ALL THE MONEY IN THE WORLD - film

Like many films out at this time of year, All The Money In The World is a Golden Globe nominee which is of course the  sign of a great film. It's up for Best Director (Ridley Scott), Best Actress (Michelle Williams) and Best Supporting Actor (Christopher Plummer) but interestingly didn't get a nomination in the Best Film category.

All The Money In The World is loosely based on a true story set in the 1970s. J. Paul Getty (Plummer) is literally the world's richest man and his grandson Paul is kidnapped with a $17 million ransom being asked. The dodgy Italians who have kidnapped him aren't experts in the game but do enough to put Paul's life genuinely on the line. Paul's mum Gail (Williams), who married into the Getty family but is now divorced from Paul's addict, estranged father, is caught up in the complex negotiations between the kidnappers and J.P. Getty who appears steadfast in his determination to not pay the ransom. (He has 17 grand children and figures they'll all be kidnapped if he starts paying ransoms.)

Michelle Williams, Christopher Plummer and the young bloke who plays Paul (Charlie Plummer - no relation to Christopher) are all really terrific in this. Christopher was famously recruited to the role to replace Kevin Spacey, who had already filmed the whole thing when his sex abuse scandal hit the headlines.

So what did I think of the film? Cut to the chase, I hear your hollering!

I didn't love it. For me it's one of those ones where the pieces of the puzzle are there and you feel like you should like it and you just don't. It builds to a tense crescendo as you might expect but I didn't feel tense in a 'how will this story end?' kind of way, rather a 'I just want this film to be over' kind of way. I mean, of course it's not terrible, it just didn't do it for me. They didn't give me enough to like about the characters to care enough about how it ended.

For me personally, I enjoyed the performance of Mark Wahlberg who played an ex-CIA agent working for J.P. Getty to lead the negotiations with Gail. I reckon he's underestimated sometimes because of the beefcake thing but he's really very good. AND YES HE'S A HOT BEEFCAKE I AM ONLY HUMAN OK?!

Perhaps my feelings were impacted by the moronic bogan sitting next to me doing that annoying 'say what everyone's thinking' in full voice. For example, and I am not kidding, "Oh, don't trust that guy!" ... "As if she's gunna do that!" ... "What a dickhead!"... #ironic. Seriously folks, a cinema is not your lounge room. Shut up!

I reckon this 3.5 star review in News Ltd is fair.

Trailer here. In cinemas now.

THE GREATEST SHOWMAN - film

The Greatest Showman, starring Hugh Jackman as said showman, is a musical. So if you don't like musicals you won't like this. There's no two ways about it - not everyone is up for people breaking into song for an otherwise run of the mill conversation.

So you're still reading because you do indeed enjoy a musical. Or perhaps you can just tolerate them? That should be enough.

The Greatest Showman is based, I gather very loosely, on the true story of P.T. Barnum's (Jackman) creation of the Barnum & Baily Circus in the late 1800s. I knew absolutely nothing of P.T. Barnum's story so for me, I had nothing to base any assessment of accuracy on - it was just a story. He started a circus of "freaks" so in this case, a bearded lady, an albino, conjoined twins etc.

Barnum's wife Charity is played by Michelle Williams and they have two adorable daughters. The three of them go from very few material possessions to having everything when the circus becomes hugely successful. But of course that alone would be a bit dull, so 'our Hugh' gets a bit distracted by another artist he discovers - a beautiful Swedish singer. No more for fear of spoilers but I guess the point is, this is total cheesy fantasy stuff. If you can roll with the cheesiness, then I reckon you'll enjoy this toe-tapper. But if cheesy camp singin' and dancin' turns you off then this one will stretch the friendship.

Zac Efron plays Barnum's business partner and you know what? I reckon he's really terrific in this. I mean, he can sure sing but he can also dance and has the face of a damn angel. Same with Hugh but I've always been a fan so it wouldn't take much to convince me on that front.

It's directed by an Aussie making his debut - Michael Gracey. He features in this video about the audition of the bearded lady role which gave me a bit of a tingle. Look out for the piano player, whose enthusiasm is quite mesmerizing.

