THIS WEEK'S NEW CINEMA RELEASES

A reasonable selection of new movies this week.

MY TOP PICK TO SEE

I’m really looking forward to WHIPLASH, my top pick to see this week. A promising young drummer enrolls at a cutthroat music conservatory where his dreams of greatness are mentored by an instructor who will stop at nothing to realize a student's potential. Rolling Stone’s Peter Travers, tells us to, Beat the drums for a Simmons Oscar, and add a cymbal crash for Whiplash. It's electrifying. The trailers look excellent!

OTHERS TO SEE

FURY is definitely worth seeing. April, 1945. As the Allies make their final push in the European Theatre, a battle-hardened army sergeant named Wardaddy commands a Sherman tank and her five-man crew on a deadly mission behind enemy lines. Out-numbered, out-gunned, and with a rookie soldier thrust into their platoon, Wardaddy and his men face overwhelming odds in their heroic attempts to strike at the heart of Nazi Germany. The Guardian’s Peter Bradshaw describes Fury as … a punchy, muscular action film, confidently put together and never anything other than watchable. Watch out for my review coming soon.

For those of you wanting a little comedy drama, check out the Spanish LIVING IS EASY WITH EYES CLOSED. Spain, 1966, a high-school English/Latin teacher, Antonio, drives to Almeria in hopes of meeting his hero, John Lennon. Along the way, Antonio picks up two runaways. The movie title, Living is Easy With Eyes Closed, comes from a line in Lennon's song Strawberry Fields Forever which he wrote while filming How I Won the War in Almeria.’ - Written by af_by94 on IMDB

MAYBE/MAYBE NOT

Finally, another comedy drama - this time from America. When their father passes away, four grown siblings are forced to return to their childhood home and live under the same roof together for a week, along with their over-sharing mother and an assortment of spouses, exes and might-have-beens. The Guardian’s Catherine Shoard doesn’t like this one. For her, This is Where I Leave You is totally aimble [sic], utterly unmoving filler given a major shot in the arm by its cast, people it's simply a pleasure to watch, even with the creeping feeling they're better than this. The general viewer is rating this a bit better at around three stars. If you see it, let us know what you think.

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

NB: synopses of movies are adapted from IMDB. Opinions are mine unless quoted from cited sources.