THIS
WEEK'S PREVIEWS
Merry Christmas everybody. Today is the big day at the box office in
Australia with the studios releasing their holiday season big openers. Every one of the pictures I reviewed this
week gets a huge thumbs up. If you have children you will all love Disney’s Frozen. Everybody will love The Secret Life of Walter Mitty. It's one of my favourites this
year. Philomena is another stunning
film and truly heartbreaking. Of course, hairy feet fans don’t need to be told The Hobbit 2 is out. This one is even better than the first and a
real adventure. So grab your family or other half or just yourself and visit a
nearby cinema. You can’t really go wrong.
(My movie Pick
of the week)
THE
SECRET LIFE OF WALTER MITTY ★★★★½
Opens in
Australia: 26th December, 2013
Other
Countries: Release Information
Perth, Australia:
See at Luna Cinemas
OUR THOUGHTS
When I check the reviews for The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, I feel as if I saw an entirely
It is a sweet, thoughtful and inspirational story of Walter
Mitty (Ben Stiller), a man who has never done anything “noteworthy or
mentionable.” Mitty works in the backroom of “Life” magazine managing the
photos. Walter is prone to “zoning out”. When he does, he disappears into
fantasy worlds where he imagines himself the hero. He also has a crush on
colleague Cheryl Melhoff (Kristen Wiig), but he can’t muster the courage to
talk to her, attempting to make contact via a dating website.
When adventure photographer and all round craggy, heroic
type Sean O’Connoll (Sean Penn) courier delivers a special photo—“negative
25”—for the cover, it is decided by snarky “change management” executive, Ted
Hendricks (Adam Scott) that it will appear on Life Magazine’s last ever print
cover. But when the negative goes
missing, Walter must escape his emotional boundaries and embark on an adventure
across the world to find it.
Ben Stiller directs and stars in “Walter Mitty” and he does
a wonderful job with the aesthetics. It’s big and beautiful with a stirring
soundtrack and enough laughs and romance to be called a rom-com but at its
heart it’s an underdog film that finds the right balance of whimsical and
sentiment.
STUDIO BLURB
Ben Stiller directs and stars in THE SECRET LIFE OF WALTER MITTY, James
Thurber's classic story of a day-dreamer who escapes his anonymous life by
disappearing into a world of fantasies filled with heroism, romance and action.
When his job along with that of his co-worker (Kristen Wiig) are threatened,
Walter takes action in the real world embarking on a global journey that turns
into an adventure more extraordinary than anything he could have ever imagined.
(c) Fox
The
Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug ★★★★ ½ stars
Opens in
Australia: 26th December, 2013
Other
Countries: Release Information
OUR THOUGHTS
All non-Hobbit fans you can skip this review; I know I will never convince you that this is a fun film series. And I know you
don’t care how great this Lord of the Rings non-fan enjoyed this film or the first 2012 Hobbit film. This time around I was just like all the other fans eagerly awaiting numero due of
the trilogy. I had my hairy feet and pointy ear geekdom fully switched on.
And this is no disappointment. In fact, it is even better than the first. We
don’t have to sit through any dwarf sing-a-longs and longish treks across green
hills and dales and craggy cliffs. We
know all the characters, although I will never be able to remember the names
even under the threat of burning at the stake by dragon. It doesn't matter though, you know the faces,
you know they are going to end up in perilous danger over and over, you know that eventually they will arrive to face Smaug.
Its rip-roaring, fire-breathing, barrel-rolling adventure
from almost the opening scene until the cliff-hanger ending that left our
audience gasping “No” as the screen went blank. Can you see this one without
seeing the first? Yes, you can, but why would you? Go Hobbit. Embrace your geekdom.
STUDIO BLURB
The second in a trilogy of films adapting the enduringly
popular masterpiece The Hobbit, by J.R.R. Tolkien, The Hobbit: The Desolation
of Smaug continues the adventure of the title character Bilbo Baggins (Martin
Freeman) as he journeys with the Wizard Gandalf (Ian McKellan) and thirteen
Dwarves, led by Thorin Oakenshield (Richard Armitage) on an epic quest to
reclaim the lost Dwarf Kingdom of Erebor.(c) WB
Disney’s
Frozen ★★★★ stars
(Disney Short: "Get a Horse" ★★★★★)
(Disney Short: "Get a Horse" ★★★★★)
Opens in
Australia: 26thth December, 2013
USA: 27thth
November 2013
UK: 6th
December 2013
OUR THOUGHTS
The Disney people want you to
know, though the posters look very young’uns like, that this is a film for
everyone. I wholeheartedly agree. This is a Disney musical in the true Disney
style. It’s beautifully animated, has catchy, quality music, a magical story-line, and memorable characters. If you don’t laugh at Olaf (Josh Gad) the
funny snowman, then you may have a frozen heart.
