tm-sheehan
Joined Apr 2011
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My Review -Invisible Boys
Streaming on Stan
My Rating. 9/10
This amazing 10 part series begins with a warning that there are extreme sexual content that may offend some viewers.
I find it amusing that LGBTQI viewers have watched endless heterosexual sexual content for decades without any such warning apart from the usual MA rating .
Anora the Oscar winning movie of this year has a 15plus rating and the sexually explicit scenes in that movie are no more explicit than in Invisible Boys they're just heterosexual.
The scenes viewers are warned about are not gratuitous and vital to tell the story the explicit language is no worse than I've heard in any other series and actually adds to the authenticity of the issues depicted but yes if explicit language or LGBTQ lifestyle issues offend you Invisible Boys may not be suitable for your taste.
Invisible Boys is a high quality Australian television series produced by Asphodel Films and Feisty Dame Productions based on the book by Ty Holden Sheppard .
Set in Geraldton Western Australia the series timeline is 2017 and takes place during Australia's 2017 same-sex marriage plebiscite.
Invisible Boys explores the challenges faced by a group of gay teens and their friends in the remote coastal city of Geraldton, Western Australia . Charlie played to perfection by Joseph Zada is outed on social media following an encounter with a married man.
As they form a tight-knit friendship, the boys find solace and support in one another, exploring their desires and identities in a world that often renders them invisible.
It's a splendid cast that includes Joseph Zada as Charlie Roth a loveable punk rebel looking for affection mostly in the wrong places .
I hope Joseph Zada wins or at least is nominated for an AACTA Award he deserves to be.
Joe Klocek as Matt Jones is also impressive as the complex son of a farmer who captures Charlie's heart .
Aydan Calafiore is so good as Zeke Calogero the son of Italian parents Sam and Anna Collyer played by Pia Miranda (Looking for Alibrandi).
Zach Blampied as Kade 'Hammer' Hammersmith is a football hero with indigenous parents who captures the affection of Zeke .
The whole ensemble cast is impressive in this series and the cinematography by Jason Hargreaves shows the Western Australian landscape to perfection.
Invisible Boys like the equally impressive British Series Heartstopper which I rated a 10/10 also focuses on the coming of age journey that many LGBTQ teens still have to manoeuvre when trying to find friendships, solace and understanding from parents and peers alike often experiencing bullying and alienation.
Heartstopper is lighter with more humour than Invisible Boys which in my opinion is more authentic in its dramatic content.
I applaud the producers and storytellers who bring these stories to our television screens especially when the quality is so obvious I wish we had these stories of acceptance when I was a teenager.
Note - The sequel to Holden Sheppard's novel "Invisible Boys" is titled "Yeah the Boys" and won the $50,000 Minderoo Artist Fund Award for 2025 so hopefully there will be a second series.
This amazing 10 part series begins with a warning that there are extreme sexual content that may offend some viewers.
I find it amusing that LGBTQI viewers have watched endless heterosexual sexual content for decades without any such warning apart from the usual MA rating .
Anora the Oscar winning movie of this year has a 15plus rating and the sexually explicit scenes in that movie are no more explicit than in Invisible Boys they're just heterosexual.
The scenes viewers are warned about are not gratuitous and vital to tell the story the explicit language is no worse than I've heard in any other series and actually adds to the authenticity of the issues depicted but yes if explicit language or LGBTQ lifestyle issues offend you Invisible Boys may not be suitable for your taste.
Invisible Boys is a high quality Australian television series produced by Asphodel Films and Feisty Dame Productions based on the book by Ty Holden Sheppard .
Set in Geraldton Western Australia the series timeline is 2017 and takes place during Australia's 2017 same-sex marriage plebiscite.
Invisible Boys explores the challenges faced by a group of gay teens and their friends in the remote coastal city of Geraldton, Western Australia . Charlie played to perfection by Joseph Zada is outed on social media following an encounter with a married man.
As they form a tight-knit friendship, the boys find solace and support in one another, exploring their desires and identities in a world that often renders them invisible.
It's a splendid cast that includes Joseph Zada as Charlie Roth a loveable punk rebel looking for affection mostly in the wrong places .
I hope Joseph Zada wins or at least is nominated for an AACTA Award he deserves to be.
Joe Klocek as Matt Jones is also impressive as the complex son of a farmer who captures Charlie's heart .
Aydan Calafiore is so good as Zeke Calogero the son of Italian parents Sam and Anna Collyer played by Pia Miranda (Looking for Alibrandi).
Zach Blampied as Kade 'Hammer' Hammersmith is a football hero with indigenous parents who captures the affection of Zeke .
The whole ensemble cast is impressive in this series and the cinematography by Jason Hargreaves shows the Western Australian landscape to perfection.
