Film Excess - Free Ukraine - Stop Putin - End the war NOW!!: Animal Kingdom (2010)

10/11/2013

Animal Kingdom (2010) - Ruthless Aussies in tight debut

♥♥♥♥

+ Best Australian Movie of the Year

Covered in shadows and ominous shades, a family portrait makes up the eye-catching poster for David Michôd's Animal Kingdom

J calls his grandmother, when his mother dies of a heroin overdose. But in his new, villainous family, their laws are the only that count.

The suspense builds up slowly in Animal Kingdom, the very impressive debut of Australian writer/director David Michôd (The King (2019)). The film is based on the true story of the Pettingill family of Melbourne, who in 1988 saw its Trevor Pettingill acquitted of a double police murder.
The visual realism paired with an intense score by Antony Spartos (Upright (2019-20, miniseries)) makes the film a joy to the senses. As the cold-blooded matriarch Jacki Weaver (Reclaim (2014)) shines, and so do others such as Ben Mendelsohn (Darkest Hour (2017)) as a really nasty bugger.
Animal Kingdom is filled with abhorring characters and disillusioned atmosphere. It ends abruptly. It is a crime movie that, in spite of all the praise here, has found many bigger fans than I. Difficult to say why, perhaps it just doesn't fabulate enough for my taste. It's simply a bit too kitchen sink crude for me to get over-ecstatic about it.

Related posts:

David Michôd: 2014 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED IV]

2014 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]
2014 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]

The Rover (2014) - A dreary journey to Michôd's desolate, hopeless Australia

2010 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]
2010 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]
2010 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
2010 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess

Hesher (2010) - Susser's immature, rebel-centered debut (co-writer)

Check out the film's trailer here

Budget: 5 mil. A$, approximately 3.86 mil. $
Box office: 7.2 mil. $
= Big flop (returned 1.86 times its cost)

[Animal Kingdom premiered 22 January (Sundance Film Festival) and runs 113 minutes. Shooting took place in and around Melbourne, Australia. The film opened #41 to a 61k $ first weekend in 7 theaters in North America, where it peaked at #38 and in 61 theaters (different weeks), grossing 1 mil. $ (13.9 % of the total gross). The film's biggest market was Australia with 4.3 mil. $ (59.7 %), then 2nd biggest North America and 3rd biggest was the UK with 785k $ (10.9 %). It was nominated for the Best Supporting Actress Oscar (Weaver), lost to Melissa Leo in The Fighter. It won 2 National Board of Review awards, a prize at Sundance, and many other honors. The film was remade as a US TV-series with the same title, which started in 2016 and is still running. Michôd returned with Enlightened (2013, TV-series) and theatrically with The Rover (2014). Joel Edgerton (Gringo (2018)) returned with a voice performance in Legends of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole (2010), in The Thief (2011, short) and with a physical theatrical performance in Warrior (2011); Mendelsohn in Needle (2010); and Guy Pearce (Memento (2000)) in The King's Speech (2010). Animal Kingdom is certified fresh at 94 % with an 8.00/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Animal Kingdom?

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William Friedkin has died

Born in Chicago, Friedkin accrued TV credits prior to his advance to the big screen as the director of Good TImes (1967), The Birthday Party (1968), The Night They Raided Minsky's (1968) and The Boys in the Band (1970) before his major breakthrough, The French Connection (1971), for which he won his only Oscar. He followed it up with the even bigger smash, The Exorcist (1973), arguably the best horror film of all time, for which he was Oscar-nominated. Later credits include Sorcerer (1977), Cruising (1980), To Live and Die in L.A. (1985), Rampage (1987), Rules of Engagement (2000), Killer Joe (2011) and The Devil and Father Amorth (2017, documentary). Friedkin passed away at age 87. R.I.P.

Louise Fletcher has passed away

Born in Alabama to deaf parents, Fletcher got her first credits in late-1950s TV-series.She took a 10 year-long sabbatical to devote her time to motherhood after the release of A Gathering of Eagles, but then came back and soon saw her career's most important part, as Nurse Ratched in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975), for which she won her sole Oscar. Later credits include Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977), The Lucky Star (1980), Brainstorm (1983), Two Moon Junction (1988), Cruel Intentions (1999), A Perfect Man (2013) and many more. Fletcher passed away at age 88. R.I.P.

