Sunday, July 28, 2013

Frances Ha, The Wolverine, Blackfish: this week's new films

Frances Ha | The Wolverine | Blackfish | Days Of Grace | Springsteen & I | Viramundo | Dial M For Murder | Best Of Luck | Bajatey Raho

Frances Ha (15)
(Noah Baumbach, 2012, US) Greta Gerwig, Mickey Sumner, Michael Esper. 86 mins

Gerwig does a winning line in klutzy/ditzy in what's essentially a tailor-made showcase for her natural comic talents. An aspiring dancer whose sense of fun is starting to look a lot like immaturity, Frances is having trouble negotiating that tricky stage between studenthood and adulthood. A very minor crisis, admittedly, but this is more about character and tone, and Gerwig's New York misadventures are rendered with a casual verve that brings to mind the French New Wave or Manhattan-era Woody Allen.

The Wolverine (12A)
(James Mangold, 2013, US) Hugh Jackman, Rila Fukushima. 126 mins

The X-badass rips into Japan in this solo adventure, but while Jackman's as mean and buff as ever, the story feels a little long in the claw, setting him against a familiar onslaught of mutants and sword-swishing ninjas. There are some high points, but it's uneven and rather serious-minded.

Blackfish (15)
(Gabriela Cowperthwaite, 2013, US) 83 mins

You'll never want to visit a marine park again after seeing this chilling doc, which details how captivity turns killer whales into, well, killers Рnot that the resort owners are keen to publicise it. It's a juicy topic: Jaws as a corporate expos̩, with a fascinating angle on human/animal relationships.

Days Of Grace (15)
(Everardo Valerio Gout, 2011, Mex) Tenoch Huerta, Carlos Bardem, Paulina Gaitan. 132 mins

Structured around three successive football World Cups, this Mexican crime thriller plunges you into a demi-monde of gangs, drugs, hostages and gruesome violence, with a relatively principled but equally violent cop as our guide. It's a stylised sensory onslaught that barely hangs together.

Springsteen & I (PG)
(Baillie Walsh, 2013, UK) 124 mins

Fans pay tribute to the boss in this democratic doc, remembering their moments in his presence, explaining what his songs mean to them and playing their own clips of him in concert.

Viramundo (NC)
(Pierre-Yves Borgeaud, 2013, Fra/Swi) 95 mins

Optimistic documentary following Gilberto Gil – musician, former Brazilian minister, and now roving ambassador for global cultural engagement – on his southern hemisphere travels.

Dial M For Murder (PG)
(Alfred Hitchcock, 1954, US) Ray Milland, Grace Kelly, Robert Cummings. 101 mins

Rereleased in its original 3D, Hitchcock's relatively stagey rendition of a fiendishly clever "perfect crime" gone awry.

Best Of Luck (NC)
(Manmord Sidhu, 2013, Ind) Gippy Grewal, Jazzy B, Simran Kaur Mundi. 133 mins

Panjabi crime comedy, partly set in Canada, with bhangra star Jazzy B as a gangster boss.

Bajatey Raho (PG)
(Shashant Shah, 2013, Ind) Tusshar Kapoor, Vinay Pathak, Ranvir Shorey. 106 mins

Hindi farce hinging on a criminal revenge plan.

Out from Friday

The Heat

Melissa McCarthy and Sandra Bullock put their spin on the mismatched-partners cop comedy.

Out from Wed

The Smurfs 2

Sacre bleu! The Smurfs come to Paris for a juvenile sequel.

Out from Wed

Only God Forgives

Revenge is on the agenda as Drive's pairing of Ryan Gosling and Nicolas Winding Refn come to Bangkok.

The Conjuring

Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson lead an Amityville-style haunted house horror.

Red 2

More hitman hilarity with Bruce Willis, Helen Mirren and co.

My Father And The Man In Black

The son of Johnny Cash's manager pieces together his family history.

Paradise: Hope

Ulrich Seidl rounds off his Austrian trilogy with a trip to a teen fat camp.

From Up On Poppy Hill

Youthful Japanese animation set on the eve of the 1964 Tokyo Olympics.

Heaven's Gate

Michael Cimino's notorious western failure is up for reappraisal.

Coming soon

In two weeks ... Coogan to the rescue in Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa … Johnny Depp saddles up to ride with The Lone Ranger

In three weeks ... Costumed justice is served in Kick-Ass 2 … Denzel and Wahlberg buddy up in 2 Guns

In a month ... Matt Damon starts a sci-fi class war in Elysium … Amanda Seyfried lives the 70s porn life in Lovelace


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Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2013/jul/27/this-weeks-new-film

Alexis Texas Alfonso Arau Alfonso Cuarón Alfred Hitchcock

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