HISHE for she and he.

Have you ever wanted a movie to end differently to the way that it did? Ever wanted to have Superman and Batman chilling in a coffee house chatting about life and being bosses? Well if this is true of you then you need to watch the videos made by HISHE.

They are cartoon realisations of how the creators of this video series thought certain movies should have played out. It's worth checking out and they have something for everybody. (It's true, they don't really cover romantic comedies but then why would you, they all end the same anyway so there isn't any point.)

Ever thought that there were a few problems in the new Batman film that didn't quite sit right with you? Thought that some things in the film were not quite believable and that the ending should have played out a little differently?

Not only are the alternative endings funny and entertaining, but they also look good with the cartoon style that they have gone with and, for people really interested in the creation side of things, there are little videos showing the creation of the cartoon characters like that of  Catwoman. These people are brilliant.

And even if you don't care how these movies ended or if you thought that the movie was very well done, it's still worth checking them out. Even just the superhero ones to see Batman and Superman chatting. It's well worth it just for the scenes with these two in it.

Check them out.

Griff the Invisible

Griff the Invisible is an unusual but uplifting Australian film about the validation of difference that has a big heart and a big imagination. 

This is the story of Griff (Ryan Kwanten), a shy, introverted guy who is bullied in his workplace. By night, however, he becomes a superhero protecting the streets of his neighbourhood. When Griff decides to enact his revenge on his work tormenter through the use of invisibility suits, his world is turned upside down when he is introduced to Melody (Maeve Dermody), an experimentalist (she tests things, theories and stuff) who shares Griff’s passion for the impossible. Essentially the film is a romance between the two in a world that doesn't quite accept them but then doesn't completely reject them either.

Writer and director Leon Ford presents his plot in a subtle, quirky way that at times parallels that of Jean-Pierre Jeunet's Amelie (Le fabuleux destin d'Amélie Poulain, 2001). Sometimes Australian cinema can fall into the trap of trying too hard to be American and we haven’t been able to pull it off. Leon steers clear of the Hollywood Blockbuster genre other superhero movies embrace and turns it on its head, giving this genre an unconventional angle and it’s really refreshing to see. This is not Kick-Ass (Matthew Vaughn 2010) or Spider-Man (Sam Raimi 2002) and it doesn’t try to be. It works so well because it doesn't try to be anything it’s not.

The actors give authentic performances and really bring these awkward but loveable characters to life. The two leads have a genuine honesty in their roles and you get completely pulled into their strange world to the point where you don't know what's real and what's not. Also, they are really well supported, particularly by Patrick Brammall who plays Griff’s brother, Tim. He has a goofy confidence that is a perfect contrast to the sociophobic Griff.

The editing in this film works really well and accentuates the awkward but also the fantasy elements of the film that Kwanten and Dermody choose to immerse themselves in. The film also uses colour to great effect. The three primary colours, blue, yellow and red, are prominent throughout and help to emphasise the binary opposition that the film presents between fantasy and reality. One drawback to this film is that at times you feel alienated from the fantasy elements of the film. You are invited to watch but not invited to join. It also follows a predictable and familiar plotline but it is the concept that makes this film so unique and the original way it is presented.

This is one Australian film that should not go unnoticed. It is such a rare film and a surprisingly beautiful one.

Drink.ing.

Why do people drink alcohol?

Yes, it can be awesome fun. You talk, dance, sing, make friends and don't even care what other people think. You get to be the most extroverted extrovert with out even trying. When you are drunk, no matter what you do, it's awesome. You have never danced so well. Your should have a record deal because, who else can sing as well as you? You are the next Beyonce or Beiber or whoever makes the most money. There are no strangers when you are drunk, everyone is your best friend. Everyone loves you and you love everyone no matter who they are. Let's face it, life is pretty awesome for those few hours that you are drunk. And the drunker you get, the more alcohol you want. No amount of alcohol is too much. You can never have too many shots and there is no one that can beat you in a drinking contest and if they do, you just demand a rematch until you win.