This film is getting mixed reviews. It's nominated for Best Picture (musical/comedy) at the Golden Globes so plenty of people are digging it but then there's this scathing rant from The Daily Review. To be fair, lots of the reviews are in the 3-4 star range (eg 3 from Leigh Paatsch in the Herald Sun) and I reckon that's fair but a little low for a GG nominee. I mean, it won't win, but still it's nominated.

Trailer here. In cinemas now.

DARKEST HOUR - film

Darkest Hour is a drama based on real events in the early days of World War II, when new British Prime Minister Winston Churchill was in the unenviable position of having to choose whether to negotiate with Hitler, with the threat of invasion imminent.

Now, if you paid attention in history class at school, I'm sure you're across all the finer details of this time but since I was too busy in history class laughing at how my teacher Mrs Kenny pronounced 'millions', I must confess some of the finer details presented in this film were, shall we say, a tad fresh to me*. 

Gary Oldman undergoes an incredible transformation to play Churchill and gives an almighty performance, which has already been touted as award-winning as we approach the Golden Globes and Oscars.

Darkest Hour is getting great reviews (eg four stars from The Guardian) and whilst I can see why, I confess I watched this film thinking, I know I *should* like this but I'm actually a bit bored. There. I said it.

That said, I must give a special shout out to Aussie actor Ben Mendelsohn who plays the King in this. I'm such a fan of Mendo and he's terrific in this.

So here's the thing. If you like a rousing drama and/or a bit of history then sure, I suspect you'll probably love this. But if you're a bit of a bogan like me, I reckon you might be a little bored too.

Trailer here. In cinemas 11 January 2018.

*Pay attention in school, kids.

PITCH PERFECT 3

I'd be surprised if anyone who took the time to read this didn't already know what the Pitch Perfect franchise is all about but just in case, we're talking fun musical comedy starring a bevy of babes including Australia's own Rebel Wilson.

In a way the story doesn't really matter. I mean, this isn't going stimulate you intellectually but like PP 1 and 2, it's just mindless good fun. I don't think it's quite as good as the original or even the second one but I think fans will be happy enough with what's dished up here.

My friend who came along to the preview with me is a big fan of the PP franchise and she said "Perfectly predictable. Entertaining, light-hearted but will hit the right note for an easy viewing summer flick." She did note though, that there weren't as many musical mash-ups as in the previous two which she was a bit disappointed by.

The one thing I will say about the storyline is that Amy's (Rebel Wilson) Australian dad is in this film, played by American John Lithgow. Now, I'm as much of a fan of Lithgow as the next guy but his Australian accent in this film is so appalling that it's laughable. It actually left me wondering if that was meant to be a gag. I feel like it's so bad that that's the only possible explanation. But whatever the concept behind it, it's deeply cringeworthy to watch.

Speaking of Australian accents, Ruby Rose pops up in this one as the singer in a band who are the enemy of The Bellas. It's not a particularly noteworthy role but I thought it's worth mentioning since she's been front and centre in some of the promotion.

It's rated M but if you're, shall we say, flexible with these things, I reckon kids as young as 10 would be ok with this one. Indeed, I happen to know a 10 year old who was at the same preview as me and she loved it. And it only goes for 93 minutes which is the perfect length for this kind of light film.

If you do want to know more about the story, read this proper review (four stars!) in The Guardian.

Opens in cinemas 1 January 2018. Trailer here.

DOWNSIZING - film

The upcoming holiday season is when movie distributors release their biggest and best and Downsizing is part of that cohort.

The film stars Matt Damon and Kristin Wiig* as Paul and Audrey Safranek, a couple who decide to abandon their financially stressed lives for a truly unique experience when scientists discover how to shrink humans to manage population growth.

The idea is that regular people can choose to be shrunk down and live in a new miniature world, where their money is worth much more meaning they can live far more comfortably. But of course it's not all beer and skittles - as in all societies, some people inevitably get left behind as things change. This film is easily spoil-able so I won't say much more about the plot.

Downsizing is long at 135 minutes and in the last third or so I did really feel that. I reckon it labours a few points that could have been a bit sharper but that's my only criticism. Otherwise I think this is an excellent film that makes you think a little but in an interesting, rather than off-putting way.

Four stars from The Telegraph UK and I reckon that's bang on.

