Jennifer Lawrence stars as Joy Mangano, the woman who invented the self-wringing Miracle Mop in the early 1990s. In this "semi-biographical" film she plays the role well, you absolutely buy her desperation, her hustle, hustle, hustle to get the thing off the ground. Pardon the pun.
But there's a lot going on around her that didn't really support the story and arguably detracted from it.
I liked this but didn't love it. I concur with this three star review in The Guardian Australia.
Trailer here.
This comedy starring Mark Wahlberg and Will Ferrell is a bit meh.
Will plays conservative step-father Brad and Mark is fun rebel father Dusty. The two kids whose affection they're fighting for are in the background really on this one and that's good news because neither are great actors.
There's some laughs to be had but nowhere near enough to make it worth shelling out $20 to see this, for mine.
A 2.5 star review in the Sydney Morning Herald says it all, really.
Trailer here.
URGH.
I thought this Christmas comedy movie starring Seth Rogan, Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Anthony Mackie was really ordinary.
The storyline (three old school friends have a massive night with much drug taking, hijinx ensues) is just dumb & the characters are all pretty unlikeable. There was certainly a few laughs (more from others in the cinema than me) but nowhere near enough to make me recommend that you shell out $21 to see this. (I swear it wasn't that long ago that movie tickets were $18...)
To give credit where it's due, there was one thing I enjoyed about this film - the fact that Seth Rogan's character's wife was played by an average-size woman. You know, like a 12 or 14 maybe, rather than a rake-thin size 6. Her performance was good.
(I know she's pregnant in that photo!)
Mindy Kaling has a supporting role and I really like her but she wasn't central enough to help me like this film more. Miley Cyrus also makes an unexpected and amusing cameo, I must concede.
This Fairfax review gave it 2.5 stars which is more generous than I would have been and Leigh Paatsch from News Ltd even gave it 3 stars and a pretty glowing review. I AM CONCERNED FOR HIS WELLBEING YOU GUYS THIS IS NOT A THREE STAR FILM.
Anyway, watch the trailer if you want to get the gist of it. But if you see it and you think it's rubbish, don't say I didn't warn you.
When two of the funniest women on earth star in a film, it's bound to be funny, right?
With Amy Poehler and Tina Fey starring, Sisters IS funny but I'm sad to say, the storyline is really pretty ordinary. Like, actually just lame. It truly pains me to say that because I wanted to love this so bad.
With Amy as 'the good sister' Maura and Tina as 'the wild sister' Kate, they really give it a red hot go as sisters returning to their home town in Orlando in their early 40s to reluctantly pack up their childhood bedrooms. They plan one last blow out party which does include many funny moments but the story and dialogue it's built on is just, well, meh. The party does showcase a funny supporting cast including Maya Rudolph as their snooty old school enemy.
Poehler and Fey riff off each other in a genuinely funny way at times and I certainly laughed a lot including in a dance scene that was right up my slapstick alley.
However if you are looking for comedy at Tina-in-30-Rock or Amy-in-Parks-and-Recreation level, I'm sorry to say you'll be disappointed. If you just want a few pretty mindless laughs, then sure, get along to this one.
The reviews are mixed from what I can see (there's not many around, it's not released in many places yet) so in the interests of balance here's a pretty poor one in US Magazine and here's a much better one in Variety magazine.
Trailer here. In cinemas January 7.
This arthouse film is based on the true story of artists Lili Elbe (formerly Einar Wegener) and Gerda Wegener. Einar and Gerda were happily married and living as artists in Copenhagen in the early 1920s when Einar started to experiment and increasingly believe he was a woman in a man's body.
I won't say much more as I think this is a good one to go into not knowing the story. I found it very engaging and think this film is excellent and well worth seeing. It's not perfect, but still worth a look. (For example, I personally would prefer they were speaking Danish with subtitles than in English but hey, I'm a wowser like that.)
Eddie Redmayne (who you might recognise from his Oscar winning performance as Stephen Hawking in The Theory of Everything) is Einar and Lili and is wonderful and utterly believable. His wife, who is obviously in a very complex situation indeed, is played by Alicia Vikander who is also excellent in this.
For more, check out this four star review in The Telegraph UK.
Trailer here.
In cinemas January 28.
99 Homes is not a doco but based on true events around the US housing crisis. I don't really agree with the common description of "thriller" but boy this is a great film.
Starring Andrew Garfield (Dennis Nash), Laura Dern (Dennis' mother Lynn) and Michael Shannon (Rick Carver), we follow Dennis' transformation from man having his home possessed to man doing the possessing, with dodgy wheeler and dealer Rick as his boss.
It appeared at the Melbourne International Film Festival earlier and the year and has been widely well reviewed.
For more on the film, check out this four star review in the Sydney Morning Herald.
Trailer here.
Based on a best-selling novel, this is an Australian comedy drama set in the outback in the 1950s.
It stars Kate Winslet (Tilly) with a near flawless Australian accent, as well many famous Australian faces. Liam Hemsworth (#hubbahubba), Hugo Weaving, Sarah Snook, Shane Borne, Judy Davis, Rebecca Gibney and Alison Whyte are all wonderful in significant support roles.
Tilly, a talented dressmaker, returns to her rural hometown to right some wrongs of her past. Those 'wrongs' mean that the eclectic bunch of characters in the town don't exactly welcome her return. This manifests in disturbing, menacing and amusing ways.
I loved this film and would happily recommend it to anyone, though it probably does skew a little toward women and a little older, if the session I was in was anything to go by.
Check out this four star review by Fairfax's Jake Wilson if you want to know more.
Trailer here.
