Watch Newcastle For Free

Too much of everything

That was an excellent one.

Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.

It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.

This is a great film, make no mistake about it. Mr. Castle, the writer/director, uses a fusion of cinematic styles: French New Wave, Italian Neorealism, and classical Hollywood cinema, to create something truly original and consequential. His masterful integration of cinematography, editing, sound manipulation, and music track create a sense of memory, what it feels like to be a 17 year old, trying to figure out one's place in the world. Thus, I don't think this is a film for teenagers - all the chaos and noise and music and confusion and rage and elation and sexual discovery feel perfectly normal to them. It also lacks the idiotic vulgarity of most teen flicks or the reassuring confirmation of the norm that an "American Graffiti" or a John Hughes movie might offer. That's not to say that some mature teens and 20-somethings won't get the film, I just think an adult's perspective gives this film its punch.It's the little moments in which "Newcastle" absolutely soars, as when the six friends are speeding in their vehicle, radio blaring with their favorite song on, all of them joining in. It's like the real life version of that scene in "Wayne's World" when "Bohemian Rhapsody" comes on. What's captured on film is that feeling of youthful exuberance, of having your friends and being in that moment – even if ten minutes later you'll be at each other's throats for something ridiculous or mean-spirited.Stylistic choices aside, what makes this film great is the way in which its subject matter is considered. These young men are all on the verge of manhood, trying on different identities, struggling with who they are and what they will become. The naturalistic tension that arises from their competitive, testosterone-driven natures and the Bad Choices they continually make reminded me of the men who populate Scorcese's films or the troubled young men from "Saturday Night Fever." Their friendships have the potential to be lethal. As do the sibling rivalries and father-son relationships.And it's all performed with such ease and lack of pretense by the gifted, well-directed cast. I can sense this film's influence on the later, Oscar-nominated Australian film, "Animal Kingdom." So what's sad and shocking was how little critical attention this film received. One might speculate on the reasons for this: The (too?) subtle way in which it examines the issues of ambition and destiny? The unapologetic gay character who's neither a Monster, Martyr, nor Mary? Its usage of certain Hollywood elements? I don't know.What I do know is that this is a thoughtful, masterful piece of cinema that deserves to be seen.

The photography and camera work are beautiful, the acting is good, I was really satisfied with it.The only thing that is amiss is the script. It doesn't make you feel for the characters, except for a few moments for the gay kid and later for the father. Because of that it reads as a film about nothing, none of the feelings and events are explored enough so it should have either been a longer film or have less things too focus on and in more depth. The movie starts well enough and the pacing is good but when it gets to the point of the competition it just finishes abruptly without any sort of conclusion or epilogue. It builds up to nothing.Also if you want to watch it for the gay issues you'll find very little (albeit not none, but they only scratch the surface) material here.

I can't really say - not what went wrong, but - what didn't go right with this little film. The acting is not actually bad, though the script is easily yelling at times; nice surf shots, but prudish, as another reviewer mentioned, use of half-naked shots, that mar any feeling of contest, or sport, in the film, and the comic effect (I'm talking here about the scene of the two brothers running naked in town) is not delivered. Not quite clumsy; rather half-baked, and somewhat hurriedly edited. Pity, the opening shots were really nice. Why not stick to what they retroactively conveyed, that is a sense of enclosure from the city's industrial whereabouts, and from the huge ships that look like whalers and close off the sea imparting a sense of oppression and the quest for freedom? Newcastle? Looks more like an old hut full of adolescent ware.

Urged by a film director I admire, I decided to attend a 9:30 screening of "Newcastle" by a director new to me, at the Los Angeles DGA theater. I left the screening in a daze. I dreamed about the film and it was the first thing I thought of this morning. I've never met any surfers in my life - although I've seen "Big Wednesday" - but I have the feeling now that I know them and I was compelled and surprised by how much we have in common. The human drama attached to the waves is what sets this film in a category all its own. Unique. Coming of age in another planet, primitive and futuristic at the same time. A stunning cast of unknowns helps the feeling that we're peeping into something really private. The photography and the score contribute immensely to make this a phenomenal experience. Highly recommended.