Anna (Kristen Bell) is the
younger sister, full of life and naïve optimism, compared to her serious
sister, Elsa (Edina Menzel), who is destined to become the Queen. But Elsa is
charmed and not in a good way; everything she touches freezes (sort of like Carrie in reverse). So her parents hide
her and her powers away, even from her sister.
When things go terribly wrong on
Elsa’s coronation, Anna teams up with an unlikely ally, mountain-man Kristoff (Jonathan
Groff) and his reindeer Sven, to save Elsa and the kingdom. Along the way, they
battle some serious adversaries including the weather.
Attached to this film is the
usual Disney short. This one entitled Get
a Horse will leave you gob-smacked; I could write a whole review on the
brilliance of this alone. It’s worth the price of entry, but you will need to
see it in 3D to appreciate the incredible visuals. It is a shoe-in to win best animated short at the 2014 Oscars.
STUDIO BLURB
Featuring the voices of Kristen Bell and Idina Menzel,
"Frozen" is the coolest comedy-adventure ever to hit the big screen. When
a prophecy traps a kingdom in eternal winter, Anna, a fearless optimist, teams
up with extreme mountain man Kristoff and his sidekick reindeer Sven on an epic
journey to find Anna's sister Elsa, the Snow Queen, and put an end to her icy
spell. Encountering mystical trolls, a funny snowman named Olaf, Everest-like
extremes and magic at every turn, Anna and Kristoff battle the elements in a
race to save the kingdom from destruction. (c) Disney
Philomena
★★★★
Opens
in Australia: 26th December, 2013
Other
Countries: Release Information
Perth, Australia: See at Luna Cinemas
OUR THOUGHTS
This film is well JudiDench. Yes,
there is such a thing and it means it is awesome.
You can get the slogan "Denched" on a t-shirt, in fact.
Judy Dench stars in this true story of a poor Irish woman who has her son stolen from her by the catholic nuns and then sold to an American family.
It makes you hopping mad watching the inhuman way, she and the
other young single mothers are treated by the nuns. It's another reveal of the
terrible goings on behind the closed doors of the church; just as was revealed
in Mea Maxima Culpa: Silence in the House of God (2012).
Steve Coogan who plays Martin Sixsmith, the BBC correspondent
who helps her locate her son. is brilliant.
He is simply beyond talented in writing, producing, and acting in
this. He seems to be in everything lately. It is the year of the Coogan it seems.
This will be another awards favourite. It is so very Dench.
STUDIO BLURB
Based on the 2009
investigative book by BBC correspondent Martin Sixsmith, The Lost Child of
Philomena Lee, PHILOMENA focuses on the efforts of Philomena Lee (Dench),
mother to a boy conceived out of wedlock - something her Irish-Catholic
community didn't have the highest opinion of - and given away for adoption in
the United States. In following church doctrine, she was forced to sign a
contract that wouldn't allow for any sort of inquiry into the son's
whereabouts. After starting a family years later in England and, for the most part,
moving on with her life, Lee meets Sixsmith (Coogan), a BBC reporter with whom
she decides to discover her long-lost son. (c) Weinstein
Based on the 2009 investigative book by BBC correspondent Martin Sixsmith, The Lost Child of Philomena Lee, PHILOMENA focuses on the efforts of Philomena Lee (Dench), mother to a boy conceived out of wedlock - something her Irish-Catholic community didn't have the highest opinion of - and given away for adoption in the United States. In following church doctrine, she was forced to sign a contract that wouldn't allow for any sort of inquiry into the son's whereabouts. After starting a family years later in England and, for the most part, moving on with her life, Lee meets Sixsmith (Coogan), a BBC reporter with whom she decides to discover her long-lost son. (c) Weinstein
Based on the 2009 investigative book by BBC correspondent Martin Sixsmith, The Lost Child of Philomena Lee, PHILOMENA focuses on the efforts of Philomena Lee (Dench), mother to a boy conceived out of wedlock - something her Irish-Catholic community didn't have the highest opinion of - and given away for adoption in the United States. In following church doctrine, she was forced to sign a contract that wouldn't allow for any sort of inquiry into the son's whereabouts. After starting a family years later in England and, for the most part, moving on with her life, Lee meets Sixsmith (Coogan), a BBC reporter with whom she decides to discover her long-lost son. (c) Weinstein
What have you seen this
week? Did you find our comments helpful or do you disagree? Share your thoughts
with us.
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