Trailer here. (Well worth a watch in this case to help understand this unusual story concept!) In cinemas Boxing Day.

*SPOILER ALERT - if you're a Wiig fan you maaaaay not get what you're looking for in this film!

WONDER WHEEL - film

Wonder Wheel is directed by Woody Allen and is pretty tedious.

Set in the 1950s in New York, it centres around a family living above an amusement park in New York. Kate Winslet plays the lead, bored and anxious Ginny, with Jim Belushi as her gruff husband Humpty. Local lifeguard Mickey, played by Justin Timberlake, enters Ginny's life and they start an affair. Her firebug son is a mildly interesting distraction in the story. Then Humpty's daughter, who is being chased by mobsters, arrives in town and gets the hots for Mickey... blah blah blah.

If you love Woody Allen's style and can get past the fact he's an alleged child abuser, then perhaps you'll like this but I just found it very tough going.

The lead character Ginny is so deeply anxious that it's actually unpleasant to watch. I couldn't find a clip of it online but if you happen to recall the The Late Show sketch in which radio & TV host/writer/comedian Tony Martin impersonates Woody Allen himself, you can imagine Ginny in this film. It's so painful that it's like a comedy parody. It's kind of that, meets Mrs Bennett from the BBC production of Pride & Prejudice in a weird way.

So my advice to you is to give this one a miss unless you happen to be in that very small group of people who are so committed to Woody Allen's 'art' that you'll love anything he does.

Rolling Stone has given it three stars which I think is very generous. Put me down for Team New York Times, which declared it one of Woody's "more unfortunate contributions to cinema".

Wonder Wheel opens in cinemas on Thursday 7 December. Trailer here.

WONDER - film

Wonder is based on a best-selling book of the same name for young adults, which a quick Google tells me means people aged about 12-18.

In light of this and despite my desperate desire to still be considered young, I assumed that since I'm not even close to 12-18 I wasn't the exact target market for this film but in the session I was at at least, it was mainly adult adults (ie old adults... gaaaarrrrrr!).

Wonder centres around the life of a 10 year old boy Auggie Pullman who is living with significant facial deformities caused by Treacher Collins syndrome. To cut to the chase on how the story unfolds, he starts school for the first time and, well, let's just say kids can be real little jerks.

His parents are played by Owen Wilson and Julia Roberts and they're both terrific, bringing irreverent light and protective shade to their respective roles. But I save the biggest acclaim for the actor who plays Auggie, Jacob Tremblay. Some of you might recall me raving about him (you remember everything I say about everyone, right?) about a year ago when he was in Room with Brie Larson and he's just as good in this. He wears make-up and prosthetics to portray the facial deformities which I imagine adds a degree of difficulty and he still delivers an excellent performance.

Whilst I'm perhaps not the primary target of this film (aforementioned 12-18 year olds and parents, I guess), I'd certainly be the secondary audience and by golly, they got me. I happened to have eight tissues in my bag and by the end of this film they were all scrunched up balls of gross-ness and all my eye makeup had gone AWOL. I mean, sure, this film is one of the most predictable I've ever seen but it kept me interested and certainly I was engaged with the lives of the characters, as evidenced by the river of tears.

Thankfully there's some kids who emerge from the crowd at Auggie's school to show some kindness (cue more tears) and renew faith in humanity. The neat bow it's all tied up in at the end is both predictable and not believable, but eight wet tissues speak for themselves, I think.

I'll finish by stepping up on my soap box to say that if you have kids, this film will show them in a way they can understand just how important it is to just be kind and to my mind that's much more important than whether they've learned how to say "Where is the toilet?" in Japanese. (Can you tell I don't know what happens in schools these days?!)

Here's a 3.5 star review from news.com.au which I reckon is fair, if you want to read more.

Trailer here. In cinemas Thursday 30 November.

THE MAN WHO INVENTED CHRISTMAS - film

The Man Who Invented Christmas is a look at the life of famous author Charles Dickens as he attempted to write what has become a classic novel, 'A Christmas Carol'.

Now, as is occasionally necessary on this blog, I need to start with a confession. I've not read A Christmas Carol. In fact, I've not read any Dickens. (Shout out to my girl Leigh Sales who also hasn't and any Chat 10 Looks 3 podcast listeners reading this who appreciate the significance.) I've never even seen any of the film adaptations. Shame on me, right? Whatever you guys, these are the facts.

So from my no-Dickens perspective, I offer this observation re the film about the great man... it's quite charming and I really enjoyed it.

Dickens is struck with writer's block after some early writing successes followed by more recent duds. (You know to not bother asking me about them, right?) His wife, children and staff, including a housekeeper played by the fabulous Miriam Margolyes, are suffering under the strain of his increasingly desperate need to come up with a hit and frankly, some cashola. His mother and father come to visit and the complex relationship and history he has with his father adds even further strain. A number of flashbacks to Charles' childhood help us understand this.

To cut to the chase, he comes up with his hit idea and the characters in the book become characters in the film, visiting Charles as they come to life on the pages of the novel, helping shape the story. Chief among them is Ebenezer Scrooge, an anti-Christmas & generally grouchy bloke, for fellow non-Dickens readers/watchers... I know you're out there! Scrooge is played by an old fav of mine, Christopher Plummer, perhaps best known for his turn as Captain Von Trapp in The Sound of Music. He was hubba-hubba-hot back in those days but a tad less so now*.

At 105 minutes the film isn't crazily long but I reckon it would have benefited from a little shaving down to 95 or so. Nonetheless,  this is a lovely film I would happily recommend, regardless of where you stand on Charles Dickens.

Trailer here. In cinemas 30 November.

*not in any way hot now.

BAD MOMS 2 - film

I could almost copy and paste my blog about the original Bad Moms film here and it would be accurate for Bad Moms 2 too. The second time 'round, the film makers still know exactly who their audience is and have catered this film directly to them.

In this film we still have three mums of school-aged kids played by Mila Kunis, Kristen Bell and Kathryn Hahn who once again brings the LOLZ. Their mothers all come to town for Christmas and as we all know, forced family time at Christmas can be tricky*.

Spoiler alert - after said tricky-ness (they declare war on Christmas being such bloody hard work for mums), the women all come to a happy place with their mums resulting in a happy Christmas. (C'mon, that's not really a spoiler... you could have guessed!)

This film is not made for me (no kids) but nonetheless, I did enjoy some laughs especially at some of the slapstick humour. Based on the reaction of people around me (lots of groups of women who definitely have kids), this film gives them exactly what they want - laughs at the familiar challenges of motherhood, making them feel better about their own chaos waiting at home!

So if you're a mum with pretty mainstream taste, heck yes this one's for you. If you don't have kids and/or if your taste skews more toward arthouse films, then you should definitely give this one a miss.

Just as he gave the original Bad Moms a 2.5 star review, Leigh Paatsch has given this one 2.5 stars and just like I did with the first one, I reckon that assessment is fair.

Trailer here. In cinemas now.

* a f**king nightmare.

DADDY'S HOME 2 - film

A sequel to the forgettable Daddy's Home, Daddy's Home 2 (PG)  has been more thought-provoking that I could have predicted. (Seeking your forgiveness now for this being much longer than my usual cut-to-the-chase style.)

I won't labour telling you about the plot but the quick version is that it's about a blended family featuring Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg as dads trying to negotiate the tricky situations many family face co-parenting. Ferrell is the loving, innocent, nerdy dad and by amusing contrast Wahlberg is the tough, masculine one. In this film, their dads (John Lithgow as Ferrell's nerdy dad and Mel Gibson as Wahlberg's tough dad) come to town for Christmas and hilarity ensues.

So in truth, I laughed quite a bit (there's a fair bit of slap stick humour and that's right up my alley) when I watched Daddy's Home 2 with three of my nieces aged 10, 13 and nearly 15.  They certainly laughed quite a bit. Here's their verdict:

So as you can hear, it's all positive from them.

But this film sits uncomfortably with me and it's mainly due to Mel Gibson; both the man and the character he plays in this film. Regarding the man, we're talking about someone proven to be sexist, racist, abusive and anti-Semitic. Need I remind you that a recording revealed he said to his then wife, "... if you get raped by a pack of niggers, it'll be your fault, all right? Because you provoked it."? Read this article "Here's how family-friendly Mel Gibson is" if you want to explore that more.

