Category: Film Review

AVENGERS : INFINITY WAR REVIEW AVAILABLE AT BUZZ MAGAZINE

Posted on by Lloyd Marken

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I am very lucky to have had my review for Avengers: Infinity War published at Buzz Magazine. I am fortunate enough to have a lot of reviews of big blockbusters published over at Buzz and they don’t come bigger than this. Please feel free to click here http://buzzmagazine.com.au/avengers-infinity-war/ to read my thoughts and offer any of your own. I hope you enjoy.

Based out of Victoria, Buzz Magazine was one the longest running street press magazines in Australia being published in print from 1993 to 2010. Some fine writers have worked for Buzz over the years and gone onto successful careers in media since and there is simply no way to measure the contribution the mag made to local music over its print run. With such words and minimal advertising on the website the impression could be taken that Buzz is now semi-retired. Yet the site is quite prolific with new write-ups on a daily basis, the ongoing interest of fans old and new and contributions from some very talented people indeed.

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I’m very excited to say that I’ve reached a new milestone with this review at Buzz. This is my tenth review published with them following on from Black Panther, Star Wars: The Last Jedi, Blade Runner 2049, Five Came Back, Atomic Blonde, Spider-Man: Homecoming, Wonder Woman, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2. Let me know if you had particular favourite.

-Lloyd Marken

 

STAR WARS: THE LAST JEDI REVIEW AVAILABLE AT BUZZ MAGAZINE

Posted on by Lloyd Marken

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I’m very fortunate to have had my review of the last Star Wars film published online at Buzz Magazine. Writing a review for Star Wars: The Last Jedi is a challenge. I’ve had endless conversations with family and friends debating character motivations and plot points of various significance. It is a film that has stirred up talk about its merits and failures. I’m excited to see what you think and to share my thoughts. Two years ago I wrote a rambling diatribe about my feelings about The Force Awakens, now here I trying to cut the word length and keep my thoughts coherent in a review for an actual online magazine. How things change if you get a little luck.

Check out the review here http://buzzmagazine.com.au/star-wars-the-last-jedi/ and let me know what you think.

Based out of Victoria, Buzz Magazine was one the longest running street press magazines in Australia being published in print from 1993 to 2010. Some fine writers have worked for Buzz over the years and gone onto successful careers in media since and there is simply no way to measure the contribution the mag made to local music over its print run. With such words and minimal advertising on the website the impression could be taken that Buzz is now semi-retired. Yet the site is quite prolific with new write-ups on a daily basis, the ongoing interest of fans old and new and contributions from some very talented people indeed.

-Lloyd Marken

BLADE RUNNER 2049 REVIEW AVAILABLE AT BUZZ

Posted on by Lloyd Marken

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You’re in your apartment, it has been a rough day. Outside everybody seems to hate you, just metres away on the other side of the door. There’s no family to call, no friends you’re sure really care. You’ve been alone a long time, no partner, no prospects at that shitty job you go to every day past all those people who hate you on the other side of that door. So you switch on a hologram who looks like a movie star who tells you you’re great. Nobody in the family says that, no friend, no one at work but this perfect looking creature does. She suggests you dance but you don’t want to dance. So she immediately changes her mind and tells you she wants to watch TV. She looks perfect and she says whatever you want to hear knowing it before you do. At the back of your mind something tells you this is too perfect. It’s not real and you want her to be real. So they’ll make another model and another one and pretty soon one day she might be real because she’ll have a complete consciousness. When that happens though, when she can really form all her own thoughts, dreams and curiousities how she is going to feel about your apartment? Is she going to still say all those perfect responses you didn’t even know you wanted to hear? At one point are you going to be keeping her a prisoner unable to live her own life? At one point is she going to be a slave and what do slaves do? They revolt. You see you wanted her to be real and now she is but your capacity to deal with that is most likely limited because real relationships are difficult for you which is why all those years before you got her but a real relationship is what you wanted. So are going to set her free to maybe still live with you? What waits for her outside and you?

