Melodrama/Random/Melbourne

Melodrama/Random/Melbourne is an Australian feature film about a young feminist filmmaker documenting the men's rights movement and seduction community pickup artist (PUA) movement.[2][3] The film is part two in Matthew Victor Pastor's Fil-Aus trilogy and deals with Asian-Australian identity politics. It had its Australian premiere at the 2018 Adelaide Film Festival and its Philippine premiere at the 2018 Sinag Maynila Film Festival. In 2019 the film's soundtrack was nominated for the 67th edition of the FAMAS Award (Filipino Academy of Movie Arts and Sciences Award) for composer Fergus Cronkite.[4]

Melodrama/Random/Melbourne
Theatrical release poster
Directed byMatthew Victor Pastor
Produced by
  • Matthew Victor Pastor
  • Odin B. Fernandez
Music byFergus Cronkite
Release date
  • March 7, 2018 (2018-03-07) (Sinag Maynila Film Festival)
Running time
82 minutes[1]

Synopsis

A pickup artist's, a feminist documentarian's and a virgin's lives collide. Aries Santos is struggling to complete her new film. Her subjects are men's rights activists. Meanwhile, a sex worker named Melody works at night. Blood is shed.

Cast
  • Celina Yuen as Melody
  • Bridget Moy O'Brien as Aries
  • Rachel E. Zuasola as Tita Agnes

Reception

"A stunning discovery, Matthew Victor Pastor's Melodrama/Random/Melbourne! is a pastiche of many attempts—both somewhat successful or outright failures—to be something. Vague in terms of form and substance, the film, without even perusing its scatterings of plot and characters, is a brash reflection of the waywardness and captivating caprice of the unique millennial culture brought about by cross-border migration. The setting here is Melbourne, a city that the film depicts as one that is undergoing transformation into a bustling centre of distinct Asian influences. However, its young and rebellious citizens, heirs of those from a generation that needed to make the city its home, are themselves repelling the waves of new migration, sowing seeds of division."[5]

The film was also an honourable mention in Rappler's 12 best Filipino Films of 2018.[6]

Bill Mousoulis the founding editor of Senses of Cinema said: "This is breathtaking cinema that is just extraordinary. It's one of the best Australian films of this decade"

Jake Wilson of The Age put it on his 'top 5 films of the week', "In the spirit of Godard and Wong Kar-Wai, local writer-director Matthew Victor Pastor throws every available idea into this wild goose chase through Melbourne after dark... An arresting introduction to a talent going places."[7]

In a negative review, Stephanie Mayo of Concept News Central said: "Twenty minutes into the movie, I walked out of the cinema. I could no longer endure the film. I thought it pretentious and messy, and the sex talk stilted." [8]

The film premiered at the 2018 Sinag Maynila Film Festival[9] and was awarded Best Original Score (Fergus Cronkite).[10]

Awards
Year Award Category Artist Result
2018 Sinag Maynila Film Festival Best Original Score Fergus Cronkite (Composer) Won
2019 FAMAS Award Outstanding Achievement in Musical Score Fergus Cronkite (Composer)[11] Nominated

References
  1. "Sinag Maynila Review: "Melodrama / Random / Melbourne!" (2018, dir. Matthew Victor Pastor)". 13 March 2018.
  2. Francisco, Nikki (23 February 2018). "All the Full-Length Films Screening at the 2018 Sinag Maynila International Film Festival". SPOT.PH.
  3. "Melodrama/Random/Melbourne!" – via www.imdb.com.
  4. https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/showbiz/chikaminute/688325/famas-unveils-nominees-for-its-67th-edition/story
  5. Cruz, Oggs. "Movie reviews: All 5 Sinag Maynila 2018 feature length films". Rappler.
  6. Cruz, Oggs. "12 best Filipino films of 2018". Rappler.
  7. Wilson, Jake (9 November 2018). "Top five films: best of the big screen". The Age.
  8. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 10 May 2019. Retrieved 10 May 2019.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  9. "Sinag Maynila tackles diverse social issues - Inquirer Entertainment". entertainment.inquirer.net.
  10. "Sinag Maynila 2018 Gabi ng Parangal: Complete Winners". Sinag Maynila Film Festival. 12 March 2018.
  11. https://www.rappler.com/entertainment/news/226029-list-famas-awards-nominees-2019

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