Just two this week that I managed
to catch. Both films really entertaining and worth seeing. Enjoy!
THIS WEEK'S PREVIEWS
(My movie Pick of the week)
The Skeleton
Twins ✪✪✪✪½
Opens in Australia: 25th
September 2014
USA:
12th September UK: 7th November,
2014
Other Countries: Release Information
Perth: Luna Palace Cinemas
OUR THOUGHTS
Estranged twins Marv Milo (Bill Hader)
and Maggie (Kristin Wiig) both cheat suicide attempts on the same day in this
tightly scripted mix of dark comedy and family drama. A timely film, indeed,
after the untimely death of Robin Williams. The
Skeleton Twins highlights beautifully the complexity of human beings and
human relationships.
When Milo agrees reluctantly to
come back and live with Maggie and her husband after his failed suicide
attempt, he becomes the third wheel in their household. Inadvertently, he
becomes the catalyst for Maggie to question why she is unhappy when she
seemingly has everything going for her.
Director Craig Johnson, takes his
time revealing why the siblings hadn’t spoken in a decade, but there is nothing
slow or uninvolving in the way he leads us to this revelation.
Wiig and Hader give nuanced
performances, and this film might put to rest the expectation, after Bridesmaids, that Wiig can only do comedy.
She does drama very well, thank you.
Hader is also incredibly heartwarming and real as the gay sibling
struggling with the disappointments of life.
Luke Wilson, as Wiig’s
ever-enthusiastic husband, adds the comic charm that his own real-life sibling,
Owen Wilson, seems to have lost by over-playing the same character in every
film. Ty Burrell, in a small but key
role, also breaks out from the comedic expectations placed on him after his Modern Family success.
This small ensemble cast has
pulled together an involving, emotional journey pinned around the idea that the
human condition, no matter who you are (and I’m thinking of Robin Williams
again here), is complex and challenging. It reminds us that what is assured is life’s ups downs and that
hanging on tight to those you love might just help.
See The Skeleton Twins because it’s funny and sad and thought
provoking, and because it will make you hug your sibling or your loved ones a
little tighter because love shouldn’t be taken for granted.
STUDIO BLURB
When estranged twins Maggie (Kristen Wiig)
and Milo (Bill Hader) feel they're at the end of their ropes, an unexpected
reunion forces them to confront why their lives went so wrong. As the twins
reconnect, they realize the key to fixing their lives may just lie in repairing
their relationship. (c) Roadside Attractions
The Equalizer ✪✪✪✪
Opens in Australia: 25th
September 2014
USA:
26th September 2014 UK:
26th September 2014
Other Countries: Release Information
OUR THOUGHTS
It’s Denzel, okay. So its stylish, albeit highly improbable. But, hey, so is the Bourne trilogy, and Mission Impossible,
and they’re still fun. The end sequence, which is incredibly violent, reminds
me of a grown up version of the Home
Alone scene where the robbers get their just desserts. The Equalizer is by the numbers, but with Denzel there, it gets an
extra star from me. Denzel is just so damn cool that anything he’s in is
elevated beyond its sum of parts. Watch with popcorn.
STUDIO
BLURB
In The Equalizer,
Denzel Washington plays McCall, a man who believes he has put his mysterious
past behind him and dedicated himself to beginning a new, quiet life. But when
McCall meets Teri (Chloë Grace Moretz), a young girl under the control of
ultra-violent Russian gangsters, he can't stand idly by - he has to help her.
Armed with hidden skills that allow him to serve vengeance against anyone who
would brutalize the helpless, McCall comes out of his self-imposed retirement
and finds his desire for justice reawakened. If someone has a problem, if the
odds are stacked against them, if they have nowhere else to turn, McCall will
help. He is The Equalizer. (c) Sony
If you’ve enjoyed these reviews, please
share with your friends and followers on social media and I will be very
grateful. I love new readers who love film.
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