I saw Blade Runner: 2049 not long after ploughing through the first season of Westworld which very  much is about slaves revolting. I also watched for the first time A.I. so these thoughts were with me when I wrote the above. The ability to communicate and form long lasting relationships is a core concern of our times. In this sense the themes of Blade Runner: 2049 are a natural progression from the questions of the original film but also fitting to 2017. I thought the film was brilliant, one of the year’s best and I am lucky to be able to say that I have had my review of it published on Buzz Magazine. It is such a shame it wasn’t more successful at the box officer but that at least means they won’t flog a dead horse and I believe in time people will discover this film. It is sad though that such a cinematic film was not seen more in cinemas. The editor of Buzz Magazine has had a rough year and I’m very grateful that Buzz is sticking around. Feel free to stop by and like, share or comment on the review and let the editor know if you enjoy Buzz. I certainly love writing for it. You can read my review here http://buzzmagazine.com.au/blade-runner-2049/

Based out of Victoria, Buzz Magazine was one the longest running street press magazines in Australia being published in print from 1993 to 2010. Some fine writers have worked for Buzz over the years and gone onto successful careers in media since and there is simply no way to measure the contribution the mag made to local music over its print run. With such words and minimal advertising on the website the impression could be taken that Buzz is now semi-retired. Yet the site is quite prolific with new write-ups on a daily basis, the ongoing interest of fans old and new and contributions from some very talented people indeed.

-Lloyd Marken

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TOP 20 FILMS OF 2017 LIST AVAILABLE AT X-PRESS MAGAZINE

Posted on by Lloyd Marken

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I count myself very fortunate to have been given the opportunity to contribute to a new publication X-Press Magazine. This is the fifth publication I have been able to contribute to following on from Scenestr, Heavy, Buzz and FilmInk. We were asked to send in our own Top 5s respectively for films and TV shows along with what we thought was the worst. Three of my Top 5 films made the list and two of those had words I’d submitted. I feel very lucky to have reached another goal in my writing career before the close of the year and look forward to doing many more contributions to all the publications I’ve been lucky enough to be published with. Bring on 2018. Please note my Top 10 to feature here on this blog next year around Oscar time will go off films released in 2017 in the U.S. This list done by X-Press Magazine was based on Australian releases for 2017 and does include 2016 American releases. You can read it here http://xpressmag.com.au/the-x-press-top-20-films-of-2017/

X-Press Magazine was established in 1985 and at one point was Australia’s highest circulating free weekly entertainment publication with over 40,000 copies reaching 1,0000 outlets every week.  On the 24th May, 2016 Issue 1527 hit stands. Like many publications of its ilk X-Press Magazine is now foremost an online magazine engaged globally and making the most of the possibilities that new digital technology offers. It’s roots though are tied to its home city, love of local artists and productions and music which it supports wholeheartedly. Perth a capital city most isolated from all the other capitals is continuing to grow and develop culturally and artistically with its own identity and talent. X-Press has always been there to capture this growth and will continue to do so.

-Lloyd Marken

IN THIS CORNER OF THE WORLD REVIEW AVAILABLE AT FILMINK

Posted on by Lloyd Marken

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We’re getting towards the end of year and people start to reflect on what their best films of the year have been. I’ll probably do a list in March next year when all the Oscar releases have come out in Australia. Three though are already on the list as a given and they are Dunkirk and Blade Runner: 2049. The third was a film we saw in September at the Brisbane International Film Festival from Japan called In This Corner Of The World. An animated film about the war years in the Japanese homeland it is a moving tale about the growth of young woman amidst such turmoil. The Australian release date 7th of December coincides with the remembrance of the bombing of Pearl Harbour which would have been an oversight if it had been the U.S. release date but that was the 11th of August and the film has already been seen in most parts of the world. Now it will be Australia’s turn and I highly urge people to seek it out.