But then you get tired. Then you think, "Oh, I have work tomorrow." The high that the alcohol had you on starts to wear off. Instead of showing everyone your interpretive dance moves to Someone Like You, you decicde to sit down. Before you realise it, you are lying down. Then you realise how thirsty you are and how much you want water and now that you think about it, you haven't had any water the entire night but you are too tired and you just got comfortable on the hard tiled floor. So you let yourself slump down and then the  world starts spinning. You brain seems to have got up and left you. I'ts so annoyed at you that it has abandoned you to let you face the alcohol on your own.

Then your stomach starts to churn and you have another realisation that you haven't had much to eat during the night. All that is in your stomach is liquid. Then you realise that you don't feel so good and another thing hits you, that the world should not be spinning (it takes you longer than normal because your brain left you, remember). Then another realisation, your body wants all the alcohol to come out of your stomach. And fastest way is the way it came in. You attempt to get up. You half manage but it's an awkward sight to look at. You make a bet with yourself over whether you can make it to the toilet. When you don't make it to the toilet you are overjoyed that you won the bet. It's a short lived victory because along comes another realisation, when you make a bet with yourself and you bet against yourself, you still lose.

So having not made it to the toilet, you look for anything else you can find that isn't the floor, you manage to find a pot plant, or something that you think is a pot plant. Then it's over and you feel sort of okay and you attempt to look for somewhere to rest your head a bit while you wait for yourself to feel a little better, but at this point, the floor is looking so attractive that you just have to lie on it. It would be a crime not to lie on that ridiculously good looking floor. You decide that the floor is your best friend and you whisper sweet nothings to it as you slowly fall into what you think will be the best sleep you have ever had. Before too long, the dream you are having starts to swim and then your stomach feels funny again and you are running faster than you think Usain Bolt has ever run in his life to get to the toilet. You don't make it. Now that you think about it, you didn't actually make it to your feet. You got as far as your knees, shuffled forward a bit and then fell sprawling on that ridiculously good looking floor... But at least there was something that resembled an old pizza box. When you are able to sit up again, you have a good think and realise that this isn't you house, you don't really know where you are and you actually have no idea where the toilet in this place is. You crawl a few more metres and pass out from this overly strenuous exercise.

Your world is still spinning a lot. Your dreams are quite disturbed. Your mouth is really dry and your brain wants to come back but it is torn between its loyalty to you and its desire not to be around while you are suffering from alcohol absorption. Your stomach also considering leaving you but it was too ill to move. 

You wake up. It's light outside. You look around the bedroom you expected that you were in and realise that it is just a hallway, You wonder who spilt all that liquid on the ground behind you. You breathe through your nose. It's definitely not just any liquid. You feel your head and your stomach and a little bit of the night before comes back to you, the part where you couldn't find a toilet fast enough to have something to empty your stomach into. Crap. You try to get up but your head is killing you and the slightest movement makes it feel like your head is going to fall off and that your already empty stomach wants to be emptied further. Too late, you smell the other residents of the house cooking toast.

You wonder what in the hell happened last night. Whose party was it? Whose house are you in? Do you even know the people? Did you come with anyone or did you go on your own? What were you even drinking? Were you really that awesome at dancing or was that in your dream? You don't remember it, but your brain left you so none of these questions get answered. Then your muscles give up on you. You can't move any further, for the whole day. You decide that this is the most comfortable floor you have ever encountered and you don't need to move. For anyone or for anything. Why would you move? This floor is so ridiculously good looking. And your head slumps slowly downward.

Then someone shakes you. "Aren't you supposed to be at work?"

I don't quite understand how people enjoy the feeling after a big night. I would prefer never to drink again rather than have to feel that hungover that I couldn't do anything. I don't know if the fun of the night would ever outweigh having to feel that awful in the morning. I just do not think it is justified. I do not understand. My above situation may be over the top but then again it may not be. All I have to say is WHY? Why do it to yourselves people?

Step Up 4: Revolution of Crap

This is all I have to say about the new Step Up film, Step Up Revolution; 

It is a bad movie.

Movies don't get much worse than this one.

