Sarah Watt’s My Year Without Sex trailer

Bustin’ Down The Door

Much more than just another surf movie, this is the previously untold story of surfing. Before four Australians and two South Africans arrived in Hawaii with the goal of starting a world surfing circuit, surfing was simply a hobby. These six had the idea of making it a full time profession and since surfing is now a multi-billion dollar industry, it is safe to say they succeeded. While they revolutionised the sport with new equipment, moves, style and an enthusiasm that bordered on lunacy, not everyone was happy with the exposure. Read more

Restraint

A couple on the run from the police are forced to take refuge with a rich agoraphobic man in country Australia. Frequent visits to the property from local police, a visibly unhinged male lead, and questions from the past keep more than enough tension and twists coming during this surprisingly good film. In recent decades, too many Australian films have been preoccupied with exploiting a perceived and often clichéd Australian aesthetic. With Restraint, the Australian film industry proves it has the acting, writing and directing talent to produce a taut and compelling thriller on a par with the bigger budgets and names coming out of Hollywood. The tension is cleverly teased out from several angles, using the mental illness of the captive, sexual innuendo and the class divide between those on the run and the well-educated man they have taken prisoner. By placing the criminals at the centre of the action and questioning the past of the captive, the film also leaves the audience unsure where to place their empathy, creating further tension and interest, as well as playing with the regular villain-hero dynamic.

Ten Empty

When a son returns home to a sleepy South Australian town for the Christening of his half-sister, he finds his brother suffering from depression and his father and stepmother struggling to cope. This picture isn’t hilarious, action-packed, or at all revolutionary. But is a brilliantly told story of how the lauded traits among males can have disastrous consequences. It is typically Australian, with heavy drinking, barbecues and a ’she’ll be right’ attitude. But when things aren’t fine, the characters are forced to develop, pushing the piece into compelling and layered narrative territory. Instead of simply painting the typical male, that male is taken, twisted and bent through struggle and conflict to show that underneath the clichéd shell, there is a real human inside everyone.

Black Dynamite blaxploitation movie trailer

One very angry and unstoppable man wages war against drugs and malt liquor. A take-off of the old blaxploitation films, this is parody at its best, with many knowing nods to camera and hilarious moments involving clichés taken to their extremes. There’s the Asian kung-fu master, pimps and orphans hooked on heroin. It all begins with Black Dynamite being spurned on his quest for blood after his brother’s brutal murder, and then pushed further for the love of a good woman. There are hoes and guns, along with catchphrases and great one-liners. See it.

Defamation documentary trailer

Does Israel use the Holocaust as an excuse for their continued issues with the Palestine people? According to this film, yes. Are people who criticise Israel’s foreign policy often unfairly labelled anti-Semitic? Again, yes according to this brilliant documentary made by an Israeli-Jew. Instead of passing judgment himself, filmmaker Yoav Shamir is smart enough to put himself and his camera in the right places, surrounded by the right people, and let the people damn themselves. Read more

In The Loop, a darker Yes Minister for modern times

A less clever but much blacker version of Yes Minister, this political comedy farce does excel when it comes to insults. The communication director in the British Government reels off some of the best combinations of expletives I’ve heard in quite a while, and later in the film is equalled by American foes. In terms of content, In The Loop tells of a rush to war in the Middle East and how easily a UN resolution can be manipulated on the back of manipulated information. In a blur of meetings and arguments, educated opinions or arguments are rare and only seem to happen in passing, and this movie presents a terrifying vision of politics. I much prefer The West Wing and its clever, hard-working politicians. Considering the stupidity of Bush and co, however, this piece is probably much closer to the mark.