You can read my review of the film here https://filmink.com.au/reviews/in-this-corner-of-the-world/ Please feel free to like or share via social media platforms or comment on review page itself or here if you prefer. Appreciate you taking the time to read.

I don’t think it is my best review but I have been lucky enough to have it published at a new publication FilmInk. FilmInk are celebrating their 20th Anniversary this year having gone through several evolutions starting out as a fortnightly free press to a monthly digest sold in newsagents to a monthly free press distributed in cinemas to a premium bimonthly magazine and now Australia’s premiere online magazine. They’re continuing to evolve too moving to cover more streaming and television programs and increase their video content. They are major partners with the Gold Coast Film Festival and the Supernova Pop Culture Expos. As someone who still has quite a few old issues of the magazine that I bought over the years it is quite a thrill to now say I contributed a review to FilmInk.

-Lloyd Marken

THOR: RAGNAROCKS BUT PLEASE NO THOR 4

Posted on by Lloyd Marken

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Taika Waititi did the impossible and got us excited about a Thor Movie. How he did it is pretty simple, he got us excited about Taika Waititi movies and just happened to be directing a Thor movie as well. The trailer promised a rocking soundtrack, gaudy colours that evoked memories of Flash Gordon and a comic tone that would lampoon previous entries. The film delivers on all the marketing in that regard, Thor: Ragnarok has laughs and spectacle as promised but it is missing one key ingredient that previous Waititi films has possessed and where the similarly styled Guardians of the Galaxy films have also shared and that is one of emotion.

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There are massive stakes in this film for Thor regarding his family, his homelands and his friends. You won’t see him shed a tear which is fair enough, maybe that’s not true to his character (by the way what is his character? a smart arse Prince who has matured? after five films I’m honestly not sure) but while throughout he continually references having to get back to Asgard to save his people we honestly don’t feel his connection to them. We don’t really know who they are. It feels almost like two films are running at once, Thor on another planet trying to get back and playing out a fun movie with characters for the most part unrelated to Asgard. Idris Elba as Heimdall on the other hand is engaged in helping the Asgardians and what is happening back home. The film never makes an attempt even a heavy handed one to draw that connection. Adding to that is a cut away to a joke at various times when the impact of a moment could be felt instead. In Hunt For The Wilderpeople we felt loss more keenly there of loved ones and the displacement of home. These themes are present in Thor: Ragnarok but are not nearly as well covered. In that film too things were not glossed over either, if a man had been homeless all his life he could learn to love again but not necessarily be a responsible guardian.

 

So what does the movie get right? First off the opening scene sets the tone with a big battle, some unexpected humour and the use of Led Zeppelin’s Immigrant Song which featured in the teaser trailer. Brushing over some plot elements not shown in marketing  Thor finds himself on a planet named Sakaar trying to get back to Asgard. He is imprisoned and forced to fight in gladiatorial contests. It might have been great to leave somebody he fights as a surprise but we all know what kind of world we’re living in. Keeping that secret would have been impossible and just dumb given how much of an impact it could play in marketing but in a different world that is definitely how you would ideally play it. Speaking of The Hulk, having not reverted back to Banner for some time he is a newly developed character capable of doing good but behaving at times like a sulky toddler. One scene with him and Thor is one of the stronger character beats for both. Other characters include Jeff Goldblum being Jeff Goldblum (that’s not a bad thing), Tessa Thompson as former warrior Valkyrie now a mercenary and Cate Blanchett as new big bad Hela. Blanchett is having the time of her life strutting around confidently as a demi-God with serious betrayal issues and looking damn fine in her skin tight costume. She’s the most powerful character in the film surrounded by men trying to take her down a peg or too constantly. Subtext abounds not least of which when she delights in bossing around macho Karl Urban. Related imageThe pain of Valkyrie and Hela are not undermined by immediately following with a joke and I wish we could have seen some of that given to Thor’s trials and resolving of his relationship with Loki. Still if it is laughs you want this film has them and Waititi himself plays rock monster Korg who gets some of the best laughs. Having this special brand of New Zealand humour present on such a massively global blockbuster must be a real thrill for Kiwis and as an Aussie I certainly enjoyed it.

