YOUR GUIDE TO THIS WEEK'S NEW CINEMA RELEASES

At last, the new James Bond movie has come to our screens …

TOP PICK TO SEE

Daniel Craig returns as James Bond in SPECTRE. The story, this time, is about a cryptic message from Bond's past that sends him on a trail to uncover a sinister organisation. While M battles political forces to keep the secret service alive, Bond peels back the layers of deceit to reveal the terrible truth behind SPECTRE. Christopher Waltz plays the villain this time around. Time Out London’s Tom Huddleston describes it as, ‘An unbalanced but never less than entertaining film, enthralling and deflating in roughly equal measure, and studded with moments of true, old-school glory.’ I thought it was great and will post my review shortly.

OTHERS TO SEE

The documentary HE NAMED ME MALALA  takes a look at the events leading up to the Taliban's attack on Pakistani schoolgirl, Malala Yousafzai, for speaking out on girls' education followed by the aftermath, including her speech to the United Nations. The Guardian’s Catherine Shoard is disappointed that ‘Guggenheim largely dodges lodging her story within a greater political context; a choice, but a shame, for when he does, the movie gains tension.’ An important story to see even if the documentary overall isn’t great.

MAYBE/MAYBE NOT

Natalie Portman and Christian Bale team up in KNIGHT OF CUPS about a screenwriter living in LA who tries to make sense of the strange events occurring around him. This one looks like it will be challenging viewing. Time Out London’s Dave Calhoun warns us to ‘… not kid ourselves: cast-iron interpretations of Malick's recent filmmaking are risky. It's also a matter of taste. You either slip into the pretty, dreamlike, wistful groove of his later films or you don't, and even hardened arthouse film lovers may find Knight of Cups way out of their comfort zone.’

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.