sean Byrne's insane fucked up horror movie The Loved Ones. At the time I hadn't seen the movie, but I now have and, yes, that trailer spoils a lot of it, I'm of the belief that many horror movie audience members want to know all that stuff is in there. Bang for their buck, in a way.

Nevertheless, now comes a teaser (yes, a teaser after a trailer) and it is instantly one of my favourites of the year. If they were able to show this in cinemas (I have a feeling there will be some "issues" in regards to the use of characters under copyright) then I am sure the movie would be a big hit. This little wonder is amazing. Via TwitchFilm!

Aussies are Toronto Bound

It's always interesting to see how Australian films fare on the international festival circuit. Of the four biggies - Toronto, Berlin, Cannes and Venice - it is only the first two that seem to ever have a decent representation. Cannes occasionally welcomes a local film in one of their prestige sidebars (I went back ten years and Jane Campion's Bright Star was the only Palme d'Or nominee) while, if I remember correctly, the Venice Film Festival is stingy towards out product year in year out.

The Toronto International Film Festival just released its full roster and while the Aussie contingent can't reach last year's tally, six titles are going to be showing, which is good news for all. Last year TIFF audiences were let in on The Loved Ones and rewarded it with the Midnight Madness top honours. It has yet to be released here in Australia (it recently received a new Halloween-inspired release date that, sadly, it is no longer eligible for this year's AFI awards), one film that did get a release was Mao's Last Dancer, which became one of the highest grossing Australian films of all time. Let's see what TIFF 2010 has in store.

Blame is another film that recently changed release dates and, thus, is no longer competing in the AFI Awards. Nevertheless, this Perth-filmed thriller tells of a group of teens/twenty-somethings who decide to commit the perfect murder, but are brought undone by messy mistakes. It stars Kestie Morassi, Sophie Lowe, Simon Stone, Damian de Montemas and Mark Leonard Winter and is directed by Michael Henry. I didn't hear much out of it's MIFF premiere, unfortunately.


Controversial teen high school drama Wasted on the Young will be screening at TIFF. It sorta sounds like 2:37 mated with Gasper Noe and several people who saw it at the Sydney Film Festival were not to pleased while others were suitably impressed. It's local release is set for early 2011 and I wonder how an international audience will respond to it. Completely different is Louise Alston's Jucy, the director's follow up to the charming romantic comedy All My Friends are Leaving Brisbane. I really enjoyed that one, but the trailer for Jucy looks just abominable (watch the trailer below). Naturally, I am now intrigued to see what it was that got it accepted into TIFF.



Two documentaries will screen, one of which is Mark Hartley's Machete Maidens Unleashed, which recently had its world premiere at MIFF and which I reviewed. It's probably got a subject matter that would be of interest to a more global lot of viewers, but the movie isn't as good as Hartley's first doco Not Quite Hollywood. The second documentary screening is Mother of Rock: Lillian Roxon, which I had never even heard about. Filmink describes it as "a fascinating insight into the life of the acclaimed rock journalist and an overview of the 1960s record industry." Okay then.

The biggest title, however, that most of us Aussie cinephiles are looking for at Toronto will be Griff the Invisible. As far as I can recall, Griff will be the first locally made superhero movie since The Return of Captain Invincible in 1983 (starring Alan Arkin, no less). This new film from first time director Leon Ford stars Ryan Kwanten (sure to get some True Blood fans in the audience for this one) and Maeve Dermody. We recently marvelled at some images from the film and I'm loving the festival poster that was designed by, of course, Jeremy Saunders.

We'll see how they all go once they've screened, but here's hoping they're all good and the Canadians like them.

AFI Contenders for 2010

The Australian Film Institute, of which I am a member, released their 19 wide list of eligible films for this awards. It ranges from big budget action blockbusters to tiny, ultra low budget dramas and everything in between including horror, comedy and Charlotte Gainsbourg. Let's take a look.