Maybe I’m getting old but like a lot of blockbusters of late I didn’t care for the ramped up CGI-athon third act finale. The spectacle didn’t engage in the same way say the ending of The Avengers did. Some critics believe the meta-humour and need for a laugh undermines the drama of the Guardians of the Galaxy films but I cried during the sequel as well as laughed. I regret to inform you in Thor: Ragnarok I just laughed. Yet its good to see Marvel taking chances and this is an enjoyably light diversion in this ongoing cinematic universe.

-Lloyd Marken

 

P.S. There was a Museum Exhibition in my hometown a little while back which I hope to do a post of soon. For now here’s a sneak peak of some items you may recognise from the film Thor: Ragnarok.

Copyright Lloyd Marken
Copyright Lloyd Marken
Copyright Lloyd Marken

REVIEW OF YOUNG AUSTRALIAN FILMMAKER SHORTS AVAILABLE ON SCENESTR

Posted on by Lloyd Marken

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A week earlier I was lucky enough to attend the Bryon Bay Film Festival at Brunswick Heads to review the new documentary The Go-Betweens: Right Here. The following Saturday I was able to attend again to see the Young Australian Filmmaker program in Byron Bay itself. We parked on the beach and got caught in the rain on our way to the Bryon Community Centre arriving a little soaked. There were ten short films all made by a group of talented young people vying for the Young Australian Filmmaker Award. You can read more of my thoughts on the films here http://scenestr.com.au/movies-and-tv/young-australian-filmmakers-programme-review-byron-bay-film-festival-20171017

Afterwards it was arranged for me to talk to the director, Cody Cameron-Brown of one short Watchdog. This was an informal chat rather than an interview, nothing was recorded and I simply asked Cody about things that occurred to me after watching his work. Watchdog was inspired by the story of the late Don Ritchie, OAM the hero of The Gap. Image result for don ritchieA man who rescued hundreds of people from suicide over the course of several decades. Speaking to Cody two things became apparent, this is a remarkably talented and insightful artist. Secondly he had done his research about the subject matter and it showed. He had sought out the Ritchie family and their trust in sharing some of Don’s story was not misplaced. While the film is more inspired by Don’s example than telling his exact story the young filmmaker appears to have been driven to honour the man’s legacy and their trust and he has.

It was great to talk to Cody and to see all the films from such promising young talent.

Produced by Eyeball Media Enterprises Scenestr. is an online national magazine with local offices around Australia. With over twenty years of publishing history they’ve excelled at moving into the digital realm but they remain at heart from the streets. They still publish magazines in print for Perth, Adelaide, Sydney and Brisbane every month. If you’re into music they’re a great read but they do cover all of the arts including festivals, stand-up comics, fashion, theatre and film. It is the last two where I’ve been fortunate enough to do some coverage of which I’m very grateful.

-Lloyd Marken

INTERVIEW WITH PALACE CEO BENJAMIN ZECCOLA AVAILABLE ON SCENESTR

Posted on by Lloyd Marken

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I didn’t intend to go away for over a month, there’s been things I’ve been doing and I planned to post often but it just got away from me, overtime shifts, an impromptu getaway and feeble attempts to improve my health and sleeping patterns. So here we are and it’s been more than a month. I feel very frustrated that I’m not getting to write and read as much as I used to but the first thing I had to do was write about Kelly. Now that I’ve done that I will try to catch up on some things I’ve gotten published in the past month.

