Sydney Film Festival Closing Night 2013

Sunday night saw the Sydney Film Festival celebrate the end of its 60th year by bestowing the $60,000 Sydney Film Prize to Nicholas Windig Refn's Only God Forgives. This is the second win for Refn, who won the Official Competition back in 2009 with Bronson. 

I cannot wait to talk more about Only God Forgives; good lord what a spectacular looking, ghastly film! I think I'm still reeling. 

The other Sydney Film Festival winners for 2013:

FOXTEL Australian Documentary Prize at Sydney Film Festival 2013 awards $10,000 to Buckskin, directed by Dylan McDonald.

Dendy Award winner for Best Live Action Short is Perception, directed by Miranda Nation and produced by Lyn Norfor.

Rouben Mamoulian Award winner, sponsored by Dendy Cinemas: Damien Lyons, director of Record.

Yoram Gross Animation Award: Butterflies, directed by Isabel Peppard, produced by Warwick Burton.

I was again delighted to host the awards ceremony, this time joined by my fellow Spoiler Guy Giles Hardie. Here are some snaps from the night - see if you can pick the designer of my gorgeous orange dress: Gary Begini. 

Spoiler Guys Live at Sydney Film Festival Hub

Tonight the Spoiler Guys will be reviewing LIVE at the Sydney Film Festival Hub. We wanted to pick a film associated with this year's festival, and after asking listeners to vote in our poll we've landed on memory lane with Jesse and Celine.

If you're in Sydney, please come along to the Lower Town Hall at 6:30pm (RSVP on Facebook), or you can join us on Twitter and stay tuned for the podcast.

Spoiler Guys Podcast: The Hangover Part III

Download the latest Spoiler Guys episode to:

a) Hear which film will we be reviewing in our upcoming LIVE recording this Friday 14th June, 6:30pm at the Sydney Film Festival Hub

b) Hear how Marc managed to pay to see Hangover 3 and miss the funniest scene.

c) Hear us ponder just how violent a hangover might actually make this film funny (excepting Melissa McCarthy - she's awesome).

Head over to iTunes or join the 56,000 odd streaming via Soundcloud (craziness!):

Limelight Magazine: Farewell, My Queen

Upstairs/downstairs costume dramas are a dime a dozen these days, but be sure to save some intrigue for Farewell, My Queen (Les Adieux à la Reine). This sumptuous yet grittily grounded drama sweeps audiences back into the Court of Versailles in 1789. Our guide is Sidonie Laborde (Léa Seydoux), the Queen’s (Diane Kruger) reader and fiercely loyal subject. We follow as she stomps, creeps, sleeps and falls within the gilded hallways, while outside the gates revolution is brewing.

Director Benoît Jacquot brings Chantal Thomas’s bestselling novel to stunning life. Yes, the production design and costuming are impeccable, but it is the life of Versailles that Jacquot captures: all the petty politics, positioning and preening. And that is simply a glorious sight to see.

We all know how the saga ends, so it is a testament to the screenplay and Seydoux’s performance that, from her angle, the story feels
so thrillingly immediate. Kruger impresses in her majestic turn as Marie-Antoinette; she effortlessly commands the screen in what is surely a career highlight. Even where the film begins to pull at bodices — in a love triangle of sorts between the Queen, Sidonie and La duchesse Gabrielle de Polignac (Virginie Ledoyen) — Kruger’s blistering emotion captivates, and, more importantly, convinces.

4 Stars

Australian release date: 6 June 2013

Published in the June 2013 issue of Limelight Magazine

Spoiler Guys Podcast: The Great Gatsby

I'm late to the party again! But by now I'm sure that means most have you have decided for yourselves if Baz Luhrmann's Gatsby is indeed great, so you can waste no time at all in heading over to iTunes to download our podcast, or stream via Soundcloud below:

Spoiler Guys Podcast: Iron Man 3

Somehow I've found myself a week behind posting these podcasts. Things are only going to get more crazy as the Sydney Film Festival swings into town, so if you want to stay up to date, then please subscribe to us in iTunes, or keep an eye on our website.

Speaking of the SydFilmFest, the Spoiler Guys are going to be recording LIVE at the Hub on Friday 14th June at 6:30pm. We're asking listeners to let us know which film they'd like us to review, so head on over to the poll to cast your vote.

Announcements aside, lots of shiny fun was had reviewing Iron Man 3, so please download the episode, or stream via Soundcloud below:

Limelight Magazine: Tabu

Every so often a film comes along that recharges your love of cinema. Miguel Gomes’ Tabu is just that gem: a film of such artistry and daring that you’ll be left dazzled by the possibilities of the medium.

Mind you, like any worthwhile love, it doesn’t come easily. Audiences will have to reckon with a two-part, black-and-white tale of contemporary Lisbon and colonial Africa; with the latter half delivered entirely dialogue-free. Instead it is recounted using in voiceover and ambient sound.

With that fair warning, however, you can be swept up in a tale of forbidden romance set at the foothills of Mount Tabu. The fate of the young lovers is set against the opening portrait of a dotty old woman Aurora (Laura Soveral), to whom we are introduced by her caring neighbour Pilar (Teresa Madruga).

Sharing its main and subtitles with F. W. Murnau’s 1931 film, this opening ‘Paradise Lost’ gives way to the ‘Paradise’ of Aurora’s youth as an heiress on an African farm. Glossing over the political and moral mire of colonialism, Tabu revels instead in the onscreen ardour and sensory playfulness of a dialogue-free tableau. Alongside Oscar winner The Artist, Tabu is a stylish and romantic trip back into the silent era.

4 1/2 stars

Published in the May 2013 issue of Limelight Magazine

Australian release date: 16 May 2013