The Last Picture Show at Wehl Street

It wasn't the Peter Bogdanovitch 1971 great "The Last Picture Show" that the Reels Film Society chose as their November 2014 screening, but the Award winning foreign film "The Great Beauty" from Italy. The Bogdanovitch B&W classic drama may have been appropriate as it was not only the Society's final film for 2014, but our last picture show at the Wehl Street Theatre before the move to the Sir Robert Helpmann in January 2015. Incidentally, "Le Grande Belleza" produced one of the most diverse star box ratings ever with voting discs in each and every category. Across the spectrum there were a spread of votes in each from ones to fives, delivering an overall 3 star rating. Members and their guests turned out in numbers for the Wehl Street wind up with regulars not only from the Mount Gambier district supported by strong showings from Coonawarra, Penola, Millicent and over the border to say farewell to what has been the home to Reels and art house cinema since the inception of the film society. It was also wonderful to welcome back and see familiar faces from the Italo Australian Club. As usual the pre movie drinks and nibbles were enjoyed by all, this time to celebrate the society's history at Wehl Street as well as relive some great cinema moments and mark the beginning of the season of goodwill. Next year our expanded 2015 program will start with the feted "AMOUR" on the 15th January 2015 at the Sir Robert Helpmann Theatre. One extra movie in 2015, but good news the membership subscriptions remain the same ($80). The Committee has delivered their own "Efficiency Dividend" and cut the pension and student rate by $10, down to $60 pa for concession card holders. We have a great program in store for the New Year so avoid the Christmas rush, renew your Reels membership subscriptions now. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all.

THE GREAT BEAUTY (Italy 2013)

The "La Grande Belleza" or The Great Beauty was filmed in Rome in late 2012 and premiered at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival.

The film won Best Foreign Language Film at the 86th Academy Awards as well as the Golden Globe and the BAFTA Award in the same category.  With a production budget of 9.2 million Euro, the film so far has grossed more than 23 million worldwide.

The PLOT: Jep Gambardella has seduced his way through the lavish nightlife of Rome for decades, but after his 65th birthday and a shock from the past, Jep looks past the nightclubs and parties to find a timeless landscape of absurd, exquisite beauty.

"This is a 5 Star Homage to Rome"

"Come to Reels on the 27th of November and pay due homage to La Grande Bellezza and the Wehl Street Theatre."

The Lemon Tree (Israel 2008)

This movie released in March 2008 achieved critical success when it was released internationally a year later.

It revolves around an unlikely friendship that takes place along the border of Israel and the West Bank.  Salma is a Palestinian woman who lives at the boundary of the two regions, and she finds her beloved lemon trees are in danger of being taken away at the request of her new neighbour, the Israeli Defence Minister.

PEARLS OF THE FAR EAST 17 JULY 2014

Reels at Wehl Film Society has found Pearls of the Far East, an INDI (Independent) and award winning film which is not normally available in Australia through the normal channels. 

The anthology is based on a series of short stories and a novel, Between Two Mountains of Love, The Package of Cam le Tobacco, Blood Moon, Beauty, The Diary of an Abandoned Woman, Love is Out of Mind, and Beyond the Truth by Nguyen Thi Minh Ngoc who also wrote the screenplay and stars in the cinematic adaptation.  

Unlike  his Cloud Atlas (2012) there is no intercutting this time and different actors are used in each of the seven stories.  These factors work in the favour of the film as viewers are allowed the time to absorb each new world.  Filmmaker Cuong Ngo has taken a difficult creative path for his feature debut by minimizing the dialogue and relying on the visual impact of the images to tell his story. 

The cinematography is gorgeous and so is the cast which works with mixed results; whereas the Vietnam landscape enhances the picture, the latter at moments contributes to a Harlequin romance quality which is hard to ignore.  The musical score accentuates the internal conflicts and also helps to unify the different segments together. 

Country of Origin: Canada/Vietnam

Released: 2011

Ratings and Starbox scores:

The Federation of Victorian Film Societies scoring it 4.7 stars out of 5.

Whitehorse Film Society in Melbourne Starbox rating of 3.9

PRISONERS - REELS at Wehl May 15th Movie TRAILER

The terrific audience who saw the Oscar winning performance of Cate Blanchett in "Blue Jasmine" gave it a rating of 3.89 when rounded up became a rating of 4 Stars.  This topic became the basis of animated discussions over coffee and cake post screening.

PRISONERS Starring Hugh Jackman - screened Thursday 15th May

Quebec filmmaker Denis Villeneuve has snared top talent for PRISONERS, his first English language film, with JAKE GYLLENHAAL playing Loki, a cop investigating the disappearance of two girls on Thanksgiving. They're the daughters of Keller and Grace Dover - HUGH JACKMAN and Maria Bello and of the friends they were spending the day with - Franklin and Nancy - TERRENCE HOWARD and VIOLA DAVIS. An immediate suspect is local lad Alex - PAUL DANO.

When Alex is discovered to be mentally challenged and is released on insufficient evidence Keller decides to take matters into his own hands as the police pursue multiple leads and the pressure mounts.

Ratings: ABC’s At The Movies team of Margaret: David: both give it 4 Stars

IMDB give it 8.1

Classification: MA
Duration: 153 mins

Genre: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Lead actor: Hugh Jackman
Release Date: September 2013
Language: English