Pain & Gain
What’s it about?
Three bodybuilders come up with a kidnapping and extortion scheme that goes horribly wrong. The real life story of the Sun Gym gang is a baffling and absurd mish-mash of poorly motivated dimwits making violent decisions. Michael Bay is an accomplished director of such narratives and is the perfect choice to helm this tale of crime gone wrong.
What did we think?
Dan says: The problem with true crime is that true criminals are morons. This film gives the hollywood treatment to real life crimes without once giving you reason to root for the idiot protagonists. It’s visceral without being comically gory. It runs about ten minutes too long and will turn off those who (quite rightly) abhor violence, misogyny and homophobia.
If you can put those concerns aside, Dwayne Johnson puts in an incredible performance as the hesitant, born-again christian and Ed Harris is extremely strong as the only decent human being in the film.
This is a satisfying film about unlikable characters. Accept that going in and you won’t hate it as much as everyone else does.
Red Obsession
What’s it about:
The great chateaux of Bordeaux struggle to accommodate the voracious appetite for their rare, expensive wines, which have become a powerful status symbol in booming China.
What did we think?
Cindy says: A film about the French red wine industry and the growing Chinese thirst for luxury goods? Dry, right? No. Elegant, full-bodied, flamboyant, dense. From the narration by Russell Crowe, whose dulcet tones may have left this viewer vibrating in her seat, to the sweeping views of the vineyards of Bordeaux, it is a delight. The directors have bottled lessons in history, economics, marketing, China’s global reach, and the love of the world’s best red into a beautiful blend. Even this teetotaller is now ready to fork out big bucks to experience whatever is in one of those magical bottles. In the words of one of the Bordelais chateau owners, ‘Our aim shouldn’t be to impress people. We should aim to please people’. And I am pleased to report this film does just that. Santé.
The World’s End
What’s it about?
Four high school mates are reluctantly dragged back to their home town by their former ringleader to re-create a night of drinking excess. And then robots happen. Except they aren’t robots.
What did we think?
Elizabeth says: The final installment in Simon Pegg and Edgar Wright’s Cornetto trilogy (Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz) has all the laughs and offbeat comedy you expect from this duo, served with a hefty dollop of emotional resonance I wasn’t expecting. A movie about dudes battling pseudo-robots (they’re roboty aliens who really don’t like to be called robots, see) that’s actually super relatable? That’s a win in my book.
Only God Forgives
What’s it about?
Julian (Ryan Gosling), a respected figure in the criminal underworld of Bangkok, runs a Thai boxing club and smuggling ring with his brother Billy who is suddenly murdered. Blah blah blah… Julian finds himself in the ultimate showdown.
What did we think?
Anthony Sherratt says: The producers are obviously relying on Gosling’s sex appeal because they didn’t bother polishing a story that is excessively padded, meandering and ridiculously pretentious. I’m not sure even God will forgive this slow and painful monstrosity of a movie.
Behind The Candelabra
What’s it about?
Based on the autobiographical novel, the tempestuous 6-year relationship between Liberace and his (much younger) lover, Scott Thorson, is recounted.
What did we think?
Cindy says: “Too much of a good thing is wonderful”. At the heart of this beautifully crafted film is excess, sex, but most of all, romance. Michael Douglas and Matt Damon have incredible chemistry as Liberace and his ”baby boy” Scott Thorson. Director Steven Soderbergh again deftly explores the truth of human emotion, while Douglas is particularly mesmerising and at times superbly unrecognisable. The audience is treated to the sumptuous visual and aural feast that was the tragic love story spanning the last decade of the flamboyant entertainers final decade. Sadly this magnificent and sparkly biopic will not grace the cinema screens in the US. While it has secured a theatrical release here in Australia and Europe, American audiences will have to tune in to HBO, who stepped up with the cash to fund it after studios refused to commit, the actors were told that it would be a career ending project and the director was told it simply shouldn’t be made. And as Soderbergh’s possible swan song, we have one more thing to thank HBO for giving us: pure entertainment gold.
The Raid
What’s it about?
A police special forces team gets stranded halfway up a building full of very hostile, desperate and well-armed people.
What did we think?
Anthony Sherratt says: The Raid is what Hollywood action movies want to be when they grow up. This is nearly the perfect action movie. Amazing fight scenes, great plot and genuine suspense punctuate a fast-flowing adventure. You’re never sure who’s expendable and the refusal to follow traditional narrative paths for the first half of the movie only add to the sense of chaos and panic. Truly wonderful cinema.
Simply a must for action fans.
What’s Popular
Pixels
What’s it about?
When aliens misinterpret video feeds of classic arcade games as a declaration of war, they attack the Earth in the form of the video games.
What did we think?
