Metro's Monthly Movie Review

Each month a team member of Metro writes a movie review to share with you. And this month team member Jenn Williams has reviewed the movie 'Silver Linings Playbook'. Directed by: David O. Russell, Starring: Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence, Robert De Niro & Jacki Weaver.

With it's fabulous cast, left of centre storyline & opening scene in a State Institution, Silver Linings Playbook is a rom-com of a different type.

You can't help but feel empathy for main character Pat Solitano (played by the handsome Bradley Cooper) as he tries to rebuild his life after 8 months in a State Institution. His obsession to reunite with his wife at times can be frustrating as you watch him miss the "signs" from new found friend Tiffany Maxwell (Jennifer Lawrence) who is rebuilding her own life.

With a football obsessed family, a dance competition & a blossoming friendship, 'Silver Linings Playbook' has a little bit of something for everyone, the Dirty Dancing style "lift" definitely won't be forgotten!

A beautiful & strangely light hearted movie about staying positive despite the challenges life throws at you.

Metro's Monthly Movie Review

Each month a team member of Metro writes a movie review to share with you. And this month team member Marnie Smith has reviewed the movie 'Flight'. Directed by: Robert Zemeckis, Starring: Denzel Washington, Don Cheadle, Kelly Reilly, John Goodman & Melissa Leo.

Denzel Washington hasn't put a foot wrong in his plethora of leading roles over the years and 'Flight' is no different.

Playing the role of Captain Whip Whitaker, an arrogant airline pilot who lives a lifestyle of drugs, copious amounts of alcohol and conscionable discern for consequences. Denzel is both convincing and infuriating.

You find yourself emotionally connected from very early on. Feeling the pain and frustration of those trying to help someone who won't help themselves. While the underlying physics of the heroic landing appear somewhat questionable, so too does the role of Whip. I found myself undecided between hero and villian as the investigation into the days proceeding the crash reveals the ugly truth of addiction.

Captain Whip finds himself entangled with a recovering addict. One might presume this would have a positive impact on the emotionally turbulent hero. Instead, Whip finds himself spiralling out of control with fear, guilt and denial reaching an all time high.

Ultimately, the truth sets us free. However, this certainly is not a feel good flick.
My recommendations; don't go with a pilot and don't wear a white top if you are going to eat a choc top.

I give this movie a 14/20.
My pilot friend gives 18/20, although anything with an aircraft is an easy way to score points with that one!

Metro's Monthly Movie Review

Each month a team member of Metro writes a movie review to share with you. And this month our Director Leah Calnan has reviewed 'Wreck it Ralph'

Movies and school holidays go hand in hand, so this week I enjoyed 'Wreck It Ralph' with my three children.

Firstly when you get there you need to get over the initial shock of the movie ticket prices, which is then followed by the "How much is the popcorn moment"??? So once we got past this, we were ready to sit down and enjoy another Disney movie.

A Disney movie is always a wonderful experience, and having spent time in Disneyland a little while ago, I always find it exciting when I have the opportunity to sit back and see how incredibly talented the people behind Disney really are.

What I didn't realise was, 'Wreck It Ralph' was in fact an actual game played in arcades just as the movie shows. Thanks to Gen Y for updating me on that one!! Anyway, Ralph decides he no longer wants to be a 'baddie'.  He wants to be a 'goodie' because no one invites him to parties,  he lives at 'The Tip' and he doesn't really have any friends. So he goes off to join another game in the arcade where he can show the people from his game that he can be a 'goodie'. However that adventure goes somewhat 'pear shaped' because whilst becoming a 'goodie', he ends up taking 'baddies' into a third game within the arcade.

But, don't despair - like all good movies there is a happy ending but with a few more twists, turns and lots of lollies and sweet things along the way (you will understand when you see it). I must say Jane Lynch makes the movie. You simply cannot take 'Sue Sylvester' (from the TV Show Glee) out of her voice!!!

So on behalf my children, they have provided the following opinion ratings on the movie, Cooper rates the movie 19/20,  Jack rates the movie 13/20 and Liam says its 12/25.

Take the kids and see what you think for yourself...

Metro's Monthly Movie Review

Each month a team member of Metro writes a movie review to share with you. And this month team member Kylie Jacobs has reviewed 'The Sapphires' Directed by: Wayne Blair, Starring: Deborah Mailman, Chris O'Dowd & Jessica Mauboy.

I typically love the big blockbuster movies, packed with stars and most likely costing more to make than what they earn. However as I get a bit older I'm realising that they are all pretty much the same. In saying that, with 2 young children I don't get to the movies too often so I am somewhat sceptical when going to see some of the smaller budget movies for fear of wasting my time. 'The Sapphires' was definitely not a waste of time! I absolutely loved this movie. It made me laugh, cry and left me wanting more!

From a Murray River Aboriginal mission to Vietnam, 'The Sapphires' tells the true tale of four Koori songbirds who in 1968 are flown to the war-zones of South Vietnam to perform for the American troops. While the film explores the obstacles Indigenous women experienced during 1968 Australia, the leading women were never painted as victims, but rather empowered, bold heroines. The film is not afraid to tackle the serious issues and while there are some moments that pack a severe emotional punch the overall tone remains positive and upbeat.

The soul classics throughout are fantastic! The music is structured around the story line rather than the other way around making it a movie about music rather than a musical itself.

Performances across the board are spectacular but it is Chris O'Dowd (from the popular blockbuster 'Bridesmaids') who ties it all together with a his infectious humour.

Definitely a must see!!

