HOT: Red Cliff, Cinema Nova, 380 Lygon St, Carlton

Red Cliff is an epic Chinese drama based on events described in the ancient Chinese historical text "Chronicle of the Three Kingdoms". The story is very well known in Chinese literature in a romantised version 'Romance of the Three Kingdoms', which may partly explain the film adaptation's phenomenal box office takings in China and Hong Kong. It's the most expensive Asian-financed film to date and it shows.

In the final days of the Han Dynasty, the Prime Minister Cao Cao invades the land of Wu with his immense army and navy in an attempt to unite China for the Han Emperor and for his personal ambition and infatuation. He is held back by an alliance between the ruler of Wu, Sun Quan and the warlord Liu Bei, which culminates in the Battle of Red Cliff. Obviously the cause of the just and good prevails.

The film is clearly in the oeuvre of 'beat-em-up' action director John Woo. There are extended bloody battle scenes with thousands of cavalry, blood splatters frequently arc across the lens and there is lots of rapid-fire zoom-in zoom-out camera work. The action is laughably ridiculous at times (catching arrows in mid-air while galloping), there is an element of overacting and the characterisation is generally one-dimensional. However, what the film lacks in subtlety it makes up for sheer grandeur of a huge cast and the sweeping CGI work in the scenery of the Yangtze river and the battle scenes. This is the kind of film which can only be appreciated on a big screen. It's the bigger than Ben Hur aspects of the film which are the most enjoyable and exciting aspects, rather than the contrived personal moments of the warriors, including many unnecessary lingering shots of Zhou Yu's beautiful wife Xiao Qiao.

HOT: Every Little Step, Cinema Nova, 380 Lygon St, Carlton

A Chorus Line is every dancer's story: the childhood dreams, constant work and injury, the ruthless auditions, hope for the 'big break' and soul-destroying disappointment.

In 2006, the musical was revived for Broadway and open call castings were announced. 3000 dancers lined the streets to audition for nineteen roles, from seasoned Broadway performers to newbies from New Jersey. Every Little Step is a documentary following the audition process from the beginning to the end and it provides an insight into the tough life of showbiz. Basically, you've got to like yourself, because not everyone will like you every time. You've got to believe in yourself, as it's possible that you are a great dancer, great singer, great actor, but you're not at the right place at the right time, and even though you try your best and do everything right, you still may not end up with a job.

The audition process is interspersed with interviews with the original 70s cast production, who discuss how A Chorus Line was developed from midnight taped interviews that dancer/choreographer Michael Bennett conducted with a group of dancers.

Every Little Step is an engaging and entertaining film and in fact seeing all those bright young hopefuls go away empty-handed had me bawling. Maybe I identified with them a bit too deeply, because they, like me, need a job.

HOT: Coco Avant Chanel, Sun Theatre, 8 Ballarat St, Yarraville

Gabrielle Chanel wasn't just a seamstress who made pretty clothes. She deserves respect for being a canny and ambitious businesswoman who freed generations from corsets, crinolines and big patisserie hats. By doing so, she also helped bring forth the kind of feminist thinking that was ahead of her time.

This film covers the beginning of her amazing life from her poor childhood, dumped at an orphanage, to couturier and fashion celebrity Coco Chanel. The film is a beautiful set piece for the deep dark eyes and poised elegance of Audrey Tatou, who bears an uncanny resemblance to Chanel and who manages to bring some depth to a thinly written character.

The pace of the film is also a bit unbalanced. We spend an inordinate amount of time with her when she is the lover/protegee of the rich, middle-aged Etienne Balsan, only spend a little bit of time on her ill-fated romance with the English aristocrat Arthur Capel, who funded her first stores, influenced on her style and who's death was probably the most devastating event in Chanel's life, and when she leaves Balsan's chateau for Paris, it's like all of a sudden she's a success! The film has also been criticised for glossing over the more unsavoury aspects of Chanel's life in her later years, but her life was so full of drama that one film could only ever cover a segment of her life.

The film isn't terrible or fantastic, and it's a nice girly day out (lots of beautiful clothes to admire), especially in the Art Deco surroundings of the Sun Theatre. The wide leather seats (some double love-seats) were incredibly comfortable and reminded me of the plush surroundings of the Electric Cinema.

HOT: Lucky Country, Palace Como, 299 Toorak Rd, South Yarra

The theatrical distribution company Footprint Films is only releasing four Australian films this year: Samson and Delilah; My Year Without Sex; Lucky Country and Balibo (yet to be released and opening the Melbourne International Film Festival 2009).

