As the second half of 2022 progresses, so starts the Oscars chatter.
We’ve already witnessed glory and glamour at the Cannes Film Festival in May, and expect big moments at the upcoming Venice Film Festival starting on August 31, where many stars and their films will be doing practice runs for the 95th Academy Awards early next year.
Although the best films in the race have not yet hit our screens (White Noise, Avatar: The Way of Water, Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon to name a few), the big cinema chains are getting us in the mood.
Director James Cameron has remastered his original 2009 award-winning Avatar sci-fi thriller for a limited big-screen run before his sequel’s release in December.
Starring Australian actor Sam Worthington who plays paraplegic Marine Jake Sully, we’ll be reminded of the journey he takes to Pandora with his co-stars Zoe Saldana, Michelle Rodriguez and Sigourney Weaver.
We’ll experience the incredible visual feast over nearly three hours (162 minutes) and hope the sequel, starring Kate Winslet, lives up to the hype.
If you’re not an AFL or NRL fan, and finals football in September is off your radar, Avatar lands in the middle of school holidays, as does a smorgasbord of other kid-friendly flicks, including DC League of Super-Pets (voiced by Dwayne Johnson and Kevin Hart) and The Curious Case of Dolphin Bay (rated G).
There’s a documentary about the historic decision over the Franklin River in Tasmania, and a David Bowie immersive experience for those who remember the 1970s.
Let’s kick it off with the genius, though, that is Australian film director George Miller.
Three Thousand Years of Longing – September 1
Australian director George Miller’s genie-in-a-bottle movie starring Idris Elba and Tilda Swinton has been described as ‘‘Aladdin for adults’’, says Screen Rant.
Dr Alithea Binnie (Swinton) is a somewhat lonely academic who heads to a conference in Istanbul and checks out the bazaar as you do while in Turkey.
Everyone knows the story … she buys a little bottle, rubs it, and out comes a genie – or a Djinn (Elba) – who offers her three wishes in exchange for his freedom.
‘‘This presents two problems. First, she doubts that he is real and second, because she is a scholar of story and mythology, she knows all the cautionary tales of wishes gone wrong,’’ the official Roadshow synopsis reads.
‘‘The Djinn pleads his case by telling her fantastical stories of his past. Eventually she is beguiled and makes a wish that surprises them both.’’
An Associated Press review says it’s ‘‘a patient and occasionally dazzling fantasy about love, myth, hope, companionship and perhaps, most of all, about storytelling.’’
Miller gets to play in a wide array of cultures as the djinn skips through time, ‘‘all with their own shimmering palettes and fairy tale hyperrealism’’, says AP, adding that ‘‘it’s a nice reminder that Miller is a man who can tackle both Mad Max: Fury Road and Babe: Pig in the City’’.
After Ever Happy – September 8
This is a romance with all the usual complicated baggage that young couples endure including desire, disappointment, love and loss.
Ticket to Paradise – September 15
After filming on Hamilton Island (aka Bali) in Tropical North Queensland, Academy Award winners George Clooney and Julia Roberts can now be finally seen full throttle in this rom-com adventure story.
The story goes that, as exes, they find themselves on a shared mission to stop their love-struck daughter from making the same mistake they once made – getting married.
They try to steal the wedding rings, embarrass their daughter at a pre-wedding party, and have a bit of nostalgic fun about the good old days along the way.
It hasn’t been picked up by a streamer such as Netflix or HBO Max.
Little Monsters (Finnick) – September 15
This is the story of Finnick, a young Finn, who doesn’t seem to care about his responsibility of making a home out of his house. Everything changes when a new family comes to his house and Finnick’s tricks do not work at all. He meets 13-year old Christine and inexplicable events begin to happen in the city.
It’s a mix of Home Alone meets Ghostbusters meets Casper the Friendly Ghost.
Moonage Daydream – September 15
It was part of the line-up of official selection at Cannes, and now we all can immerse ourselves in the Brett Morgen-directed Bowie documentary, which is being described not as such, but as ‘‘a genre-defying cinematic experience’’.
Bowie, who died aged 69 in 2016 of liver cancer, is immortalised, once again, in Moonage Daydream, where fans will reconnect with his alt-egos of Ziggy Stardust, Aladdin Sane, the Thin White Duke and Space invader Major Tom.
Interspersed with his own voiceovers, up-close-and-personal vision, it’s a classic reminder of how the music of the 1970s and ’80s was heavily anchored in the rock icon that was Bowie.
The film has the full support of Bowie’s estate and features many of his greatest tracks, as well as previously unseen concert footage.
The Railway Children Return – September 15
A heartwarming English film (and a sequel to the 1970 classic) which follows the story of a group of children who are evacuated to a Yorkshire village during the Second World War, where they encounter an injured African-American soldier who, like them, is far away from home.
The year is 1944, and the first half-hour ‘‘is a likeable set of hi-jinx – shenanigans with chickens, mud, secret hideouts and run-ins with locals who chuck conkers and coal’’, reported Empire Online.
That is, until they stumble across the soldier, who tells them a story about being on a secret mission, before they help him escape across the fields back to where he came from.
Avatar – September 22
According to Los Angeles-based entertainment website superherohype.com, the re-release gives Avatar the ‘‘chance to widen its lead over Avengers: Endgame as the highest grossing film of all time’’.
Cameron released a new trailer for the movie’s return to the big screen, and is presented in 4K HDR (high dynamic range) and will be available to watch in all major formats including how we watched in 2009 – wearing 3D glasses in the cinema.
‘‘Although Endgame surpassed the movie’s record near the end of its own theatrical run in 2019, Avatar ultimately reclaimed the box office crown for itself in 2021 thanks to a Chinese re-release … presumably, this is also why Disney+ has temporarily removed Avatar from its streaming library, even though that and Endgame are both Disney releases,’’ superherohype reported.
Avatar runs for a limited time and will be followed by Avatar: The Way of Water on December 16.
Fall – September 22
Look away if you don’t like heights.
This film is about two young mountain climbers who reunite after a tragic accident and go on a road trip together to climb a really high tower in the middle of the desert somewhere.
Of course things go wrong, and will trigger watching Sylvester Stallone in Cliffhanger back in 1993.
The Curious Case of Dolphin Bay – September 22
This is the curious story of Quinn Perkins, 15, who meets up with her best friend Daniela and marine biologist father Charlie. They haven’t seen each other since Charlie inherited a research centre in Dolphin Bay, Australia, studying the unnatural shift in the local reef’s biodiversity.
With the Great Barrier Reef’s bleaching and climate change in the news, this is a good one for the tweens, as is a bit of Goonies-style treasure hunting, a stolen journal and action.
If you loved the 2021 flick Finding ’Ohana, this is another treasure.
Smile – September 29
The trailer is scary, just saying.
After witnessing a bizarre, traumatic incident involving a patient, Dr Rose Cotter (Sosie Bacon) starts experiencing frightening occurrences that she can’t explain.
As an overwhelming terror begins taking over her life, Rose must confront her troubling past in order to survive and escape her horrifying new reality.
