I GIVE IT A YEAR - film

Not dreadful but ho hum and not worth a $19 admission for me.
This comedy delivered a few laughs but it's telling that the only moment I really cacked myself was when, following a character drooling over Justin Bieber, a woman sitting behind me said to her companion in a loud voice "Ha, it's funny because Bieber's disgusting"... She was wrong about the moment (it wasn't funny) but searingly accurate about Bieber so well done, loud-talker.

Trailer here

GREAT EXPECTATIONS - film

Worth seeing just for Helena Bonham Carter's turn as Miss Havisham! This adaptation of the Charles Dickens novel isn't a five star film for me but HBC is brilliant in it making it worth a look, at least on DVD. I haven't read the book (quelle horreur!) so I found it really interesting to just get to know the story too.

Trailer here

SAVE YOUR LEGS – film

Urgh.

As with most Australian films, I wanted to like this, I really did. But alas, even a great cast including Steven Curry, Brendan Cowell and Damon Gameau, it’s a dud. It’s about an amateur suburban cricket team who go on tour in India (you’re seeing a problem already, aren’t you?) and predictable Delhi belly ‘humour’ ensues. To be fair, there’s much more to the story than that but it’s just not very… interesting. There was only two other people in the cinema and they laughed a bit more than me but the woman in the pair ceased to be a credible witness when she cackled at a lame ‘sharting’ joke. One moment where I laughed out loud was when someone did some good old fashioned slapstick and face-planted some chairs but I suspect that says more about me than the film. Actually, the name ‘Marcus Cobbledick’ in the titles at the end made me smile so yes, it’s definitely me.

Maybe I’d have liked this more if I liked cricket but anything would have helped really.

Trailer here

 

AMOUR - film

Nominated for various Oscars and deservingly so. About an older couple where the wife is suddenly struck by illness and is faced with life in a dreadful deteriorating state. The lead actress Emmanuelle Riva is spectacular. Like, truly amazing. I love Jennifer Lawrence as much as the next guy but there’s no way she was better in Silver Linings Playbook than Emmanuelle is in this – they got ‘best actress’ at the Oscars wrong in my view. Really wrong.

A beautiful film but a bit harrowing, not one to see when you want to buck up!

Official trailer
 

SAFE HAVEN – film

*meh*

OK, to be fair, I was sufficiently engrossed at one point that when someone appeared unexpectedly from the shadows I yelped embarrassingly loudly but still this one’s all just very ho hum.

Sole highlight would be Josh Duhamel for those inclined to have a bit of a perve at the lads. He’s divine. To look at. Hubba hubba.

You know all those films that have won Oscars today? Go see them instead. Any of them will be better than this.

Official trailer here

Movie 43 - film

Absolute stinker. Not at the movies, not on DVD... no way, no how.

In the interests of fairness, there was a couple of laughs but this compilation of short sketches is, broadly speaking, a rotten mess. How it secured the cast it did (Kate Winslet, Naomi Watts, Richard Gere, Emma Stone, Jason Sudeikis, Gerard Butler, Uma Thurman, Stephen Merchant, Hugh Jackman... the list really does go on) is one of the great mysteries of modern cinema.

I overheard another patron in my session (there was six of us) say at the end “That movie was really confusing”… I felt like saying “Any time you spend on trying to understand it is precious minutes wasted, lady.”

PS. This film has been widely criticised but the Crikey film reviewer Luke Buckmaster mounted a defence which makes an interesting read.

Official trailer here

ANNA KARENINA - film

I read some pretty ordinary reviews of Anna Karenina so went in with low expectations. It was a bit better than I’d expected but definitely didn’t love it. I already didn’t much like Keira Knightley and this cemented those feelings. Felt like it went for about five hours when in reality it was just over two. A DVD kind of film (at best), not worth the $19.50 for mine.

The ordinary experience was rounded out by having a young couple sitting behind me who appeared to be embroiled in some sort of emotional crisis that meant that they sniffed (she), talked (mainly he) and cuddled (both) most of the way through. You're not in your lounge room, people!

Trailer here