The first three films couldn't be any different in location, tone and characterisation - yet a consistent theme is that they all speak to what it means to be Australian. For me the contrast is most distinctive between Samson and Delilah and Lucky Country, as they are both films where the harsh Australian landscape is a feature. In Samson and Delilah, the film is surrounded by the searing sunburnt tones of the Northern Territory, whereas in Lucky Country, the bush is all greys, dull greens and damp shadows. Both films also examine characters who are displaced from their roots, but sadly in Samson and Delilah it is about the indigenous population who are no longer connected to their own land.

The writer Andy Cox introduced the screening of Lucky Country by explaining that he wanted to use the harsh yet beautiful landscape to highlight the tenuous relationship that non-indigenous Australians have with the land, as part of a greater theme of hope and idealism vs reality and pragmatism. His inspiration came from a timber settler's cabin that he came across on a family holiday, which led him to muse on the constant reaffirmation that Australians make on what it means to be Australian, in contrast to his home country England, where there is no such discussion. In his research, he realised that the debates that were being held at Federation are the same debates that are still being aired today, and so he decided to set his script in 1902 in the newly federated country.

The film centres on a religious and zealous school teacher from London and his two young children, who come to Australia and try to eke a living from the bush. Even though they don't know how to farm and their existence is harsh in the unfamiliar environment, they do not give up because the father fervantly believes that God will provide. One day three strangers seek shelter with them and what happens as a result of this encounter is unexpected and gruesome. Throughout the film there is a sense of dread and suspense as you watch the family disintegrate, trapped by hope, until they fall in a chilling conclusion.

HOT: Four of a Kind, Cinema Nova, 380 Lygon St, Carlton

Four of a Kind is a rarity - an Australian film that features four richly-drawn female lead roles and a complex interwoven storyline that had me intrigued and engaged the whole time.

The story starts with a police interview, where a police officer Gina (Leverne McDonnell) is questioning Anne (Louise Seversen), a rich surgeon's wife, in relation to a murder investigation. As the questions unfold, the truth is slowly revealed - not just about the murder, but about the relationship between the wilfully ignorant Anne and her unfaithful husband. We then follow Gina as she visits her psychiatrist Glenda (Gail Watson), who interprets Gina's dreams to unravel a dark secret from her past. Glenda leaves the session emotionally exhausted and meets up with her best friend Susan (Nina Landis) for dinner. However, the tension and drama escalates when Glenda confronts Susan with evidence that Susan was having an affair with Susan's much younger lover, Michael. The loop is closed in the fourth act where another police interview is taking place - this time Susan is being questioned by Gina in relation to the murder of Michael.

As the last scene fades, you're left wondering whether Susan really is a murderer, or merely a blackmailer? Is Gina protecting Glenda because of her own secret, and her belief that some people deserve to die and some murderers do not deserve to be punished? Most importantly, what is the nature and value of truth - and is omitting the truth the same as lying?

It is very hard to keep an audience engaged for two hours watching a film which basically features two talking heads at a time and which is clearly an adaptation of a four act play. I think the director Fiona Cochrane has done a credible job to maintain momentum by using numerous flashback scenes for visual effect and by inserting an intermission after each act with the bluesy music of Joe Camilleri and the Black Sorrows.

Four of a Kind is the kind of adult, complex film that I enjoy watching, and it's a shame that it is only on limited release at Cinema Nova in Melbourne. See it soon.

NOT: What Just Happened, Palace Kino, 45 Collins St, Melbourne

What Just Happened is another one of those moderately funny comedies that Robert De Niro seems to be churning out lately - except that this film isn't even moderately funny. It's not like sitting through its 100 minutes makes you think that life in the outside world is passing you by, but it's not so great that I would have paid to see it (thanks MIFF for the free tickets).

The film has a big-name cast including De Niro, Sean Penn and Bruce Willis (with a Grizzly Adams beard and large gut) and it is based on a book by Art Linson (subtitled 'Bitter Hollywood Tales from the Front Line') which exposes the inside workings of producing movies in Hollywood - the banter, backbiting and handholding. So all the elements are there for a crackling, biting comedy about the pressures of working in a glamorous but vacuous industry. Sadly the film never really delivers but pootles along at a middling pace with a string of weak storylines.

