YOUR GUIDE TO THIS WEEK’S NEW CINEMA RELEASES

Yet another superhero movie has arrived — but this one is apparently pretty good!

TOP PICK

In CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR political interference in the Avengers’ activities causes a rift between former allies Captain America and Iron Man. If you like superhero movies, you’ll want to catch up on this one. Variety’s Justin Chang says, ‘This chronicle of an epic clash between two equally noble factions, led by Captain America and Iron Man, proves as remarkable for its dramatic coherence and thematic unity as for its dizzyingly inventive action sequences.’ It’s also showing in 3D. People **** | Critics ****

OTHERS TO SEE

Anthony LaPaglia stars in the gentle Australian comedy drama A MONTH OF SUNDAYS in which ‘Real estate agent Frank Mollard (Anthony LaPaglia) won’t admit it, but he can’t move on. Divorced but still attached, he can’t sell a house in a property boom and much less connect with his teenage son. One night Frank gets a phone call from his mother. Nothing out of the ordinary apart from the fact that she died a year ago! (Written by David Bryson — IMDB). LaPaglia is excellent and John Clarke puts in an amusing turn. People ***1/2

MAYBE/MAYBE NOT

AN (SWEET BEAN) is a Japanese drama which tells the story of the manager of a pancake stall who finds himself confronted with an odd but sympathetic elderly woman looking for work. A taste of her homemade bean jelly convinces him to hire her, which starts a relationship that is about much more than just street food. This looks like a feel-good movie which Variety’s Guy Lodge describes as ‘… on the verge of flying away, however, Kawase rewards her audience with an unapologetically contrived but effectively eye-moistening surge of feeling.’ People ***1/2 ◎ Critics ***

TO AVOID

It is inevitable, with Mothers Day approaching, that there will be a movie about it. MOTHER’S DAY is it. In this one, three generations come together in the week leading up to Mother’s Day. One reviewer has described this movie as ‘a perfect Mother’s Day gift if you hate your mother’ (andynaik — IMDB). Give it a miss. People **1/2

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. These updates are written from an Australian perspective so openings of the movies in cinemas may vary in other parts of the world.