Screened "TRISHNA" Thursday 10 January 2013

6.30pm drinks and nibbles
7.00pm film screens
Thursday 10 January 2013
At the historic Wehl Street Theatre, Mount Gambier

**** Margaret Pomeranz "ABC's At the Movies"


"POWERFUL. Freida Pinto commands the screen, the film is as deep and thrilling as Pinto’s performance, leaving us not just stirred but thoroughly shaken."
Karen Durbin, Elle Magazine

"Infused with the spirit of India. Riz Ahmed is a revelation, showings bags of leading man ability in a performance of immense charm and edge."
Allan Hunter, Screen International

"Nobody can take an audience on a journey like Michael Wintebottom and this film is no exception."
E. Nina Roth, Huffington Post

The bold new adaptation of Thomas Hardy's 'Tess of the D'Urbervilles'

 From acclaimed director Michael Winterbottom (GENOVA, A MIGHTY HEART) comes a modern day re-telling of Thomas Hardy's classic novel "Tess of the d’Ubervilles". Starring SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE’S Freida Pinto, TRISHNA is a beautifully shot tale of love and tragedy set across modern day rural Rajasthan and the thriving metropolis of Mumbai. 

Trishna (Freida Pinto) lives a poor, sheltered life until one day she meets the wealthy young Jay (Riz Ahmed), who has come back to India to work in his father's hotel business. Being the sole provider for her family since her father’s accident, Trishna agrees to leave Rajasthan to work for Jay, and gradually they fall in love. Despite their feelings for each other, their relationship must remain a secret due to the conflicting pressures of a traditional society. 

After a dramatic event separates the two, Jay tracks Trishna down and offers her a more liberated life full of possibility in Mumbai. As time passes, the relationship begins to transform and Jay’s true character emerges. Trishna soon finds herself torn between her family, a life of new freedom and the reality of her troubled relationship

Release details: Limited national release
Classification: MA
Duration: 117 mins
Genre: Drama
Director: Michael Winterbottom
Lead actor: Freida Pinto
Cast: Riz Ahmed, Roshan Seth, Kalki Koechl, Anurag Kashyap
Producer: Sunil Bohra, Melissa Parmenter, Michael Winterbottom
Screenplay: Thomas Hardy (Novel)
Music: Amit Trivedi, Shigeru Umebayashi
Distributor: Madman Entertainment
Language: English
Country: United Kingdom

Trailer http://www.abc.net.au/atthemovies/txt/s3481321.htm

Screened Thursday 29 Nov 2012 "Happy Happy" with Christmas happy drinks

“A winning comedy that gets good-natured fun out of characters behaving badly.” -VARIETY

6.30pm Christmas drinks and nibbles
7.00pm Film screens

Family is the most important thing in the world to Kaja. She is an eternal optimist in spite of living with a man who would rather go hunting with the boys, and who refuses to have sex with her because she "isn't particularly attractive" anymore. Whatever. That's life.

But when "the perfect couple" moves in next door, Kaja struggles to keep her emotions in check. Not only do these successful, beautiful, exciting people sing in a choir; they have also adopted a child – from Ethiopia! These new neighbors open a new world to Kaja, with consequences for everyone involved. And when Christmas comes around, it becomes evident that nothing will ever be like before – even if Kaja tries her very best.


AWARDS
Official Oscar® Entry - NORWAY - Best Foreign Language Film

Official Selection:
2011 Sundance Film Festival – Winner World Cinema Jury Prize
2011 ND/NF Film Festival
2011 Seattle International Film Festival

"I wanted to tell the story of an insistently happy person. No matter how hopeless and tragic the world may be, she smiles. Kaia lives through others, wants to be like everyone else, maybe for want of individual foundations. Her driving force becomes happiness; she’s made joy her survival strategy."  Anne Sewitsky, Director

Official website including trailer
http://www.magpictures.com/happyhappy/


Year :        2010
Director : Anne Sewitzky
Cast : Agnes Kittelson, Henrik Rafaelson, Maibritt Saerens, 
                Joachim Rafaelson
Genre : Comedy/Drama
Country : Norway
Language : Norwegian (English Subtitles)
Rating : M
Running Time : 88 mins.