A few weeks back I jumped at the chance to interview the Festival Director of the Italian Film Festival which tours around Australia at this time of the year. Alas she was ill and last minute I got to speak to the CEO Of Palace Cinemas himself Benjamin Zeccola. Interviews are still a relatively new thing for me and often listening back to the tapes I hear a nervous interviewer building to his questions. How the hell was I gonna go with a CEO?! Well Mr Zeccola was so charming that I grew in confidence during our conversation. We spoke for about 30 minutes about how I met my wife at a Palace cinema, the changing landscape of media and how to program a film festival. It was a truly fascinating conversation with a man who revealed himself to be very grounded, a hopeless romantic but also a savvy businessman. It gave me a great deal of confidence coming out of it and made me realise what a dream it would be for me to do this for a living full time. Alas due to word count restrictions we were only able to print his thoughts on the 2017 Italian Film Festival which you can read here http://scenestr.com.au/movies/lavazza-italian-film-festival-coming-to-a-cinema-near-you

Later I attended the return of the Brisbane International Film Festival where his father Antonio Zeccola was acknowledged for his work in bringing back my favourite hometown film festival. I had thanked Benjamin and Palace for doing so during our interview and I feel eternally grateful for the privilege of being able to do that as a writer for Scenestr.

Produced by Eyeball Media Enterprises Scenestr. is an online national magazine with local offices around Australia. With over twenty years of publishing history they’ve excelled at moving into the digital realm but they remain at heart from the streets. They also publish Scenestr magazine in print every month and I was lucky enough that this featured in all the September issues published across the country. In the Queensland issue it featured alongside another interview I conducted. A digital copy of the printed magazine with two interviews I did for the Queensland September issue can be found here http://scenestr.com.au/read/QLD/2017/1095-QLD/scenestr-QLD-1095.html#p=63

Scenestr18Scenestr focus mostly on music gigs, festivals, stand-up comics, fashion and interviews with local and international bands. If you’re into music they’re a great read but they do cover all of the arts.

-Lloyd Marken

DUNKIRK REVIEW AVAILABLE AT HEAVY

Posted on by Lloyd Marken

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For me Dunkirk is the first great film of 2017 and something that I think will endure in the years to come. It is a new type of war film and has come under criticism for its lack of characterization. I disagree, I think we get to know these people very well even though it is conveyed in a very minimal way. I appreciate the opportunity to have a review of such a great picture published with Heavy Magazine and hope I have done the film and the magazine justice with my review.

Please click on the link here https://heavymag.com.au/film-review-dunkirk/ to read my review and I hope you enjoy.

Heavy is an independent magazine and website that is all about the music and specifically heavy music and supporting the Australian music scene in general. Fortunately for me they do cover film as well and I have been fortunate to have a few things published there.

-Lloyd Marken

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SPIDER-MAN: HOMECOMING AND ATOMIC BLONDE REVIEWS AVAILABLE AT BUZZ MAGAZINE

Posted on by Lloyd Marken

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Recently I went and saw the new Spider-Man movie and my wife took me to a preview screening of the new Charlize Theron actioner Atomic Blonde. I’ve also watched Baby Driver, a film that has been carrying a lot of buzz. Alas I may not share the same enthusiasm for it that many do but there are things I appreciated about it. Maybe I’ll get to a review in time. I also hope to write about the return of the Brisbane International Film Festival which trust me is a cause for celebration. In the meantime I’ve been lucky to have Buzz Magazine publish my reviews for Spider-Man: Homecoming and Atomic Blonde. Links can be found here http://buzzmagazine.com.au/spiderman-homecoming/ and here http://buzzmagazine.com.au/atomic-blonde/ and I hope you enjoy.

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Based out of Victoria, Buzz Magazine was one the longest running street press magazines in Australia being published in print from 1993 to 2010. Some fine writers have worked for Buzz over the years and gone onto successful careers in media since and there is simply no way to measure the contribution the mag made to local music over its print run. With such words and minimal advertising on the website the impression could be taken that Buzz is now semi-retired. Yet the site is quite prolific with new write-ups on a daily basis, the ongoing interest of fans old and new and contributions from some very talented people indeed.

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I count myself very fortunate to have been able to submit 5 reviews there for the blockbusters Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales, Wonder Woman and now Spider-Man: Homecoming and Atomic Blonde.

Hope you’re all well.

-Lloyd Marken