Terminator: Genisys
What’s it about?
Kyle Reese (Jai Courtney) is sent back to protect Sarah Connor (Emilia Clarke) from the Terminator (Arnold Schwartzenegger), but Sarah isn’t the fragile flower she was supposed to be at this point in time. So what happened in the future/past to speed up her transition into butt-kicking warrior?
What did we think?
Elizabeth Best says: T5 pays homage without hitting you over the head, goes meta without ramming it home and reboots the franchise with a suitably satisfying time-bending plot. It’s the first Terminator film to feel like a Terminator film since T2. The only thing really wrong with this film is Clarke; Linda Hamilton she ain’t. If you haven’t watched the trailer, don’t: spoilers abound and some cool reveals won’t be revelations at all. Ratings wise, I give the pre-credits film 3.5 stars… A post-credits sting scene drops that to a 3. You were so close, guys.
Amy
What’s it about?
Amy Winehouse created one of the greatest albums of our time, thrusting herself into the spotlight of public judgement: exactly the life she wanted to avoid.
What we thought
Stephen Scott says: There are train wrecks and there is Amy Winehouse. The opening of this documentary introduces us to a stella talent, a cheeky young lass with an old soul and the voice of a blues legend. Then the train wreck begins and doesn’t stop. Amy fell in love with a gold-digging drug addict and surrounded herself with “yes” men (including her father). It’s sad, it’s depressing, but how else could she have written such amazing music?
Is there any way I can use weeping emoticons instead of stars?
😢😭😰
Love and Mercy
Wouldn’t it be nice?
Far From the Madding Crowd
What’s it about?
Intelligent, independent and beautiful Bathsheba Everdene (Carey Mulligan) inherits her uncle’s farm and is determined to “astonish” everyone by making it prosper. As she pursues her goals, she also navigates the courtship of three men: a shepherd, a soldier and her wealthy, mature neighbour.
What did we think?
Francesca Percy says: I haven’t read Thomas Hardy’s novel, on which this is based, so I came to the story fresh. And it was excellent. It reminded me of a Merchant Ivory production, but it was grounded by the many hardships of the time and didn’t stray into sentimentality. It’s worth the price of the ticket just for the lush scenes of rural English life, but I was also entirely caught up in the story. The characters, particularly Bathsheba’s suitors, might have easily been one-dimensional stereotypes, but they were fully-realised and beautifully performed, and the subplots were just as affecting as the central focus on Bathsheba’s pursuit of a life of integrity and purpose, without compromise. I think I may have to read the book!
Strangerland
What’s It About?
When two teenage children vanish into the outback, their parents’ already troubled marriage unravels further.
What Did We Think?
Amy Currie says: This home-grown drama doesn’t quite know what it wants to be. Psychological drama? Whodunit? Neither? Parents Nicole Kidman and Joseph Finnes go for gritty, but look disconcertingly groomed and shiny for residents of an outback town (new arrivals, it’s true – but new arrivals from ANOTHER outback town). Our Nicole’s performance is surprisingly good for a while, but ends up veering into samey melodrama, while local cop Hugo Weaving is as solid as ever. The beautifully shot film is obviously trying for a sense of mysterious uncertainty, but it’s one thing to leave questions unanswered and another to leave them frustratingly ignored.
Jurassic World
aka Jurassic Parks and Recreation
What’s it about?
A theme park filled with living dinosaurs has put its chaotic past behind it and has been trading for years but their newest creation may be more than they can safely contain.
What we thought
Dan says: It’s impossible to measure up to the original Jurassic Park. It showed us movie monsters that we’d never seen before that reignited interest in the field of palaeontology. This script tries to out-do its predecessor with some truly absurd conceits. The strangest thing is that they all manage to work. The characters make some dumb decisions but the universe logic is tight and the action thick and visceral. People who love dinosaurs made this film and people who love dinosaurs will gobble it up.