In Cinemas This Week

Inception - Writer/director Christopher Nolan's (Memento, The Dark Knight) new cinematic cryptic puzzle-box has been startling critics and fans alike when it opened last week in the US. Massively sprawling in scale and execution, this complex "sci-fi action thriller" plot-line revolves around special agents who can shift through dreamscapes and steal ideas. The tables are turned and instead the agents must plant a concept in an original twist on the heist movie genre. Stunning cinematography, jaw-dropping art direction and high-brow concepts abound, as well as a massive cast of incredible talent - Leonardo DiCaprio, Marion Cotillard, Ellen Page, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Michael Caine, Ken Watanabe. Expect your brain to get a good workout from this one!

In Cinemas This Week

Knight & Day - The tent-pole blockbuster to start summer in the US, tanked at the box-office and has been lambasted by critics everywhere. The trailer look like a fun piece of trash, but this comical action spy chase flick seems to be failing to deliver on almost every level. Stars Cameron Diaz and Tom Cruise, who just look embarrassed to be there, even for them! Save your money for the Film Festival...

Polanski Free + NZFF: The Ghost Writer

So Roman Polanski was declared a free man yesterday... without getting into the thorny moral/ethical issues that come up every time he gets mentioned, I'm just relieved this whole circus over. To echo Anne Thompson's sentiments, I'm a fan of his films, I'm not a fan of what he did. I want to see the guy make more films before he croaks it. Does that make me an "apologist"? I don't think so. Anyway, this is all kind of a long-winded way to say you should go see his latest thriller The Ghost Writer which is playing the New Zealand Film Festival tonight at the Civic in Auckland. It's a sleek, elegantly made, and surprisingly witty old-school political thriller that shows Polanski, at his ripe old age, still has what it takes to deliver a solid paranoid suspenser. Here's the trailer:

Me and Orson Welles... 50 Years Later...

There's a nice little period pic called Me and Orson Welles playing in theatres at the moment which shows Orson Welles at the start of his career, all full of youthful vitality and creative prowess - the kind of man who would go on to make Citizen Kane and Touch of Evil. Now fast forward 50 years later... 



Boy did Orson really let himself go...

A-Void at Your Own Peril

July 25. 8:15 pm. Civic Theatre in Auckland. This:

Flying High

I just got back from a Cathay Pacific flight from Hong Kong and felt like I need to rave a little about Studio CX, their in-flight entertainment system. Of all my long distance flight experiences, their's has probably been the most impressive (their service ain't too shabby too) in terms of the design, navigation and range of content on offer. Who would have thought I'd be watching John Woo's Hard-Boiled 40,000 ft in the air? 

Maybe I'm still high from watching this killer film on a plane - the last place I'd imagine watching it... It certainly made the journey better, I only wished I had stayed awake long enough to catch more of the films (kinda bummed I missed Donnie Yen's 14 Blades and the Korean thriller Secret Reunion). Another good thing is they seem* to preserve the original aspect ratio of the films rather than cropping them as many airlines do. I'm looking forward to my next Cathay Pacific flight already...

(*judging from a quick glance around people's screens, i.e. I could see that Clash of the Titans was shown in scope etc)

In Cinemas This Week

It's baaaaack! Sorry for the hiatus folks, things have been awfully busy around Fatso HQ and I simply haven't had the time to keep up with what has been happening in cinemas of late.

Cemetery Junction - Comedy superstar duo Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant written and directed feature, set in 1970s working-class England, about three young men realizing the frustrations of living in a small town when your aspirations are set high. The leads (Christian Cooke, Tom Hughes, Jack Doolan) are relative newcomers, capably supported by some heavy-weights of UK cinema (Ralph Fiennes, Emily Watson , Julia Davis), as well as a dry turn from Gervais himself as a lout.

Shrek Forever After - Part of the glut of 3D animation at the moment, here's the forth entry in the Skrek franchise. This outing stars the usual big-shot Hollywood voice talent (Mike Meyers, Eddie Murphy, Antonio Banderas) with some extra special guests (Julie Andrews, John Cleese, Kathy Griffin). In both regular cinemas and eye-popping 3D. Pump you kids full of sugar and take them along, they'll love you for it!