Film

Alice in Wonderland (PG)

Directed by Tim Burton

Lewis Carroll’s books Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass were written in 1865 and 1871, the era in which Burton’s 19 year-old Alice (Mia Masikowska) rebels against the restrictions of Victorian England. Well, she isn’t wearing her corset or stockings and questions who determines what is ‘proper’. When a garden party is thrown in her honour, she is distracted by what appears to be a rabbit and when she is proposed to, she is overcome by the urge to follow the rabbit down a hole rather than agree to be married. (more…)

The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo (MA)

Directed by Niels Arden Oplev

Stieg Larsson was an investigative journalist when he wrote three books (The Millennium Trilogy) but died of a heart attack before the first book was ever published. His dark and compelling stories have risen to the top of best seller lists around the world – 21 million copies in 40 countries at last count. The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo is Lisbeth Salander (Noomi Repace), an anti-social computer hacker with a mysterious past which has turned her into a lawless avenger. Larsson actually based Lisbeth on the childhood character Pippi Longstocking by Swedish author Astrid Lindgren. The modern 24 year-old Lisbeth has a photographic memory and is completely at home in the cyber world, but has difficulties with the real world. (more…)

The Men Who Stare at Goats (M)

Directed by Grant Heslov

Usually George Clooney has quite a twinkle in his eye when he is presenting characters for the big screen, but in this film his deadpan seriousness takes over as he becomes Lyn Cassady, a soldier with unparalleled psychic powers who can kill a goat by just staring at it. His character is actually a compilation of a number of real people who were interviewed by journalist Jon Ronson for his non-fiction book The Men Who Stare at Goats. Ronson’s extensive research uncovered information, going back to the 1950s, about the US military financing investigations into methods of combat using psychic powers. While antics of the New Earth Army are scandalously hilarious, it is scary to think that so much of this film is actually true. (more…)

LOL (M)

Directed by Lisa Azuelos

Most teenagers really don’t care about the population of China or cell division. The school curriculum seems so irrelevant when text messaging and on-line chats can provide much more interesting information, especially when teachers and parents think actual study is going on. Of course webcams also provide titillating extra-curriculum as well as lots of laugh-out-loud (even the French use LOL) moments, including an updated version of the ‘American Pie’ incident. Taking place over the space of a year, this French film is a humorous look at relationships from female perspectives over two generations - Paris schoolgirl Lola (Christa Theret) and her mother (Sophie Marceau). Lola falls out of love with boyfriend Arthur (Felix Moati) and into love with his best friend Mael (Jeremy Kapone), while her mother is secretly seeing her divorced husband again before she finds out he is ‘cheating’ on her. (more…)

A Single Man (M)

Directed by Tom Ford

Colin Firth is used to playing the romantic lead since his Mr Darcy stint in the 1995 hit telefilm of Pride and Prejudice. In this romantic tale he is George Falconer, a 52 year old British college professor, struggling after the death of his long time partner Jim (Matthew Goode). Living in Los Angeles almost 50 years ago, George dwells on the past and cannot shake a deep depression. As we follow him through a single day, we share the personal encounters that ultimately lead him to decide if there can be life after Jim. (more…)

Precious (M)

Directed by Lee Daniels

Claireece ‘Precious’ Jones (brilliantly played by Gabourey Sidibe in her first acting role) lives in 1987 Harlem. Being stared at on the street and bullied at school because of her extreme obesity is nothing compared to the living hell at home. Her home-life is a horror story where she was sexually abused by her father and carrying a second child to him, and physically and emotionally abused by her mother. Precious consoles herself by drifting off into a dream world where she is a fashion model with a handsome boyfriend who loves her for who she is on the inside, but she is terrified that people will find out that she can’t read or write. (more…)

The Hurt Locker (MA)

Directed by Kathryn Bigelow

Homemade bombs kill over half the American soldiers stationed in Iraq as well as thousands of Iraqis, even though the US Army has a special bomb squad that detects and detonates hundreds of these devices. When a remote-controlled bomb detonating robot breaks down, team leader (Guy Pearce) puts on a Kevlar suit to carry out the job manually, but he does not survive the resulting explosion. His replacement, Sergeant William James (Jeremy Renner), has already dismantled 873 bombs and arrives for the last 38 days in Bravo company’s one year rotation in Baghdad. (more…)

North Face (M)

Directed by Philipp Stoelzl

The North Face of the Eiger is a legendary 1800-meter-high wall of stone and ice that crumbles easily and is subject to sudden massive changes of weather. In the summer of 1936, mountain climbers from all over Europe wanted to be the first to climb the notorious peak even though it had claimed many lives. They were responding to the Nazi propaganda of the time that held up the conquering of the mountain as a heroic deed. They were young men with few prospects in life who set off on their bikes to make the impossible possible. Two of these men were ace climbers from Germany, Toni Kurz (Benno Fuemann) and Andi Hinterstoisser (Flroian Lukas). (more…)

Avatar (M)

Directed by James Cameron

Everyone has seen the hype. Blockbuster film director James Cameron has spent a record $330 million and worked as writer, director, editor and producer to create a 22nd century Eden called Pandora. He even put his vision on hold to develop the technology that would meld animation and actual performances to enable audiences to become immersed in his world inhabited by the 3m tall, blue Na’vi. There’s no 3D trickery to make you duck as things fly out of the screen because Cameron wants to take people into his extraordinary world where the most breath-taking beauty exists alongside unimaginable dangers. (more…)

Up In The Air (M)

Directed by Jason Reitman

Suave Ryan Bingham (George Clooney) seems to be leading a charmed life, jetting all over the country in first class and staying in the best hotels. Unencumbered by any sort of baggage, he only has carry-on luggage and even his relationship with fellow frequent flyer Alex Goran (Vera Farmiga) is a no-strings-attached on the road affair. Back home in Omaha, he has few possessions and his apartment is even barer than the plush hotel rooms he spends most of his time in. His ultimate goal is to achieve 10 million frequent flyer miles and his collection of gold-class cards allow him to avoid any kind of queuing as he works towards his target. (more…)