THIS WEEK'S NEW CINEMA RELEASES

Some good movies arrive this week!

MY TOP PICKS TO SEE

Top of the list to see this week is the Pakistani movie WAAR about the efforts of the Pakistani security forces in their fight against terrorism and how the lives of security officials are affected. A retired security officer returns to save Pakistan from a major terrorist attack. Averaging around ***1/2 by viewers it looks pretty good.

If you are not in to foreign film, then next on the to-see list is GODZILLA. The world's most famous monster is pitted against malevolent creatures who, bolstered by humanity's scientific arrogance, threaten our very existence. While the critics mostly find it an average movie the general public are rating it around ****.

OTHERS TO SEE

THE BROKEN CIRCLE BREAKDOWN combines bluegrass music and romance in a story in which Elise and Didier fall in love at first sight, in spite of their differences. He talks, she listens. He's a romantic atheist, she's a religious realist. When their daughter becomes seriously ill, their love is put on trial. Looks like some interesting themes!

From Romania comes CHILD'S POSE (Pozitia Copilului). 'Seeing a way to reassert control over her adult son's life when he faces manslaughter charges, an affluent Romanian woman sets out on a campaign of emotional and social manipulation to keep him out of prison, navigating the waters of power, corruption and influence. Child's Pose is based on the sense of loss of parents who have to send their children away-physically and psychologically. The parent-child relationship is re-assessed through a son in his 30s that wants to escape from his mother, who in turn wants to keep her adult son by her side. The mother's character is quite familiar, but this film is unique in that the director delicately portrays how the controlling mother wants to deny that her son is destined to leave her by following the characters' emotional flows and gazing at their twisted desires. Luminita Gheorghiu turns in an extraordinary performance in playing a mother struggling to "save" her son. Heading to the conclusion, the film shows that the unhealthy mother-son relationship is not that simple when it comes to matters of humane duty.' - Written by Ryan Silverman (IMDB)

MAYBE MAYBE NOT

On the sci-fi menu we have THE ZERO THEOREM. A computer hacker whose goal is to discover the reason for human existence continually finds his work interrupted thanks to the Management; namely, they send a teenager and lusty love interest to distract him. Sounds like an odd plot. Critics are rating it low and the general public average. It sounds weird enough for me to go see it so I will let you know if I do.

Finally, the French drama romance BRIGHT DAYS AHEAD (Les Beaux Jours) tells the story of retired dentist Caroline who attends a class for computer users. Although she is married, she falls in love with her significantly younger lecturer. It turns out he used to visit her surgery primarily in order to enjoy her view. Her husband finds out about her affair with this admirer. Another one where audiences and critics disagree. We'll have to decide for ourselves.

That's it for this week. See you at the movies!