ABOUT THE ACTORS


AGNES KITTELSEN (Kaia)
Agnes Kittelsen graduated from the Norwegian Faculty for Performing Arts and was last seen as Tikken Manus in Max Manus. For this role she won an Amanda award for Best Female Supporting Role (2009) and Kanonprisen for Best Female Actor. Agnes has also played in the TV series Skolen and Brødrene Dal og mysteriet om Karl XIIs gamasjer on NRK, and in Unni Lindell's Honningfellen.


JOACHIM RAFAELSEN (Eirik)
Joachim Rafaelsen graduated from the Norwegian Faculty for Performing Arts. He acted in his first film at the age of 15, as Ole in Haakon Haakonsson, and has since then been in Glasskår, I am Dina, House of Fools, Codename Hunter, En udødelig mann, Sons, Hawaii Oslo and Varg Veum – Fallen Angels. On TV he has been in Sejer - elskede Poona and Lekestue on NRK.


MAIBRITT SAERENS (Elisabeth)
Maibritt Saerens is a Danish actress educated at Aarhus teater and employed both there and at The Royal Danish Theatre in Copenhagen. She has played in a number of Danish TV series, and is best known to Norwegians as Søs in Better Times which has aired on NRK.


HENRIK RAFAELSEN (Sigve)
Henrik Rafaelsen graduated from the Stockholm Academy of Dramatic Arts and is today employed by the National Theatre in Oslo. He has also been in productions at Det Norske Teatret and at Stockholm’s Stadsteater. In 2005 he played the lead in Robert Wilson's staging of Peer Gynt. He has also been in the films 5 Lies, Izzat, Tommy's Inferno and Angel. He also plays one of the leads in Limbo which premiered in the fall of 2010.


ABOUT THE FILMMAKERS

ANNE SEWITSKY (Director) 
Recently graduated from the Norwegian Film School in Lillehammer, HAPPY, HAPPY is Anne Sewitsky’s debut as a feature film director. She has previously directed the short film Oh my god! for which she won an award in the category Generation Kplus at the Berlin Film Festival (2009). She has also directed episodes of Himmelblå (NRK) and was co-director of the TV series Norwegian Cozy which will air on NRK this fall.

SYNNOVE HORSDAL (Producer)
Synnove Horsdal is managing director, producer and partner in Maipo AS, and has been with the company since its inception in 2000. She is educated in film production in England, where she produced several short films and documentaries before returning to Norway in 1996. She has held – and holds – a number of positions in the film business, including being on the board of the Norwegian Film and TV Producers' Association. Synnove has produced 8 feature films, including Just Bea and The Last Joint Venture, as well as the TV series All for One.

ANNA MYKING (Director of Photography)
HAPPY, HAPPY is Anna Myking’s debut as feature film photographer. She has previously been the photographer on, among other projects, Anne Sewitsky's short Oh my god! and the documentary 99% ærlig which played in cinemas in 2008, as well as the teen film Respect (1st  assistant camera). She has also been D.O.P. for a number of episodes of the TV series Hvaler.

RAGNHILD TRONVOLL (Screenplay)
Ragnhild Tronvoll was born and raised in Trondheim. She received her screenplay degree from the Norwegian Film School in Lillehammer, and has earned a living writing since graduating in 2006. She has, among other projects, been involved in developing Krønsj – a sitcom for children for NRK Radio, and she wrote the screenplay for the short feature Bokaj (graduation film from film school) which has won several awards at festivals – including silver at Cinema Juve, Valencia 2007.

Ragnhild also has a degree in graphic design and illustration from the Bergen National Academy of the Arts. She has studied fiction writing at Skrivekunstakademiet in Hordaland, and worked in an ad agency.



