THIS WEEK’S NEW CINEMA RELEASES
Sorry for the delay in letting you know this week’s new cinema releases! I’ve been travelling… but, here we go…
TOP PICK TO SEE
Top of the list to see this week is, surprisingly, MANNY LEWIS. ‘The film follows the story of a famous fictional stand-up comedian Manny Lewis, who connects with millions of fans but finds it hard to connect to one person. Manny struggles to overcome his sense of alienation and shyness, and a difficult relationship with his father, in a romantic and feel-good quest for the love of the quirky Maria’ — Written by Charlotte Greig. When I saw this today, I was very pleasantly surprised. I’ll post my review shortly. ****1/2
OTHERS TO SEE
TOP FIVE is a comedy romance that the critics and audiences seem to like. A comedian tries to make it as a serious actor when his reality-TV star fiancée talks him into broadcasting their wedding on her TV show. Written and directed by Chris Rock. For indieWIRE’s Eric Kohn,
Rock’s savage wit comes through in the wry screenplay, which is loaded with topicality as it pokes fun at subjects ranging from Tyler Perry movies to Angry Birds. Looks good.
MAYBE/MAYBE NOT
CHAPPIE looked ok in the trailers but, despite audiences giving it average scores, critics don’t like it at all. What’s it about? In the near future, crime is patrolled by a mechanized police force. When one police droid, Chappie, is stolen and given new programming, he becomes the first robot with the ability to think and feel for himself. According to Tribune News Service’s Roger Moore, Wrongheaded in conception, eye-rolling in execution, Chappie is a childish blend of the cute robot goofiness of “Short Circuit,” and the bloody-minded mayhem of “Robocop.” Neill Blomkamp, the director of “District 9,” has utterly exhausted his supply of South African sci-fi ideas with this disaster, an excruciating two hours of your life you will fear, quite rightly, ever getting back. Your decision.
Finally, the action crime drama, KIDNAPPING MR HEINEKEN, tells the the inside story of the planning, execution, rousing aftermath and ultimate downfall of the kidnappers of beer tycoon Alfred “Freddy” Heineken, which resulted in the largest ransom ever paid for an individual. Audiences are rating it as average but the critics are down on this one. The A.V. Club describes it as Much like the lager that gives the film its name, Kidnapping Mr. Heineken is bland on the palette and best pissed away.
That’s it for this week. See you at the movies!
*NOTE* Movie summaries are adaptations of movie summary on IMDB. Opinions are mine unless credited.