Metro's Monthly Movie Review

Each month a team member of Metro will be writing a movie review to share with you. And this month team member Eleni Hayek has reviewed 'Hope Springs' Directed by: David Frankel Starring: Meryl Streep, Tommy Lee Jones & Steve Carrell

Hope Springs is a beautiful love story of Arnold & Kay. Married for 31 years, Kay (Meryl Streep) decides to take a leap of faith to persuade Arnold (Tommy Lee Jones) to attend marriage counselling. Arnold, at this point a bitter old man showing no signs of possible love for his beautiful wife, finally agrees to attend counselling with Kay. 

The situation that they find themselves in is in a seemingly loveless marriage with two grown up children. A place where some couples find themselves when the nest is finally empty, sad, lonely and perhaps with a stale routine.

The time they spend in Maine with their counsellor (played by Steve Carrell) is a challenge at first for Arnold as he finds it hard to show his true thoughts and feelings about his wife. The charming courtship that follows is such a beautiful mixture of genuine love, compassion and the true feeling of getting to know one another.

A true sense of how time can drift people apart and how we revert back to innocence.

Hope Springs is a must see, you can't help but walking out feeling inspired to show the one you love just how much you love them.

Metro's Monthly Movie Review

Each month a team member of Metro will be writing a movie review to share with you. And this month team member Tamasan Freyer has reviewed 'Ted' Directed by: Seth MacFarlane, Starring: Mark Wahlberg, Mila Kunis, Seth MacFarlane & Giovanni Ribisi

If you thought the 2009 smash hit ‘The Hangover’ was the 'bees knees', then you sure are in for a roller coaster of a giggle with this year’s most anticipated comedy ‘Ted’.  Starring Mark Wahlberg, Mila Kunis, and the directorship and voice of Seth MacFarlane, this epically funny film follows the story of John Bennett (Wahlberg) and his real life teddy bear, Ted. 

When eight year-old John’s wish for his bear to come alive is miraculously granted, they both embark as “thunder buddies for life”. The pair are inseparable, especially when it comes to beer, bongs, and Flash Gordon.

Every bloke in the cinema roared with laughter during the poignant moments when Ted and John sing the Thunder song with a fart noise to finish, and when Ted makes suggestive use of his supermarket checkout scanner to impress a co-worker, and of course when Ted hits a parked car because he was “sending a Tweet”.

What is so refreshing about this film is that both women and men, young and old, could all share in the laughs whatever the joke entailed. MacFarlane’s humour is so unrestrained and so crude that there is no room for being offended. Every audience member understood from the very start that this was a space for laughing, and being open, and embracing one’s inner immaturity (which is not as ‘inner’ for some). 

When John’s long term girlfriend Lori (Kunis) insists that it is time for Ted to move out so that John can grow up, John struggles to be the responsible 35 year-old. He can’t help but ditch Lori’s work party to attend Ted’s wild beer-infested house bash attended by none other than Flash Gordon.
Here we see the party that may just have been the inspiration for the ‘The Hangover’, inclusive of a crazed duck, an irate neighbour and one helluva brawl. John’s revelation to Ted that he has “lost everything” after Lori walks away is so profound that the audience is silent for the very first time.

Ted showed us just how hard it can be for our husbands, boyfriends, or brothers to conform to our ‘responsible’ expectations, and cross over to the land of adulthood when marriage comes into view. I couldn’t help but stare at my twenty-five year old partner and think, I have to wait TEN YEARS for you to learn not to make fart noises in the supermarket line??! And for the guys, they could heave a collective sigh of relief that they weren’t the only ones still fantasising about sinking shots with a childhood action movie star. 

Watching Ted in a booked out theatre of almost three-hundred people, we all cried with laughter, and laughed even harder at those who couldn’t control their snorts and hysterical giggles. More importantly however, we could  all relate to the film, and celebrate the fact that there is a kid in all of us, no matter how old or how young.

Metro's Monthly Movie Review

Each month a team member of Metro will be writing a movie review to share with you. And this month team member Courtney Gardoll has reviewed 'The Five Year Engagement' Directed by: Nicholas Stoller, Starring: Jason Segal, Emily Blunt & Chris Pratt

Having recently become engaged myself I was looking forward to seeing this movie, as weddings are on my mind!

Jason Segal, best known for his work on the TV series 'How I Met Your Mother' and in the film 'Forgetting Sarah Marshall', heads up the cast while also co-writing this edgy romantic comedy, which plays to his style of comedy. 

The Five Year Engagement explores the modern day dilemma of managing a successful career and a relationship. We meet Tom and Violet, played by the hilarious Jason Segal and the gorgeous Emily Blunt respectively, who after a year together have become engaged.

The couple then move interstate as Violet has secured her dream job. Tom gives up a fantastic career of his own for the move and this leads to him becoming increasingly distant from both Violet and society. Violet can see this happening but chooses to ignore it by burying herself in her work with her charming boss while Tom continues to hide his true feelings about the move even though he has promised to let her know as soon as he’s unhappy. The wedding gets postponed again and again while the couple fall in and out of love, much to the dismay of the ever passing away grandparents. It takes some soul searching for each of the main characters to realise what the audience has known all along, that they belong to each other, with the movie coming full circle back to the start only this time with a twist.

There is a good mix of both crude and obvious humor and sweetness between the characters and also, as in forgetting Sarah Marshall, Jason Segal’s butt! A special mention should be made to Tom’s best friend, Chris, and Violet’s sister, Suzie, who deliver many of the funny scenes.

I give The Five Year Engagement 7/10, whilst you may go into the film thinking this is your typical romcom the on screen chemistry between Jason Segal and Emily Blunt is amazing.  You could not be blamed for thinking the actors had an offscreen romance, although I have heard them in interviews vehemently denying so.
I would recommend getting to the cinema and seeing it, but I can also see how it may not be everyone’s style.