HOT: Fanboys, ACMI Cinemas, Alfred Deakin Building, Federation Square Flinders St, Melbourne

One romantic night I serenaded RM with my rendition of "Star Trekkin'"

"Star Trekkin' across the universe,
On the Starship Enterprise under Captain Kirk.
Star Trekkin' across the universe,
Only going forward 'cause we can't find reverse."

He looked at me in bewilderment - not only had he never heard of the song before (here it is on YouTube, dear) but I'd made a basic beginner's error, mixing up Star Trek and Star Wars. So really, there was no chance that I'd understand 80% of the quips and quotes in Fanboys.

Four teenage friends and later one tagalong girl take a rickety van (decked up like one of the Star Wars spaceships apparently) and drive across the country to fulfili a scheme they devised in fifth grade - to break into Skywalker Ranch and steal a copy of the yet-to-be-released Star Wars Episode 1. Along the way, they battle some Trekkies, secretly meet William Shatner in Las Vegas and get treated by Carrie Fisher in hospital. There's constant references to Star Wars scenes and dialogue which makes their antics seem even more ridiculous, and RM guffawed his way through most of it. Nevertheless, the rollicking road movie was highly enjoyable even for this non-Star Wars fan.

HOT: Gomorrah, Cinema Nova, 380 Lygon St, Carlton

Gomorrah has been termed the best mob movie since The Godfather, but I think with one difference. The Godfather, while based on reality, was clearly a work of fiction and the film had a sleek cinematic look to it. On the other hand, the jerky handheld documentary style camera work of Gomorrah and the very realistic, flawed characters, each with their own agenda, makes it hard to distinguish between what is real and what is fiction. No wonder that Roberto Saviano, the author of the book on which the film is based, had to go into hiding after threats of assassination.

Matteo Garrone's portrayal of the alliances, loyalties and fear engendered by the Camorra, the mafia in Naples, is gripping and explosive. The casual disregard for human life shared by the five storyline threads and the swaggering machismo of the mafia machine makes for a violent and bloody film - because there's no choice for the residents of the drug-infested, dilapidated, concrete monoliths - you're either with them or you're against them.

HOT: Sunshine Cleaning, Classic Cinema, 9 Gordon St, Elsternwick

It's hardly a surprise that perenially sunny Amy Adams is the star of the movie called Sunshine Cleaning. But it's not all singalongs and pastel cupcakes - the film is about a former high school cheerleader, now single mum Rose (Adams) who teams up with her flaky, dope-smoking sister Norah (Emily Blunt with a very convincing American accent) to start an unusual business - a crime scene clean-up service. The movie is not so much about cleaning as it is about Rose's down-at-heel life, complete with dead-end affair with her former high school sweetheart, and the sisters loving and sometimes fractitious relationship. It's a funny, kooky and heartwarming film and I think everyone will relate a little to the dysfunctional Lorkowski family.

HOT: Two Lovers, Cinema Nova, 380 Lygon St, Carlton

In Two Lovers, Joaquin Phoenix plays Leonrard, an awkward, lumpish and directionless bachelor who lives with his parents in Brooklyn. He falls in love with his wild, needy and self-centred neighbour Michelle, while on the other hand conforming to his familial duty to propose to Sandra, the stable daughter of his father's business associate.

I've never been much of a fan of the icy regal Gwyneth Paltrow, but for the first time for me she was able to display a warmer side which was believable and endeared me to her bad-news character. Vinessa Shaw added some depth to Sandra who could have easily been the cardboard cutout of the perfect Jewish princess daughter-in-law. As for Joaquin Phoenix, he announced recently that Two Lovers would be his last film as he was going to concentrate on his career as a rapper (!). A shame really, as he is pretty good at the acting game. I can acknowledge this fact even though since his turn as Emperor Commodus in Gladiator, I've not been able to watch his sneering upper lip on screen without my skin crawling.

HOT: Australia’s Top 100: Competition Session 3, St Kilda Film Festival, Palace George Cinemas, 135 Fitzroy St, St Kilda

Another diverse collection of drama, action, animation and documentary short films.
All interesting but overall not as strong as some of the films in Session 2.

Of note was the cute plasticised animated style used in Mutt, a story about a farmer, his cow and his dog who just wants to play fetch, and the suburban menace of a Jewish assault victim’s dad in Close Distance.