Invisible Boys like the equally impressive British Series Heartstopper which I rated a 10/10 also focuses on the coming of age journey that many LGBTQ teens still have to manoeuvre when trying to find friendships, solace and understanding from parents and peers alike often experiencing bullying and alienation.
Heartstopper is lighter with more humour than Invisible Boys which in my opinion is more authentic in its dramatic content.
I applaud the producers and storytellers who bring these stories to our television screens especially when the quality is so obvious I wish we had these stories of acceptance when I was a teenager.
Note - The sequel to Holden Sheppard's novel "Invisible Boys" is titled "Yeah the Boys" and won the $50,000 Minderoo Artist Fund Award for 2025 so hopefully there will be a second series.
My Review- Victim
My Rating 9/10
Streaming on YouTube
Victim was the first British film to explicitly name homosexuality and deal with the topic sympathetically. Despite the initial controversy, the film received acclaim and is now regarded as a British classic, as well as having been credited for liberalising attitudes towards homosexuality in Great Britain.
Produced by Rank Productions it has a superb cast that includes Dirk Bogarde, Sylvia Symms, Peter McEnery and Dennis Price .
The movie received two well deserved BAFTA nominations for Best British actor and Best British Screenplay.
Even the word homosexual had never been uttered in an English speaking movie until Victim hit the screens as this was the first English-language film to use the word "homosexual." Back in 1961 for an established and much respected actor to take on a role depicting a lawyer being blackmailed for a homosexual encounter would probably mean career suicide . Thankfully it was not the case for Sir Dirk Bogarde.
In fact the opposite occurred Dirk Bogarde's brave decision to play Melville Farr in Victim really launched Dirk Bogarde into the most productive phase of his movie career .
He later twice won the BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role, for The Servant (1963) and Darling (1965). His other notable film roles included Victim (1961), Accident (1967), The Damned (1969), Death in Venice (1971), The Night Porter (1974), A Bridge Too Far (1977) and Despair (1978). He was appointed a Commander of the Order of Arts and Letters in 1990 and a Knight Bachelorin 1992.
Initially a matinée idol in films such as Doctor in the House(1954) for the Rank Organisation, he later acted in art house films, evolving from "heartthrob to icon of edginess" Actors including Jack Hawkins, James Mason, and Stewart Granger all turned down the role of Melville Farr. Then it was decided to make the character younger and Sir Dirk Bogarde accepted the part.
This important and groundbreaking movie was in essence a plea for reform of England's anti-sodomy statutes.
Set on location in early 1960 London which is so interesting to see Victim tells the story of Melville Farr a successful barrister with a thriving London practice. He is on course to become a Queen's Counsel, and people are already talking of him being appointed a judge. One day, Farr receives a call from Jack "Boy" Barrett, a young working-class gay man with whom he previously had a romantic friendship.
The barrister is told that the boy is being blackmailed and that the blackmailer has compromising photos of Farr and the boy in his car. Jack "Boy Barrett panics and commits suicide but after the suicide, Farr tracks down other gay men being extorted for money by the same blackmail scheme.
Police Detective Inspector Harris (John Barrie) considers the anti-sodomy law nothing more than a license to blackmailers, and eventually is contacted by Farr to capture the malicious blackmailer.
Victim is a thrilling movie in the film noir style that is dramatically enhanced by the great score by Philip Green .
If you haven't seen Victim you're in for a treat.
On its release in the United Kingdom, the film proved highly controversial to the British Board of Film Censors, and in the US it was refused a seal of approval from the American Motion Picture Production Code. Despite this, it received acclaim and is now regarded as a British classic.
Victim was the first British film to explicitly name homosexuality and deal with the topic sympathetically. Despite the initial controversy, the film received acclaim and is now regarded as a British classic, as well as having been credited for liberalising attitudes towards homosexuality in Great Britain.
Produced by Rank Productions it has a superb cast that includes Dirk Bogarde, Sylvia Symms, Peter McEnery and Dennis Price .
The movie received two well deserved BAFTA nominations for Best British actor and Best British Screenplay.
Even the word homosexual had never been uttered in an English speaking movie until Victim hit the screens as this was the first English-language film to use the word "homosexual." Back in 1961 for an established and much respected actor to take on a role depicting a lawyer being blackmailed for a homosexual encounter would probably mean career suicide . Thankfully it was not the case for Sir Dirk Bogarde.
In fact the opposite occurred Dirk Bogarde's brave decision to play Melville Farr in Victim really launched Dirk Bogarde into the most productive phase of his movie career .
He later twice won the BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role, for The Servant (1963) and Darling (1965). His other notable film roles included Victim (1961), Accident (1967), The Damned (1969), Death in Venice (1971), The Night Porter (1974), A Bridge Too Far (1977) and Despair (1978). He was appointed a Commander of the Order of Arts and Letters in 1990 and a Knight Bachelorin 1992.
