THE US summer blockbuster season rolls on, with Jurassic World: Rebirth roaring into theatres.
Long gone are the days of the dinosaurs running amok in a theme park; now the “de-extinct” beasts settle wherever they can find a favourable climate.
Despite this premise being ripe with possible storylines, the film sees a special team formed to raid a remote island to retrieve genetic samples from an isolated facility, only to encounter all-new, mutated species of prehistoric creatures.
The plot may sound disappointing on the surface, but the film is helmed by director Gareth Edwards, whose Godzilla series has given him an impressive track record for grand action featuring giant beasts.
Joining the franchise on-screen is Scarlett Johansson as tough-girl Zora, Mahershala Ali as team leader Kincaid, and Jonathan Bailey as paleontologist Henry Loomis.
Since it’s arriving in time for the upcoming school holidays, it will at the very least give families a day at the pictures together.
Easier to find streaming than in an actual theatre is the latest film from legendary “body-horror” filmmaker David Cronenberg, The Shrouds.
Starring Vincent Cassel (Black Swan) as the creator of a broadcast system that shows grieving relatives their deceased loved ones in their graves (in real time), the film is a somewhat surreal, very disturbing – though strangely sensitive – portrayal of how death affects those left behind.
Beginning production as a Netflix series, Cronenberg pivoted to making a feature film when the streaming giant pulled out.
Guy Pearce, Diane Kruger and Sandrine Holt join Cassell on-screen to try and uncover an apparent conspiracy after the “GraveTech” system is hacked and the graves are defaced.
Cronenberg’s films have always been uncomfortable explorations of the human condition, which is exactly the way he wants them to be.
For those wanting a little more reality, The Wolves Always Come at Night is a “docufiction” film that will be well worth finding.
Real life Mongolian couple Davaasuren Dagvasuren and Otgonzaya Dashzeveg are the focus of this film, which follows the breakdown of their rural lives as shepherds due to climate change, and their subsequent move to the city to find work.
The story is broadly the couple’s true-to-life experience, though what is captured on film are recreations of those experiences.
The resulting work is challenging and touching in equal measure.
The film is the work of Australian Gabrielle Brady, and is a co-production of companies in Australia, Germany and Mongolia.
By Lindsay HALL
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