HOT: Australia’s Top 100: Competition Session 2, St Kilda Film Festival, Palace George Cinemas, 135 Fitzroy St, St Kilda

My pick from the five films on show in competition session 2 was the elegiac Trampoline. The story was about a little girl, a silent social outcast who harbours a dream to fly. Through her tentative friendship with the new kid at school, who also doesn’t quite fit in, she discovers that she really can fly. The blue-eyed girl was adorable and perfectly cast as the wistful and dreamy child and the film was obviously a project of love.

A close second was Hell’s Gates, a dramatisation of the true story of eight convicts who escape from Macquarie Harbour only to find themselves at the mercy of the Tasmanian wilderness. The cinematography, especially the saturations of forest greens, really stood out for me as it gave an already gruesome story a terrible eeriness.

The one film which literally had me falling asleep was Royboys, about the Fitzroy football club. I admit I don’t like football, but I don’t think that automatically prejudiced me against the 27 minutes of loosely cobbled-together scenes of fans cheering, fans singing, footballers cheering and footballers singing. With the exception of a couple of black and white photos and some facile fan voxpops, I don’t think it differed from anything you’d see on an average Saturday afternoon on Channel 7 (but thankfully a lot shorter).

HOT: Armed & Dangerous, St Kilda Film Festival, Palace George Cinemas, 135 Fitzroy St, St Kilda

Thanks to my MIFF membership, I won a mid-week pass to the St Kilda Film Festival, which allowed me to delve into a veritable smorgasbord of short films over two days.

Unbeknownst to me initially, the first session I chose to attended was a schools session of twelve short films made by various secondary schools and TAFEs. As expected, the standard varied from yawn-inducingly amateurish to surprisingly sophisticated. I particularly liked the music video RUN – I thought the sharp jumpy editing of the hand drawn images and photographs was very well suited to the repetitive and racy techno.

HOT: My Year Without Sex, Classic Cinema, 9 Gordon St, Elsternwick

Wow. In all my blogging history, I've never received such angry comments as those received in response to my NOT for Samson and Delilah. But if I'm going to open up HOT or NOT to anonymous commentators, then I know I have to be ready to receive (and post) dissenting views. Hey, even the Cannes International Film Festival jury disagreed with me!

However, I must admit I'm feeling a little defensive so I can't resist giving a teeny jab to my violently dissenting readers by saying that I really enjoyed My Year Without Sex, a new film by Australian director Sarah Watt. Yes, I managed to enjoy the story and relate to the characters even though I'm not Anglo Australian, married, don't live in the Western suburbs of Melbourne, didn't grow up playing or watching footy and I don't have kids, a mortgage or a brain aneurysm.

The film is a low-key, charming and funny film about the year in the life of a suburban, middle-class family. When the mother, Natalie (brilliant Sacha Horler), is diagnosed with a brain aneurysm, her husband Ross (still fresh-faced Matt Day) and two kids bravely continue living out the dramas and humour of the everyday - whether it's organising a makeover birthday party, the tooth fairy tipsily depositing her pokie winnings one night and conducting a pet funeral over the Western Bulldogs team song. The characters are likeable and believable and you come out of the cinema with a wonderfully warm feeling in your heart. A real pleasure.

HOT: Carmen, World Opera and Ballet, Kino Cinemas, 45 Collins St, Melbourne

In my fabulous former life, I was able to attend many opera performances at my all-time-favourite London landmark, the Royal Opera House. However, I'm now a million miles away from Covent Garden, so I can only get my dose of world-class opera via World Opera and Ballet.

Initially, I was uncertain as to how much I would enjoy opera on the big screen. Now, I have to admit that watching the performance in high definition and with surround sound is really not a bad compromise to the real thing. The camera can capture every flicker of emotion in the singers' faces, which I would never be able to see from my ampitheatre seats. Bizet's sumptious melodies, comprising many of opera's greatest hits, obviously helped the experience.

The ROH's 2007 production of Carmen was superb - vibrant, earthy and perfectly cast. Dark-haired Anna Caterina Antonacci was utterly believable as the sultry and volatile Carmen who uses her sensual charms to entrap the hapless Don Jose. As well as singing beautifully, Antonacci was a fantastic actress who never hammed up her emotions and was able to convey her disdain for Don Jose with a mere sideways glance. Ildebrando d’Arcangelo, astride on his (live) horse, was proud and authorative as the toreador Escamillo. My favourite tenor, handsome Jonas Kaufmann, sang poor bewitched Don Jose, tortured with unrequited love and reduced to rags and pleading with Carmen not to leave him. Their last scene, full of tense drama and passionate physicality, had me holding my breath.

