Tag: Australia

Screening Room: ‘The Dry’

On By chrisbarsantiIn Adaptations, Books, Film - NewLeave a comment

My review of the perfectly okay new Eric Bana mystery The Dry is at Slant:

It would be difficult to find a worse candidate for solving the murder-suicide that lies at the heart of Robert Connolly’s The Dry than its hero, federal police officer Aaron Falk (Eric Bana). Not only is he prejudiced about the case because he was once close friends with Luke (Martin Dingle Wall), the initial suspect, but almost everyone in the small town where the killings took place despises Aaron for his connection to a 20-year-old scandal. In reality, this would create a near-impossible barrier for any investigator to overcome. But this is the kind of mystery where a standup cop willing to doggedly bang his head against enough walls can always knock the truth loose, even if he might be a murderer himself…

The trailer is here:

New in Theaters: ‘The Rover’

On By chrisbarsantiIn Film - New1 Comment

Robert Pattinson in 'The Rover' (A24)
Robert Pattinson in ‘The Rover’ (A24)

therover-posterThe latest movie about what happens after society falls apart is The Rover, a bloody and spare Australian revenge Western set in a burnt-up stretch of the outback where a gun is the law.

The Rover opens in limited release Friday and then goes wider on June 20. My review is at Film Racket:

Most post-apocalyptic vengeance stories like The Rover at least flirt with nihilism. But this is normally just window-dressing there to throw a little grit under the wheels of something all too familiar. What makes David Michod’s hot, percussive, jolting film stand out from the after-the-fall pack is its realization of just how far its protagonists have fallen, even compared to the tattered remnants of civilization around them…

Here’s the trailer:

DVD Tuesday: ‘The Snowtown Murders’

On By chrisbarsantiIn DVD - FilmLeave a comment

For a film about John Bunting, one of the most infamous serial killers in Australia’s history, The Snowtown Murders comes at its subject stealthily and almost wholly without sensationalism. Creating a slow-burning portrait of its depressed South Australian suburban milieu and the layers upon layers of dysfunction found therein, Justin Kurzel’s assured feature debut approaches its themes with care. Even when the story shifts more towards Bunting’s murderous exploits, the tone remains even. It’s as though what’s happening is no surprise at all, just the natural outgrowth of this toxic brew of poverty, rage and sickening abuse…

The Snowtown Murders gets released on DVD today. My full review is at Film Journal International.

The trailer is here: