Sunday, September 29, 2013

Film Review Round Up 29th September 2013

THIS WEEK'S PREVIEWS
There are only two reviews for you this week. I missed a few screenings. Well I saw five in a week this week, but they are not opening in Australia yet. One of this weeks is quite a masterpiece in film-making but not for everyone. And the other is the dreary opposite. Next week some really great films open. Until then…

(My movie Pick of the week)
The Turning★★★
Opens in Australia: 26th September 2013
Perth, Australia:      See at Luna Cinemas
Other Countries: Release Information

OUR THOUGHTS
I respect this film because it’s experimental and is an experience as much as it is a film. Taking 17 short stories and turning them into a film is an interesting concept. It’s also a very long at 3 hours. There is an interval for those who are not as well-trained as reviewers. Some of the stories are more interesting than others and the second half definitely has the cream of the tales. I am told the screenings will also have a programme (which I think would really enhance the experience). If you are a cinema fanatic then go along and enjoy something different. If you are a blockbuster fan and like your films fast and furious, then…ah…no, this one is not for you. Still a marvelous piece for us cinephiles.
STUDIO BLURB
TIM WINTON'S THE TURNING, a film adaptation of Winton's best-selling novel 'The Turning', consists of 17 chapters that each features a different director and stellar cast. Under the guidance of curator Robert Connolly (Balibo), first time filmmakers Mia Wasikowska and David Wenham make their directorial debut amongst acclaimed directors such as Warwick Thornton and Justin Kurzel
Australian talent starring in the film includes Rose Byrne, Hugo Weaving, Cate Blanchett, Miranda Otto, Brenna Harding, Richard Roxburgh, Callan Mulvey, Dan Wyllie, Oscar Redding, Robyn Nevin, Susie Porter, Wayne Blair, Mirrah Foulkes and numerous others. Many of the chapters were also shot right here in WA. 

Runner Runner★★
Opens in Australia: 26th September, 2013
Other Countries: Release Information

OUR THOUGHTS
Run, run, run as fast as you can away from this movie. It is so boring, you will sleep sleep. I made a vow not to see any more films with Justin Timberlake. He cannot act. It’s like he’s reading the script for the first time. But I thought how bad can it be with Ben Affleck?  The answer: Bad bad. He seems to have lowered his acting standards in this so as not to show up Timberlake or Jemma Arterton. I don’t even know why it is called Runner Runner. Maybe even the studio is trying to give you a heads up. Don’t even get it on DVD. But, at least on DVD you can turn it off. I am renaming it Rubbish Rubbish.
STUDIO BLURB
Richie, a Princeton college student who pays for school with on-line gambling, bottoms out and travels to Costa Rica to confront the on-line mastermind, Ivan, whom he believes has swindled him. Ivan sees a kindred spirit in Richie and brings the younger man into his operation. When the stakes get incredibly high and dangerous, and Richie comes to fully understand the deviousness of his new boss, he tries to turn the tables on him.



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

Monday, September 23, 2013

Weekly Film Review Round Up 22nd September 2013

Its school holidays in Australia, so we have our usual release of “fill in a few hours of the day" fare.  Most are not too bad, but nothing is a stand out I am afraid. The only thing for the tweens is Percy Jackson but don’t discount the cutie Turbo 3D  for them.  My very harsh-critic children really enjoyed it.  If a film can get past the ten-year-old it’s pretty good.

(My movie Pick of the week)
Turbo 3D ★★★ ½

Opens in Australia: 19th September, 2013
Other Countries: Release Information

OUR THOUGHTS
Turbo 3D may seem like a goofy idea but in the hands of Dreamworks it works pretty well.  My harsh-critic children even enjoyed it; with the very tough ten-year-old turning to me after and saying how great it was—“surprisingly.”  It’s colourful, well-paced and has the obligatory life lessons in there, which is always helpful with the children exposed to so much negativity these days.
STUDIO BLURB
In Venice, California, Theo, a.k.a Turbo (Ryan Reynolds), is a garden snail who dreams of being the greatest racer in the world, just like his hero, 5-time indinapolis 500 champ, Guy Gagne. His obsession with speed and all things fast has made him an oddity and an outsider in the slow and cautions snail community, and a constant embarrassment to his cautious older brother, Chet (Paul Giamatti). Turbo desperately wishes he could escape the slow-paced life he's living, but his one chance to live proves a near fatal disaster.  When a freak accident gives him extraordinary speed, Turbo sets out to try to make his dream come true.

