YOUR GUIDE TO THIS WEEK’S NEW CINEMA RELEASES

Slim pickings this week after all of the holiday season release in the last week or two. But there’s one outstanding movie on offer…

TOP PICK

In THE REVENANT frontiersman named Hugh Glass on a fur trading expedition in the 1820s is on a quest for survival after being brutally mauled by a bear. It’s partly based on a novel of the same name which is also based on historical events. I thought it was brilliant and will post my review soon. Not all critics liked it as much as I did. For example, indieWIRE’s Eric Kohn says that No amount of ingenious camerawork and breakneck pacing can obscure a simplistic core. I’ll explain why I liked it so much in my next post. It’s a ****1/2 for me.

MAYBE/MAYBE NOT

The only other new release is SISTERS. The two of them decide to throw one last house party before their parents sell their family home. For Total Film, it’s Laugh-out-loud in places. Frustratingly flat in others. Sporadic giggles guaranteed. Fey and Poehler’s comic chemistry is undeniable; shame the script didn’t get a Liz Lemon rewrite. A review will be coming soon.

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.