FULL LIST OF FESTIVAL SCREENINGS AND AWARDS
FESTIVAL SCREENINGS & AWARDS

Official Oscar® Entry – NORWAY - Best Foreign Language Film

USA 2011:

Sundance Film Festival – Winner: World Cinema Grand Jury Award

ND/NF Film Festival

Seattle International Film Festival

Minneapolis / St. Paul International Film Festival

Washington DC International Film Festival 

Provincetown Film Festival

Nantucket Film Festival

Outfest

Martha’s Vineyard International Film Festival

Estes Park Film Festival 

Rehoboth Beach Independent Film Festival 

Berkshire International Film Festival 

Tallgrass Film Festival, Wichita

INTERNATIONAL 2011:

Göteborg International Film Festival

Cinénygma Luxembourg International Film Festival 

Transilvania International Film Festival

Norwegian Film Festival – Winner: Best Male Actor

Sydney Film Festival

Festival du Film de Cabour – Winner: Jury’s Special Mention

Brussels Film Festival – Winner: Best Screenplay

Jerusalem International Film Festival

L' Isola del Cinema, Rome

Guanajuato International Film Festival - Expresión en Corto

Espoo Ciné International Film Festival

Festival do Rio – Rio de Janeiro International Film Festival

Nordic Film Days Lübeck

Molodist – Kiev International Film Festival

Seville European Film Festival

Leiden International Film Festival

Calgary International Film Festival

Vancouver International Film Festival

Canberra International Film Festival

Zurich Film Festival – Winner: Film Critics Award

European Film Forum Scanorama, Vilnius

Screened Thursday 18 October 2012

film to be advised

Screened "Headhunters" Thursday 6 September 2012

Our next screening is "Headhunters (Hodejegerne)" 

Thursday 6 September 2012
5.30pm Annual General Meeting
6.30pm wine and nibbles
7.00pm 'Headhunters' screens


“IT'S ON MY SHORT LIST OF THE MOST ENJOYABLE MOVIES IN RECENT MEMORY. Smart, funny, scary and surprising – A ONE-OF-A-KIND THRILLER.” – Joe Morgenstern, Wall Street Journal

“DELECTABLE. A Hitchcockian kind of thriller that gives you the time and space to laugh with perverse delight at your own helplessness. Director Tyldum is marvelously in tune with his material.” – David Edelstein, New York

Roger is a charming scoundrel and Norway's most accomplished headhunter. He lives a life of luxury well beyond his means and chooses to subsidize his expensive lifestyle through stealing highly prized art. When his beautiful wife, an art gallery owner, introduces him to a former mercenary in the possession of an extremely valuable painting, he decides to risk it all in order to obtain it, and in doing so, he discovers something which makes him a hunted man.

HEADHUNTERS stars the talented Aksel Hennie (Max Manus) as Roger, a charming scoundrel and Norway's most accomplished headhunter. Roger is living a life of luxury well beyond his means, and stealing art to subsidize his expensive lifestyle. When his beautiful gallery owner wife introduces him to a former mercenary in the possession of an extremely valuable painting, he decides to risk it all to get his hands on it, and in doing so discovers something which makes him a hunted man.

HEADHUNTERS is based on Jo Nesbø’s best-selling thriller from 2008.

Trailer 
http://www.magpictures.com/headhunters/#



Classification: MA
Duration: 98 mins
Genre: Action, Crime, Thriller
Director: Morten Tyldum
Lead actor: Aksel Hennie
Cast: Synnove Macody Lund, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau
Producer: Marianne Gray, Asle Vatn
Screenplay: Lars Gudmestad, Jo Nesbo, Ulf Ryberg
Distributor: Rialto Distribution
Country: Norway

Screened "TropFest 2012" Thursday 19 July 2012

6.30pm pre-screening drinks and nibbles
7.00pm Tropfest 2012 screens


Tropfest is Australia’s most prestigious short film festival and one of its most iconic cultural events. It is also the largest short film festival in the world. At home, Tropfest is recognised for its enormous contribution to the development of the Australian film industry by providing unique platforms for emerging filmmakers through its events and initiatives, and new and expanded audiences for their work.   More http://tropfest.com/au/history-of-tropfest/


The 2012 Finalists that will be screened at Reels @ Wehl Film Society can be found here http://tropfest.com/au/category/archive/2012-finalists/


The 2012 Winner can be found here http://tropfest.com/au/2012-winner/


Note: these films are unclassified

Screened "Ides of March" Thursday 28 June 2012

6.30pm pre-screening drinks and nibbles
7.00pm film screens


The Ides of March


4.5 stars Margaret 3 stars David from ABC's at the Movies


A staffer finds his idealism and beliefs taking a back seat to backroom political dealings and manipulative power plays.