Initially a matinée idol in films such as Doctor in the House(1954) for the Rank Organisation, he later acted in art house films, evolving from "heartthrob to icon of edginess" Actors including Jack Hawkins, James Mason, and Stewart Granger all turned down the role of Melville Farr. Then it was decided to make the character younger and Sir Dirk Bogarde accepted the part.
This important and groundbreaking movie was in essence a plea for reform of England's anti-sodomy statutes.
Set on location in early 1960 London which is so interesting to see Victim tells the story of Melville Farr a successful barrister with a thriving London practice. He is on course to become a Queen's Counsel, and people are already talking of him being appointed a judge. One day, Farr receives a call from Jack "Boy" Barrett, a young working-class gay man with whom he previously had a romantic friendship.
The barrister is told that the boy is being blackmailed and that the blackmailer has compromising photos of Farr and the boy in his car. Jack "Boy Barrett panics and commits suicide but after the suicide, Farr tracks down other gay men being extorted for money by the same blackmail scheme.
Police Detective Inspector Harris (John Barrie) considers the anti-sodomy law nothing more than a license to blackmailers, and eventually is contacted by Farr to capture the malicious blackmailer.
Victim is a thrilling movie in the film noir style that is dramatically enhanced by the great score by Philip Green .
If you haven't seen Victim you're in for a treat.
On its release in the United Kingdom, the film proved highly controversial to the British Board of Film Censors, and in the US it was refused a seal of approval from the American Motion Picture Production Code. Despite this, it received acclaim and is now regarded as a British classic.
My Review- Black Bag
My Rating 6/10
In Cinemas now
Mmm, I found this movie directed by Steven Soderbergh really dull and lifeless.
He's not a favourite director of mine although I loved Erin Brockovich but some oh his other offerings left me underwhelmed.
Black Bag begins with intelligence agent Kathryn Woodhouse being suspected of betraying the nation and her husband George also a legendary agent .
The stakes get high when the security around a software program named Severus is threatened by falling into foreign hands.
George played by Michael Fassbender faces the ultimate test of whether to be loyal to his marriage, or his country.
Kathryn Woodhouse is played by Cate Blanchett in what I refer to as one of her " look at me I'm acting! " roles most recent being the complex wife Catherine Ravenscroft a celebrity journalist in the series Disclaimer which I also rated a 6/10.
Black Bag is a slick looking production with an estimated budget of USD 60,000,000 .
For me the script by David Koepp didn't flow and got very convoluted at times with no light or shade to make the characters believable.
Even some of the supporting characters seemed cut outs from previous spy dramas .
It even features two alumni from the official James Bond feature film series. They are Eve Moneypenny actress Naomie Harris and former James Bond actor Pierce Brosnan.
The scene in the restaurant with Pierce Brosnan's character Arthur Stieglitz consuming what appears to be a live fish in an illegal Japanese custom called ikizukuri really turned me off my dinner .
I really even couldn't say I recall any movie score in Black Bag but apparently it was composed by Thomas Newman.
I'm sure some people will probably enjoy Black Bag but it went over my head and straight out of my memory.
Mmm, I found this movie directed by Steven Soderbergh really dull and lifeless.
He's not a favourite director of mine although I loved Erin Brockovich but some oh his other offerings left me underwhelmed.
Black Bag begins with intelligence agent Kathryn Woodhouse being suspected of betraying the nation and her husband George also a legendary agent .
The stakes get high when the security around a software program named Severus is threatened by falling into foreign hands.
George played by Michael Fassbender faces the ultimate test of whether to be loyal to his marriage, or his country.
Kathryn Woodhouse is played by Cate Blanchett in what I refer to as one of her " look at me I'm acting! " roles most recent being the complex wife Catherine Ravenscroft a celebrity journalist in the series Disclaimer which I also rated a 6/10.
Black Bag is a slick looking production with an estimated budget of USD 60,000,000 .
For me the script by David Koepp didn't flow and got very convoluted at times with no light or shade to make the characters believable.
Even some of the supporting characters seemed cut outs from previous spy dramas .
It even features two alumni from the official James Bond feature film series. They are Eve Moneypenny actress Naomie Harris and former James Bond actor Pierce Brosnan.
The scene in the restaurant with Pierce Brosnan's character Arthur Stieglitz consuming what appears to be a live fish in an illegal Japanese custom called ikizukuri really turned me off my dinner .
I really even couldn't say I recall any movie score in Black Bag but apparently it was composed by Thomas Newman.
I'm sure some people will probably enjoy Black Bag but it went over my head and straight out of my memory.