So now to the character he plays. As the tough, chauvinistic lousy dad and now granddad character, Mel Gibson does seem remarkably well cast. The crappy things he does in this film (take a young child out to buy a gun, treat women like objects and generally be a sexist pig... yuck and topical given the USA's gun crisis and the abuse scandal sweeping showbiz) aren't painted with enough negativity for me. I mean, sure he's the 'bad guy' in the film but only relative to the super nerds and the picture is absolutely one of a loveable bad guy. We're clearly supposed to forgive him for being sexist etc because by the end of the film he has gone some way to acknowledging he wasn't a great dad. I'm sorry, but NO.

So as you can see, I'm having all the feels about this film. It's mindless and at times pretty funny but if I knew the story before I went, would I have taken three young girls to see it? Probably not. Is the PG rating fair? Probably. Is it in line with my personal sensibilities? Not really. Am I being a wowser? I don't reckon.

The film opened in the US last weekend and had a good financial result but the critics have savaged it. More info here.

I'm always interested to hear what readers of this blog think about films but especially with this one. If you do see it, pop by our Facebook page and let's know what you think.

In cinemas 23 November. Trailer here.

DETROIT - film

A colleague asked me how this film was the day after I saw it and the answer was "It's great. It'll crush your soul, but it was great."

Detroit is a an American crime drama based on the true story of a race-based riot in Detroit in 1967. It all started with police raiding an unlicensed club in which a group of black people were celebrating the return of war veterans. Much of the film is based on an incident in which some white policemen think they've been shot at by a black person, causing them to hold the group of black people hostage and torture them until someone confesses. That's the short version (cut to the chase version, you might say) and does not do justice to how painful it is to watch. The discrimination and racism is brutal and just awful to watch.

This brings me to the key point. This film is very good - it's well executed and the performances are excellent. So if you want to be challenged a little, think a little and feel pretty awkwardly squirmy, then this is for you. If you are looking for a film that's a bit of light entertainment to make you smile, this ain't it.

A four star review from news.com.au here if you'd like to know more.

Trailer here. In cinemas Thursday 9 November.

HOME AGAIN - film

If this rom com starring Reese Witherspoon were any lighter it would've flown up into the sky like a helium balloon let go by a child at a town fair. Seriously, it's terrible.

Reese plays Alice Kinney, a newly single mother of two who has moved from New York back to her home town of Los Angeles and sets up house in the old home of her deceased father who was a big time film director. Alice's mum is played by Candice Bergen and her small role is the highlight of this film. The bar is low.

In a deeply implausible turn of events, three young film makers trying to make it in the biz in LA wind up moving in with Alice and the kids and, quelle suprise, she hooks up with one of them. Ex-husband moves from NY to LA and wants to get back together! I KNOW, RIGHT?!

I had googled to check the running time before the film started and something indicated 2 hours so I was very pleasantly surprised when it was only about 95. A moment when one of the young kids is clearly wearing conspicuous fake eyelashes really tipped me to the edge, for what it's worth.

I think this two star review in News Ltd is pretty accurate. This three star review in The Guardian calls it "silly but satisfying" which I think is a generous interpretation but I present it in the interests of fairness.

In cinemas Thursday 19 October. Trailer here.

BATTLE OF THE SEXES - film

Battle of the Sexes is based on the true story of tennis legend Billy Jean King's fight for equality and LGBTI rights in the 1970s. I really enjoyed it a lot.

Emma Stone stars as Billy Jean and her nemesis, ageing, gambling-addicted, former tennis great Bobby Riggs, is played by Steve Carell. The climax of their battle is when they play each other in an exhibition tennis match which is about so much more than tennis; it's about equality for women. Stone and Carell both give really terrific performances.

Perhaps it's a sign of my age (I'm really YOUNG you guys) or a lack of interest in tennis but I didn't know this story at all. If you don't either, my suggestion is that you don't read up on it if you plan to see this film. Just go in blind and you'll enjoy it and be totally invested in what happens. Needless to say, no spoilers here!

Aussie actress Jessica McNamee plays Margaret Court and Court's views on homosexuality are relevant and played out here, though this is not a huge part of the film. It was interesting to observe the reactions of the people watching it, to both Court's prejudiced views (laughter, mainly) and to Bobby Riggs' misogynistic views (awkward laughter).

