Elizabeth Debicki

Armed with only one word, Tenet, a secret agent known as The Protagonist is sent on a mission to stop the end of the world : Having just revisited the Christopher Nolan back catalogue I was intrigued to catch TENET in the cinema and on IMAX as the film itself was shot by Hoyte van Hoytema, the DP on this movie using both 70 mm film and IMAX : As an overall film experience Tenet is thrilling from start to finish, from it’s breathtaking european locations (you’d never guess that Nolan is a big fan of 007) and heart pounding score from the Black Panther maestro Ludwig Goransson to it’s cast including the likes of John David Washington, Robert Patterson & Elizabeth Debicki who are all mightly impressive, especially Patterson who in my opinion is the star of the movie : my favourite moments include the astonishing car chase, the opera scene which is chaotic but brilliantly shot and all the screen time Elizabeth Debicki & Kenneth Brannagh share, with Brannagh playing a Russian villain with a complex insanity that terrifies Debicki and in turn motors the heart of Nolan’s story : there were reports on my social media timeline that the sound/dialogue was poor, but in my experience it was the opposite, totally clear and incredible allround : IMAX showcases Nolan’s latest in a dazzling way, an intriguing mind melt with spectacular action blended with an exciting, facinating narrative, however I do feel that the film could have been 20mins longer, it seems some of the early exchanges could have benefited with it’s story being fleshed out a bit more : that being said If your a fan of Christopher Nolan’s movies then TENET is a must on the big screen, take your mask and enjoy the experience it’s truly worth it ★★★★

Breath (2018) – Movie Thoughts

Posted by absolutebadasses on August 25, 2018

Posted in: Movie Reviews, Reviews. Tagged: aussie movie, australia, Ben Spence, breath poster, breath review, Elizabeth Debicki, film nerd, film thoughts, films, love movies, movie, movie geek, movie review, Sam Coulter, screen australia, Simon Baker, surfing, tim winston, tim winston breath. Leave a comment

BREATH : Simon Baker
Sam Coulter, Ben Spence, Elizabeth Debicki, Simon Baker

I’ve not read Tim Winston’s novel BREATH that was published in 2008 but have just seen it’s film adaption by debut director Simon Baker and it’s an absolute peach, a slow burning coming-of-age surfing movie set in 70s Australia where two friends Pikelet & Loonie discover a thrill seeking adventure amongst the waves – Samson Coulter & Ben Spence give wonderful performances as the two lads, the chemistry between them gives authenticity to their friendship and the fact that both lads are top surfer’s in real life helps enormously – along with the boys surfing & interaction with Simon Baker’s character Sando who’s a retired ex-surfing champ I really enjoyed the scenes between Coulter’s Pikelet & Eva played by the incredibly gifted Elizabeth Debicki these scenes are gorgeous and handled superbly – I must also mention the photography and especially the water sequences in the movie that are simply stunning and quite breathtaking to watch – If you’d like to watch a movie with no green screen, raw acting talent and a lovely story about friendship & adventure then Simon Baker’s Breath is for you – An Aussie Gem from start to finish ★★★★½

It may not have the first movies ambition or the second’s intensity but The Cloverfield Paradox is actually a shit load of crazy ass fun – firstly if your a fan of 2008’s Cloverfield and it’s sequel of sorts 2016’s wonderful 10 Cloverfield Lane then I’m pretty confident you will find something in Paradox that will appeal to your movie loving heart and although the films coupled to the others in the franchise it most certainly has it’s own identity, very dark at times with a side order of light hearted Evil Dead humor – like most low budget scifi Paradox unashamedly takes from other classics in the genre and why the hell not, one minute you will be reminded of Alien the next Aliens and Event Horizon and with a genius cast that includes David Oyelowo & Gugu Mbatha-Raw, some pretty neat effects and an atmospheric score by Battlestar’s Bear McCreary it’s a movie that really does warrent enjoyment (in a popcorn style movie kind of way) and secondly it’s on Netflix so it’s free (well sort of) ★★★½

Back in the late 90’s Ritchie was one of the most exciting new filmmaker’s to hit our screens, from his witty, violent debut Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels followed by the equally brilliant Snatch these film’s were packed with his trademark visual stamp of quick, witty storytelling with a side helping of brutality and colorful if not likeable characters, he was a filmmaker on top of his game but then things got complicated, Ritchie met and married Madonna and in my opinion his focus went, 2002’s Swept Away was a shocker and in 2005 and 2008 respectively came two average and somewhat lackluster efforts in Revolver and Rock’n’Rolla both movies written & directed by Ritchie with both failing to ignite the passion of old – then in 2009 after his marriage to Madonna was over the unthinkable happened, Hollywood came calling and Ritchie sold his soul to the devil, churning out two big screen, big budget Sherlock Holmes movies that sadly added nothing new to the genre and did very little to bring Ritchie out of his career spiraling doldrums – yes OK the movies did good business at the box office but in fairness these two films that starred Robert Downey Jr could have been directed by any action movie director, it seemed that Ritchie’s originality had vanished and was replaced by an imposter….

Four Years later…. and Guy Ritchie brings us yet another big budget, Hollywood action movie but before you * sigh and say really? * this one unlike the Holmes movies has a special ingredient, from start to finish Guy was totally involved in the writing process – so here’s what I thought….

MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E is super stylish, quick witted and contains some of the slickest action scenes I’ve seen in the cinema this year – keeping the setting of the movie in the 60s was a master stroke, the magic of the music, the gorgeous locations & dare I say it the striking beauty of its cast enhanced my overall enjoyment of the film – the relationship between Cavill’s Napoleon Solo and Hammer’s Illya Kuryakin is the real gut of the movie, as actors they oozed chemistry both delivering their finest screen work to date, Cavill looking more at ease playing a super spy rather than Superman and showing me that he is easily the front runner to replace Craig as the next Bond, it’s easily his best screen role to date – Ritchie’s witty screenplay allows each of their characters to come to the fore, Solo’s wisecracking and Kuryakin’s anger issues make for a delicious cocktail of respect & bad ass rivalry allowing us the viewer to have so much fun watching it all play out !! ★★★★½

Here’s two new images from movies that already have my film juices flowing – the top still is from Guy Ritchie’s The Man from U.N.C.L.E. yep that one! based on the popular 1960s TV series and stars Henry Cavill, Armie Hammer, Alicia Vikander, Elizabeth Debicki and Jared Harris – and the bottom image is from EVEREST starring Jason Clarke, Josh Brolin, John Hawkes and Jake Gyllenhaal and is directed by Baltasar Kormákur – Enjoy !!