The only thing that this movie has going for it, is the dancing. The dancing is very cool and if it was real, then it would be even cooler. If you took away all the acting and all the story line that this film attempts to put into it and just had the dancing, then it wouldn't be too bad. It wouldn't be as painful as it was to sit through it. I would probably have lost less brain cells.

That is all.

Free Pussy Riot

The members of Pussy Riot have each been sentenced to two years jail.

Three women from the Russian feminist punk collective Pussy Riot were convicted Friday of "hooliganism motivated by religious hatred." Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, 22, Marina Alyokhina, 24, and Yekaterina Samutsevich, 30, were arrested in February following an uninvited "punk prayer" of protest against the iron fist and faux democracy of Russian president Vladimir Putin and calling to account the theological rubber-stamping of Putin's repressive regime by the Russian Orthodox Church. (www.huffingtonpost.com/rose-marie-berger/pussy-riot-sentencing-cant-jail-female-fury_b_1798849.html)

Get on board and help Amnesty International help these women. Go to this link Take Action and send your message to those that wish to inhibit freedom and suppress equality.

Batman is a Rising

IS HE RISING OR JUST BEGINNING? OR IS HE FOREVER? WAIT, IT COULD BE THAT HE IS RETURNING?

It's not just one aspect of this film that makes it good. It's every aspect. Everything about the film just reeks of awesomeness. The film looks great, the cinematography is brilliant, the editing is sharp, quick when it needs to be and controlled well when that needs to happen and the action sequences are breath taking. The choreography of the fight scenes is especially great because the moves, although fast, are not like crazy ninja moves or people from The Matrix and fights that other superhero movies might have but the fighting seems very realistic and you can see the characters struggle with the effort as they get tired and, for me, this really worked cause Batman is human. He is the only human in the most famous of the superheroes (they are called superheroes because they are super human), and so this was attention to detail that really appealed to me. 

And the music. This is almost what impressed me the most. In the previous Batman films I barely noticed the music but in this film for some reason it just really struck a chord with me and I was in awe of it. Hanz Zimmer really goes all out on this soundtrack. The music builds up right when it needs to and the most powerful thing about it is that it drops to almost silence after some of its biggest swells. The music will be all around you, drowning you in its almighty sound and right when you think that it is going to repeat the main theme and get even more intense, it will drop away into nothing as if it was never there in the first place (kind of like Batman disappears if you look away) It's epic and it works so well that you are in the edge of your seat.


Christain Bale reprises his role as Bruce Wayne without batting an eyelid, as if it was almost as natural as breathing. Before this movie I wasn't very sold on Christian Bale as an actor (some of you may scream out in protest, but I haven't seen The Fighter and so my knowledge of Christain Bale in movies is pretty limited to basically just The Prestige and Little Women...) but do not worry, I am sold now. He is pretty great. And of course, we can't forget about the Batman voice (which he still does even when he knows that no one is around...surely that must get tiring on the vocal chords).

Anne Hathaway is fantastic, she really is. She nails her role as Catwoman. She is also hilarious. Her transition from bad ass to the pretend victim or vice virsa to a pleasure to watch. She has a lot of sass and the fact that her cat ears are incorporated into her costume and that they are multifunctional was a really good idea. I was pretty worried that she was playing Catwoman and wished they had chosen an unknown for this part but Hathaway rocked it.

Tom Hardy. What can I say? He is one scary man in a mask. Even though he has limited expression, you always seem to be able to see the emotions that he is trying to portray. He goes from the scariest person, ever, just by laying his hand on someone's shoulder to being so vulnerable near the end of the film that you just want to give the guy a hug and take away all his pain even though he is a diabolical madman. I mean the Joker was insane (and Heath Ledger played that character so well) but he is just not as scary as this guy.

Morgan Freeman, Michael Caine and Gary Oldman are brilliant as always but a real stand out is Joseph Gordon-Levitt. He steals the show off these older guys. I mean, he is just so awesome. He walks around as if he owns this film.


*Spoiler Alert!*

There were a few things, looking back, that were a little odd. For example, how do the people of that prison that attempt to jump to freedom not break their backs? How does the rope not split them into two and cause so much death it's ridiculous? Don't know? I don't know either. But I shall forgive it.
Also, Bane cracks Batman's back when he drops him from above his head onto his knee. Ouch! But then he fixes it by a random prisoner pushing the vertebrae back into place. I am obviously no doctor but that doesn't sound right to me...again, I will forgive it.