Planes ★★★

Opens in Australia: 19th September, 2013
Other Countries: Release Information

OUR THOUGHTS
Cars was never my favourite Disney franchise.  And Cars 2 had me snoozing.  It’s not just me; the kids have never been great fans, either. We have the Cars DVD and it was never the one they pulled out for repeat viewing.  So Planes was never going to have my anticipation soaring (excuse the pun).  However, I found it charming, colourful and a lovely story. It’s very by the numbers and pretty much Cars all over again, but with planes.  This time round they’ve paced it up a little and dropped the long montage scenes that would see the kids out of their seats and running around the cinema.  It’s for the younger ones, but parents can still enjoy the simple but sweet story and plane and truck parody clichés.  We all love an underdog or, in this case, an under-plane.
STUDIO BLURB
Cars gets a spin-off with this Disney Toon Studios film starring the voice of Dane Cook as a vertically-challenged plane with high hopes of becoming an air racer.

Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters ★★★

Opens in Australia: 19th September, 2013
Other Countries:          Release Information

OUR THOUGHTS
I wasn’t a real fan of the 2010 “Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief.” In fact, my ten-year-old wouldn’t come to this, because he thought the first one was so boring (but he is a tough film veteran critic).  The twelve to thirteen-year-old children with me enjoyed this one, and so did some of the mothers who escorted them.  So, if you have a child in that age group, this should be a fun outing for you.  Fans of the Rick Riordan’s books should be pleased.

STUDIO BLURB
Percy Jackson, the son of Poseidon, continues his epic journey to fulfill his destiny, as he teams with his demigod friends to retrieve the Golden Fleece, which has the power to save their home and training ground, Camp Half-Blood.

Riddick ★★★
The Movie ★★ The dog thing

Opens in Australia: 12th September, 2013
Other Countries: Release Information

OUR THOUGHTS
I expected very little from this film. Vin Diesel is so “blah” for me. If you want a muscle-mumbler give me Dwayne Johnson any day. I loved the origin film, the 2000 Pitch Black. Then, of course, they destroyed everything with the tragically boring follow-up Chronicles of Riddick. This one is pretty much a return to the original formula and is action all the way.  It’s not terrible but it’s not great, and it will probably win an award for most cliché characters in a sci-fi film. There have been so many disappointing sci-films this year that I sadly concede this is not the worst we’ve seen. I would have given it only two stars, but Riddick does pick up this cute hyena type dog and it gave the best performance. So it scored an extra star.  This one is purely for Vin Diesel fans. Other folk will think it is a tad “Riddick-uli.”
STUDIO BLURB
Riddick, the latest chapter of the groundbreaking saga that began with 2000's hit sci-fi film Pitch Black and 2004's The Chronicles of Riddick reunites writer/director David Twohy (A Perfect Getaway, The Fugitive) and star Vin Diesel (the Fast and Furious franchise, xXx). Diesel reprises his role as the antihero Riddick, a dangerous, escaped convict wanted by every bounty hunter in the known galaxy. The infamous Riddick has been left for dead on a sun-scorched planet that appears to be lifeless. Soon, however, he finds himself fighting for survival against alien predators more lethal than any human he's encountered. The only way off is for Riddick to activate an emergency beacon and alert mercenaries who rapidly descend to the planet in search of their bounty. The first ship to arrive carries a new breed of merc, more lethal and violent, while the second is captained by a man whose pursuit of Riddick is more personal. (c) Universal

R.I.P.D. ★½ 

Opens in Australia: 12th  September, 2013
Other Countries:          Release Information

