Weekly Review Round Up 23rd March 2013

THIS WEEK'S PREVIEWS

What should you spend your precious dollars on when visiting the cinema? What needs popcorn to enjoy?  And what needs waiting until DVD?

If you have seen any of these or want to see them and have a comment please feel free to share. We love hearing from our readers.

(My movie Pick of the week)

The Incredible Burt Wonderstone★★★★

Opens in Australia: 21st March 2013

Other Countries: Release Information

OUR THOUGHTS

If you check a lot of the reviews on this, it did not get a good rave. Well, phooey on them. What do reviewers know?  This movie is fun and in some parts, so hilarious, you will be spluttering into your top hat.  Its  these guys doing what they do best, over-the-top characters.  Jim Carrey is such a comic genius and doesn't disappoint here.  And anything with Steve Buscemi is a treat, ALWAYS.  Ever since 'Fargo' I've loved him.  And if you really want to see what an amazing actor he truly is, catch him in the TV series 'Boardwalk Empire'.  The last scene will have you laughing so hard, you will stop breathing (fellow reviewer's comment).  I want to see it again. Great date-night film girls and guys.

STUDIO BLURB

            Superstar magicians Burt Wonderstone (Steve Carell) and Anton Marvelton (Steve Buscemi) have ruled the Las Vegas strip for years, raking in millions with illusions as big as Burt's growing ego. But lately the duo's greatest deception is their public friendship, while secretly they've grown to loathe each other. Facing cutthroat competition from guerilla street magician Steve Gray (Jim Carrey), whose cult following surges with each outrageous stunt, even their show looks stale. But there's still a chance Burt and Anton can save the act-both onstage and off-if Burt can get back in touch with what made him love magic in the first place.(c) WB

A Good Day To Die Hard★^½

Opens in Australia: 21st March 2013

Other Countries: Release Information

OUR THOUGHTS

A message to the Director, John Moore, and producers of this film, please put out your hands.  I would like to wrap you across the knuckles.  No wait a second, I want to throw you through a window, down a twenty storey plastic rubbish shoot outside of a building, land you in a rubbish pile of scrap building products, then shoot you with twenty machine guns.  No wait, that won't hurt you will it?  You will just get up and walk away and mumble something stupid and corny.  So you won't learn.  Can I just assure anyone that is a fan of 'Die Hard' (like me) that you will not being seeing a 'Die Hard' film.  You will be seeing a ridiculously stupid, loud, nothing movie that is okay for the first thirty-minutes.  However, the second the actors open their mouths you will know instantly that this was 'A Good Day to Stay At Home'.  Please do not give them your money or they might make another one.  

STUDIO BLURB

          John McClane travels to Russia to help out his seemingly wayward son, Jack, only to discover that Jack is a CIA operative working to prevent a nuclear-weapons heist, causing the father and son to team up against underworld forces.

Jack the Giant Slayer ★★★^½

Opens in Australia: 21st March 2013

Other Countries: Release Information

OUR THOUGHTS

This is a fun romp that isn't as bad as you've heard. I was at the preview with a bunch of my kids friends', aged ten to fourteen, and their parents and everyone enjoyed it. It's not going to become a classic or anything grand but it's not a bad two hours of fairy-tale fun.  I wouldn't recommend it for the littlies though. There are some nasty scenes of giants eating people that may give them nightmares.  

STUDIO BLURB

         "Jack the Giant Slayer" tells the story of an ancient war that is reignited when a young farmhand unwittingly opens a gateway between our world and a fearsome race of giants. Unleashed on the Earth for the first time in centuries, the giants strive to reclaim the land they once lost, forcing the young man, Jack (Nicholas Hoult) into the battle of his life to stop them. Fighting for a kingdom, its people, and the love of a brave princess, he comes face to face with the unstoppable warriors he thought only existed in legend-and gets the chance to become a legend himself.-- (C) Warner Bros

Mea Maxima Culpa: Silence in the House of God ★★★★^½

Opens in Australia: 21st March 2013

Other Countries: Release Information

Perth, Australia: See at Luna Cinemas

OUR THOUGHTS

You watch this with your hand covering your mouth.  It’s awful. These poor, brave, deaf men abused by this evil man will turn your stomach.  So, don’t go to see this for a light afternoon at the cinema.  However, it is a very smart documentary that points well-researched fingers at the Catholic Church all the way up to the seat of the Pope.  It does what all good documentaries should do…sucks you in, creates awareness and alters your perception of what you once believed.  I am sad for the Church as well.  They are not all bad people but this documentary shows you they certainly had a very bad system.  The new Pope has a big job ahead of him but by all counts he is the man for the job.

