Movies

Sydney Morning Herald

Monday August 25, 2008

Doug Anderson

The Break-Up

(2006) Ten, 9.30pm

Chicago art dealer Brooke Meyers (Jennifer Aniston) is feeling neglected in her relationship with Gary Grobowski (Vince Vaughn). Small exasperations become "issews" in a lose-lose game of misunderstanding and phase-locked immaturity. So far, so good - if you're reacting in the Pavlovian fashion Hollywood expects you to. The majority of American films are based on what the studios think they can trick the public into accepting. Tab A into stereotypical slot B, press button C and follow the PR prompts. When Gary fails to bring home a dozen lemons for a dinner party, tensions ratchet up and Brooke announces she's out of it. Gary is too stupid to realise it's a wake-up call. They remain in their apartment trading jealousies in estranged cohabitation until time runs out. Male viewers who have endured any sort of relationship war will probably see something of themselves in Vince. Is reconciliation possible? Probable, desirable? Computer says yes but actuality, amazingly, leaves the matter in limbo even though hope springs eternal.

March Of The Penguins

(2005) Nine, 7.30pm

New parents, bemoaning nature's vicissitudes in the small hours as they attend to an infant's requirements, might relate to this. As they have done for millenniums, emperor penguins march and glide through harsh arctic terrain for 20 days to a place called Oamack to breed in safety - their security ensured by the region's inhospitable nature. Each female lays a single egg before heading back to the ocean for much-needed sustenance, her mate taking over and placing the unhatched egg on his feet under a layer of down. There they remain while blizzards rage and individuals take turns standing on the perimeter of a circular, communal cluster. Months later, the females return to Oamack to be reunited with their partners and newly hatched chicks. The chaps, having given their all - including a gourmet vomit snack for the youngsters - set off to the coast for a feed and a few beers while the females guide their young on the same journey, warding off predatory petrels and other fanciers of tender penguin meat. This is an astonishing documentary feature that paradoxically radiates significant warmth on a cold night.

The House Of Seven Corpses

(1973) ABC1, 12.25am (Tue)

House of seven corpses? On the right, opposite the cake shop ... black gothic place with a rusty iron fence and vultures perched on the turret. The postman never rings twice here but he does appreciate a house with a novel name on the letterbox after the drudgery of Belleview, Fairhaven, Vermont and Crystal Waters. A film crew is shooting on location at a house where seven murders - occult related - were committed. Ignoring the caretaker's instructions, the director interferes with the precinct in pursuit of authenticity, prompting a ghoul to emerge from a nearby cemetery with an Agatha Christie shopping list in his mouldering claw. Where are the Magnificent Seven - or Seven Brides For Seven Brothers, for that matter - when you need them?

© 2008 Sydney Morning Herald

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