Special shout out to US comedian Sarah Silverman who plays the founder of a tennis magazine and supporter of Billy Jean and women's tennis. She is superb in this and I hope we'll see more of her on the big screen.

Here's a three star review from the Sydney Morning Herald and another three star review from news.com.au if you'd like to read more. I don't really do the star thing but feel compelled to say that I'd be a bit more generous and give it more like 3.5.

Trailer here. In cinemas now.

PATTI CAKE$ - film

Patti Cake$ is an American film with a young Aussie in the lead role. Danielle Macdonald plays aspiring young rapper Patricia Dombrowski, also known as Killa-P, Dumbo and eventually Patti Cake$.

I loved this film. Patricia's story is a crappy one. A drunk mum (played brilliantly by Bridget Everett, who long-term readers may recall did a stand-up show at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival a couple of years ago that shocked the hell out of me), no dad on the scene and an ill grandmother whose treatment is putting huge financial stress on the family. Life is tough and she's working numerous jobs to try to make ends meet for the family.

She can "spit" (I think that's what people far cooler than me call rapping but contact me via Myspace or on my pager if that's incorrect) like a pro and has a dream of making it big. The fun and odd crew that are along for the ride help make this film, but it's really all about Patricia and to a lesser extent her mum.

For me, I didn't necessarily want Patricia to WIN, I just wanted her to have some bloody HOPE for a change. I was really invested in what happens to her. No spoilers here but whilst it's not a soppy happy ending, I reckon they give us enough hope to be happy. It put a nice spring in my step!

Here's a four-star review in the Herald Sun (with Danielle Macdonald's name spelt incorrectly throughout at the time of publishing this blog) and another four-star review in The Guardian if you want to read more. Get yourselves along to this one, you'll find it in your more arthousy cinemas. Highly recommend!

Trailer here. In cinemas 14 September.

AMERICAN MADE - film

Tom Cruise action films are, I confess, not usually cup of tea but I always go in with an open mind to try to produce a fair assessment.

And you know what? I enjoyed this more than I expected to! It's a crime drama (amusing at times) based on a true story and Cruise plays US pilot Barry Seal who gets recruited to smuggle drugs and then subsequently recruited to provide intel to the government. I won't bother with the details here but if you are interested in the full story, there's a summary here.

I don't think this one will win any awards or challenge your world view but it's light good fun. It's probably a good one for partners who have different tastes to meet in the middle and enjoy if you're looking for such a thing. My one criticism is that at almost two hours, this film is about 20 minutes too long.

Here's a three star review from The Guardian which I reckon is bang on. When I asked the friend I saw it with what she'd give it out of five she said six. I asked her if she was drunk and she said she wasn't but that she did in fact mean three out of five. We're all in agreement.

Trailer here. In cinemas now.

ALI'S WEDDING - film

Based on a true story, Ali's Wedding is an Australian romantic comedy and it's pretty charming.

Ali is in year 12, studying to try to get into medical school. He's desperately trying to please his father, played by Don Hany, who is a charismatic and respected Muslim cleric. His family are trying to find him a bride but he falls for someone who is not considered an appropriate match.

It's a classic coming-of-age kind of tale that's light and easy to watch. It's not 5 stars good, but it's 3-3.5 stars good.

Since I saw it I have discovered that Andrew Knight is one of the writers on it and that totally stacks up. If you don't know who Knight is, he is one of the men behind some brilliant Australian TV shows such as Fast Forward, SeaChange and Jack Irish.

Here's a 3.5 star review on news.com.au if you would like to know more about the film.

Trailer here. In cinemas 31 August.

HAMPSTEAD - film

What do you get when you combine Diane Keaton and Brendan Gleeson in Hampstead, a light romantic drama loosely based on a true story?

In this case, a big ol' snooze-fest.

There's no two ways about it I'm afraid. This is a stinker.

Keaton is Emily Walters, a widow living in Hampstead Heath, a pretty town in England. Gleeson (I suspect you would recognise the face, if not the name) is a vagrant who has set up home on a local vacant piece of land. Emily's mates are plotting to build apartments on the land a make a killing but Emily winds up falling for the vagrant and being part of the team who fight for his right to the land. (Spoiler alert - in real life and the film, he wins the case.)