Accidents Happen
Dir. Andrew Lancaster
Geena Davis stars in this Aussie made, American set dramady about a family besieged by tragedy and accidents. It flopped on release despite some nice marketing and don't see it having much success here.
Possible Nominations: Actress (Geena Davis), Young Actor (Harrison Gilbertson and/or Harry Cook) and maybe a tech nod or two.

Animal Kingdom
Dir. David Michôd
In my year in preview column I called David Michôd's debut crime saga a "300lb gorilla of sorts from early word" and I was right. It's the most discussed Aussie film of the year here at Stale Popcorn (even if it's not my personal favourite) and is about to be released in America to, surely, much critical acclaim. I don't think anybody is under any illusion that Animal Kingdom won't win a tonne of AFI statues. My review.
Possible Nominations: Film, Direction (Michôd), Actor (Ben Mendelsohn), Actress (Jacki Weaver - the AFI have this thing where they upgrade the most prominent of each gender to lead roles. Weaver belongs in Supporting Actress, but she'll win Actress in a cake walk), Supporting Actor (Joel Edgerton and/or Guy Pearce and/or Sullivan Stapleton), Supporting Actress (Laura Wheelwright), Young Actor (James Frencheville), Original Screenplay (Michôd), Editing (Luke Doolan), Cinematography (Adam Arkapaw), Production Design (Jo Ford), Original Music (Antony Partos) and Sound.

Beneath Hill 60
Dir. Jeremy Sims
Australian filmmakers have finally cottoned on that local audiences might actually like to see movies about our history. Hence more war films arriving as of late such as this one, set during WWI when Australian diggers were responsible for a sneak attack underneath enemy forces.
Possible Nominations: Film, Direction (Sims), Actor (Brendan Cowell), Supporting Actor (Gyton Grantley), Young Actor (Harrison Gilbertson), Original Screenplay (David Roach), Editing (Dany Cooper), Cinematography (Toby Oliver), Production Design (Clayton Jauncy), Costume Design (Ian Sparke), Original Score (Cezary Skubiszewski) and Sound.

Blame
Dir. Michael Henry
A thriller starring Sophie Lowe, Kestie Morassi, Simon Stone, Damian de Montemas and Mark Leonard Winter, of whom I am a big fan right now, that has so far only screened at MIFF.
Possible Nominations: Could snag a Supporting Actress nod for Lowe, but other than that I wouldn't place any bets. If anybody saw this at MIFF and thinks it could snag something do pipe up in the comments.

The Boys are Back
Dir. Scott Hicks
I was surprised by this film about a man whose wife dies and who much now pick up his weight in the parenting department. I wasn't expecting to like it, but I did very much. Perhaps my aversion to deeply obvious sentimentality is weakening. It could make it into the top categories of Best Film and Best Direction, but I don't think there will be enough support for it when there's more exciting fare to be had.
Possible Nominations: Film, Direction (Hicks), Actor (Clive Owen), Supporting Actress (Julia Blake), Young Actor (Nicholas McAnulty), Adapted Screenplay (Alan Cubbitt) and Cinematography (Greig Fraser).

Bran Nue Dae
Dir. Rachel Perkins
This indigenous musical is, so far, the highest grossing local hit of the year (and I do mean hit) and I can't see why the the AFI wouldn't reward it accordingly with a swag of nominations. Is it too much to ask for a live performance on the night? My review.
Possible Nominations: Film, Direction (Perkins), Actor (Ernie Dingo), Supporting Actor (Geoffrey Rush), Young Actor (Rocky McKenzie), Adapted Screenplay (Reg Cribb, Rachel Perkins, Jimmy Chi), Editing (Rochelle Oshlack), Cinematography (Andrew Lesnie), Production Design (Felicity Abbott), Costume Design (Margot Wilson) and Sound.

