Monday, February 25, 2013

New Releases (28/02/13)

What a terrific line-up in cinemas this week: The Imposter, Cloud Atlas, Side Effects, The Paperboy and I Give It A Year.


Side Effects - Provocative thriller about Emily and Martin (Rooney Mara and Channing Tatum), a successful New York couple whose world unravels when a new drug prescribed by Emily's psychiatrist (Jude Law) - intended to treat anxiety - has unexpected side effects. Believed to be Steven Soderbergh's final film before retirement.

Cloud Atlas - Cloud Atlas explores how the actions and consequences of individual lives impact one another throughout the past, the present and the future. Action, mystery and romance weave dramatically through the story as one soul is shaped from a killer into a hero and a single act of kindness ripples across centuries to inspire a revolution in the distant future. Each member of the ensemble appears in multiple roles as the stories move through time. Full review to come soon.

The Paperboy - A sexually and racially charged film noir from Oscar-nominated director Lee Daniels (Precious), The Paperboy takes audiences deep into the backwaters of steamy 1960s South Florida, as investigative reporter Ward Jansen (Matthew McConaughey) and his partner Yardley Acheman (David Oyelowo) chase a sensational, career-making story. With the help of Ward's younger brother Jack (Zac Efron) and sultry death-row groupie Charlotte Bless (Nicole Kidman), the pair tries to prove violent swamp-dweller Hillary Van Wetter (John Cusack) was framed for the murder of a corrupt local sheriff. Based on the provocative bestselling novel by Pete Dexter (Mulholland Falls, Rush), The Paperboy peels back a sleepy small town's decades-old façade of Southern gentility to reveal a quagmire of evil as dark as a Florida bayou.

The Imposter - Nicholas was 13 the day he disappeared (June 13, 1994). He would have been 16 and 8 months when he was reported found in Spain (October 7, 1997)... In 1994 a 13-year-old boy disappears without a trace from San Antonio, Texas. Three and a half years later he is found alive, thousands of miles away in a village in southern Spain with a story of kidnap and torture. His family is overjoyed to bring him home. But all is not quite as it seems. The boy bears many of the same distinguishing marks he always had, but why does he now have a strange accent? Why does he look so different? And why doesn't the family seem to notice these glaring inconsistencies? It's only when an investigator starts asking questions that this strange tale takes an even stranger turn.

I Give It A Year - Since they met at a party, ambitious high-flyer Nat and struggling novelist Josh have been deliriously happy despite their differences. Josh is a thinker, Nat's a doer..but the spark between them is undeniable. Their wedding is a dream come true, but family, friends and even the minister who marries them aren't convinced that they can last. Josh's ex-girlfriend, Chloe, and Nat's handsome American client Guy, could offer attractive alternatives. With their first anniversary approaching, neither wants to be the first to give up, but will they make it?

Weekly Recommendation: Though at this point I have not seen Side Effects or The Paperboy - the former has been well received, the latter mixed but intriguing nonetheless - I can certainly recommend The Imposter (5/5), Cloud Atlas (4.5/5) and I Give it A Year (3.5/5).

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