OUR THOUGHTS
I am sure it seemed like a good idea. Take a popular graphic novel, a veteran Oscar winner, a charismatic romantic-comedy lead, a reasonably good action director, top notch writers, and viola!  You should have a blockbuster hit.
But sometimes the cake just doesn’t cook, no matter how many quality ingredients you use.  This is the case with R.I.P.D.  You can almost see the tinkering behind the scenes as the studio realises they’ve cooked up a flat soufflé.
My thirteen-year-old son did think it was “okay.”  And if I saw it in 1992 I would feel the same.  But this is 2013 and we’ve had “Men in Black,” “Ghost,” and “Ghostbusters,” so we don’t need a cynical mash up of those again.  It’s tired and stale, and even the song at the end is miserable and plodding.  Hopefully, this one will R.I.P at the back of a DVD store, unrented.   
STUDIO BLURB
Jeff Bridges and Ryan Reynolds headline the 3D supernatural action-adventure R.I.P.D. as two cops dispatched by the otherworldly Rest In Peace Department to protect and serve the living from an increasingly destructive array of souls who refuse to move peacefully to the other side. Veteran sheriff Roy Pulsifer (Bridges) has spent his career with the legendary police force known as R.I.P.D. tracking monstrous spirits who are cleverly disguised as ordinary people. His mission? To arrest and bring to justice a special brand of criminals trying to escape final judgment by hiding among the unsuspecting on Earth. Once the wise-cracking Roy is assigned former rising-star detective Nick Walker (Reynolds) as his junior officer, the new partners have to turn grudging respect into top-notch teamwork. When they uncover a plot that could end life as we know it, two of R.I.P.D.'s finest must miraculously restore the cosmic balance...or watch the tunnel to the afterlife begin sending angry souls the very wrong way. (c) Universal


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

Monday, September 9, 2013

Review Round Up 8th September 2013

THIS WEEK'S PREVIEWS

The release of a new Woody Allen is always good news for his fans. This one I love.  There are a couple of documentaries as well: one on a reclusive author and one on wine becoming reclusive for everywhere except China. There’s, also, an action flick where, yet again, they destroy… the White House.

(My movie Pick of the week)
Blue Jasmine★★★★

Opens in Australia: 5th September, 2013
Perth, Australia:       See at Luna Cinemas 
Other Countries: Release Information

OUR THOUGHTS
Cate Blanchett has my vote for the Best Actress Oscar.  And Woody Allen has it for Best Director.  Blue Jasmine is a very dark Woody Allen, and it’s a long way from Midnight in Paris. But I think it’s now one of my favourites. I don't have to say much about this film. If you are not a Woody fan then you may not love it.  My friends sitting with me were mixed on it.  I am a big Woody fan. For me, it’s a real gem and I will be watching it again.

STUDIO BLURB
After venturing to Europe for his last three films, Woody Allen is back in the United States with a drama about a Park Avenue high society wife (Blanchett) forced to slum it with her blue-collar sister (Hawkins) in San Francisco, when she loses everything.  Her husband, played by Alec Baldwin, gets embroiled in crooked financial dealings, leaving his wife to deal with the economic and emotional aftermath.  She struggles to build a new life without her husband’s illegally-obtained wealth. 
Blue Jasmine is an emotionally powerful drama – smart, tender and funny in equal measure – that harks back to Allen’s films such as Hannah and her sisters and Husbands and Wives.   Cate Blanchett delivers an exceptional performance that will put her in early running with Oscar buzz.

Salinger ★★★★

Opens in Australia: 6th  September, 2013
Perth, Australia:                  See at Luna Cinemas 
Other Countries:          Release Information

OUR THOUGHTS
In Australia I don’t think J.D. Salinger holds the same place in our literary history as he

does in the U.S.A.. I’ve never read “Catcher in the Rye,” but after watching this documentary I shall shortly remedy that. Many of the U.S. reviewers have rated this poorly, and most of the comments centred on a lack of depth and an over-dramatisation of segments.  However, since I knew nothing of this revered author, I actually found it enlightening, intriguing, and the dramatisation enthralling.  Salinger led an extraordinary life, and in the end he became such a recluse that if he was seen it became a news story. There is a revelation at the end which is quite incredible, and until the launch of the film it has been kept very secret.  This is a well made documentary and one I think most will thoroughly enjoy. All writers or aspiring writers will find it fascinating.

