31 / 107
Gaga-goo gurgle, blurpl- oops, sorry – we forgot to turn
our translator on. We are the babies. You may know
us as ever-so-cute emissions machines, but there’s
actually more to us than giggles, burps and tantalisingly
ticklish tummies. For starters, we can talk, we just
choose not to around you. We’re currently on a mission
from dog – more specifically, puppies are winning the
affection wars, and we just cannot have this. As such,
we’ve sent an emissary into the home of two Puppy
Co. employees so as to infiltrate the company and shut
down their secret weapon. But there’s a bubble in the bottle, as their
kid Tim is onto us... The latest Dreamworks animated feature,
The Boss
Baby
craftily casts Alec Baldwin as the voice of the titular tot. Full of
two-tiered kid/adult humour, it’s worth making goo-goo eyes at.
AF
He means business.
THE BOSS BABY
14-year-old Charlie (Levi Miller)
becomes involved in a murder
mystery in a rural WA town after
rebellious, mixed-race outcast
Jasper Jones (Aaron L. McGrath)
leads him to the body of a dead
girl in the woods. The burden of
keeping this big secret gradually
takes its toll, and Charlie's
sheltered life begins to unravel,
along with his innocence. Based
on the novel by Craig Silvey, this
coming-of-age story explores
themes of racism and betrayal
from a youthful perspective.
Anchored by fine performances
from its young leads (and Toni
Collette), it's a good fit for
director Rachel Perkins, who has
championed indigenous outcasts
in
Bran Nue Dae
and
Radiance
.
SD
JASPER JONES
Release Date:
05/07/17
Format:
Holocaust denier David Irving's
outrageous claims and his brief
period of notoriety forms the
basis of this moving (albeit
formulaic) courtroom drama.
Rachel Weisz plays a US
academic who accuses Irving
(Timothy Spall) of lying in a
book refuting his claims that
the Holocaust never happened.
Much to her surprise, he sues
her for libel in the UK, where
the defamation laws place a
burden of proof on the defendant.
Bewildered by the eccentricities
of the British legal system, she
becomes determined to reveal
Irving as a charlatan.
Denial
is a
timely reminder of the danger
hatemongers pose when given
the oxygen of media attention.
JF
DENIAL
Release Date:
26/07/17
Format:
Release Date:
12/07/17
Format:
Get ready to smurf your smurfing smu- oh goodness,
we can’t keep that up! It is, obviously, time to venture
back to the Smurfs’ village, where the word ‘smurf’ can
be many a verb – or noun. This third recent big screen
outing for the little creatures who are but three apples
high is a smu- AGH! Ahem. It’s a reboot, ditching the
cast from the live/animated concoctions and going full
smurfimation. In a peachy move, the main protagonist
is one of the few girlie Smurfs, Smurfette. She finds
a curious map, so grabs her pals Brainy, Clumsy and
Hefty and sets out on a big adventure through the Forbidden Forest.
The smurfy posse’s aim? To find the Lost Village before creepy old
Gargamel does. Secrets will be revealed! If you’re a Smurf fan of any
age then
Smurfs: The Lost Village
is just, well, smurfy.
AF
The smurfs get animated.
SMURFS: THE LOST VILLAGE
This World War II drama zeroes
in on a small but brave act of
defiance against the Nazis,
carried out by an ordinary couple
(Brendan Gleeson and Emma
Thompson) who have lost their
only son during the invasion of
France. The grief stricken pair
spread postcards bearing anti-
Nazi slogans throughout the city,
creating a minor disruption in the
war machine and attracting the
attention of a smug detective
(Daniel Brühl) determined to track
them down. Actor-turned-director
Vincent Perez ratchets up the
tension as the net slowly closes
on the couple, and Gleeson is
superb as the gruff rebel who
knows this small act of resistance
is ultimately doomed to fail.
JF
ALONE IN BERLIN
Release Date:
05/07/17
Format:
Release Date:
05/07/17
Sean Bean covertly remote-pilots
combat drones for the CIA, but
his family believe he's just an
ordinary IT guy. When a stranger
(Patrick Sabongui) knocks on his
door to purchase the boat for
sale out front, he's invited to stay
for dinner. But the man has an
ulterior motive which becomes
apparent when he reveals his wife
and teenage daughter were killed
in a missile strike in Pakistan, fired
from a drone aircraft – and this is
the anniversary of their deaths.
No prizes for guessing who pulled
the trigger. Although circling the
morals of remote warfare that
informed
Eye in the Sky
and
Good
Kill
, this slow burn revenge tale
is more domestic drama than
political thriller.
AC
DRONE
Release Date:
19/07/17
Format:
Format:
031
REVIEWS
DVD&BD