YOUR GUIDE TO THIS WEEK’S NEW CINEMA RELEASES

TOP PICK to see this week is IN THE HEART OF THE SEA which is based on the 1820 event during which a whaling ship is preyed upon by a sperm whale, stranding its crew at sea for 90 days, thousands of miles from home. It’s based on the novel Moby Dick. I really enjoyed this one and would rate it ****1/2. I’ll post my review soon.

OTHERS TO SEE

PHOENIX is about a disfigured concentration-camp survivor (Nina Hoss), unrecognisable after facial reconstruction surgery, who searches ravaged postwar Berlin for the husband (Ronald Zehrfeld) who might have betrayed her to the Nazis. I have previously reviewed this movie. You can read my review here.

Cate Blanchett and Robert Redford team up for TRUTH, a newsroom drama detailing the 2004 CBS 60 Minutes report investigating then-President George W. Bush’s military service, and the subsequent firestorm of criticism that cost anchor Dan Rather and producer Mary Mapes their careers.Village Voice’s Alan Scherstuhl, praises Vanderbilt, the screenwriter of Zodiac, here making his debut as a director, [who] masters the heady pulse of high-end, high-stakes journalism.

MAYBE/MAYBE NOT

Yet another Seth Rogen movie hits our screens. It’s THE NIGHT BEFORE where, on Christmas Eve, three lifelong friends, two of whom are Jewish, spend the night in New York City looking for the Holy Grail of Christmas parties. I predict that, if you like Seth Rogen movies, you’ll probably like this one. I rate it **1/2 and will post my review shortly. Screen International’s Tim Grierson describes it as A so-so stoner film where the premise is almost always better than the execution. I’d agree.

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.