Set in the world of host driven late night television shows, it uses some of the inherent hypocrisy of the genre as its foundation. It builds something from this base that is equal parts comedy and social commentary. It makes statements but is far from preachy.

Katherine Newbury (Emma Thompson) is the much heralded and old school host who has lost touch with her audience and in some ways herself. She answers accusations of being anti female in her writing staff choices by hiring Molly Patel (Mindy Kaling), a slightly sycophantic woman who is sharp and unafraid to rock the boat. She pushes Katherine to expand her limited view.

Hats off to the talented Mindy Kaling for a screenplay that is never short of entertaining and socially relevant. Late Night cloaks its message in an appetising concoction of comedy and human endeavour.

Rob Hudson
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Legendary talk-show host Katherine Newberry (Oscar® winner Emma Thompson) is a pioneer in her field. The only woman ever to have a long-running program on late night, she keeps her writers’ room on a short leash ― and all male. But when her ratings plummet and she is accused of being a “woman who hates women,” Katherine puts gender equality on her to-do list and impulsively hires Molly Patel (Mindy Kaling), a chemical plant efficiency expert from suburban Pennsylvania, as the first and only female on her writing staff.

With rumours swirling that Katherine is being replaced by a younger, hipper male host, she demands that the writers make her funny and relevant again. A lifelong fan, Molly is determined to prove she’s not just a diversity hire, but the one person who can turn her idol’s career around. Going against everything Katherine has staked her reputation on, she urges her to make the show more contemporary, authentic and personal, a move that could make Molly’s career ― or send her back to the chemical plant for good.

Late Night is directed by Nisha Ganatra from a screenplay by Mindy Kaling . It stars two-time Academy Award® winner Emma Thompson, Mindy Kaling, Hugh Dancy, John Lithgow, Max Casella, Denis O’Hare, Reid Scott, Ike Barinholtz, John Early, Paul Walter Hauser and Oscar nominee Amy Ryan.
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It might be a generational thing as this reviewer is far removed from being a tween but great story telling has the ability to transcend age limitations. There are good things to take from the experience however as Reese Witherspoon is very appealing and funny as one of the major characters and it’s good to see Oprah back on the big screen. It’s also great to see Disney give a chance to a female director on one of its major films, in this case Ava DuVernay (Selma, Middle Of Nowhere).

Mention must also be made about the visual presentation, it has many moments of amazing and imaginative computer generated imagery that could only happen in a non reality landscape. The story defies a quick synopsis but it has to do with interdimensional time travel and science fiction driven possibilities mixed with a fantasy approach that blurs thew lines between them all.

This is a film that will polarise audience members but is worth a look, especially if the fantasy genre is one that appeals.

Rob Hudson
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OCEAN’S 8 is directed by Gary Ross and stars Sandra Bullock, alongside Cate Blanchett, Anne Hathaway, Richard Armitage, Mindy Kaling, Awkwafina, Sarah Paulson, James Corden, with Rihanna and Helena Bonham Carter.

OCEAN’S 8 releases in Australian cinemas on June 7, 2018.
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It’s no surprise that Disney is promoting Inside Out on the back of Up as (aside from the directorial connection) it is the Pixar film that is most similar to date. Both films employ very adult themes packaged in an easily digestible kiddie format.

The film beautifully visualises the thought processes and memory structures of the human mind, distilling human emotions to five fundamentals – joy, sadness, anger, disgust and fear – and represents these as little people conflicting inside our heads, battling for control of any given situation. It all feels very true to tone and our ability to relate to these conflicting emotions crucially beguiles us to the films protagonist: 11 year-old girl, Riley.

When Riley’s family is uprooted from Minnesota to San Francisco, her difficulty in coping with this change creates internal emotional conflicts. With Joy and Sadness missing in action, Riley is left to negotiate her new circumstance with only fear, anger and disgust at her disposal. Predictably, this doesn’t go well, and we follow the adventures of Joy and Sadness as they attempt to return to Riley’s ‘control room’ and stabilise her emotional rollercoaster.

The style of the visuals and storytelling is heavily flavoured by the likes of Alice in Wonderland and The Wizard of Oz and some sequences are suitably downright trippy and dreamlike.

But despite all the cutesy animation and funny hijinks, as an adult viewer, there’s no escaping the major theme here of an 11 year-old girl whose bout of sadness thrusts her into depression and potential homelessness. It’s a heady theme indeed, especially for a kid’s film, but fear not, a happy ending awaits you at the film’s conclusion so you do get to go home feeling good about it. Thankfully the kids just go along for the funny ride and are spared the emotional trauma suffered by mum and dad.

Inside Out is set to stake out a very special place in children’s literature. It’s a film squarely targeted at kids but it doesn’t shy away from the hard realities of life. It shares the shelf with Maurice Sendak’s Where The Wild Things Are and Shaun Tan’s The Lost Thing as stories that will mature in a child’s eyes as they grow older. This is no small achievement and as such Pixar have created something very rare indeed. I very much look forward to seeing my eight year-old watch this movie in the decades to come and to experience her gradual realisation as to what this story is really about. I hope (and expect) it mirrors my own experience with Sendak’s masterwork.

As a side note, the preceding short, Lava, is one of Pixar’s lesser efforts – it’s kind of creepy, actually, though I expect it’s rooted in Polynesian mythology – but thankfully this is in no way forecasts the quality of the following feature.

Stuart Jamieson
www.movies.disney.com.au/inside-out