Bright Star
Dir. Jane Campion
I hope the AFI organisation don't bestow a similar fate upon Jane Campion's gorgeous and beautiful Bright Star that almost every other awards body around the globe seems to have. I'm pulling for an Abbie Cornish win so she can stick it to those who don't take too kindly to tall poppies.
Possible Nominations: Film, Direction (Campion), Actress (Abbie Cornish), Actor (Ben Whishaw), Supporting Actor (Paul Shneider), Supporting Actress (Kerry Fox), Young Actor (Edie Martin) Editing (Alexandre de Franceschi), Cinematography (Grieg Fraser), Production Design (Janet Patterson), Costume Design (Janet Patterson) and Original Music (Mark Bradshaw).

Daybreakers
Dir. Michael & Peter Spierig
This locally produced vampire flick did decent business here and overseas, but being a horror flick (and being a horror flick without arthouse gloss) it won't get much attention from the AFI.
Possible Nominations: Production Design (George Liddle), Original Music (Christopher Gordon), Visual Effects and Sound.

The Horseman
Dir. Steven Kastrissios
I was surprised to see that this gripping revenge tale was eligible and am glad it's here. I doubt many of the AFI voters will actually go along to the special screenings of it since, let's face it, they know what they like, but if they do I hope, hope, hope they take notice of Peter Marshall's extraordinary performance. My Review.
Possible Nominations: Er... Actor (Peter Marshall)? Unlikely, but I'll hold out hope.

I Love You Too
Dir. Daina Reed
Another movie that surprised me immensely. Yes, it's a standard romantic comedy with all the usual boxes checked along the way, but I really warmed to this movie. Brendan Cowell does not a romantic lead make, but those surrounding him (especially Peter Dinklage) are more than up to the challenge.
Possible Nominations: Actress (Yvonne Strahovski), Supporting Actor (Peter Dinklage), Original Screenplay (Peter Hellier) and Original Music (David Hirschfelder).

Lou
Dir. Belinda Chayko
Very small movie - what would you expect from Kojo? - about a family that takes in a elder family member with Alzheimer's Disease that didn't do well at the box office - what would you expect when it's up against movies like Animal Kingdom for arthouse dollars. I can't see it showing up anywhere apart from Young Actor, but you never know.
Possible Nominations: Actor (John Hurt), Young Actor (Lilly Bell-Tindley) and Cinematography (Hugh Miller).

The Loved Ones
Dir. Sean Byrne
Behind only Animal Kingdom in the buzz stakes, this violent, horrific twist on the teen romance genre is sick and twisted and, surprisingly, a lot of fun. It's grotesque and basically the final half hour of the original Texas Chain Saw Massacre dragged out to feature length and covered in a hot pink dress, but it's an experience that's for sure! Could surprise in the same way that Wolf Creek did in 2005, although this year has much stronger competition so perhaps the AFI members won't feel necessary to go down this path. If nothing else, I just hope Robin McLeavy can get a Best Actress nomination since she is absolutely phenomenal!
Possible Nominations: Film, Direction (Byrne), Actress (Robin McLeavy), Original Screenplay (Sean Byrne), Editing (Andy Canny), Cinematography (Simon Chapman), Production Design (Robert Webb), Costume Design (Xanthe Heubel) and Sound.

Matching Jack
Dir. Nadia Tass
This feels like it is going to be a chore to sit through, but sit through it I shall. Nadia Tass has provided some great Aussie cinema in her time (Malcolm, The Big Steal, Amy) but this tale of a mother trying to find a doner for her sick son feels laborious.
Possible Nominations: Actor (James Nesbitt), Actress (Jacinda Barrett), Supporting Actor/Young Actor (Kodi Smit-McPhee), Supporting Actor (Richard Roxburgh), Supporting Actress (Yvonne Strahovski), Original Screenplay (Lynn Renew and David Parker) and Original Music (Paul Grabowski).

Mother Fish
Dir. Khao Do
Oh no! Not another Khao Do film!! Save me now. Let me guess, this one deals with yet another part of Do's childhood? And let me guess again, this time he's filmed the entire thing through the slit between two planks of wood on a refugee boat?
Possible Nominations: I don't care.


