What Film Should You See This Weekend? Reviews Of ‘Amy’, ‘Inside Out’, ‘Terminator Genisys’ And More
A collection of recent film-writing we've published, to help you pick your poison.
This new column aims to collate Junkee’s film writing into a handy Friday listicle, to help you navigate the film releases available over the weekend.
It might be weekly. It might be monthly. It might happen only when we have enough content to fill it out, and it might never happen again. Who knows!
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Amy, dir. Asif Kapadia
Now screening in independent cinemas around Australia.
Reviewed by Nathania Gilson: ‘Remembering The Genius, Sadness And Humanity Of Amy Winehouse‘
“What Amy shows us that other documentaries have shied away from is the possibility that those who were tasked with caring for her well-being during her short life and career failed miserably. Kapadia masterfully doesn’t accuse anyone of anything, but allows the footage (which is organised in strictly chronological order) to speak for itself.”
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Ted 2, dir. Seth MacFarlane
Now screening at major cinemas around Australia.
Reviewed by Clem Bastow: ‘Exactly What Is Seth MacFarlane’s Deal At This Point?‘
“It’s possible there were a few good jokes — as is a MacFarlane production’s wont, there were certainly occasional moments when I laughed loudly — but I could not recount any of them to you in great detail. They pass swiftly and the void they leave is quickly filled by dross, in case you got the wrong idea and thought this was actually a deft comedy.
This is also the sort of film, with its dick-shaped bongs and unfunny Jurassic Park-riffing gags about verdant fields of marijuana plants, that makes me ashamed to smoke weed.”
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Going Clear, dir. Alex Gibney
Now screening at Palace Cinemas around Australia.
Reviewed by Matt Roden: ‘Sydney Film Festival — Reviewed‘
“The fact that so many people have come forward with stories of abuse and manipulation, from a religion that claims to be centred around peace, is disturbing on a level that far outweighs the giggly in-closet gossiping and goofy alien allegories that Scientology might have previously inspired. Going Clear is a good place to begin parting the mists on the deeply strange and creepy institution.”
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Alex Gibney interviewed by Sinead Stubbins: ‘On Going Clear, And The Psychological Intimidation Of The Church Of Scientology‘
Alex Gibney: “[The Church of Scientology] even went after my father to some extent, who has passed away so he can’t defend himself … But I’ve had experience with this alread,y in terms of the online barbs that were thrown at me when I made my film on Wikileaks and Julian Assange. The Assanganistas can be very hostile and aggressive online, in a way that surprised me. I don’t think it would take me aback now, but it did then.
It gets under your skin in a way that’s hard to describe, but it’s like, it’s just a tweet, why should it be bothersome? But it is bothersome. It does destabilise you psychologically, and I think that’s what Scientology depends on.”
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Inside Out, dir. Pete Docter, Ronnie del Carmen
Now screening in major cinemas around Australia.
Reviewed by Clem Bastow: ‘Inside Out Is Funny, Bittersweet, And One Of Pixar’s Finest‘
“Here’s the problem I have with Inside Out, the astounding new addition to the venerable Pixar canon: how do you even begin to review a film that, at its best moments, catapults you into the same realm of catharsis you last experienced during two years on the analyst’s couch?”
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Amy Poehler and Pete Docter interviewed by Steph Harmon:
Pete Docter: “It was almost more difficult than anything I’ve ever done, I think. Scratch the ‘almost’. It was the most difficult thing.”
Amy Poehler: “From a very base perspective, you watch Inside Out as a slapstick comedy and you enjoy it, and then you unpack it as you go home. It’s really deep, and it makes you think about your memories, and your life, and your choices. And so it stays with you, like every good Pixar film.”
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Terminator Genisys, dir. Alan Taylor
Now screening in major cinemas around Australia.
Reviewed by Clem Bastow: ‘Terminator Genisys Is An Insult To All Time-Travelling Robots Everywhere‘
“I’m not merely surprised that James Cameron enthusiastically endorsed the film (as were plenty of others, to the point that producer David Ellison had to publicly state that no money had changed hands); I’m amazed he didn’t burst through a wall at Paramount and tear the print to shreds with his own bare hands. Terminator Genisys is a big pile of hooey.”
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Considered by Mel Campbell: ‘I’ll Always Be Back: Can You Love A Franchise Too Much To Review It?‘
“It has hurt my feelings to see people gleefully hanging shit on Terminator Genisys. And that’s worth examining. In part, it’s the usual self-doubt I experience when I find myself on the wrong side of critical consensus. I don’t take pride in being a free-thinking contrarian. I worry that I ‘got it wrong’. And in this case, I worry my fandom has clouded my judgment.”
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