Kids will relish the chance to take another trip to Oz. Source: Supplied
WHETHER you're looking to be challenged or simply escape on an adventure, there's a film for you at the cinemas. Let Leigh Paatsch guide you to the right one.
BROKEN CITY (MA15+) Wahlberg's a stoppin'-Crowe man, US, 109 min
Russell Crowe (groomed hair, generous girth and groovy glasses) is the most corrupt Mayor in Greater New York. This pudgy pollie is close to pulling off the biggest bent deal of his career. Mark Wahlberg (such a man of the streets he'd show up on your car's GPS navigation screen) is the last honest ex-cop-turned-private-investigator in the Big Apple. He starts the movie on the Mayor's payroll. By the halfway mark, he's on the Mayor's to-kill list. If you're intrigued in any way by this boilerplate premise, then you're going to be mighty thankful that actors of the calibre of Crowe and Wahlberg are there to turn up the heat when needed. Overall, an industriously aimless thriller, scurrying up and down the corridors of power, looking for any way out. If it is escape you are after, best be patient. Co-stars Catherine Zeta-Jones. **1/2
CLOUD ATLAS (M) When it doesn't reign, you'll snore, US-Germany, 172 min
You want an epic with a capital E? A real bum-numbing, head-scratching heap of high-concept cinema for the ages? Well, here it is. Adapted from the reputedly 'unfilmable' novel by David Mitchell, Cloud Atlas puts six different plots through their slow and deliberate paces across a 500-year timespan. With a multitude of actors (including Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, Hugh Grant and Jim Broadbent) playing multiple roles, this is a monster truck loaded to full capacity with much profundity and banality. You may not like everything it is carrying, but it often inspires genuine awe as the whole thing passes you by. There's a little science fiction, a fair amount of random switching from heavy drama to light comedy, and a lot of posturing about how inter-connected everything in the world can be. Masterpiece or folly? Both. Collector's item cinema? Absolutely. Brought to you by the makers of The Matrix and Run Lola Run. ***1/2
GODDESS (PG) Vocal, viral and very nice, Australia, 104 min
This chirpy little Australian-made feelgood affair goes quite well in its own happily unpretentious way. The crucial need-to-know for most film goers will be the unavoidable fact that Goddess is a musical. An original musical at that. To the film's credit, an accessible plot has a very relevant reason for all the wanton warbling. What's more, the songs themselves are actually quite catchy, if middle-of-the-road pop a la Mamma Mia! is your thing. Charming British import Laura Michelle Kelly plays a housewife in rural Tasmania who finds fame and fortune when her video blog goes viral. Co-stars Ronan Keating, Magda Szubanski. ***
GREAT EXPECTATIONS (M) Mild repetitions, UK, 125 min
The classic Charles Dickens novel Great Expectations has been adapted too many times in the past few decades. There needs to be some kind of international treaty struck to let this rich tale rest and replenish. This latest version by British director Mike Newell (Love in the Time of Cholera) is a respectful, if unambitious effort. Thankfully, an accomplished cast was gathered for the occasion, and they do keep up their end of the bargain. Stars Ralph Fiennes, Helena Bonham Carter, Sally Hawkins, Robbie Coltrane. **1/2
HANSEL AND GRETEL : WITCH HUNTERS (MA15+) Bedtime story a bad time, gory, US, 89 min
Just as the world huffed a collective "what the ...?" at 2012's Abraham Lincoln : Vampire Hunter, this junky offering is equally, hopelessly unnecessary. The famous fairytale is merely a leaping-off point for an addled action-fantasy-horror-comedy combo. And when it does take that jump, all potential to entertain, excite or amuse just keeps on plummeting. Hansel (Jeremy Renner) and Gretel (Gemma Arterton) are a bro-sis witch-killing machine, always at the ready to whack anyone with a wand, a pointy black hat, or a flying broomstick. Unless you're a sucker for the unlikely-characters-as-action-heroes effect, stay right away from the entire genre. At least until someone makes Rhonda & Ketut : Zombie Hunters. *
I GIVE IT A YEAR (M) Happy anti-anniversary!, UK, 101 min
This British rom-com is going after the same audience that made Death at a Funeral a hit 'round these here parts. Rose Byrne and Rafe Spall play newlyweds who seem to be the only two people in their social orbit who fail to realise they just weren't made for each other. Plenty of safe and predictable laughs are in the offing. Then again, if you feel like have your bad-taste buds tickled with edgier and dodgier fare, a good time awaits as well. However, these two lines of comic attack sometimes get tangled, and can't always be straightened out. Lanky, bespectacled Stephen Merchant saves the day when he can, peppering every scene with the first inappropriate thing that comes into his head. A fair, fun effort. **1/2
IN THE FOG (M) Sadly, mist, Belarus, 127 min
On a German-occupied western frontier of Soviet Russia in 1942, a local railway worker is wrongly accused of being a collaborator. A devastatingly precise portrait of a world crashing down on one unlucky man. Filmmaker Sergei Loznitza's spartan shooting style (long takes, claustrophobic vistas) captures one of life's true paradoxes : those certain situations where to resist fate is to all but seal it. ****
THE INCREDIBLE BURT WONDERSTONE (M) Abracadabra-ha-ha!, US, 97 min
While too bitsy to be regarded as a comedy classic, this is still a very amusing movie whenever some of those bits come together. The title character (played by Steve Carell) is a dinosaur of Las Vegas entertainment, an old-school magician with a tan, hairdo and fashion sense that can all be seen from outer space. Banished from a long-running casino engagement, Burt falls into a bitter rivalry with a bizarre new "extreme magician". The movie's secret weapon is a surreally inspired Jim Carrey, who hasn't been this funny since dial-up modems ruled the internet. Co-stars Steve Buscemi, Olivia Wilde. **
