What do you want to Know-ing?

You know what majority of film critcis are like? High school students. They all want to be respected and appreciated in their own right but none of them want to stand out from the masses. Instead, majority of them agree and disagree together, always wanting to fit in amongst the others. Of course this is a broad generalisation, it's like saying all black people love Obama or all women love Sex and the City when that is simply not true. Therefore I don't understand why majority of critics are quick to condemn Nicholas Cage films without judging them properly. In the weeks leading up to the release of his latest movie, Knowing, all I heard from online bloggers and critics was how this is going to be another schlocker, Cage is such a joke and wo' is me the reviewer for having to sit through a re-hash of Next. Therefore, you could imagine my suprise when ABC icon David Stratton called Knowing a "contemporary sci-fi classic" last Wednesday on At The Movies. Entertainment poster-boy Richard Wilkins went on to give an equally glowing review and so, along I trotted on Saturday evening to judge for myself.
And judge I did.
It’s rare that you can go to the movies today and be genuinely surprised by a film. Well, Knowing is one of those rare films that fools you in to thinking you are heading in one direction when in reality you are spiralling off in the opposite path. It’s beautifully executed by visionary Australian director Alex Proyas who is behind such films as The Crow (personal favourite), DarkCity and I Robot (but don’t hold that against him). The entire film was shot in Melbourne and the utterly breathtaking special-effects were all done in Australian and New Zealand. Unlike many a Cage film, the mouth-dropping effects don’t draw away from what is essentially a very well acted and packaged film. It’s not a light, fun, flighty, chunk of entertainment with the happy ending you might expect from the poorly done reviews.
The concept, oh the concept. The brilliance behind the concept of and how superbly such ideas were presented makes me tend to side with Davo Stratton on this one, Knowing will indeed be looked back upon as a "contemporary sci-fi classic".

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Margaret and David Summer Special

Most of you would be aware I’m a big fan of At The Movies with Margaret and David on ABC. As all loyal fans of said show would know, at the end of every year before they go on a two month sabbatical Margie and Davey (as I like to call them) put together a summer special which includes reviews and interviews regarding all the up and coming summer releases. I haven’t seen the point in doing a wrap up of their latest summer special because majority of the films weren’t being released for a few more weeks. However, now most of them are currently screening at the movies or about to in the next few weeks so here’s a quick run on the results of the Margaret and David Summer Special. In the one hour show the super-duper duo reviewed a total of 10 films and their worth according to stars is listed below.

Milk

Margaret: * * * * 1/2

David: * * * * *

Twilight

Margaret: * * * *

David: * * * 1/2

Madagascar 2: Escape To Africa

Margaret: * * *

David: * * * *

The Wrestler

Margaret: * * * * *

David: * * * * 1/2

The Class

Margaret: * * * *

David: * * * * 1/2

Frost/Nixon

Margaret: * * * * 1/2

David: * * * *

Igor

Margaret: * * *

David: * * * 1/2

Revolutionary Road

Margaret: * * * *

David: * * * *

Slumdog Millionare

Margaret: * * * * 1/2

David: * * * * 1/2

Vicky Cristina Barcelona

Margaret: * * *

David: * * *

Looks like it’s going to be an interesting summer. No doubt Slumdog Millionare and The Class are worth a look given their high ratings but . . . . WHOA! Both Margie and Davey dished out a 5 star out of 5 star rating each! That’s awesome! As you can see Margie was over the moon with The Wrestler and gave it 100%. The last time I can remember her giving a movie 5 stars is back in 2005 for Terrence Malick’s The New World (my ultimate favourite movie). Not to be out done, Davey also dished out 5 stars to Gus Van Sant’s latest Milk. The last time I can remember him giving a movie 5 stars is . . . well, never. I seriously can’t remember him ever giving a movie 5 stars. I’m sure he has and my dramatic statement is incorrect, however, personally I have never seen an episode where he has dished out the 100% score. Needless to say I’m desperate to catch both The Wrestler and Milk now they have achieved a rare 5 star review. A notable mention should also go to the two animated films on the list with Davey giving kudos to Madagascar 2 for making him laugh out loud several times. He also applauded the poorly advertised Igor which he said was an interesting twist on the monster genre and Frankenstein movies. You can download a vodcast of the At The Movies with Margaret and David Summer Special from their website here.
Enjoy.

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