STUDIO BLURB
SALINGER features interviews with 150 subjects including Salinger's friends, colleagues and members of his inner circle who have never spoken on the record before as well as film footage, photographs and other material that has never been seen. Additionally, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Edward Norton, John Cusack, Danny DeVito, John Guare, Martin Sheen, David Milch, Robert Towne, Tom Wolfe, E.L. Doctorow, Gore Vidal and Pulitzer Prize winners A. Scott Berg and Elizabeth Frank talk about Salinger's influence on their lives, their work and the broader culture. The film is the first work to get beyond the Catcher in the Rye author's meticulously built up wall: his childhood, painstaking work methods, marriages, private world and the secrets he left behind after his death in 2010. (c) Weinstein

White House Down ★★★

Opens in Australia: 5th September, 2013
Other Countries: Release Information

OUR THOUGHTS
We enjoyed a treat while watching White House Down.  The wonderful people at Event Cinemas, Innaloo, Perth, invited me and hubby to enjoy their revamped Gold Class cinemas. They laid it on with yummy hot food, beautiful cup cakes, popcorn, and candy while we watched.  Plus there was champers and food before. 
So, I was going to enjoy White House Down no matter what.  It’s an absolute Die Hard rip off.  But it is miles better than the woeful Good Day to Die Hard inflicted upon us earlier this year.  You’ve got Channing Tatum in a singlet, Jamie Foxx doing his thing, and more action than you can poke a tank at.  Silly fun but, sometimes, turning the brain off makes for a perfect evening. You have been warned: Do not expect high brow. It’s simply a popcorn action flick.

STUDIO BLURB
In Columbia Pictures’ White House Down, Capitol Policeman John Cale (Channing Tatum) has just been denied his dream job with the Secret Service of protecting President James Sawyer (Jamie Foxx).  Not wanting to let down his little girl with the news, he takes her on a tour of the White House, when the complex is overtaken by a heavily armed paramilitary group.

Red Obsession ★★★ ½

Opens in Australia: 5th September, 2013
Perth, Australia:      See at Luna Cinemas 
Other Countries: Release Information

OUR THOUGHTS
Australian writers and directors David Roach and Warwick Ross last production was the quality Australian war film Beneath Hill 60. Now they turn their hand to a documentary on the Bordeaux region and the crisis in the wine industry. It sounds "ho-hum" to us non-wine connoisseurs but if you check out the trailer you will see it is a fascinating story. 
The photography is absolutely stunning. In fact, I suggest the French tourist bureau pay for it to be broadcast around the world, and they won’t have to worry about selling their wine because they will be inundated with tourist.
My only complaint is it seemed a tad repetitive (pointed out to me by my 10 year old but he was quite right), and there was a touch of anti-Chinese sentiment I thought.  Somebody in the film actually suggested that if the Chinese increased their per capita consumption by just a little there would be no wine left in the world. China has gone from taking jobs from other countries to now taking all the wine.  At least at the next "wineless" dinner party I can wax lyrical about the poor Bordeaux region being taken over by the Chinese. If anyone cares…

STUDIO BLURB
France’s Bordeaux region has long commanded respect for its coveted wine, but shifts in the global marketplace mean that a new, voracious consumer base in China is buying up this finite product. Narrated by Russell Crowe, Red Obsession is a fascinating look at our changing international economy and how an obsession in Shanghai affects the most illustrious vineyards in France.   This shift, fuelled by the East's obsession with these illustrious vineyards, created a perfect wine storm; co-director and vigneron Warwick Ross documented the upheaval.
Narrated by Russell Crowe, Red Obsession is an expertly told, delectable tale of a much-coveted global commodity in times of change.


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