Bane's voice. You can just tell that they had to record that again. But if you look at it like my sister pointed out that you could look at it/hear it then it is dealable. If you think about it, it is almost as if Bane is in your head, giving him an almost supernatural quality which makes him pretty scary.
And, although Gary Oldman is a brilliant actor, there were a few times that I could not understand what he was saying. It was a real struggle and I don't normally like to have to struggle to know what people are saying, especially if they are speaking english.

Oh and one more thing that annoyed me from the first time I saw it, the death of Miranda Tate. Really she should have stuck out her tongue and started twitching or something. I have never seen anyone die in real life so I cannot say for sure whether her death could have been real, but it seemed really fake to me.

*End of Spoilers*

I liked this movie better than the first two but then maybe I should watch them again because everyone seems to be disagreeing with me. But I thought that it brought together everything that the others were missing. I would not be able to tell you what they are missing but they were missing something in my opinion. Batman was never a movie that I would say; "Yes, I really feel like watching that right now." That would be something like Easy A or Stardust or Cars. (Childish? Maybe, but I am okay with that.) But I went and saw this new Batman three timesso that's saying something.

Upcoming Australian Films

There are so many Australian films coming out and I think that they all need to be seen.

The Sapphires
Director: Wayne Blair
Stars Chris O'Dowd, Debora Mailman and Jessica Mauboy

 And can I say that it is just soooo good. Why can't Australia make more films like this? It's such a feel good movie and it just made me want to dance. The people sitting next to me were not all that impressed about my dancing whilst they were trying to enjoy their movie. But if it doesn't have you at least tapping your feet, then there must be something wrong. The film has so much to offer (except their CGI which was, in this day and age, laughable but for a small budget film it was forgivable). Debora Mailman is a fantastic actress and she shines on the screen, Jessica Mauboy has an amazing voice and although I don't listen to any of her music, I loved her in Bran Nue Dae and she is equally as great in this and Chris O'Dowd is hilarious. All he has to do is open his mouth, no matter what he says, it makes you laugh because of his whole demeanor and of course his great Irish accent. Oh and did I mention that Judith Lucy has a part in this movie. Although you might not like her character because she is ridiculously racist, Lucy does a good job.
Although a very light, happy movie, it does confront a lot of big topics. Racism for one and not just the treatment of the Aboriginal people in Australia but also the African Americans but other white Americans and the pointlessness of the Vietnam war for another. It has something for everyone so I think that you should all get out there and support Australian film and see it.

To see the trailer click here

The Sapphires has been released and should be in a cinema near you.


Not Suitable for Children
Director: Peter Templeman
Stars Ryan Kwanten, Bojana Novakovic and Laura Brent

 
It's a comedy about a guy, who lives the life he wants without a worry, until he is told by a (maybe) girlfriend that he has a lump where no man wants to have a lump. He gets it checked out and is told that he has testicular cancer and has to get the testicle removed. Sexaul function will return but he will be infertile. So what would any guy do when faced with never being able to reproduce themselves, he tries to find someone that will have his baby before he is schedueled to have the surgery.
Now I have not seen this one but the trailer looked pretty good. This could be a biassed view because I am a fan of Australian film but you can check it out for yourself.

To see the trailer for this one, click here

Not Suitable for Children was released in limited release around the country so I think you will have to look for a DVD to see this one.


Mental
Director: P.J. Hogan
Stars Toni Collette, Liev Schreiber, Rebecca Gibney, Anthony LaPaglia and Debora Mailman (again! But I am fine with that cause she is awesome!)

Now all I can say about this one is that it looks absolutely mental. There is so much going on and well, it looks entertaining. A rather crazy looking, unconventional looking and acting Toni Collette, becomes the nanny of a family of five girls whose mother has been admitted to an asylum and their father hardly knows which girl is which. I may not make it sound that good but check it out for yourself.

Click here to view the Mental trailer

This film is due to be released in early October around the country.