Amy Currie says: You know what’s a really good video game movie? Wreck-It Ralph. Wreck-It Ralph is funny, moving and has a plot that makes sense. Wreck-It Ralph isn’t confused about whether it’s supposed to be for children or adults. Wreck-It Ralph entertains both without resorting to recurring jokes about slut-seeking missiles. Nobody repeatedly screams ‘bitch’ in Wreck-It Ralph, and nobody receives an adoring scantily-clad warrior woman who never speaks as a (quite literal) trophy. No beloved video game characters urinate on themselves. In Wreck-It Ralph, the King of Queens is not the President of the United States.
Watch Wreck-It Ralph, watch the not-half-bad 2010 short film on which Pixels was based or watch the episode of Futurama with a similar alien-video-game-battle plot. Do not, under any circumstances, watch Pixels.
American Ultra
What’s it about?
A stoner – who is in fact a sleeper government agent – is marked as a liability and targeted for extermination. But he’s too well-trained and too high for them to handle.
What did we think?
Anthony Sherratt says: Whoever thought that mashing a stoner film with an action movie obviously broke the rule about sampling their own product. What appears to be a kitschy trailer has unfortunately translated into an awkward, rambling and painful feature film devoid of any real depth. There are some laughs here and there but despite the amount of drugs there are no highs as it struggles to decide whether to go over the top or not.
Enjoy the trailer but don’t bother with the whole flick.
Me, Earl and the Dying Girl
What’s it about?
A high schooler who makes deliberately terrible parody films with his friend is forced by his mother to spend time with a schoolmate who is dying of cancer.
What did we think?
Anthony Sherratt says: We have seen emotional teenage movies before but there is a freshness about the quirky Me, Earl and the Dying Girl that sets it somewhat apart. It utilises familiar tropes – high school cliques, unusual parental relationships, etc – and intertwines them with some genuinely funny and fresh perspectives. It’s incredibly engaging and, despite its strong manipulative nature, most people will leave deep in thought and with their heart on their sleeve. It asks questions of the viewer on how you would react to a life-threatening disease but subtly rather than in your face. And delivers a few unexpected gems that only add to the emotional stew. Well worth a look.
Legend
Doug? I was terrified of him. Everyone was terrified of Doug. I’ve seen grown men pull their own heads off rather than see Doug. Even Dinsdale was frightened of Doug. Dinsdale was a looney, but he was a happy looney. Lucky bastard.
Now I understand where Monty Python came up with the Piranha Brothers. Tom Hardy as both brothers? Kray Kray!
Editor's Choice
Pixels
What’s it about?
When aliens misinterpret video feeds of classic arcade games as a declaration of war, they attack the Earth in the form of the video games.
What did we think?
Amy Currie says: You know what’s a really good video game movie? Wreck-It Ralph. Wreck-It Ralph is funny, moving and has a plot that makes sense. Wreck-It Ralph isn’t confused about whether it’s supposed to be for children or adults. Wreck-It Ralph entertains both without resorting to recurring jokes about slut-seeking missiles. Nobody repeatedly screams ‘bitch’ in Wreck-It Ralph, and nobody receives an adoring scantily-clad warrior woman who never speaks as a (quite literal) trophy. No beloved video game characters urinate on themselves. In Wreck-It Ralph, the King of Queens is not the President of the United States.
Watch Wreck-It Ralph, watch the not-half-bad 2010 short film on which Pixels was based or watch the episode of Futurama with a similar alien-video-game-battle plot. Do not, under any circumstances, watch Pixels.
American Ultra
What’s it about?
A stoner – who is in fact a sleeper government agent – is marked as a liability and targeted for extermination. But he’s too well-trained and too high for them to handle.
What did we think?
Anthony Sherratt says: Whoever thought that mashing a stoner film with an action movie obviously broke the rule about sampling their own product. What appears to be a kitschy trailer has unfortunately translated into an awkward, rambling and painful feature film devoid of any real depth. There are some laughs here and there but despite the amount of drugs there are no highs as it struggles to decide whether to go over the top or not.
Enjoy the trailer but don’t bother with the whole flick.
Me, Earl and the Dying Girl
What’s it about?
A high schooler who makes deliberately terrible parody films with his friend is forced by his mother to spend time with a schoolmate who is dying of cancer.
What did we think?
Anthony Sherratt says: We have seen emotional teenage movies before but there is a freshness about the quirky Me, Earl and the Dying Girl that sets it somewhat apart. It utilises familiar tropes – high school cliques, unusual parental relationships, etc – and intertwines them with some genuinely funny and fresh perspectives. It’s incredibly engaging and, despite its strong manipulative nature, most people will leave deep in thought and with their heart on their sleeve. It asks questions of the viewer on how you would react to a life-threatening disease but subtly rather than in your face. And delivers a few unexpected gems that only add to the emotional stew. Well worth a look.
Legend
Doug? I was terrified of him. Everyone was terrified of Doug. I’ve seen grown men pull their own heads off rather than see Doug. Even Dinsdale was frightened of Doug. Dinsdale was a looney, but he was a happy looney. Lucky bastard.
Now I understand where Monty Python came up with the Piranha Brothers. Tom Hardy as both brothers? Kray Kray!