Jean-Luc Godard has passed away

Born in Paris, France, Godard lived much of his life in Switzerland. He wrote for French film criticism magazine Cahiers du Cinema and became foundational for the New French Wave that inspired new waves in scores of other countries across the world with his Breathless (1960). Later credits include A Woman Is A Woman (1961), Vivre Sa Vie (1962), Le Petit Soldat (1962), Contempt (1963), Alphaville (1965), Pierrot le Fou (1965), 2 or 3 Things I Know About Her (1967), Weekend (1967), Every Man for Himself (1980), King Lear (1987), Century of Cinema (1995, documentary), Goodbye to Language (2014) and many more. Godard died of assisted suicide at age 91. R.I.P.

Wolfgang Petersen has died

James Caan has died

Caan was born the son of Jewish immigrants from Germany in New York. He got his start on TV in the early 1960s. His credits include El Dorado (1966), The Rain People (1969), Brian's Song (1971, TV movie), The Godfather (1972), - for which he earned his only Oscar nomination, - Slither (1973), The Gambler (1974), Funny Lady (1975), Rollerball (1975), Silent Movie (1976), Hide in Plain Sight (1980), - the only film he also directed, - Thief (1981), Misery (1990), Honeymoon in Vegas (1992), Bottle Rocket (1996), Eraser (1996), Dogville (2003), Elf (2003), Las Vegas (2003-07), Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (2009) and many more. Caan passed away at age 82. R.I.P.

Jean-Louis Trintignant has died

Born in Vaucluse, France, Trintignant's theatrical debut as an actor was in If All the Guys in the World... (1955). Later credits include ...And God Created Woman (1956), The Seven Deadly Sins (1961), Inferno (1964), A Man and A Woman (1966), My Love, My Love (1967), A Man to Kill (1967), The Great Silence (1968), Z (1969), The Assassination (1972), Three Colors: Red (1994), Amour (2012), Happy End (2017) and many more. He also wrote and directed two films in the 1970s. Trintignant passed away at age 91. R.I.P.

Ray Liotta has died

Adopted from an orphenage at a young age, Liotta got hooked on acting in high school. He had various TV credits in the late 1970s and early 80s, with his film debut in The Lonely Lady (1983). Later credits include Something Wild (1986), Field of Dreams (1989), Goodfellas (1990), Cop Land (1997), Hannibal (2001), Blow (2001), Narc (2002), John Q (2002), Identity (2003), Observe and Report (2009), Youth in Revolt (2009), The Details (2011), Killing THem Softly (2012), The Place Beyond the Pines (2012), Shades of Blue (2016-18), The Simpsons (2018, TV-series), Marriage Story (2019), The Many Saints of Newark (2021), Black Bird (2022, TV-series) and many more. Liotta passed away at age 67 in his sleep while on production in the Dominican Republic. R.I.P.

Philip Baker Hall has died

Born in Ohio, Hall didn't start acting until he was 30. His long list of credits include Zabriskie Point (1970), Miami Vice (1987, TV-series), Midnight Run (1988), Ghostbusters II (1989), Cheers (1993, TV-series), Hard Eight (1996), The Rock (1996), Air Force One (1997), Boogie Nights (1997), Seinfeld (1991-98), Rush Hour (1998), The Insider (1999), Magnolia (1999), The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999), Bruce Almighty (2003), Dogville (2003), The Zodiac (2005), Zodiac (2007), Curb Your Enthusiasm (2004-09), Mr. Popper's Penguins (2011), Modern Family (2011-12) and many more. Hall passed away at age 90. R.I.P.

William Hurt has passed away

Born in Washington D.C., Hurt's first film role was the lead in Altered States (1980). Later credits include Body Heat (1981), The Big Chill (1983), Gorky Park (1983), Kiss of the Spider Woman (1985), for which he earned his only Oscar as Best Actor; Chilrdren of a Lesser God (1986), for which he was also Oscar-nominated; Broadcast News (1987), for which he was again Oscar-nominated; Smoke (1995), A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001), A History of Violence (2005), for which he was again Oscar-nominated; The Good Shepherd (2006), Into the Wild (2007), Robin Hood (2010) and many more. Hurt passed away at age 71. R.I.P.

Ivan Reitman has passed away

Born in Chechoslovakia, now Slovakia, Reitman's family fled the Soviet regime to Austria, then Toronto, when he was 4 years old. Reitman broke into movies as a director with Foxy Lady (1971). Later credits include Cannibal Girls (1973), Meatballs (1979), Stripes (1981), Ghostbusters (1984), Twins (1988), Ghostbusters II (1989), Kindergarten Cop (1990), Junior (1994), Father's Day (1997), Evolution (1998), No Strings Attached (2011), Draft Day (2014) and more. Reitman's son Jason Reitman is also a great filmmaker. Reitman passed away at age 75. R.I.P.

Film Excess - Free Ukraine - Stop Putin - End the war NOW!!

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10/11/2013

Animal Kingdom (2010) - Ruthless Aussies in tight debut

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