Gabrielle S-C

Poor Tassie. I apologise to your wonderful people on behalf of the Australian viewing public. And I’m ashamed that the ABC would create such drivel! Honestly, were you trying to draw on the beautiful quirkiness, authentic soundtrack and brilliant characters of Pearl Bay in Seachange, then scramble them up with a good dose of Twin Peaks and season with a little Northern Exposure?? Well, you missed. Tragically. Hideous. What a disappointment. One star for the Tasmanian countryside. I’m heading back to Schitt’s Creek…they got it right!

We were enthralled by 1883. It was beautiful and incredibly well made. This….I have no words. 1 star. Yawn…eye roll.

2 stars. 1 for the glorious and rugged beauty of Ireland coastline, and how magnificently it was captured, and 1 for an honest and raw representation of mundane life on an island 100 years ago. Depression, mental illness, superstition, abuse, lawlessness, loneliness, isolation and hopelessness are all set against the backdrop of the Irish civil war being fought on the mainland and are all laid bare in this film in an unapologetically stark and brutal way. The casting is brilliant, the characters are intriguing and yet it’s the absence of just a spark of warmth or optimism that left me wanting just a little more from The Banshees of Inisherin. I needed that to provide some sense of balance in this film. I was saddened by it and that is possibly what the creators were wanting; to present a sense of the simple desolation of Irish coastal existence, devoid of education or opportunity. At the end of the day, historical facts of communities who inhabited these islands are one thing, but I still wanted to be left hopeful and I wasn’t. A beautiful character forced to turn nasty to make him acceptable to a nasty character who then decided to become friends again. Is this all we could hope for? Must violence always win to get ratings at the box office?

This was a beautiful yet tragic, terrifying and revealing doco that showed the undeniable differences in values and attitudes between the Nepalese culture and beliefs and the west’s insatiable desire for thrill, adventure and self glorification at any cost. Everest is sacred to those of Buddhist practice and has been since the people of Nepal practiced the Bon religion as well, some 3000+ years ago. And yet the cocky NZ adventure expedition business owner, Russel Brice, was clearly lying, coercing and almost intimidating the Sherpas who he sent up there on every expedition ahead of his paying western clients for minimal wages and absolute uncertainty of safety, to get back to work after a deadly avalanche, because they were as he said, being “unreasonable”?!?!? These heroic Sherpas own friends and co-climbers had just been killed less than a week before. The greed is simply breathtaking. Would Mr Brice do that to his fellow New Zealanders under the same circumstances in his own country? I think not. It sickened me to watch the pious offering of “his prayers” and suggestion that he’d consulted “the buddhists”. Nature is fragile and changing and some things are better left mysterious and awesome and un-“conquered” by humans. Great movie.

Such a captivating piece of art. This documentary was art within art. Everything about Nureyev was theatre from his eyes, hair, muscles and bone structure to his fluid movements and gravity-defying leaps into the air. Exquisitely narrated and carefully woven together visual extracts, the movie is laced up like the most perfect ballet slippers with a stunning score and of course, pieces by the great composers performed by the worlds best orchestras of the past. Underpinning all the glamour and decadence is the pain of separation, the price of Nureyev’s success in the western world. This movie made me sentimental for decades gone by when ballet was royalty and celebrity, an art-culture adored by millions, when classical music and lithe dancers were the romance of the era of my own childhood. Bravo!

Beautiful film. Light hearted and witty with likeable characters. Anyone who, like me, appreciates their daily jigger of whiskey will love this movie and barrack for the townsfolk. The location is stunning and the costuming and settings are delightful. It’s a keeper. Sláinte