Mini Reviews
Take This Waltz (out Jun 14) was a funny, sweet, emotional and real experience. We've seen many films about people cheating on their spouses and whether it's the right thing but I love this level headed perspective from director Sarah Polley. Yet another amazing performance from Michelle Williams. Grade: A.
Prometheus (out Jun 7) is a bold project from director Ridley Scott and its spiritual, reflective nature will catch many filmgoers off guard. Unfortunately, I was struggling with the characters from the very beginning. They’re a bunch of over-emotive half-wits and they detract from what could have been something special. Michael Fassbender the pick of the cast. Grade: B-.
Friends With Kids (out Jun 7) is a nice debut feature from Jennifer Westfeldt (who wrote and starred in Kissing Jessica Stein). It's a rom-com that does an admirable job in breathing new life into this familiar genre. The dialogue is intelligent, the cast is strong and the bluntness of certain characters will get plenty of laughs. Grade: B+.
Haywire (out May 31) is an action-thriller from director Steven Soderbergh (Traffic) and can best be described as The Bourne Identity except with a female in the leading role. Gina Carano is terrific. So too is the use of music. Things fit together a little too neatly at times but this is still a solid film. Grade: B+.
Get The Gringo (out May 31) sees Mel Gibson locked in a Mexican prison where he kills a bunch of bad guys and befriends a widowed mother and her young son. It's tolerable as a mindless action film but I don't think Mel Gibson is the best fit for this character. He’s looking tired at the age of 56. Grade: B-.
Declaration Of War (out May 31) is a French film about a young couple who discover their newly born son has a brain tumour. It's received strong reviews from many and was France's entry at this year's Oscars... but I wasn't a huge fan. The narration bugged me and the ending was rushed. Perhaps I need to stew on it a little. Grade: B-.
What To Expect When You're Expecting (out May 31) is pretty much what I expected. It's a comedy follows a group of pregnant women and their ups and downs of their pregnancy. I realise I'm not the target audience... but for what it's worth, I found it rather ordinary with few surprises. The best performance comes from Elizabeth Banks. Grade: C+.
Men In Black 3 (out now) feels like it should have been so much better. It's not a "bad" movie but it feels like the characters are just going through the motions and the story lacks humour. On the plus side, Josh Brolin is great and so too is Jemaine Clement as the bad guy. Grade: B-.
The Woman In Black (out now) stars Daniel Radcliffe as a young lawyer who goes to a small village and finds himself unravelling a mystery involving ghosts and spooky noises. It'll keep your attention but it doesn't quite offer the "pay off" you might be expecting in the end. Solid production values. Grade: B.
Bel Ami (out May 24) is set in 19th Century Paris and stars Robert Pattison as a young journalist who uses his womanising charm to climb the social ladder and become a man of wealth and influence. It's an interesting premise but I found it a struggle to keep up with the changing mindset of each character. Grade: C+.
The Dictator (out May 17) is amusing but it had the potential for so much more. I enjoy Sacha Baron Cohen's offensive humour because there's often an intelligent, underlying subtext. That’s again the case here (highlighted by a great closing monologue) but admittedly to a lesser extent than Borat and Bruno. Grade: B-.
