The cultural capital of Australia, Melbourne is inarguably the premiere location for film fans down under. These weekly posts will take you beyond the multiplex and highlight the Top 5 movie alternatives worth checking out each week.
1. Human Rights Arts & Film Festival (various cinemas)
Over the next two weeks, Melbourne’s annual Human Rights Arts & Film Festival will showcase films and artwork from all around the world in order to highlight some of the globe’s most pressing human rights concerns. Highlights of the program include Jonathan Couette’s latest documentary Walk Away Renee, about his mother’s struggle with mental illness, the multi-award wining thriller My Brother the Devil, plus the explicit urban slum “shockumentary” Mondomanila. For the full HRAFF line-up, visit the festival’s website, here. (Thur, May 9 – Thur, May 23)
2. Sunset Six + Q&A and Musical Performance (Cinema Nova)
In this new Australian rock ‘n’ roll comedy, Greg Stone leads a cast of local actors and musicians as a washed up rockstar given a second shot at the limelight. Check out the Nova website for information on the trio of screenings, each of which will be followed by a musical performance plus a Q&A with cast & crew. (Tue, May 14 – Thur May 16, 6:45pm)
3. A Clockwork Orange // Full Metal Jacket (The Astor)
Two more masterpieces grace the big screen, as The Astor’s Stanley Kubrick retrospective moves into the latter half of the legendary filmmakers career. Saturday it’s two of his very best: the futuristic social satire A Clockwork Orange plus the brilliant Vietnam War film Full Metal Jacket. Both films mix psychological horror with cynical black comedy, and boast performances, dialogue, images and music cues that have gone down in cinematic history. (Saturday, May 11, 7:30pm)
4. Prime Cut (Cinecult303)
For their May screening, the Cinecult crew dust off Michael Ritchie’s Prime Cut, in which Lee Marvin stars as a mob enforcer sent to collect a debt from a murderous slaughterhouse operator/white slave trader (played by Gene Hackman). Noted in 1972 for its gruesome violence and explicit sexual content, this is exploitation filmmaking at its finest. (Tuesday, May 14, 7pm)
5. Grease Sing-A-Long (The Astor)
Grease is the word, and will be on your lips this Friday night for a sing-a-long version of one of the most beloved movie musicals of all time. Costumes are encouraged, and there’s even a prize for best dressed, so be sure to dust of your old leather jacket before heading out the door to The Astor. (Friday, May 10, 8pm)
