YOUR GUIDE TO THIS WEEK'S NEW CINEMA RELEASES

The weekend is here ... time to catch a movie!

TOP PICK

SING STREET is the top pick for this week. In this story, a boy growing up in Dublin during the 1980s escapes his strained family life by starting a band to impress the mysterious girl he likes. The trailers look delightful. Variety's Guy Lodge says, surprisingly, that 'The truest and most tearduct-tugging relationship here is that between Conor and his lank-haired college-dropout brother, played with spaced-out warmth and wistful good humor by the ever-likeable Reynor.' I'm rushing to see this one. People **** ◉ Critics ****

OTHERS TO SEE

OUR LITTLE SISTER (Umimachi Diary) is a Japanese comedy drama that revolves around three sisters who live in their grandmother's home and the arrival of their thirteen-year-old half sister. That's all I know about this one. But it is getting good ratings. The A.V. Club's Mike D'Angelo says that '... the movie version feels a tad weightless, especially relative to its hefty running time. Anyone in the mood for two hours (and change) of sheer, unadulterated loveliness, however, will be amply rewarded.' People ***1/2 ◉ Critics ***1/2

Here's an interesting one... A hopeless man stranded in the wilderness befriends a dead body and together they go on a surreal journey to get home. That's the storyline of SWISS ARMY MAN. For Screen International's Tim Grierson, 'Swiss Army Man is a powerfully audacious and wilfully odd odyssey that is too nervy and strangely emotional to dismiss outright but, ultimately, isn't satisfying enough to provoke a full-throated defence, either.' People **** ◉ Critics ***

MAYBE/MAYBE NOT

Yes, GHOSTBUSTERS has been remade with a cast of interesting comediennes. Following a ghost invasion of Manhattan, paranormal enthusiasts Erin Gilbert and Abby Yates, nuclear engineer Jillian Holtzmann, and subway worker Patty Tolan band together to stop the otherworldly threat. But is it any good? ScreenCrush's Matt Singer says, 'Warts and all, the new Ghostbusters is still one of the best tentpoles of the summer (admittedly, that's not saying much). It doesn't tarnish the legacy of the original movie, and its own legacy might have been even stronger if it hadn't worried about paying homage to the old Ghostbusters quite so intensely.' Unusually, the people like it less than the critics. People ** ◉ Critics ***

OUR KIND OF TRAITOR

Based on a John Le Carré novel, OUR KIND OF TRAITOR is about a couple who find themselves lured into a Russian oligarch's plans to defect, and are soon positioned between the Russian Mafia and the British Secret Service, neither of whom they can trust. I love a good spy story and enjoyed this one. Full review coming soon. In the meantime, CineVue’s Jamie Neish describes it as ‘… a finely made thriller that's a little bit more contemporary than other le Carré adaptations before it, and allows the central trio a chance to shine and Lewis to do some weird things with his accent and mouth as a weirdly laid back and unconcerned British agent.’ People *** ◉ Critics *** ◉ Me ****

Finally, Jake Gyllenhaal and Naomi Watts star in DEMOLITION in which a successful investment banker struggles after losing his wife in a tragic car crash. With the help of a customer service rep and her young son, he starts to rebuild, beginning with the demolition of the life he once knew. Slant Magazine’s Christopher Gray says ‘It takes its literalism to such an extreme that, at points, it's difficult to determine whether or not the film is operating with a semblance of irony.’ People ***1/2 ◉ Critics **1/2

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.