This is a big one peeps. A fantastic competition, a great movie with a great cast and director, you can revisit our red carpet interviews and on top of that you can see official exclusive footage provided only to us from the folks at Roadshow Entertainment. And to whack some cream and strawberries on top we are partnering for this competition with the amazing people at the Robert Pattinson Australia – who we have become great friends with since the red carpet for this film’s premiere. Suss out our review from the premiere below and after you have watched all the vids enter to win your own copy of THE ROVER on Blu Ray – we have six of them up for grabs. THE ROVER releases tomorrow, Wednesday 15th October on all formats. And without further ado enjoy the exclusive video Roadshow has given us……all the best…..JK.

 

 

ORIGINAL ARTICLE FROM JUNE 17TH 2014

I cannot wait to see THE ROVER, it looks superb and scores nothing but rave reviews everywhere I read. Official Selection at Cannes, loved by all at SYDNEY FILM FESTIVAL and out now at art house cinemas from ROADSHOW FILMS. Kernel Andrew reviews the film while Kernel Alistair Shields asks his first red carpet questions to RPatz and Guy Pearce while Kernel Jack films his first red carpet interviews. Win win for Salty Popcorn – the Kernels owned on this film and am so proud of them. Just have to put it out there – Kernel Alistair was one of the only people on the red carpet to throw his hand out there and go for the handshake – he is selling his arm on EBay to Twiharders and has not washed it as yet so still covered in RPatz genes! THE ROVER is out now at art house cinemas, is rated MA15+ and runs for 103mins. Enjoy our review and video interviews below, no judging, Alistair was nervous 🙂

 

 

REVIEW BY ANDREW BRUSENTSEV

After the understandable praise for his last movie ANIMAL KINGDOM all eyes have been on this latest effort by David Michôd. His latest movie is an exploration of human nature set against the backdrop of a complete and systematic collapse of society. Yes you may say this genre has been done before. Quite successfully even by Australian film makers. One only needs to think of MAD MAX (well the first two anyway). But what separates this effort is the almost laser like focus on the human condition rather than the post-apocalyptic surroundings. In fact one of the central questions I found myself asking was not what happened but rather how do people survive in a world where mankind has reverted to a more almost quasi-primitive existence.

The tone is set quite early with Natasha Braier’s cinematography concentrating on the red and yellow colour spectrum, montages of bleak environment, bleak buildings and even bleaker people. It conjures up heat and an almost draining monotony. Add an almost incongruent soundtrack by Antony Partos and you add menace. It drips through every frame, every scene, every interaction. This is a fine palette with which the two principles, Guy Pearce and Robert Pattinson, can walk around in.

 

SALTY POPCORN RED CARPET INTERVIEW WITH DAVID MICHÔD

 

We never see the collapse, in fact it is barely spoken of, all we know is that it happened and we are living through its aftermath. This is a beautiful conscious decision by Michôd as it gives all characters to suffer the consequences of decisions that he may or may not have made in the distant past. In fact the movie starts simply. Eric (Guy Pearce) sitting in the shell of an old public house. He is nursing a dirty glass of water. It seems he could have been here for hours, days……years.

This peace is quickly shattered when, in the background, we see a truck carrying three men flip over. A simply superb shot. The men in the truck are Archie (David Field), Caleb (Tawanda Manyamo), and Henry (Scoot McNairy). These men have been somewhere, done something, something violent. Indeed one of them has been shot. Climbing out of the wreckage they scramble to find another method of transportation. They see it, smash its window and are on their way. This vehicle is Eric’s car. It is only during these moments that Eric, back in the bar, awakens and climbing into the beaten truck (which the trio have abandoned, gives chase).

 

SALTY POPCORN RED CARPET INTERVIEW WITH GUY PEARCE AND ROBERT PATTINSON

 

This is the simple plot of the movie. Eric is driven singularly, fanatically to get back his car. The audience may question his motivations. Why? The car is not special. Along the way Eric crosses paths with Rey (Robert Pattinson) who turns out to be related to one of the trio. He has been wounded in the incident from which the trio were fleeing. This unlikely pair become travelling companions as one pursues his vehicle, the other his brother.

Pearce and Pattinson are simply superb. Pearce as Eric plays his character almost internally. There is so much hatred and venom in the man. When he does speak, it is distant, threatening, urgent and driven. He plays this role sublimely. Pattinson on the other hand is a true revelation. With a series of facial ticks and a slow dim-witted drawl he gives life to a man whose whole world has turned upside down now that his brother has seemingly abandoned him. Eric barely remembers happiness and is desperate, it seems, to cling on to anything that may have once been his. Pattinson, through Rey, conveys not only desperation but also a surprising gentleness, a man who may not know a lot but knows that he can’t make it in this world on his own. Eric needs Rey to find his car and Rey needs Eric to find some sort of semblance of order in this chaotic world.

 

 

Michôd allows their performances to breathe (this is easily Pattinson’s best screen turn on camera) but it is not all about performance. The imagery is simply superb. The initial image of a truck flipping over viewed through the windows of the bar is exhilarating. The harsh countryside as the two make their way on their quasi-hell ride adds an added menace and longing to the proceedings. In fact this menace is so palpable throughout the entire picture that when it does degenerate into quick, sickening violence and then tapers off the menace still remains.

All in all a fantastic achievement.

 

 

With special thanks to ROADSHOW ENTERTAINMENT to win one of the 6X BLU RAYs of THE ROVER you need to either like and share this post on Facebook or retweet/ favourite it on Twitter (either from our page or the @RPAustralia page – IF USING TWITTER USE THE #SALTYRPATZ in your reply), you then need to leave a comment below stating the answer to the following question:

What is the best all time Australian movie and why?  This is bloody tough – mine would either be The Man From Snowy River or Dead Calm – both still give me goosebumps.

If you do not have Facebook and Twitter then get with the times old-timer haha – You can still enter, leave your entry below and email me at jking@saltypopcorn.com.au telling me you don’t have social media (you still need to enter on the website).

Prizes will no longer be awarded to first in first served. It will now be a game of skill and selected purely on the thoughts of the judges, said judges being the Salty Kernels (and in this case – also the folks at@RPAustralia).

The prizes will be sent in the next couple of weeks. Good luck! Oh, and minor housekeeping – huge apologies for overseas readers, this competition is only available to Australian residents.