STUDIO BLURB

In MEA MAXIMA CULPA: SILENCE IN THE HOUSE OF GOD, Oscar (R)-winning filmmaker Alex Gibney examines the abuse of power in the Catholic Church through the story of four courageous deaf men, who in the first known case of public protest, set out to expose the priest who abused them. Through their case the film follows a cover-up that winds its way from the row houses of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, through the bare ruined choirs of Ireland's churches, all the way to the highest office of the Vatican. (c) HBO

Rust and Bone ★★★^{½
De rouille et d'os (original title}

Opens in Australia: 28th March 2013
Other Countries: Release Information
Perth, Australia: See at Luna Cinemas

OUR THOUGHTS

Marion Cotillard plays beautifully a woman coping with the tragedy of losing her legs in a marine park accident.  It's a fascinating story and well-cast but the film has pacing issues and loses its footing in places (excuse the pun-couldn't help myself).  She really falls for the wrong guy in Alain and I wanted to stand up in the theatre and scream, ‘Get over him.  He’s a creep.’  But, of course, it’s a French film and we don’t do that in cultured circles.  It’s still a good foreign language film but I was surprisingly unmoved although not bored (even though the male tough-as-nails reviewer next to me was sobbing during the closing credits and muttering about his soul).  Anything with killer whales will get an extra star from me. 

STUDIO BLURB

A struggling single father helps a beautiful whale trainer recover her will to live following a terrible accident that leaves her confined to a wheelchair. Lonely and destitute, Ali (Matthias Schoenaerts) leaves the north of France for his sister's house in Antibes after becoming the sole guardian of his estranged five-year-old son Sam. When Ali lands a job as a bouncer in a nearby nightclub, things quickly start to look up for the itinerant father and son. Then one night, after breaking up a fight in the club, Ali meets the radiant Stephanie (Marion Cotillard), and slips her his number after dropping her off safely at home. Though Stephanie's position on the high end of the social spectrum makes romance an unlikely prospect for the pair, a tragic accident at Marineland robs her of her legs, and finds her reaching out in desperation to Ali. Her spirit broken by the same tragedy that took her legs, Stephanie gradually finds the courage to go on living trough transcendent moments spent with Ali -- a man with precious little pity, but an enormous love of life. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

2013 ALLIANCE FRANÇAISE FRENCH FILM FESTIVAL

Opens in PERTH Australia: 19^th March 2013

Screening from the 19th March until 7th April at Cinema Paradiso, Windsor and SX.

See at Luna Cinemas  If you click through you can book tickets for upcoming films and check out their other great titles.

OUR THOUGHTS

Culture arrives in Perth on the 19^th  March at Luna Cinemas.  I’m a fan of foreign language films. Yes, you do have to read the sub-titles but you get used to that.  If it’s a really good film you don’t even realise you are reading.  They are usually quirky and interesting and sometimes downright crazy but never, ever Hollywood.  And sometimes it is great to just get away from all those happy endings that you see coming a mile away. I’ve seen two of the films in the Festival so far and can highly recommend.  Keep a look out for these two, you won’t be disappointed:

In the House 
Dans la maison (original title) ★★★★

Kristin Scott Thomas is in every second French film I see (well almost) but she is always so brilliant. This is a creepy little thriller that sneaks up on you. Even now as I think back, it gives me shivers.  What is real and what is not, is finally balanced and there seriously wonderful performances.  Highly recommend this for initiation into watching French Film.  If Hollywood doesn't have a go at remaking this I'll be surprised.

STUDIO BLURB

A sixteen-year-old boy insinuates himself into the house of a fellow student from his literature class and writes about it in essays for his French teacher. Faced with this gifted and unusual pupil, the teacher rediscovers his enthusiasm for his work, but the boy's intrusion will unleash a series of uncontrollable events. (c) Cohen Media

Another Woman's Life ★★^½

La vie d'une autre (original title)

Wonderful Juliette Binoche plays a woman who wakes up after a one-night stand to find she is married to the guy with whom she has just slept, has a child who is surprised she is actually paying attention to him, and is apparently quite the bitch now running a big corporation. Great premise which will keep you intrigued all the way through—although, I didn't love the ending.  Another thing with French films, sometimes they don’t wind it all up in a neat little bow for you.  They’re French. They don’t have to, okay.

What have you seen this week? Did you find our comments helpful or do you disagree? Share your thoughts with us.