An American Presidential election is looming, and in the crucial Ohio primary contest between Democratic front-runners, small 'l' liberal Governor Mike Morris, GEORGE CLOONEY, looks like winning over his more conservative rival, Senator Pullman, MICHAEL MANTELL. Morris' staff include campaign manager Paul Zara, PHILIP SEYMOUR HOFFMAN, and press secretary Stephen Meyers, RYAN GOSLING, while Pullman's campaign is being run by Tom Duffy, PAUL GIAMATTI, who thinks Stephen would be an asset for his team.


Official website
http://www.idesofmarch-movie.com/site/



Classification: M
Duration: 101 mins
Genre: Drama
Director: George Clooney
Lead actor: George Clooney
Cast: Ryan Gosling, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Paul Giamatti, Evan Rachel Wood, Marisa Tomei
Language: English
Country: United States

Film changed to "The Skin I Live In" Thursday 17 May 2012

Doors open 6.30pm. Bar closes 6.55pm. Film starts 7.00pm


**** stars Margaret David from ABC's At the Movies and all other reviewers around the world

This film contains a don't tell twist that will seriously get under your skin.

Ever since his wife was burned in a car crash, Dr Robert Ledgard, an eminent plastic surgeon, has been interested in creating a new skin with which he could have saved her. After 12 years he manages to cultivate a skin that is a real shield against every assault.


In addition to years of study and experimentation, Robert needed a further three things: no scruples, an accomplice and a human guinea pig. Scruples was never a problem. Marilia, the woman who looked after him from the day he was born, is his most faithful accomplice. And, as for the human guinea pig ...

"Outrageous. In a class of its own." Nigel Andrews, The Financial Times

"Banderas is terrific. Almodovar at his obscenely entertaining and exploitative". Wendy Ide, The Times

Official trailer http://youtu.be/EolQSTTTpI4


Review http://www.abc.net.au/atthemovies/txt/s3374248.htm 


Classification: MA 
Duration: 120 mins 
Genre: Drama, Thriller 
Director: Pedro Almodovar 
Lead actor: Tony Banderas 
Cast: Elena Anaya 
Producer: Agustin Almodovar, Esther Garcia 
Screenplay: Alberto Iglesias 
Music: Alberto Iglesias 
Language: Spanish 
Country: Spain

Screened "Melancholia" Thursday 26 April 2012

5 stars Margaret
2.5 stars David


This film is certain to divide opinion if we go by ABC's 'At the Movies' star rating by Margaret Pomeranz and David Stratton.

"Well now I think we're heading for a major stoush on the show ... " Margaret

In this beautiful movie about the end of the world, Justine (Kirsten Dunst) and Michael (Alexander Skarsgård) are celebrating their marriage at a sumptuous party in the home of her sister Claire (Charlotte Gainsbourg), and brother-in-law John (Kiefer Sutherland). Despite Claire’s best efforts, the wedding is a fiasco, with family tensions mounting and relationships fraying. Meanwhile, a planet called Melancholia is heading directly towards Earth… From acclaimed director Lars von Trier MELANCHOLIA is the most stunning and compelling film of the year. (Synposis courtesy Madman http://www.madman.com.au/catalogue/view/15425/melancholia)

Classification: M
Duration: 136 mins
Genre: Drama, Sci-Fi
Director: Lars von Trier
Lead actor: Kirsten Dunst
Cast: Charlotte Gainsbourg, Alexander Skarsgard, Producer: Meta Louise Foldager, Louise Vesth
Language: English
Country: Denmark


Trailer http://www.melancholiathemovie.com/#_trailer


Awards http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1527186/awards

Next screening "Submarine" Thursday 22 March 2012

Submarine

"A perfect blend of cool, quirky comedy and warm hearted drama"

4 Stars Margaret 4 Stars David from ABC's "At the Movies"

A 15 year old boy wants to lose his virginity before his next birthday and reignite the spark between his parents.

SUBMARINE is the highly-acclaimed debut feature from Richard Ayoade (star of THE IT CROWD and NATHAN BARLEY), based on the hilarious, best-selling novel by Joe Dunthorne.

