Perth film-lovers, the Luna Outdoor in Leederville has another collection of excellent cinema this week, Check out the program below and for further details or purchasing tickets hit the link.
COCAINE BEAR (7.30PM: Sunday 26 February)
Inspired by the 1985 true story of a drug runner’s plane crash, missing cocaine, and the black bear that ate it, this wild dark comedy finds an oddball group of cops, criminals, tourists and teens converging in a Georgia forest where a 500- pound apex predator has ingested a staggering amount of cocaine and gone on a coke-fueled rampage for more blow … and blood.
Cocaine Bear stars Keri Russell (The Americans), O’Shea Jackson, Jr. (Straight Outta Compton), Christian Convery-Jennings (Sweet Tooth), Alden Ehrenreich (Solo: A Star Wars Story), Jesse Tyler Ferguson (Modern Family), Brooklynn Prince (The Florida Project), Isiah Whitlock Jr. (BlacKkKlansman), Kristofer Hivju (Game of Thrones), Hannah Hoekstra (2019’s Charlie’s Angels) and Aaron Holliday (Sharp Objects), with with Emmy winner Margo Martindale (The Americans) and Emmy winner Ray Liotta (The Many Saints of Newark).
Directed by Elizabeth Banks (Charlie’s Angels, Pitch Perfect 2) from a screenplay by Jimmy Warden (The Babysitter: Killer Queen), Cocaine Bear is produced by Oscar winners Phil Lord and Christopher Miller (Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse, The Mitchells vs. The Machines) for Lord Miller, Elizabeth Banks (Pitch Perfect franchise) and Max Handelman (Pitch Perfect franchise) for Brownstone Productions, Brian Duffield (Spontaneous) for Jurassic Party Productions and Aditya Sood (The Martian) for Lord Miller. The film is executive produced by Robin Mulcahy Fisichella, Alison Small and Nikki Baida.
AFTERSUN (7.30PM: Mon 27 February-Wed 1 March)
This evocative drama chronicles a father-daughter relationship, reflecting on the moments that foster it and the many factors that can tarnish it. Sophie reflects on the shared joy and private melancholy of a holiday she took with her father twenty years earlier. Memories real and imagined filling the gaps between miniDV footage as she tries to reconcile the father she knew with the man she didn’t.
Sophie reflects on the shared joy and private melancholy of a holiday she took with her father twenty years earlier. Memories real and imagined filling the gaps between miniDV footage as she tries to reconcile the father she knew with the man she didn’t.
With captivating performances by Paul Mescal (Normal People, The Lost Daughter), and possibly Britain’s new child star, Frankie Corio, this festival darling which recorded a stellar opening in the UK in 2022 is a delightful 90s flashback for high-quality cinema lovers, with nostalgia for family holidays and those moments that shape us.
With exquisite flashbacks to a blistering summer vacation in Turkey, Frankie sees her father through the eyes of an adult and mother, as she reflects on the special bond she held with him. With a 5-star average and awards potential, this deeply moving film will stay with audiences long after they leave the cinema.
TRANGLE OF SADNESS (7.30PM: Thursday 2 March)
Model and Insta-fluencer Carl and Yaya don’t have the healthiest of relationships – with each other, with reality or with money. But they have enough cash to score themselves a trip on a luxury yacht, where even their wealth is outstripped by the ultra-filthy lucre of the other passengers, among them a Russian tycoon (plus wife and mistress), an elderly British couple and a sad-sack tech billionaire. When a perfect storm turns an onboard degustation meal into a disgusting ordeal and ultimately makes boat people of the ship’s one-percenters, the stage is set for the class inversion of your most schadenfreudian fantasies.
Following his satirical takedowns of male ego (Force Majeure) and art-industry pretence (The Square), Östlund now takes a sledgehammer to the jugular of obscene wealth in his first English-language film. Harris Dickinson (Beach Rats) as Carl and Woody Harrelson as the vessel’s eternally sozzled captain are standouts among a superb cast that has helped thrust the Swedish writer/director to the ranks of the dual-d’Or elite, alongside Francis Ford Coppola, Michael Haneke, the Dardennes and Ken Loach.
WHAT’S LOVE GOT TO DO WITH IT? (7.30PM: Friday 3 March)
A pitch-perfect ballad of emotions, this romantic comedy (from the makers of Love Actually and Four Weddings and a Funeral) follows a filmmaker who decides to document her best friend’s journey toward arranged marriage.
Moving between London and Lahore, this is a story of love, friendship, tradition and iconoclasm. How do you find lasting love in today’s world? For documentary-maker and dating app addict Zoe (Lily James, Rebecca, Darkest Hour), swiping right has only delivered an endless stream of Mr. Wrongs, to her eccentric mother Cath’s (Emma Thompson, Good Luck to You, Leo Grande) dismay.
For childhood friend and neighbour Kaz (Shazad Latif, The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel), the answer is to follow his parents’ example and opt for an arranged (or “assisted”) marriage to a bright and beautiful bride from Pakistan. As Zoe films his journey to marry a stranger, she begins to wonder if she might have something to learn from a profoundly different approach to finding love.
Striking a touching balance between respect for cultural customs and belief in the power of romance, What’s Love Got to Do with It? offers an impassioned take on the notion of love, romance and finding that special someone.
EMPIRE OF LIGHT (7.30PM: Saturday 4 March)
A love letter to cinema, set in an English seaside town in the early 1980s, Empire of Light is a powerful and poignant story about human connection and the magic of cinema from Academy Award-winning director Sam Mendes (1917, Skyfall).
Created with touching tenderness and compassion by writer-director Mendes, this drama features a stellar ensemble cast led by Academy Award winner Olivia Colman (The Favourite, The Lost Daughter), BAFTA winner Micheal Ward and Academy Award winner Colin Firth (The King’s Speech).
Set in and around a beautiful old picture palace on the south coast of England, the love story between Hilary (Colman) and Stephen (Michael Ward) offers an impassioned ode to the people who come together under the glow of cinema, and to the life-affirming tales they share.
Oscar-winning composers Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross score the film whilst master cinematographer (and fellow Oscar winner) Roger Deakins exquisitely photographs the inhabitants of this narrative. Empire of Light is 24 frames a second of pure movie magic that will remind you of the restorative power of cinema and storytelling.
THE BANSHEES OF INISHERIN (7.30PM: Sunday 5 March)
Set on a remote island off the west coast of Ireland during the Irish civil war, The Banshees Of Inisherin follows lifelong friends Padraic (Farrell) and Colm (Gleeson), who find themselves at an impasse when Colm unexpectedly puts an end to their friendship. A stunned Padraic, aided by his sister Siobhan (Condon) and troubled young islander Dominic (Keoghan), endeavours to repair the relationship, refusing to take no for an answer. But Padraic’s repeated efforts only strengthen his former friend’s resolve and when Colm delivers a desperate ultimatum, events swiftly escalate, with shocking consequences.
With a powerhouse Irish cast and exceptional writer/director McDonagh, The Banshees Of Inisherin revels in the tension of the unknown in this captivating story of an elongated friendship break-up.
The Banshees Of Inisherin marks the first feature written and directed by British-Irish playwright Martin McDonagh since 2017’s Oscar-winning Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri. The film also reunites McDonagh with fellow Irishmen Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson who starred in his critically acclaimed debut, In Bruges.
