YOUR GUIDE TO THIS WEEK'S NEW CINEMA RELEASES

A few new movies this week, most of which have either mixed or negative reviews from critics — but I think someone of them aren’t too bad! If I have already seen them, I’ll let you know my star rating…

TOP PICK

Money is a hot topic at the moment — particularly when things go wrong with it and people lose it. MONEY MONSTER is the latest movie to deal with this topic. Financial TV host Lee Gates (George Clooney) and his producer Patty (Julia Roberts) are put in an extreme situation when an irate investor takes over their studio. Screen International’s Tim Grierson says, ‘The movie is competently made, but also perfunctory, telling us things about the greed of rich business executives and the shallowness of cable TV that we already know.’ I liked it and I’ll post my review soon. People *** ◉ Critics **1/2 ◉ Me ****

MAYBE/MAYBE NOT

The story of true life Gertrude Bell is told in QUEEN OF THE DESERT. She was a traveler, writer, archaeologist, explorer, cartographer, and political attaché for the British Empire at the dawn of the twentieth century. A very accomplished woman. According to The Guardian’s Peter Bradshaw, ‘It is grown-up, respectable and historical, perfectly competently made, lots of accents and period dressing-up ... and just the tiniest bit dull.’ Once again, I disagree. I enjoyed it and will post my review soon. People **1/2 ◉ Critics *1/2 ◉ Me ***

NOW YOU SEE ME 2 is the sequel to the 2013 movie of the same name (without the ‘2’ of course!). This time around the Four Horsemen resurface and are forcibly recruited by a tech genius to pull off their most impossible heist yet. Screen International’s Tim Grierson describes it as, ‘Doubling down on the giddily ridiculous tone of its predecessor, Now You See Me 2 is diverting, but the film's rampant, cheeky cleverness - its 'can you guess what's going on?” coyness - ultimately proves tiresome.’ Critics ***

Finally, what does an authoritarian father, atheist, which is believed to be liberal, do when his son tells him that he wants to become a priest? Find out in the Italian comedy GOD WILLING. People ***

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. People and critics scores are a rough idea of how movies are currently being rated on the “average”. These updates are written from an Australian perspective so openings of the movies in cinemas may vary in other parts of the world.