The Heat
What’s it about?
It’s a buddy cop movie. With female leads. Sandra Bullock plays a Type A anal FBI agent who teams up with Melissa McCarthy’s foul-mouthed slovenly detective. You know the rest already.
What did we think?
Anthony Sherratt says: The Heat plays to nearly every buddy-cop stereotype and somehow succeeds in spite of it. The script’s working title was “Female Buddy Cop Movie” which is apparently the reason why Bullock read it. It isn’t high on originality (at all) as the two work their way through cliche after cliche but its rawness does actually manage to elicit laughter. It only works as a parody of the male counterpart movies but in that context it’s entertaining enough.
Epic
What’s it about?
A teenager finds herself shrunken and transported to a deep forest setting where a battle between the forces of good and the forces of evil is taking place. So of course she bands together with a rag-tag group characters in order to save their world.
What did we think?
Anthony Sherratt says: There should be laws against mislabelling a movie like this: Epic is anything but. It’s a visually appealing but overly simplistic story that fails to engage on any real level. Rather forgettable sadly as the potential is there but majorly unrealised. Epic? Fail.
Pacific Rim
What’s it about?
In the near future, humanity takes its last stand against the interdimensional Kaiju – immense, destructive beasts from beyond the deep – by building equally immense mechas (not robots, thank you) known as Jaegers, which they use to lay the smack down on our would-be conquerors. That is literally all you need to know going in to this film.
What did we think?
Mitch says: Michael Bay wishes he knew how to film giant creatures beating the crap out of each other as well as this. Visually spectacular and possessing a levity, grace and intelligence not commonly found in so many modern “event” movies, Pacific Rim – for all its cheesy dialogue and atrocious Australian accents – is the most fun I’ve had at a blockbuster in years.
Idris Elba and Ron Perlman are highlights on the human side of things, but the show is totally stolen by the gargantuan combatants, beautifully realised and animated as they are. Del Toro and screenwriter Travis Beacham don’t spoon-feed the audience either, nor do they draw things out, and the film is all the richer for it.
Man Of Steel
What’s it about?
Henry Cavill plays Superman. He searches for meaning. He fights General Zod.
What did we think?
Anthony Sherratt says: F*** you Snyder.
The Internship
What’s it about?
Two salesmen (Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson) whose careers have been torpedoed by the digital age find their way into a coveted internship at Google, where they must compete with a group of young, tech-savvy geniuses for a shot at employment.
What did we think?
Anthony Sherratt says: It’s rare to find an American comedy that doesn’t rely on crudity, bodily functions and adolescent physical comedy so Vaughn and Wilson’s new offering was a pleasant surprise. There are some unexpected but lovely messages flowing throughout the film but it’s really the genuine charisma of the leads that manage to take a comedy that, on paper, looks lightweight and turn into a truly warm movie. More about people than tech though there are nerd jokes and references there for us geeks too.
World War Z
What’s it about?
A United Nations investigator, Gerry Lane (Brad Pitt), traverses the world in a race against time to stop the Zombie pandemic that is toppling armies and governments, and threatening to destroy humanity itself.
What did we think?
Anthony Sherratt says: An odd movie to review in that it was actually sort of enjoyable to watch but as soon as you start to apply scrutiny you’re left unsure exactly why. It’s intelligent (despite some gaping plotholes and devices) but it’s not quite an action movie. Nor is it quite a drama and in fact you couldn’t even call it a horror flick with the zombies mostly background fodder – something I actually enjoyed. But while that allowed focus on the human reactions to a looming apocalypse, it unintentionally highlighted the story’s inadequacies. I can’t say it’s bad as it was fun despite Pitt’s seeming boredom. But nor can I say it’s really good. And I have no idea why it’s a 3D movie.
What’s Popular
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.
Inside Out
What’s it about?
After young Riley is uprooted from her Midwest life and moved to San Francisco, her emotions – Joy, Fear, Anger, Disgust and Sadness – conflict on how best to navigate a new city, house and school.
What did we think?
Anthony Sherratt says: Delightfully clever, Inside Out actually takes the Pixar formula of creating a kids movie with enough in it for the adults and flips it around. The intelligent writing and (simplified) subject matter is the core of the story and most of it flies over the heads of the younger audience but it’s wonderfully engaging on so many levels that it doesn’t matter.
It’s rare you can say ‘fun for the whole family’ and truly mean it but Inside Out fits the bill. This is a gloriously emotional film that – for me – ranks among Pixar’s very best. Whether it has the replayability factor for kids remains to be seen but the underlying message that our joy needs our sadness is one that should resonate for years to come.
Editor's Choice
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.
Inside Out
What’s it about?
After young Riley is uprooted from her Midwest life and moved to San Francisco, her emotions – Joy, Fear, Anger, Disgust and Sadness – conflict on how best to navigate a new city, house and school.
What did we think?
Anthony Sherratt says: Delightfully clever, Inside Out actually takes the Pixar formula of creating a kids movie with enough in it for the adults and flips it around. The intelligent writing and (simplified) subject matter is the core of the story and most of it flies over the heads of the younger audience but it’s wonderfully engaging on so many levels that it doesn’t matter.
It’s rare you can say ‘fun for the whole family’ and truly mean it but Inside Out fits the bill. This is a gloriously emotional film that – for me – ranks among Pixar’s very best. Whether it has the replayability factor for kids remains to be seen but the underlying message that our joy needs our sadness is one that should resonate for years to come.