Sergio_Falco

I went to a preview screening of The 25th Reich at ACMI in Melbourne with a friend. Afterwards, he described it as the 'singularly most outrageous film he'd ever seen'. I wouldn't quite go that far, but there's no denying 25th Reich is out there in a space all of its own. Based on a pulp novel called 50,000 Years Until Tomorrow, Reich finds a squad of American GI's based in Australia during the Second World War on a mission to catch or kill some escaped pumas who have fled into the bush (this bit, I believe, is based on something of a true story). The five man squad trek into the stunning wilderness, carrying a strange radio device designed to send out signals to attract the pumas... and then things start to go a bit weird...

I won't detail any of the plot turns from here, but suffice it to say we are served up time travel, rampaging giant mosquitoes, infighting amongst the men, aliens, a crashed UFO and giant Nazi robot spiders! This film is a genuine oddity and a rarity for Australian cinema, which is only cautiously embracing genre after decades of playing things fairly safe. It's obviously been done on a low budget, but what it lacks in Transformers style high-tech mayhem it more than makes up for with verve and wacky ideas. The cast do a fine job of playing characters that initially seem to be stereotyped WW2 GI's, but gradually take on individual shadings, and the retro visual style is highly reminiscent of 50's Technicolor sci-fi movies. The dialogue (presumably lifted from the novel) is laced with period lingo and the actors pull it off without a hitch. The film has a slow build (which might bother ADD types who itch to check their iphone every ten seconds) and the real lunacy happens in the last third, but its an engaging and fun ride all the way through. There is one standout scene that had my jaw dropping open with stunned disbelief, but I won't say anymore (although I think it's still burned into my eyeballs - people will know the scene I'm referring to when they watch the movie). It also ends on something of a 'Republican Serial' style cliffhanger, and I can't even begin to imagine how insane the sequel could be. This film has been likened to the much hyped (and much more expensive) Iron Sky, but there's no real comparison here - 25th Reich is very much its own beast. I really enjoyed this offbeat offering from director Stephen Amis and his team, and hope that it will inspire more indie filmmakers in Australia to think outside the box of kitchen sink dramas and rom-com's. Well worth a look.

I wondered how anyone could possibly make a feature length doco about dog poo, and found the answer with this entertaining, zippy little film. It's fair to say that everything you've wanted to know about dog poo - assuming you've wanted to know anything other than how to get it off the soles of your shoes - is contained here. Director James Boldiston travels bravely to several different countries and continents to give us an exhaustive, fast-paced, and fun doco (well, it's kind of a doco, but also something of an 'essay film' with its loose, freewheeling structure) about dog poo and the many industries, products, occupations, health hazards and politics (including Harvey Milk!) that spring off the topic. While the show is done with a light, humorous touch, it also contains a bit of serious scientific content and a quite shocking tale of a toddler in the UK who lost her sight after contact with diseased poo. With non-stop crazy animation and a wry, posh female voice-over, this is probably the last word on the surprisingly complex world of dog poo - definitely recommended. Now if only I could figure out the best way to get the damn stuff off my shoes...