November 11, 2009 | New Film | by Xavier Toby |

A documentary about one of the world’s most famous fashion designers? Hmm. Not a film I’d ever choose to see, but sometimes we do what we don’t want to in order to make friends happy. It’s called compromise apparently, and the experience reminded me that any material, if well structured and presented, can make a decent film. The filmmakers follow the over-tanned Valentino Garavani and his long-term lover and business partner Giancarlo Giammetti. Read more

November 9, 2009 | New Film | by Xavier Toby |

Larry David plays a slight variation on his Curb Your Enthusiasm incarnation, spouting some of the most articulate rants on humanity in Woody Allen’s new comedy. I enjoyed last year’s Vicky Cristina Barcelona, but this is definitely better. It’s a spectacularly executed comedy farce, with the action constantly escalating along the way, adhering to the old comedy formula of putting the characters through hell for big laughs. Read more

September 10, 2009 | New Film | by Xavier Toby |

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.

September 8, 2009 | New Film | by Xavier Toby |

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

September 1, 2009 | New Film | by Xavier Toby |

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.

August 24, 2009 | New Film | by Xavier Toby |

The Japanese slaughter thousands of dolphins every year, and if you’ve even been to Sea World and clapped and smiled at the dolphin show, you’re adding to the problem. Seriously. Dolphins. Slaughtered. WTF? So there’s this cove in the small fishing village of Taiji in Japan, and every day during dolphin season, they round up a few hundred dolphins. The dolphin trainers from water parks around the world then arrive and pick out what they’re after, paying over $100,000 for each animal. The rest are then slaughtered and sold to Japanese consumers. Read more

August 5, 2009 | New Film | by Xavier Toby |

Isn’t Mike Tyson that psychotic ex-heavyweight champion who speaks with a slight lisp and looks like he’d struggle to finish a ten-piece jigsaw? Yes, he is. So doesn’t a film where he tells his own story, in his words, sound like it’d be about as coherent as a dog trying to bark out the instructions on how to build a space shuttle? It did to me, but if you’re going to pass judgement on a film you do need to see it first. Which I did, and Tyson is superb. Iron Mike is a natural storyteller, probably helped by some clever editing. But best of all, he is brutally honest throughout. Read more

August 3, 2009 | New Film | by Xavier Toby |

I didn’t see this film when it first came out because I thought it was just another churned out by Seth Rogen. Luckily, he’s only the lead actor, and this picture is actually written and directed by Kevin Smith of Clerks and Chasing Amy fame. Smith’s favorite actors appear throughout, along with his wicked sense of very wrong humor and snappy dialogue. Read more

July 22, 2009 | New Film | by Xavier Toby |

Remember American Beauty? How it won all those Oscars? A lot of people think the film didn’t deserve such recognition. I did. I thought it was brilliant, and I thought this film, also directed by Sam Mendes, was better. It got nowhere near the recognition though. That happens to some movies. I don’t know why. Read more

July 21, 2009 | New Film | by Xavier Toby |

Sometimes it’s best to keep it simple, and that’s certainly true for this disarmingly uncomplicated story of a friendship between a young child and a wild fox. This film is a subtle reminder of the beauty of nature, without ever over-stressing the point. The forest setting is breathtakingly rendered throughout the piece, and scenes involving the fox and the child are mesmerizing, as the child manages to gain the trust of the wild animal. Broader themes pepper the piece, but these are so seamlessly incorporated into the main narrative that they never interrupt the flow. A lovely meditation of a film.

June 27, 2009 | New Film | by Xavier Toby |

Based on the Booker Prize Winning novel by J.M. Coetzee, John Malkovich is superb as David Lurie, a poetry professor without much of a moral compass. He is dismissed from his university in South Africa for taking advantage of a student, and moves to the country to live with his daughter, where the crimes she suffers through forces him to analyse his own mistakes. Disgrace is a wonderfully layered film, filled with complex characters and almost requires repeated viewing to fully appreciate the many issues covered. Despite the lack of action the piece never drags. At its worst, film is disposable and boring. At its best, film informs, inspires debate and forces each viewer to question their own moral code. This is film at its best.

June 24, 2009 | New Film | by Xavier Toby |

An Australian film that focuses on the hardships suffered by a typical lower-class family. I can feel you cringe, but there’s no need. This isn’t another clanger that relies on clichés and lame jokes, that portrays average Australians as simple and backward. Here are intelligent, warm, loving people struggling with a series of hardships with individuality, honesty and strength. Read more

June 18, 2009 | New Film | by Xavier Toby |

A few years ago, a few German high school students went a bit nuts. The students had been adamant that fascism could never again take hold in Germany. So the teacher started a social experiment to prove that it could, and the students got a little caught up in it, to say the least. In reality, the whole thing was shut down before it got too out of control. This film is a fictionalised version of that out of control experiment and does an excellent job of showing, in a contemporary setting, just how easily fascism can develop support and discriminate against those involved, with even the teacher caught up by the amount of power he has over the students.

Cool Travel / Old style, new class at Sydney’s Bar Cleveland

June 4, 2009 | Cool Travel | by Xavier Toby |

For some reason, over the last decade nearly every pub in Sydney has been systematically destroyed. I’m not sure who’s doing it, or why, but a someone is ripping out every ounce of character, replacing it with bright lights, flat screens, garish colours and emotionless interiors. Bar Cleveland on Cleveland St in Surry Hills seems to be one venue that has so far escaped. It could easily be just another big pub, but it’s not. Recent renovations have faithfully rendered an art-deco inspired interior to surround the impressive centrepiece, the large original bar. The interior is kept dim, the couches are comfortable, the beer is cold and the food is decent.

New Music / Dragging it out with The Kingpins

June 4, 2009 | New Music | by Xavier Toby |

Women dressing as men dressing as women, then performing. Confused? You shouldn’t be. The Kingpins plunder all that’s cringe worthy and noteworthy from 1980s music videos for their live performances and video clips. After beginning in the Sydney drag scene, they won several competitions and have now gone on to tour internationally. Their live shows are known for skimpy outfits and intense energy, and often feature copious amounts of cock-rock which embodies a sarcastic brand of misogyny. The high-quality videos then cast that same judgmental eye over everyday spaces and the bland repetition in most people’s lives.