As I write this the dulcet tones of Bob Dylan are blasting in our cottage in Ballarat as we celebrate his latest biopic A Complete Unknown which we saw as a preview at the beautiful Regent Theatre last night.

I think Lynda’s been playing the albums chronologically and is up to Blonde on Blonde. Only fifty to go!

In 1961, a twenty year old Bob Dylan arrives in New York’s Greenwich Village living virtually as a hobo. He has a small pack with a change of clothes and a guitar.

He seeks out his hero Woody Guthrie who is critically ill in a New Jersey hospital where he also meets the godfather of folk music, Pete Seeger.

Seeger, a generous and kind man is the conduit to the burgeoning folk scene and Dylan quickly becomes someone of note and has appeal to record companies. His reputation quickly grows and suddenly he is thrust into the limelight alongside the Madonna of folk music Joan Baez.

The film starts in 1961 and ends in 1965 at the notorious performance Dylan gives at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival when he goes ‘electric’.

What struck me most and is examined very well in the film is:

  • The tumultuous relationships with artist Suze Rotolo and Joan Baez. It’s Suze who is immortalised on the cover of The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan
  • What comes as no surprise but is captured quite well is the self-belief and unflinching determination to do things his way. He was always going to upset the folk community and Pete Seeger but didn’t care. He was on a journey and couldn’t be stopped.
  • The skill of the actors was exceptional. Timothee Chalamet (Dylan), Edward Norton (Seeger) and Monica Barbaro (Baez) all play their instruments and sing superbly.
  • You can clearly see the ‘time’s a changing’ with the Cuba missile crisis, civil rights and JFK’s assassination happening in the background.
  • At the time, unknown session guitarist Al Kooper turns up to the Highway 61 recording sessions hoping to get a gig. They already have one in Mike Bloomfield so Kooper packs up his guitar then just before they start recording, he jumps on the Hammond organ, an instrument he’s never played before. One, two, three, four and he is suddenly playing the opening chords to one of the twentieth century’s greatest songs, Like a Rolling Stone.

You can watch and read as much about Dylan as you like but I’ve now come to the realisation that it’s not worth the trouble. He is intensely private and you have to admire him for that.

I have read stories from his six children who adore him and are grateful that he ensured anonymity for them as best he could. He has been a loving and caring dad which goes against the grain of what we’ve seen as fans which is belligerent and grumpy a lot of the time.

The music in this film comes from a very rich period in Dylan’s career and it’s hard to believe he was in his early twenties. The soundtrack will have you tapping your feet and admiring the brilliance of his song writing.

It’s been  a while since I’ve seen an audience applaud at the end of a film and this was the case last night.

If you’re sick of watching your kids and grandkids on a steady diet of Tik Tok and Australian Idol, now’s your chance to point them in the direction of greatness!

Tell the kids they are going to see a Timothee Chalamet film because apparently he’s hot property with the ‘young un’s’ then indoctrinate them with some timeless music!

Dylan has been touring non-stop since 1998, temporarily halted by Covid, but is still going at eighty three years of age.

If you’re a Dylan fan I doubt whether you’ll garner anything new from A Complete Unknown, but gee it’s fun. The boundless creativity and change in the time, the freedom and the incredible music are captured here in this terrific film. 9/10

Another preview we went to see was The Brutalist. I can’t remember the last time I felt so angry at having put myself through a movie as bad as this.

Somehow nominated for Golden Globes and I presume Oscars, this is four hours I’ll never get back. Three and a half hours plus intermission for zero outcome, poor narrative, average acting, zero purpose, self-indulgent, overblown rubbish.

This was supposed to be a story of Jewish migration to New York post WW2. There’s been commentary going around that it’s a ploy by the Jews to distract everyone from what’s happening in Gaza.

I didn’t care! Frankly I have no political or religious allegiance to anything other than the St Kilda Football Club. I couldn’t care less if this film was the story of a family if Inuit’s migrating from the North Pole, I just wanted to see a good film in exchange for my hard earned!

Intermissions are designed for films like Ben Hur and Gone With the Wind. How the director of this film felt he earned the right is beyond me. You have been warned. 4/10

On a brighter note, a couple of others worth seeing. Firstly Nosferatu is a faithful adaptation of the classic 1930 horror movie.  It looks superb much like director Robert Eggers last film, The Lighthouse and it is sufficiently scary although I’m not sure why they gave this blood sucking freak a David Boon-like moustache. Regardless, an entertaining film 7/10

Finally I find Wallace and Gromit films provide this old man with the joy that Looney Tunes cartoons did in the 60’s and 70’s. This latest one, Vengeance Most Fowl is no exception. Feathers McGraw is back as another of Wallace’s inventions goes rogue and Feathers capitalises to escape from gaol and wreak havoc.

Wallace and Gromit are as adorable as ever. The imagination from Nick Park and the Aardman studios is phenomenal. Like Looney Tunes, this is a great opportunity to take the kids and grand kids whilst lapping up the adult humour. 7.5/10