The Square

Q: What’s the movie about?

A: A man's (David Roberts) elicit lover (Claire van der Boom) finds out that her husband (Anthony Hayes) has secretly stashed away a whole bunch of money, which he probably acquired illegally. When the lovers plan to steal the money and run away together, the steps they take to cover their tracks make things worse and worse and worse and worse for them.

Q: Who’s in the movie?

A: David Roberts, Claire van der Boom, Joel Edgerton, Anthony Hayes, Peter Phelps, Hanna Mangan Lawrence, Brendan Donoghue, Lucy Bell, Kieran Darcy-Smith, Damon Herriman, Bill Hunter

Q: Is this movie worth the price of admission?

A: Proceed with Caution. It's never quite clear what the couple's plan is from the start, and there are several moments when you wonder what they are thinking with their actions and reactions. But there's a short film by the director that plays before the feature, and that's pretty good.

Q: Will this movie make me laugh?

A: The short film ends on one of the darkest, sickest belly laughs you've ever had.

Q: Will this movie make me cry?

A: There is no one to root for, because everyone in this is at a complete lack for morals. You won't cry for the characters, but it is sad when a baby almost dies.

Q: Will this movie be up for any awards?

A: This was a very important film in Australia, if you judge by the 13 nominations it accumulated on that continent. But if this film had been made independently in America, it probably wouldn't have gotten picked up for distribution, except maybe on Netflix.

Q: How is the Acting?

A: Nobody is bad, but despite the cute accents and home-grown expressions, I didn't see any star making performances either.

Q: How is the Directing?

A: Nash Edgerton's style truly stands out. Most of the scares and shocks come from the way in which he shoots one angle, and then surprises you with something you had no way to see coming-- because it comes from off camera. Abruptly. His technique is interesting and original, but he uses it in the short film, so by the time you get to the feature, he starts to look like a one trick pony.

Q: How is the story/script?

A: The story beats also quickly begin to feel like cheap tricks, as people get accidentally killed and injured out of nowhere on a regular basis, almost as a convenience to jolt you back into the story every time your interest starts to wane. If nothing else, the movie helps you realize how fragile human life is, and how quickly it can come to an end over nothing. So, Watch Out!

Q: Where can I see the trailer?

A: http://www.moviefone.com/movie/the-square/38042/trailers

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The Black Balloon

Q: What’s the movie about?

A: An Australian coming of age drama about a teenage boy (Rhys Wakefield) who tries to lead a normal life, despite the fact that his older brother (Luke Ford) has autism and ADD.

Q: Who’s in the movie?

A: Rhys Wakefield, Luke Ford, Toni Collette, Erik Thomson, Gemma Ward, Firass Dirani

Q: Is this movie worth the price of admission?

A: Proceed with Caution. It's beautiful to watch how this family stands by each other as chaos ensues all around them due to their uncontrollable autistic son, but unless you have similarities to the people and situations in the story, their pain isn't always that relatable.

Q: Will this movie make me laugh?

A: Only if you think it's okay to laugh at retarded people acting retarded. Which, of course, you don't.

Q: Will this movie make me cry?

A: The person I saw it with cried, but I asked her why, and her reasons were personal. No, I swear, I'm not telling.

Q: Will this movie be up for any awards?

A: It won some Australian Award for writing, but their film industry is pretty small, so I can't vouch for how important that is.

Q: How is the Acting?

A: The two young leads, Rhys Wakefield and Gemma Ward, are very easy on the eyes and will probably have big careers ahead of them. The two boys playing the autistic kids are of more questionable talent, but since I don't have any first hand experience with autistic kids, it's hard for me to judge how accurately they were portrayed. All I can do is refer you back to Tropic Thunder, where we learned that it's never a safe bet to go full-retard.

Q: How is the Directing?

A: Elissa Down is young, cute, and would do well in a meeting-- in other words, she has what it takes to slowly chip away at that oh-so-lopsided ratio of female to male directors. The fact that she cut her teeth doing 6 short films before tackling her first feature (that's 5 more than most people do), proves that she means business. And the added bonus that she's already attracting talent like Toni Collette, should give her some pull if she plans to make her move to the Hollywood studios.

Q: How is the story/script?

A: Some interesting arenas are tackled but not pinned. The script is subtle, and the beats are hit, but there's not quite enough of an emotional spine pulling you through, from incident to incident as the autistic boy acts out and the normal boy suffers for it.

Q: Is there anything else worth mentioning about the movie?

A: This is the second film I've seen in the last two days containing a graphic poop scene. Please don't let this become a movie-making trend. Nobody wants to see that.

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