Film Guide - March 8, 2013

NEW RELEASES

10 Years: Channing Tatum, Rosario Dawson and more familiar faces in a forgettable film about friends attending a high school reunion. ** HH

Guilt Trip: Sweet and funny movie in which Barbra Streisand and Seth Rogen are a mom-and-son team who go on a road trip together. *** HH

Oz the Great and Powerful: A children’s morality tale pushing the idea that if you just believe, you can achieve. Beautiful, bright scenery, but very simplistic. *** TS

Sleeper’s Wake: A plodding plot and repetitive dialogue do not an adult thriller make. ** TS

Snitch: Dwayne Johnson and his muscles return to the big screen to play a dad who does anything to save his falsely accused and incarcerated son. A so-so effort that you will not remember next month. ** MV

ON CIRCUIT

6 Bullets: The ageing Jean Claude Van Damme returns with impressive kicks in a story about saving a little girl from the jaws of a human trafficking syndicate. You have seen this story somewhere, just not this way. *** MV

A Good Day To Die Hard: A senile John McClane bravely returns to action in Russia without his walking stick. Great action scenes framed by a non-existent plot. ** MV

Anna Karenina: Style triumphs over substance in the Joe Wright-directed period drama featuring Keira Knightley, Jude Law, Matthew Macfadyen and a host of stars. *** TS

Argo: Understated, well-characterised thriller set in 1979 Iran. Director Ben Affleck keeps the tension high and the action engrossing without beating you over the head with a message. **** TS

Beautiful Creatures: Teen urban fantasy with spellcasters and star crossed lovers. Good dialogue and soundtrack even if the plot is obvious. At least there aren’t sparkly vampires. *** TS

Cirque du Soleil: Worlds Away 3D: A woman gets the front row treatment to some Cirque du Soleil acts as she travels through circus tents in search of a topless aerialist. Strictly for the hardcore Cirque du Soleil fans. *** HH

Django Unchained: Quentin Tarantino’s beautifully shot but controversial film about a slave-turned-bounty hunter who is in search of his wife. Starring Jamie Foxx, Leonardo DiCaprio and Samuel L Jackson. *** HH

Fanie Fourie’s Lobola: Funny local rom-com with original dialogue, great cinematography and a little bit of everything to keep most everyone amused. **** TS

Flight: Denzel Washington and Don Cheadle star in this film about a pilot who gets a rude awakening about sobriety and accountability. **** HH

Hansel and Gretel: Witchhunters: Boring wanna-be steampunk version of what happened after the Grimm fairytale kids killed the witch. Ho-hum dialogue, uneven pacing and no jokes. ** TS

Klein Karoo: Rom-com set in Oudtshoorn, which may follow a clichéd formula, but does give some idiosyncratic characters who will amuse greatly. *** TS

Les Miserables: Tom Hooper directs a stellar cast in the West End musical, except this looks like the real deal with gorgeous outdoor sets, lavish costumes and extreme detail. **** TS

Life of Pi: Ang Lee creates a gorgeously rendered 3D world on the high seas as a young boy struggles to survive in the company of only a Bengal tiger. **** TS

Lincoln: Talk-heavy biopic by Steven Spielberg about the last four months of Abraham Lincoln’s life. Daniel Day-Lewis disappears into the role for an uncanny, Oscar-nominated performance alongside a stellar cast. *** TS

Mama: drawing heavily on producer Guillermo del Toro’s touch with the fantastical, this is a scary horror, even if the storyline is predictable. *** TS

Playing for Keeps: Despite the star-studded line-up, this tale about a jobless former soccer star trying to win back his ex, is nothing more than an incoherent, cringeworthy attempt at a sweeping romance. * DT

Quartet: First-time director Dustin Hoffman takes a gentle look at ageing, but with Maggie Smith leading the charge, it’s always one to cherish. Add to that the setting – a retirement home for musicians which presents all kinds of explosions. **** DdB

Silver Linings Playbook: Director David Russell’s sensitive direction of a talented cast keeps the film on a tricky thematic tightrope which straddles romance and mental illness. **** AP

Searching for Sugarman: Narratively satisfying, Swedish director Malik Bendjelloul’s canny documentary tells the tale of the search for Detroit-born Mexican musician Sixto Diaz Rodriguez. **** WP

The Impossible: An impressive story about a family beating the odds after a terrifying natural disaster. The story is a little too perfect but it still works. *** MV

The Intouchables: A feel-good movie about a distinctly feel-bad subject, quadriplegia. *** WP

The Last Stand: Arnie is back, a little bit older and he knows it and shows it. Helped by Luis Guzman and Johnny Knoxville, he still stands in the way of the bad guys though. *** TS

The Sessions: Tender story that proves it is possible to make a grown-up film about sex in Hollywood. **** WP

Verraaiers: Local war drama that is surprisingly PC in presentation, considering it is about a nasty, gritty kind of time. A strong cast, directed by Paul Eilers, tell a story about traitors during the Anglo Boer war. *** TS

Wreck-It Ralph: Stepping into the world of video arcade games, Disney manages to create a sophisticated story about humanity, using cgi characters. **** TS

Zero Dark Thirty: Kathryn Bigelow directs Jessica Chastain in a suspenseful drama about the capture of Osama bin Laden, in a film which unwittingly (or not) supports the idea that torturing prisoners is ok. **** TS