Their romance is so devoid of feeling, it's hard to describe. There's a scene where they have a fight that is just so lacking in any actual fight or soul it's almost as if everyone involved in the film has never actually had a fight with a loved one. It was actually weird.

Another funny (not in a good way) moment is when Emily is painting a door white and she exclaims "I like this colour!" like a deranged budgerigar. It's hard to do it justice but it was just so weird.

So should you go and see this at a cinema? No. Should you watch it if you can do so in future for free on TV, digital etc? No. Should you watch it on a plane if it is literally the only thing available to drown out the sound of snoring old blokes and screaming babies? No.

This film just left me pondering, does Diane Keaton just always get cast as annoying characters, or is she actually an annoying person? I guess I'll never know.

The Guardian is with me, giving this one star, but news.com.au gives a more generous take at 2.5 stars if you would like to read more.

Trailer here. In cinemas Thursday 17 August.

ATOMIC BLONDE - film

If I told you the main character in Atomic Blonde is called Lorraine Broughton, you'd think she'd look something like this, yeah?

Well she actually looks smokin' hot like this:

Charlize's appearance is genuinely of note in this film because her face is almost like a whole separate feature of the film. She plays a kick-ass spy and when the camera's not close up on her staring pensively into middle-distance sucking on a gasper, she's impressively belting the crap out of someone, striding purposefully in a stylish outfit down a dingy Berlin alley or soaking in a bath full of ice cubes.

Spy action films aren't typically my favs but I actually enjoyed this more than I expected to. I mean, it's all a bit silly and mindless but to be fair it did actually capture my attention. I mean, hottie James McAvoy also features and I'm only human!

Ultimately this one is in the quite good but not amazing category for me. If you like a spy action film, it might be up your alley. If you like Charlize Theron or James McAvoy, it also might be up your alley.

The observant among you might have noticed I haven't told you anything really about the storyline. As Fairfax critic Jake Wilson put it in this 3.5 star review, "The details of the plot don't matter; what counts is the vibe." He's right. Read his review if you do want to know more about the film.

Trailer here. In cinemas now.

A GHOST STORY - film

My favourite thing about A Ghost Story, a supernatural drama starring Casey Affleck and Rooney Mara, is that it's only 87 minutes long.

*sigh*

This film is a pretentious dud if you ask me but to be fair, it's getting positive reviews from more learned critics than me.

Mara and Affleck are a married couple. We are never told their names because that would be far too common! Affleck dies and returns as a ghost. Not just any ghost, a bloke covered in a sheet with eye holes cut out. Picture a bad Halloween costume on a 10 year old and you get the idea.

He haunts the home they shared long after Mara leaves. New family moves in, Ghosty McGhostface watches them live a mundane life from under his sheet. House is bulldozed and replaced with an office building & Ghosty McGhostface watches people go about office life from under his sheet. You get the idea.

The film thinks it's very clever and to give it credit, lots of critics agree. But I'm just a simple bogan from the suburbs and I didn't enjoy this film at all.

If you'd like to read a positive review to get the flip side to my own view, check out this four star review in The Guardian.

Trailer here. In cinemas Thursday 27 July.

THE BEGUILED - film

The Beguiled is good but it's not quite as good as it thinks it is.

Starring Nicole Kidman as Martha Farnsworth, the head of a small boarding school for girls, this film is set in Virginia during the American Civil War. A cat is set among the pigeons when one of the students finds an injured soldier, Corporal John McBurney (Colin Farrell) injured in the woods.

Corporal McBurney is allowed into the boarding school to convalesce. Let's just say that when a hot soldier moves in, the ladies of the house including Miss Farnsworth, her teaching assistant played by Kirsten Dunst and one of the older girls at the school played very well by Elle Fanning... oh boy do they get their feathers up!

Everyone has an agenda. The ladies, to be the object of his affection whilst still playing it cool and Corporal McBurney, to avoid returning to the war or to become a prisoner of war.

I did enjoy this film, especially the second half when the scene was set and things actually got interesting. I personally would put it in 'liked but didn't love' territory and I think this 3.5 star review by News Ltd's Leigh Paatsch is fair and in line with my own opinion.

In cinemas now. Trailer here.