’Thelma & Louise’

The cult female empowerment tale and a revamp of the Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid story, Thelma & Louise is as fresh today as it was 30 years ago.

Worn down by the disappointments of love, waitress Louise (Susan Sarandon) persuades the unhappily married Thelma (Geena Davis) to escape home-life drudgery for a weekend away in the mountains. Only they never make it. A quick stop at a bar en route sees Thelma sexually assaulted and Louise issuing on-the-spot justice. Wanted for questioning, their buddy road trip spirals ever downward as sympathetic Arkansas State Police Investigator Hal Slocomb (Harvey Keitel) desperately tries to apprehend them before the FBI.

A glorious mix of thrills, poignancy and social commentary, director Ridley Scott gives us unabashed entertainment as the two women plough their way across state lines.

Nominated for 6 Oscars in 1992 including best director, actress (x2) and cinematography, won 1 for best original screenplay (Callie Khouri)

Rating: 80%

Director: Ridley Scott (Gladiator, Napoleon)

Writer: Callie Khouri (Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood, Something to Talk About)

Main cast: Susan Sarandon (Rocky Horror Picture Show, Dead Man Walking), Geena Davis (Marjorie Prime, The Fly), Harvey Keitel (Reservoir Dogs, The Irishman)

’C*A*U*G*H*T’

Absurd and irreverent topical spoof comedy series that fails to hit the mark, in spite of its potential of targetting media and global power sructures.

Four captured Australian soldiers on the independent island state of Behati-Prinsloo plead for their lives on a video transmitted around the world. The Australian government denies having armed forces in the region – as do the Americans. Unbeknownst to the sports-mad Australian PM (Bryan Brown), the soldiers are there under orders. Only the order is issued by an Australian general (Erik Thomson) for personal reasons and the need to destroy compromising evidence.

C*A*U*G*H*T being a comedy spoof, what follows is a farcical six part series that mixes geopolitical and environmental commentary, media reportage on terrorism and/or freedom fighters as well as the Stockholm syndrome in extremis and the leader of the four, Rowdy Gaines (Ben O’Toole), using the media coverage to promote his crowd-sourcing website to raise money for his daughter’s lifesaving medical expenses in the US. Oh – and there’s Sean Penn (as Sean Penn) parachuted in to try and save the day (and his own name) under the auspices of his NGO.

It’s all very silly and very very occasionally funny but also very Australian. Language and the use of body prosethetics (the proudest smile on the face of naked soldier Lincoln Younes gives you an indicator of one of the prosethetics) will be confronting for some. By commenting through comedy, tropes are inevitably ten a penny. The politically correct Alexander England, holed up in the island camp with his other three colleagues, is annoying but arguably the most successful of all characterisations (a view shared by rebel trooper Mel Jarnson as a love affair develops between the two). The least successful is the yellow and green track suit wearing PM and his constant use of sporting analogies (to the point the American ambassador has no idea what he’s talking about) as negotiations back in Sydney (no mention of Australian capital, Canberra!) try to get to the bottom of the escalating international embarrassment.

Hit and miss – but significantly more cringe-worthy miss than hit.

Rating: 37%

’Feud’

A legendary feud between two legendary screen idols comes to a head with the making of the 1962 feature Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? – the first time Bette Davis and Joan Crawford had shared the limelight in the same film.

It’s a delicious premise as the once most beautiful woman in the world (Crawford – Jessica Lange) is pitched head to head with the once most talented woman in the world (Davis – Susan Sarandon). With their popularity on the wane with few roles for older women (extraordinarily they were both only in their mid-50s), both stars need the feature to be a success. As does director Robert Aldrich (Alfred Molina) – his last few films have all bombed at the box office.

The alcoholic Crawford is old school Hollywood – Los Angeles resident who continues to maintain the glamorous front in spite of a distinct shortage of cash. Confidant with the notorious gossip columnist Hedda Hopper (a splendid Judy Davis), Crawford is generally safe from the poison pen of Hopper. Which is more than can be said of the east coast resident, the intelligent, determined Bette Davis. Made party to the negotiations with the film by Crawford, Hopper has a field day in revealing any salacious gossip she can on the upstart, Davis.

