12 Months of Movies 2006: October

October 2006: A Good Month.

Fast Food Nation

October 5, 7:30, Greater Union Bondi Junction (Popcorn Taxi)

A bad start to the month! I feel like I’ve explained my misgivings about this film more than enough times by now, so I’ll just briefly restate them now in list form:

Thinking about Fast Food Nation awakens the long latent misanthrope that dwells deep in my soul, so let us talk of it no further.

C.R.A.Z.Y.

October 9, 6:45, Dendy Newtown (Cinema 4)

Quite possibly my favourite movie of the year, C.R.A.Z.Y. is another of those films that rendered me illiterate. This film meant so much to me on so many levels, many of which I still cannot address, and I cried all throughout the credits. I know that in saying this I’m not revealing anything, but some movies have to be found out for themselves.

An Inconvenient Truth

October 13, 7:15, Greater Union George Street (Cinema 15)

Al Gore proves himself an entirely personable fellow in this movie about a very real issue that should be bipartisan. That it’s not makes me angry, to the point that the heat of my anger could probably wipe out the world’s penguin population.

Little Miss Sunshine

October 15, 10:35, Greater Union Campbelltown (Cinema 2)

Still great.

Stormbreaker

October 17, 2:30, Hoyts Broadway (Cinema 8)

I still can’t help but wish that this film had been somewhat less embarrassing, but it still had its entertainments. It was definitely “cinema lite”, though, and it would have benefited greatly from an increased Stephen Fry presence and decidedly less crazy eyes as a substitute for legitimate things happening.

The Departed

October 17, 6:00, Greater Union George Street (Cinema 7)

I couldn’t get the words out at the time, due in part to trying to write an epic companion piece for this and Infernal Affairs, but The Departed is a great movie. Jack Nicholson rocked it out, and Leonardo Di Caprio has proven himself endlessly good value over recent years. There are few things not to like about this film, which is less tight than its HK forefather but has more feeling for its characters … particularly in the way that it turns Infernal Affairs‘ three women into one … and its ending is a knock out in any language. At two and a half hours it never drags and the support cast, led by an incredibly foul mouthed Mark Wahlberg, are great as well.

Children of Men

October 20, 6:45, Greater Union George Street (Cinema 7)

Not quite what I was expecting, Children of Men was nonetheless a fine film. Presenting a world where no children have been born for 20 years, Children of Men is bleak indeed, but the good thing about bleak films is that they can sometimes provide hope. Clive Owen once again proves himself worthy, and I will never stop loving Michael Caine.
I had the chance to read the book The Children of Men, and it’s worth noting that the two stories are almost entirely different beyond the basic concept of an infertile dystopian future. Being as they were so different, I’m not sure which I preferred. That’s the beauty of having an opinion: you’re allowed to like more than one thing.

A Prairie Home Companion

October 25, 7:00, Dendy Opera Quays (Cinema 3)

Funny and elegiac, a fitting swansong to Robert Altman’s career. If you can make me like Lindsay Lohan, you’re a damn good director.

The Departed

October 28, 3:00, Greater Union George Street (Cinema 8)

Sometimes a remake is better the second time you see it simply because you’re comparing the film to itself rather than to its source material. The Departed is great any which way, but the point isn’t moot. I should also point out that a film that shocks you with its ending when you already know the ending is something akin to magic.

Pick of October: C.R.A.Z.Y.

I wish that more films were like this, and I wish that words could express why I loved it beyond saying that it offers almost everything that I go to the movies for, and is a film with which I connected on a very personal level. Some day I’ll be able to say why, but until then …