In his head, 15-year-old Welsh schoolboy Oliver Tate (Craig Roberts) is a cool literary genius. In reality, he’s socially inept and unpopular. Oliver has set himself two tasks for the summer: to lose his virginity (before it becomes legal) and save his parents' marriage. Suspecting that his mother (Sally Hawkins) is having an affair with old flame, Graham (Paddy Considine), a mullet-wearing, capoeira-teaching, new-age evangelist, Oliver monitors his parents’ sex-life by charting their bedroom dimmer switch. To bolster his endeavours, Oliver forges passionate love letters on behalf of his unsuspecting father to his mother.

Meanwhile, Oliver attempts to woo schoolmate, Jordana. When a calculated attempt at bullying earns him Jordana’s affections, she introduces him to the thrills of pyromania and dictates to him what he should be writing about her in his diary. (Syposis courtesty Mad Man http://www.madman.com.au/catalogue/view/15650/submarine )

Classification: M
Duration: 97 mins
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Director: Richard Ayoade
Lead actor: Noah Taylor

Next screening

"L'amour, c'est mieux à deux - The Perfect Date" 
Valentine's Day 14 Feb 2012


The French hit movie is a  perfect date for Valentine's Day. Enjoy champagne, strawberries dipped in chocolate and nibbles.


Tuesday 14 February 2012
6.30pm pre-screening drinks and nibbles
7.00pm film screens

What would you do for the woman of your dreams?

Globetrotting aid-worker Michel (Clovis Cornillac from the Asterix films) dreams of that great romantic moment when fate brings two soulmates together. On the other hand, his best friend since childhood, Vincent (Coco’s Manu Payet) is a hotshot divorce lawyer who prefers an all-sex, no-commitment approach to relationships. But when Vincent's latest squeeze, Nathalie, dumps him and Michel finds out that Vincent had engineered his "chance encounter" with beautiful blonde Angèle, the two childhood friends realise they'll have to help each other out if they want to find lasting happiness with the women of their dreams. Will it all end in marriage, or in tears?

Theatrical Trailer

http://www.madman.com.au/catalogue/view/15103/the-perfect-date

Rated MA

Running time: 100 minutes

Language: French with English subtitles

Next screening "Incendies"

Thursday 12th January 2012
6.30pm drinks and nibbles
7.00pm film screens

*** Margaret
**** David
8.2 / 10 International Movie Data Base

The Academy Award nominated Incendies also won the Best Feature Film awarded by the jury at the 2011 Adelaide Film Festival. Director Denis Villeneuve responded by saying that "As a poetic sign of gratitude to [the] Adelaide Film Festival, I'll give the name of 'Adelaide' to one of my main characters in my next film. So thank you one thousand times to [the] Adelaide Film Festival!"

The Academy Award nominated Incendies is a masterful cinematic achievement - at once a tightly woven mystery; an epic, sweeping family drama and deeply affecting, profound and transcendent work.

At the reading of their mother Nawal's will, twin siblings Jeanne and Simon learn for the first time that they have a brother, and that their father, who they thought was dead, is in fact alive. Their mother's final wish is that the twins find them both to deliver certain sealed letters. Shifting back and forth in time, Incendies follows two parallel journeys, expertly interwoven: the twins' journey to their mother's Middle-Eastern homeland to unlock the past, and Nawal's journey some twenty years earlier to find the baby boy she was forced to give up. Both journeys shine an unsettling light on Nawal's past and culminate in a shocking final revelation.

To encounter a film of heart-wrenching drama, mythic proportions and sweeping visual majesty is rare, but such are the riches of Denis Villeneuve's Incendies. An incredibly powerful film that unfolds in such unique and unexpected ways, Incendies will floor you from the very first scene. It is one of those exceptional, extraordinary films that restores your faith in the power of cinema.

Trailers
http://www.hopscotchfilms.com.au/entertainment/out-now-1/incendies-dvd-1/

Awards
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1255953/awards


Director:  Denis Villeneuve

Featuring:  Maxim Gaudette, Mélissa Désomeaux-Poulin, Rémy Girard, Lubna Azabal

Rated:  MA 15+, Strong themes and violence

Run Time:  130 minutes

Country of Origin: Canada

Genre: Drama

Language:  French/ Arabic / English subtitles