Film Screening 1st October, 2016

Poster for Sausage Party

Sausage Party 

7:00 PM, 1st October, 2016

  • MA
  • 89 mins
  • 2016
  • Conrad Vernon, Greg Tiernan
  • Evan Goldberg, Kyle Hunter, Seth Rogen, Ariel Shaffir
  • Seth Rogen, Kristen Wiig, Jonah Hill, Bill Hader

Have you ever wondered what food thinks about? Have you wondered how different pieces of produce look around the supermarket where they live, hoping against hope that one day they’ll be chosen for bigger things? That one day they’ll be taken by ‘the Gods’ – us shoppers – to ‘the Great Beyond’ like former friends who have gone before them. For Frank the sausage (Rogen), being chosen has long been his dream. His other dream has been to nestle inside sexy hot-dog bun Brenda (Wiig), getting saucy. But his dream becomes a nightmare when a shopping cart accident separates Frank and Brenda and leads to the shocking discovery of what happens to food in the Great Beyond. With his savoury (saveloy?) friends, he embarks on an adventure to escape their delicious fate and return to the safety of the shelves.

Sausage Party is an adult animated comedy. I’ll emphasise adult again. At times it’s crass, raunchy, and full of comments inappropriate in polite company. This isn’t for kids. It also isn’t for everyone – if you aren’t a fan of Rogen, I don’t know if this will sway you to his favour.

Be prepared for a fair bit of language plus a script with an unbridled disregard for political correctness that is full of exaggerated racial, ethnic and sexual stereotypes taking the form of food. The interesting take on the religious motivations of sausages is fun, as is the modern commentary on international turf wars playing out in the supermarket. There are also plenty of enjoyable shoutouts to various other films and pop culture.

Overall there were parts I found hilarious and parts where I cringed, but I think it delivers what it intends to and certainly does cut the mustard.

Steven Cain

Poster for The Shallows

The Shallows 

8:33 PM, 1st October, 2016

  • M
  • 86 mins
  • 2016
  • Jaume Collet-Serra
  • Anthony Jaswinski
  • Blake Lively, Óscar Jaenada, Brett Cullen, Sedona Legge

Just when you thought it was safe to go back into the water (again), along comes this sparse survival thriller that just goes to show that films like Jaws, Deep Blue Sea and Open Water have taught fictional swimmers absolutely nothing about sea safety.

Blake Lively stars as Nancy, a young woman reeling from recent loss of her mother, who decides to drown (or surf?) her sorrows by taking to the water on an idyllic and isolated beach. But Nancy’s serene seclusion is soon rudely interrupted when she is attacked by a great white shark. Injured and stranded on a rock in the middle of the enormous predator’s feeding ground, she must put her wits to the ultimate test in order to survive and find a way back to shore – a mere 200 metres away and yet so very, very far.

Lively delivers a captivating one-woman performance as the resourceful Nancy, single-handedly carrying the terrifying thriller for its taut 90-minute runtime. And it certainly doesn’t hurt that she spends the whole film barely clothed either. Between that and the sublime vistas of the Queensland coast where the film was shot, this is certainly a great-looking film.

Those looking for something deeper in their cinematic diet may want to look beyond The Shallows (get it?), but if you enjoy big-screen thrills that keep you on the edge of your rock, this should serve as a suitably entertaining Saturday night escape.

Adrian Ma