Feud is a fun eight part ride as barbed comments fly eighteen to the dozen – with studio boss Jack Warner (Stanley Tucci) encouraging the feud. With leaks aplenty, the media is never far from the story and as long as the two women are at loggerheads, the more interest there is in the film. And of course, Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? was a box-office success, leading to Oscar nominations and the hag horror genre. The film’s success led to further confrontations between the two women – their connection to the film did not end when the director announced ‘that’s a rap’ on the final day of shooting.

It’s an engrossing eight part miniseries that goes behind the scenes of old Hollywood. But old style glamour is in short supply – Crawford’s only friend (aside from the vodka bottle) appears to be her maid/general dogsbody Mamacita (Jackie Hoffman) whilst Davis is struggling with motherhood and 16 year-old daughter, B.D. Merrill (Kiernan Shipka). Not lost is the irony that the two were being played by the system and had they pulled together, they and others could have had so much more say in the industry. Both individually recognised it but personal enmity could not be overcome.

A Ryan Murphy production and based on the book by Laurence Leamer, Feud is calmer and more restrained than series such as Hollywood and American Horror Story. At eight episodes, pace palls as the energy is strained. But, thoughtful and considered, Joan with desperation and Bette with defiance, Feud looks to the impact the system and expectations placed on the two women and the resultant decades of bitterness that existed between them.

Rating: 70%

‘The Lovely Bones’

A murdered teenage girl watches over her family, desperate for them to heal so that she can move on. But the murderer also remains a threat.

Popular Susie Salmon (Saoirse Ronan – Brooklyn, Ammonite) falls victim to neighbour, George Harvey (a deeply unsettling Stanley Tucci – Spotlight, Supernova). A desperate search by police, family and friends reveal nothing. As Susie watches and comments on unfolding events, her family splits apart. With dad (Mark Wahlberg – The Departed, Ted) unable to come to terms with loss, mom (Rachel Weisz – Black Widow, Denial) eventually moves out. But as time passes, sister Lindsey (Rose McIver – The Piano, Brightest Star) feels she is being watched.

Adapted from the bestseller by Alice Sebold, The Lovely Bones packs a graceful punch as director Peter Jackson (King Kong, The Lord of the Rings trilogy) oscillates between tension and family bonding. At its best, it works well – but the scenes of the sugar candy celestial afterlife are deeply questionable and off-mark.
Nominated for 2010 best supporting actor Oscar (Tucci).

Rating: 58%

‘A Bad Moms Christmas’

Women behaving badly – and, like its predecessor, Bad Moms, it’s shamelessly silly, occasionally belly-laugh fun, unquestionably formulaic yet ultimately a minor diversion.

The ‘bad moms’ of the first, Mila Kunis, Kristen Bell and Kathryn Hahn are joined, unexpectedly, for the festivities by their ‘bad moms’ – the wealthy and controlling Christine Baranski, Cheryl Hines looking to be the best friend of her daughter and a commitment-challenged Susan Sarandon. Over the next few days, as 4 hour Russian opera, sushi-stations, house purchases, male genital waxing (!) and disastrous soirees feature on the unplanned agenda, so family ties are challenged and friendships tested.

Christine Baranski is a fabulously judgemental and Kathryn Hahn continues to prove she is one of the best comedic actresses around. But the material is lightweight at best.

Rating: 42%

Director: Jon Lucas (Bad Moms, 21 and Over), Scott Moore (Bad Moms, 21 and Over)

Writer: Jon Lucas (Bad Moms, The Hangover I,II, III), Scott Moore (Bad Moms, The Hangover I,II, III)

Main cast: Mila Kunis (Black Swan, Forgetting Sarah Marshall), Kristen Bell (Veronica Mars, Burlesque), Kathryn Hahn (The Visit, We’re the Millers)