THE LONELIEST PLANET (M) Head over heart over hills, US-Germany, 113 min
They say travel broadens the mind. What would 'they' know? Travel can also put the strongest relationships under extreme, even irreparable duress. This may or may not be the message communicated by an enigmatic outdoors drama set in the Caucasus Mountain region of Georgia. Gael Garcia Bernal and Hani Furstenberg play an engaged couple on an long-distance outdoors trek that puts their devotion to the test. The slow and meandering style of the film will not be to all tastes. Nevertheless there is a wisdom and assurance at work in key scenes that will stay with attentive viewers for some time to come. ***
MAMA (M) Parental guidance recommended, US-Spain, 100 min
A slow-burning chiller, not here to make friends, but to make you uncomfortable. For the past five years, young Victoria (Megan Charpantier) and Lilly (Isabelle Nelisse) have been missing, presumed dead. During that time the kids have been reared by a spooky spectral presence they call Mama. A return to the ways of the real world is going to be difficult. And not just because they now have to answer to their uncle's live-in girlfriend (Jessica Chastain). Especially once Mama discovers her former charges' new address, and begins turning up the paranormal heat on all who live there. Are you scared yet? Probably not. Doesn't matter. As a movie, Mama isn't keen to manufacture the short, sharp, shiftily-edited shocks most other modern horror flicks churn out by rote. Instead, first-time director Andy Muschietti is out to subtly unsettle (and often, just as subtly amuse) his audience with the suggestion of menace, rather than an all-too-literal depiction of all hell breaking loose. ***
OZ THE GREAT AND POWERFUL (PG) Just enough magic to get by, US, 129 min
Did the world really need a fresh take on the origin story of the fella that became the Wonderful Wizard of Oz? Never mind. The target audience of Oz the Great and Powerful - non-discerning cineastes aged 10 and under - will still be happy enough with this prequel to one of the great children's movies of all-time. James Franco stars as Oscar Diggs, a dodgy travelling magician propelled by prairie tornado to the fabled land of Oz. Upon arrival, our hero gets an up-close look at a power struggle between witches wicked and good. While there is many a dull spot, director Sam Raimi knows exactly when a lively diversion is needed. Co-stars Rachel Weisz, Michelle Williams. ***
PERFORMANCE (M) Playing to (im)perfection, US, 105 min
Impeccably acted drama set in the world of contemporary classical music. On the eve of their 25th season together, a world-renowned string quartets is on the brink of falling apart. A key member has been diagnosed with the early stages of Parkinson's Disease. Two married players are heading towards divorce. A film that gets so many of the "the little things" right, particularly the fragile inter-personal dynamic that powers the most creative musical ensembles. The cast is flawless, with Philip Seymour Hoffman and Catherine Keener holding everything together as the couple crumbling to bits. Christopher Walken is also remarkable here, possibly playing his first "normal" character in many moons. ***1/2
SIDE EFFECTS (MA15+) Not your usual med-time story, US, 105 min
A deceptively intoxicating thriller that can play both highly intelligent and highly implausible all at once. After a nervous breakdown, Emily (Rooney Mara) is referred to a hotshot British psychiatrist, Jim (Jude Law). He prescribes a recently-released wonder drug which looks as if it might be the quick fix for all of Emily's problems. As we come to learn, the anti-depressant that Jim is dispensing does a hell of a lot more than what it says on the label. Side Effects sells its competing lines of business - a little Hitchcock-ish at times, a bit Basic Instinct at others - very effectively indeed. Nevertheless, it is best not to take that cautionary tale of medicinal woe all too seriously. The film cunningly conceals a camp streak for as long as it can. By the final half-hour, it can be hidden no longer. As usual, director Steven Soderbergh (Traffic) is smart enough to never let such a tall story get the better of so many short, sharp thrills. Co-stars Channing Tatum. ***1/2
SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK (M) Falling apart to get it together, US, 127 min
An edgily offbeat love story of two highly-strung people rebounding from all-time lows. After a nervous breakdown, Pat (Bradley Cooper) is just another former inmate of a mental institution. Until he meets Tiffany (Jennifer Lawrence), a beautiful young widow just as manic-depressive and sharp-tongued as himself. How long will it take for each to realise the cure they need is standing right before them? Sure, this is a stock-standard premise for many a fluffy film, but when addressed as frankly as it is here, familiarity just does not matter. To tag this as merely a feelgood movie – or worse, a romantic comedy – is to do it a great disservice. Though a superb example of how both should be handled, there is a shape-shifting shrewdness afoot in even the most simplest scenes. Remarkably, the picture can expand or contract to any expectations. Acting is terrific, as is director David O. Russell's eclectic screenplay. The hard-headed humour of his dialogue trumps the soft-hearted nature of the tale exactly when it should. Co-stars Jacki Weaver, Robert De Niro. ****1/2
21 & OVER (MA15+) Suitable for IQs 21 and under, US, 93 min
Someone projectile-vomits in slow-motion. Someone takes a wizz on someone else. Let's not go anywhere near the poop, OK? Yep, what we have here is one of those home-brand, The-Hangover-for-morons comedies that usually bypass cinemas for DVD hell. This one somehow got past quality control. Story involves some sex-stunned, semi-racist young dunces having one last big night before they start growing up. On the evidence presented here, the common cold will be cured before these jerks get called adults. *
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