Subdivision
Dir. Sue Brooks
We seem to have hit a rough patch here, haven't we? Sue Brooks made the fantastic Japanese Story, but this real estate comedy (yes, you read correctly - REAL ESTATE COMEDY) looks dire. It flopped upon initial release last year and is now being re-released, which is very rare, so good on 'em for sticking with it.
Possible Nominations: None. I can't see this going anywhere.

Tomorrow, When the War Began
Dir. Stuart Beattie
Director Stuart Beattie (screenwriter on Australia, Collateral and the Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy amongst others) sure is diving into the deep end with his first film, an adaptation of the wildly popular Tomorrow series of books. It's like Red Dawn, but set in Australia. Cue explosions and pretty young local castmembers.
Possible Nominations: Film, Direction (Beattie), Actress (Caitlin Stasey), Adapted Screenplay (Beattie), Editing (Marcus D'Arcy), Cinematography (Ben Nott), Production Design (Robert Webb), Original Music (Reinhold Heil and Johnny Klimek), Visual Effects and Sound.

The Tree
Dir. Julie Bertucelli
This Australian/French co-production was the closing night film at Cannes - quite prestigious - and has played both Sydney and Melbourne film festivals. It stars Charlotte Gainsbourg in the Aussie countryside whose children think their dead father's spirit has taken up residency is the giant tree on their property. Naturally. I feel this could go the way of last year's Disgrace and get nothing. We shall see.
Possible Nominations: Film, Actress (Charlotte Gainsbourg), Supporting Actor (Marton Csokas), Young Actor (Morgana Davies), Adapted Screenplay (Julie Bertucelli), Cinematography (Nigel Bluck), Production Design (Steven Jones-Evans), Original Music (Gregoire Hetzel) and Sound.

The Tumbler
Dir. Marc Gracie
The one film in the lineup that I had never heard of before. Since it's production date on IMDb is 2008, I doubt it'll be very good. Every year there's one or two of these sort of unknown titles and they're almost always atrocious.
Possible Nominations: None.

The Waiting City
Dir. Claire McCarthy
A couple are forced to re-evaluate their lives when political paper-pushing stalls their adoption. I really liked this movie, neck and neck with Animal Kingdom at the moment for favourite Aussie film of the year (after The Horseman though) and I hope it does well. My review.
Possible Nominations: Film, Direction (McCarthy), Actor (Joel Edgerton), Actress (Radha Mitchell), Original Screenplay (McCarthy), Editing (Veronika Jenet), Cinematography (Denson Baker), Costume Design (Justine Seymour) and Original Music (Michael Yezerski).

And that's that. Curiously, a couple of films that would have easily qualified - South Solitary and The Kings of Mykonos: The Wog Boy 2 - weren't entered. Particularly odd for the former because it probably could have picked up a Costume Design nomination and maybe even a Best Actress nomination if enough AFI members like it (I did not). Considering The Horseman qualified I can only imagine movies such as Triangle and Savages Crossing weren't entered. Meanwhile I'm sure My Tehran For Sale, Playing for Charlie, Girl Clock! and The Marriage of Figaro were kept out by not playing the required cities for eligibility, which is a shame because we've had no way of seeing some of those titles around here.

We'll find out who's nominated in October. I can't wait!

Love

The marketing for upcoming local horror film The Loved Ones kicked into overdrive today with the release of a brand spankin' new poster as well as, at long last, a trailer. Watch the trailer below or watch it here in bigger, better quality.

The Loved Ones, as the PR tells us, is "like the bastard lovechild of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Pretty in Pink", which I think says a lot. It stars Xavier Samuel (and his hair) as a High Schooler who turns down a date to the dance (read: prom), but discovers... well, you'll see. I've felt so stupid all year knowing I could have seen this at last year's MIFF and didn't. Since then it has gone on to win a major prize at the Toronto International Film Festival and spark some almighty buzz within the local industry. Those who have seen it have not left disappointed. The world now awaits on the word of David "Shaky Cam" Stratton!


How about that?!? Certainly packs a punch, doesn't it? It looks sick and twisted and insane and I can't wait until I get to see it at the end of the month.