Last week I mentioned Michael Fassbender was back on the Oscar’s radar for his performance as Steve Jobs in the film, creatively titled, Steve Jobs. This week, an Oscar nod became even more of a possibility with the announcement of the Golden Globe nominations. Nominated for Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama, Fassbender’s Steve Jobs’ Oscar campaign will now be in full swing. This weekhowever, you can catch the critically acclaimed actor in my first pick of the week, David Cronenberg’s A Dangerous Method.

 

Normally each year I start talking about the Oscars in September when the Toronto International Film Festival takes place – it does after all represent the unofficial launch of the award’s campaign season. However this year I’ve been restrained, mostly due to the fact that the front runners (Carol, Joy, The Revenant, Spotlight etc) don’t start hitting our shores until about now. As we launch into week two of our Film Star Face Off, I began contemplating the chances of Ryan Gosling or Michael Fassbender scoring an Oscar nod in 2016. Gosling, has had a quiet year with the release of one film The Big Short, but Fassbender has continued to churn out impressive performances in Macbeth and the upcoming Steve Jobs. The odds are on Fassbender getting a nomination for his role as the entrepreneur, but on Rialto Channel this week you can enjoy one of his early performances in the stunning British film Fish Tank.  

This week one of my favourite series of the year kicks off – the Film Star Face Off starring Michael Fassbender and Ryan Gosling. Every Friday night a Fassbender film will face off against a Gosling film, giving you the chance to admire and respect the work of these fine actors. Friday nights don’t get much better than this! Here are my picks for the week.

As you’re probably more than aware, December kicks off next week and along with it a whole new collection of films on Rialto Channel. The highlight for me is the Film Star Face Off featuring the works of two of the most talented and rather gorgeous actors working today; Michael Fassbender and Ryan Gosling. They’re both fearless, versatile, intense and likeable actors who flit comfortably between the indie and mainstream worlds, and they’ve both worked hard to become know as more than just ‘the guy from The Notebook’ and the ‘hung actor’. Every Friday night, Rialto Channel will screen a film from both actors such as Fassbender’s Hunger, A Dangerous Method and Shame, and Gosling’s Half Nelson, Drive and Only God Forgives. If you don’t already have a favourite, you will by the end of this Film Star Face Off. I can’t think of a better way to wind down the year.

This week there’s plenty to enjoy on Rialto Channel as ambitious filmmakers from around the world take us on delightful and unique adventures. Here are my picks for the week.

Throughout November, Rialto Channel is screening a diverse collection of films from Australian filmmakers on Wednesday evenings. This week catch The Infinite Man, the debut feature film from director, producer and editor Hugh Sullivan, and coming up next week is Cut Snake, the 1970s set crime thriller by Tony Ayres (The Turning, Walking on Water). 

 

I keep walking past shops, or getting emails from folks determine to remind me that Christmas is just around the corner. These constant reminders send shivers down some people’s spines, but for others like me who refused to be dragged into the often self-inflicted chaos of the festive season, I say, bring it on! The best way of ignoring the pressures of Christmas is to get lost in other people’s lives and worlds by watching movies. You think you’ve got problems; the protagonists in my film picks for the week will have you thinking twice.

Food documentaries have become popular over the last decade as we’ve become more obsessed about what we’re eating and where our food comes from. Films like Food, Inc. Forks over Knives, Supersize Me and The Truth About Sugar have given us plenty to discuss around the dinner table. Following in the footsteps of Bananas!, a documentary that looked at the conflict between the Dole Food Company and it’s banana plantation workers in Nicaragua, comes Food Chains, a film that explores the treatment of migrant horticultural workers in America. It’s a fascinating story and it’s my first highlight for the week.  

 

November is almost upon us, so here’s a little sneak peak at what you can expect over the coming month. On Wednesday evenings there’s an impressive collection of Australian directors on show. Horror films returns to Friday nights to kick your weekend off with a frightening jolt, and Rialto World is filled with a collection of dramas that take you from Israel (The Green Prince) to Uruguay (Kaplan). Saturday’s Official Selection is screening Lucky Them staring Toni Collette and Thomas Haden Church, and Anarchy, staring Ethan Hawke, Ed Harris and Dakota Johnson. And then, there’s Witnesses, an excellent new six episode French crime series that’s at the top of my pick’s list this week. Enjoy. 

 

The final episode of the third season of Rectify screens this Tuesday evening, and Rectify fans will find it a cathartic experience. Daniel Holden’s (Aden Young) release from death row after being incarcerated for the rape and murder of his girlfriend 19 years ago has quietly wrecked havoc upon his small Southern town family. Relationships have been tested, torn apart and renewed throughout this six episode third series, and while the show retains it’s poetic, melancholic and restrained approach to portraying reality, the final episode moves at pace to bring as much closure to it’s character’s lives as creator,Breaking Bad’s Ray McKinnon, would no doubt allow. There’s a sense of new beginnings and hope, and it’s nice to know that season four of this Sundance Channel drama will take Daniel’s story in a new direction. But really, you should see if for yourself… 

I wasn’t much of a fan of science at school; to be honest, a lot of it went over my head. However these days I find myself getting quite excited scientific endeavors such as NASA’s Curiosity Rover on Mars, or watching my son program a Lego robot. This week, Rialto Channel’sDouble Exposure documentary series features a couple of thought provoking science documentaries that have piqued my interest. Particle Fever offers an accessible and insiders look CERN’s Large Hadron Collider, and Pandora’s Promise explores the role nuclear power might play in powering our planet in the future. If only science had been this interesting when I was at school…