Reviews

I love Celeste Barber as a comedian and I figured i would watch one episode to see what's this all about. I ended up binge watching the whole thing. Yes, it's funny in a very Aussie style with dash of NYC humor thrown in but it has a whole long story arc, and many poignant bits among laugh out loud moments, all tied in into nice tale of ambition, family drama and dealing with traumatic past. Highly recommended for anyone looking for an easy to watch but rich comedy / family drama, set in cool Aussie locales. There's enough sex and swearing to earn that R rating, too, which is nice in a sea of bland comedies that tiptoe around adult topics.

Not as good as Twelve Monkeys, and may not take with some people, but still, for me it was a highlight of the very grimm summer season at the movies. It may be too much for kids, PETA activists and people allergic to dark humour, but I loved watching it, and I still find myself giggling joyously when I remember certain scenes- the kinky interaction of Willhelm and Grandma Toad alone is worth the ticket price. The violence is there, but it's in line with the spirit of the times- for all its fantastic and fantasy sequences, this movie gives us nicely rounded portrait of the dark and semi-dark ages; the horrible fate of Little Kitty is, well, horrible (I would certainly not let my cat watch this movie), and Jonathan Price and Peter Stormare go for broke and play it completely over the top and sharply to the left. Ledger's and Damon's acting is right on the money, too, even when they're covered in mud or wearing home made armour. Monica Bellucci looks delicious, and the whole movie looks spectacular, with special note of distinction to the team that designed the Gothic/Turingian scenes. The CGIs are incredible- I did not expect such digital riches from Gilliam, this is up and above LOTR level- and while the movie takes it slow at first, it finds its flow and picks up the energy, and proceeds to dance to the crazy rhythm of the Klezmer meets Baroque music that saturates its soundtrack. And, if like me you actually grew up reading the tales, you will pick up many delicious puns and twists on the old tales. Once upon a time, there was this Grimm movie that brought joy and lots of mud to the world...

And it would have been a fascinating and engrossing documentary, if only Ms Goldwyn stayed out of the picture! I understand this is a movie about her coming of age- she has a long way to go!- but these women were very interesting subjects on their own, and it just seems such a lost opportunity. Instead of all this footage of Goldwyn prancing around, singing - cringe!- and toying with her "sexuality" (not that I sense any) why not show more archival footage of Zorita and co and let us hear more of their stories? In any case, this is Liz Goldwyn's movie and she can do whatever she chooses, but I feel this would have been a really great film with more reality and less of Goldwyn fantasies.