YOUR GUIDE TO THIS WEEK'S NEW CINEMA RELEASES

TOP PICK TO SEE

Top of the heap this week is STRAIGHT OUTTA COMPTON in which the group NWA emerges from the mean streets of Compton in Los Angeles, California, in the mid-1980s and revolutionises Hip Hop culture with their music and tales about life in the hood. Will probably appeal mostly to those who like hip hop music - there's quite a bit in the movie - or interested in the historical and cultural background to it. The Hollywood Reporter's John DeFore is relatively positive when he says, If the movie pushes most of the ugliest behavior off onto side players (like the notorious Suge Knight, played by R. Marcus Taylor), it does for the most part fulfill its mission, breathing life into the origin story of a group whose influence is still being felt. I will post my review shortly.

OTHERS TO SEE

ME AND EARL AND THE DYING GIRL is about high schooler Greg, who spends most of his time making parodies of classic movies with his co-worker Earl, finds his outlook forever altered after befriending a classmate who has just been diagnosed with cancer. I've previously posted a review of this movie which you can read here.

MAYBE/MAYBE NOT

A WALK IN THE WOODS brings two veteran actors together, Robert Redford (The Sting) and Nick Nolte (The Thin Red Line). After spending two decades in England, Bill Bryson returns to the U.S., where he decides the best way to connect with his homeland is to hike the Appalachian Trail with one of his oldest friends. While general audiences are rating this as average, critics are not so happy with it. For example, Tampa Bay Times's Steve Persall describes A Walk in the Woods [as] a trifle compared to 2014's Wild, which tracked a similar real-life journey toward self-discovery in richer detail. But darned if Redford's easy charm and Nolte's gravelly lack of it aren't enticing throughout.

AMERICAN ULTRA has Kristen Stewart popping up again in a story about a stoner - who is in fact a government agent - who is marked as a liability and targeted for extermination. But he's too well-trained and too high for them to handle. The Hollywood Reporter's Todd McCarthy criticises it as, A genre mash that's mildly amusing until it can't think of anything else to do besides flop around in the deep end of conspicuous gore. General public are giving it around 3 stars.

TO AVOID

Finally, a movie to avoid. THE TRANSPORTER REFUELED is set in the south of France, where former special-ops mercenary Frank Martin enters into a game of chess with a femme-fatale and her three sidekicks who are looking for revenge against a sinister Russian kingpin. General public and critics are agreed that this one is pretty bad. It's a reboot of the popular Transporter series with Jason Statham. Looks as though the creators of this current one should have left well enough alone. The San Francisco Chronicle says, The movie's ridiculous. Slant Magazine's Kenji Fujishima, describes, The titular Transporter [as] now but a blank slate serving the characters and mayhem surrounding him, a walking metaphor for a franchise that's run out of gas. Give it a miss.

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

*NOTE* Movie summaries are adaptations of movie summary on IMDB. Opinions are mine unless credited. These updates are written from an Australian perspective so openings of the movies in cinemas may vary in other parts of the world.