NEW CINEMA RELEASES
Very slim pickings as far as new movies go this week.
TOP PICK
Top of the list is, of course PADDINGTON! A young English boy befriends a talking bear he finds at a London train station. A live-action feature based on the series of popular children’s books by Michael Bond. Who wouldn’t want to see this! Even more so if CineVue’s Joe Walsh is correct. According to him, PADDINGTON is Devoid of cash-in cynicism, and full of belly-shaking humour[.] Paddington proves to be not just a wonderful contemporary rendition of the bear, but a polite hat-tip to the man who created him, paying homage in the best way possible: by bringing a gentle, slightly reserved, smile to audience faces. Who’s going to go see it?
OTHERS TO SEE
In the French comedy, PARIS FOLLIES, Brigitte and Xavier are a couple of cattle farmers living and working together in Normandy. They have always got on well but now that their two children have left the household routine and weariness have set in. One night, Brigitte, who has been invited to a party by a group of Parisians in the house next to their farm, lets herself be wooed by Stan, a witty, cool attractive young man. Some time later, giving a visit to a dermatologist as an excuse, she goes to Paris to meet him. But things do not go according to plan… – Written by Guy Bellinger
MAYBE/MAYBE NOT
Finally, one that general viewers and critics disagree on – HORRIBLE BOSSES 2. Dale, Kurt and Nick decide to start their own business but things don’t go as planned because of a slick investor, prompting the trio to pull off a harebrained and misguided kidnapping scheme. According to Variety’s Justin Chang, This inane and incredibly tasteless sequel qualifies as an excuse to bring back those hard-working funnymen Jason Bateman, Charlie Day and Jason Sudeikis for another round of amateur-criminal hijinks and semi-improvised vulgarity, jabbing away repeatedly at some elusive comic sweet spot where blatant nastiness and egregious stupidity collide – and very occasionally hitting the mark. Wow! I guess this critic didn’t like it! I’ve heard from some who have seen it, that it is better than the first one. We’ll have to see…
That’s it for this week. See you at the movies!
* Movie synopses are based on/adapted from IMDB. Opinions are mine except where references are provided.