The only problem with not being at the ROH was that I wasn't able to yell Bravo! as the curtain went down.

NOT: Tenderness, Kino Cinema, 45 Collins St, Melbourne

Tenderness explores the different possible tenets of tenderness, as played out by a cast of isolated, disturbed characters whose lives intersect briefly. There is Detective Cristofuoro (Russell Crowe), a cop whose wife is in hospital, and his loving care for her wellbeing is how we'd consider the usual conception of tenderness. He is trailing the recently released teenage murderer Eric Poole (Jon Foster), who is addicted to the tenderness of witnessing his helpless victims' last breaths. Then there is Lori (Sophie Traub), a young girl who has been sexually molested and who craves another sort of tenderness - the kind that Eric administers.

It's a strange premise for a film. At the end of an intense and disturbing two hours, RM and I both agreed that the film's oddness made it intringuing - but it's just odd enough for me not to recommend it.

HOT: Closed for Winter, Cinema Nova, 380 Lygon St, Carlton

Closed for Winter is a story is told from the eyes of Elise Silverton (Natalie Imbruglia), who has grown up in the shadow of a childhood family tragedy. It affects the way she interacts with her stiff, closed-off mother (Deborah Kennedy), her boring but caring boyfriend (Daniel Frederiksen) and she trudges through her life as if in a slow fog. Imbruglia's big eyes convey all the pain, blame and bewilderment of Elise's life, especially when the family doctor (Tony Martin) brings to the surface an unspoken but suspected event.

This poised Australian film is cinemographically beautiful, subtle and speaks of the secrets of suburbia - I think it deserves more of an audience than it has received.

HOT: The Audition, Cinema Nova, 380 Lygon St, Carlton 3053

While in London, I really gained an appreciation for the opera - so I was excited to hear that Cinema Nova were screening The Audition, a behind-the-scenes documentary about New York's Met Opera auditions.

The story follows a group of hopeful young opera singers as they prepare for the grand final - a chance to be one of six winners of a bursary and recognition of their world-class potential. Although I am definitely not a professional musician, my years of piano exams and piano competitions meant that I could respect and relate somewhat to the experience of these young artists. You work long and hard, often solo, to prepare for a single moment - and you can't rely on anyone else when you're on stage, alone with your instrument.

To me it was quite clear from the start who some of the winners would be - their personality, drive and vocal quality was striking. However, it was still an interesting journey, and of course I got to hear some wonderful music.

HOT: The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, Classic Cinema, 9 Gordon St, Elsternwick 3185

It's not often that I'd say that a film adaptation is better than the book, but to my surprise that was the case for The Boy in the Striped Pajamas.

I really didn't like the book, mostly because I thought the protaganist Bruno was rather annoying and frustratingly dim about what his Nazi commandant father did for a living, and that the 'farm' next door was a concentration camp. So I didn't have any expectation that I would enjoy the movie.

However, in the film, the big wide eyes of Asa Butterfield managed to convince me that perhaps an 8 year old could be that innocent, even right up to the end (which I won't give away). Also, Vera Farmiga impressed me with her portrayal of his mother as she moved from pride to disenchantment to anguish.

Some reviewers have criticised the film for sanitising the horrors of a concentration camp, but I think director Mark Herman has achieved the right balance here, as the whole purpose of the storyline is that it is told from the perspective of a child who has the truth hidden away from him. Perhaps he is a useful symbolic counterpart for all those citizens of Nazi Germany who deliberately chose not to see or to know.

HOT: Tulpan, Cinema Como, 299 Toorak Rd, South Yarra 3141

I made a pretty easy bet with RM that a film set in Kazakhstan would involve two things - steppes and camels. In the first second of Tulpan, both of these appeared to set the scene for the domestic drama of the young man Asa, his sister, her stern husband and brood of adorable children, his friend Boni and Tulpan.

Tulplan is the name of the faceless young girl who Asa wants to, and needs to, marry so that he can have his own flock of sheep and build his home on the steppe. When she refuses to marry him, supposedly because of his big ears, she comes to represent all of his unattainable dreams of a happy and prosperous shepherd's life, with a wife and children waiting for him at his yurt. The story moves at a leisurely pace, following the shepherd's day to day existence framed by the unending horizon of the dusty steppe, the onimous stormy skies, the wild, twisting sandstorms and the simple, infinite cycle of life and death. It's a beautiful piece of work.