Here is hoping, wherever you are, that you and yours and your community have been able to remain secure during this pandemic. Wherever you are, cinemas and particularly cineplexes have been disrupted and in many places remain closed. Where I am cinemas were theoretically able to open from July 1 but in many instances, it was some time after that. Unfortunately, what was on offer was generally not new films, and of course all major non-streamer produced films have been postponed and almost certainly will remain that way until the biggest market – the US – is able to have nationwide cinema releases again. Here in Sydney there have been plenty of revivals; classic, cult and otherwise – especially of the Harry Potter films – and many of 2020’s early releases have been re-released in the absence of new films. So, all I have to offer are a couple of new film reviews and a couple of reviews for films that were out earlier this year but that I did not see then, and a review of Netflix’s hit Extraction. Stay safe.

Movie review: The Burnt Orange Heresy
Director: Giuseppe Capotondi
Stars: Elizabeth Debicki, Donald Sutherland, Claes Bang
Don’t be fooled by the art world setting, you won’t need a background. This is a drama of desperation, truth and lies, based on the 1971 novel by crime writer Charles Willeford.
Panned on IMDB, it isn’t remotely that bad, and is worth it just for the opening scene - an intercut of preparation for, and actual presentation by Claes Bang’s art critic James Figueras to a group of cultural tourists. Elizabeth Debicki can’t hide her ballerina waddle but is again easy to watch - her character caught in that space where attractive women are simultaneously always welcome, yet very vulnerable when men are not what they seem. Her interaction with Donald Sutherland, even though a cliché and trite, also justifies the film. Mick Jagger isn’t even mis-cast, though it was difficult to shake my impression he was “doing” an Ian McKellen “doing” a metaphorical Lucifer, but if you’re a millennial then this may prove to be your only contemporary opportunity to see him act in a non-cameo big-screen role.

Movie review: The Personal History of David Copperfield
Director:  Armando Iannucci
Stars: Dev Patel, Hugh Lawrie, Tilda Swinton
Dev Patel stars as the adult Copperfield in this playful take of Dickens’ favourite work. If you are looking for a faithful adaptation, then this is not it. It is almost as though it dares not offend modern sensibilities - where are the women dying from childbirth, amongst other things? Perhaps it is pandering to the most privileged people in history imagining they are oppressed.

While it took me a while to get into it, there is plenty to like here - not the least of which is the stellar colour-blind cast, but it is a difficult film to recommend. Certainly if you enjoy seeing Dev Patel, Hugh Laurie or Tilda Swinton then you probably should catch this, otherwise it is for those of you who are interested in seeing 1850s fashion, or at least being able to achieve character and plot recognition of books you have not read but probably should have. Like all scoundrels and cads, I will be asking you to “remember me at my best”; a bit like this film.

Movie: Bloodshot
Director:  Dave Wilson
Stars: Vin Diesel, Eiza González, Sam Heughan
Possibly the last movie I almost bothered to see before the shutters started going down this is one of the early year releases currently being revisited.

Vin Diesel stars in this big screen adaptation of comic book action. Massive focus on visuals and weak writing left me unimpressed early but it is what you should expect, and there is nothing wrong with the production values. Largely derivative and trope ridden it somehow manages to realise its own personality somehow - probably Vin’s.

Shadowy bio-mech corporation, elements of cyborg enhancement, armed goons posing as operators used as cannon fodder, false narratives, eccentric coders, future-tech surveillance, and some romantic interests. Your call.

Movie: Dolittle
Director:  Stephen Gaghan
Stars: Robert Downey Jr., Antonio Banderas, Michael Sheen
Another early year re-release, this features Robert Downey Jr. in the title role, and despite that I could not drag myself along in its first go-round, but perhaps that had to do with Marvel overload. Perhaps it was the critical drubbing and being a box office bomb.

Based somewhat on the second original book from 1922 - and isn’t that a little bit freaky, the Dolittle character is a hundred years old - this is a whimsical and camp version probably best suited to smaller children, though I was largely charmed.

Visually it is a real treat, and while it’s a live action/CGI hybrid it does work - with the CGI animals voiced by an all-star cast. Sadly, Downey Jr. seems to be mostly dubbed in and his supposedly “passable” Welsh accent is both atrocious and difficult to understand due to mumbling. I am half deaf in one ear so maybe that is just me, but I was distracted by it the entire film and astonished this was the version they went to market with, given production suffered extensive re-shoots.

If you have a 6-11-year-old you want to take to a film you can manage this, though it is not remotely knowingly for adults like a Pixar film, so feeling a little Dolittle nostalgia might help.

Movie: Extraction
Director:  Sam Hargrave
Stars: Chris Hemsworth, Randeep Hooda
This is a Netflix original and one of its most popular. Something like 200 Bangladeshi police officers get murdered to save a boy's life. Hardly their fault that their commander is corrupt.

On a pure ridiculous action level this is fine, but its pretensions to meaningfulness are pathetic. It is based on a graphic novel which explains the overt sentimentality. John Wick meets The Expendables.

Juddy keeps busy consuming cultural media while posing as a student at a major Sydney university, thus shirking real work. He hosts pub trivia, and tutors at said university, for beer and book money.