Sunday Territorian 5 Nov 2017
Sunday Territorian; NewspaperNT
2017-11-05
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English
Community newspapers -- Northern Territory -- Darwin.; Australian newspapers -- Northern Territory -- Darwin.
Nationwide News Pty. Limited
Darwin
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Nationwide News Pty. Limited
https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/C2019C00042
https://hdl.handle.net/10070/281596
https://hdl.handle.net/10070/414381
SUNDAY NOVEMBER 5 2017 MOVIES FRONTIER 49 V1 - NTNE01Z01MA THE SNOWMAN (MA15+) What we unequivocally have here is the Emoji Movie of serial-killer thrillers. What we will never have is any rational explanation as to how everything turned out so horribly. A deeply uninvolving, irksomely enigmatic tale is set at the height of winter in Norway, where the wizard of Oslos Homicide Unit is vodka-sodden grizzleguts Harry Hole (Michael Fassbender). Very much the tall, drunk and silent type, Detective Hole has had a gutful of cracking uncrackable murder cases. However, when a clue-free cavalcade of butchered bodies begin surfacing around town, all that drinking to forget must stop. Only so hungover Harry can reluctantly remember how to do his job. Bewildered backup comes from a rookie cop (Rebecca Ferguson). Shadowy support characters routinely appear to lure the story (adapted from a novel by acclaimed crime writer Jo Nesbo) down one dead-end after another. Textbook example of how to melt down a whodunnit into a dontwatchit. GEOSTORM A D-grade disaster movie where the worlds weather has turned suspiciously malicious. Our only hope rests with the last of the great bareknuckled meteorologists, played by the Daniel Day-Lewis of dumb action flicks, Mr Gerard Butler. Gezza must zoom up to the International Space Station to shake his fists and throw some spanners at a ring of weather-controlling satellites that have gone rogue. The underlying premise of Geostorm would have us believe that these satellites use laser beams yes, laser beams to manipulate extreme warm and cold fronts down on Earth. In your face, climate change! As rubbish as this undoubtedly sounds, Geostorm might still have worked had it gone the Sharknado route, and openly acknowledged its badness. But no, Geostorm does not give any sign it is interested in being fun for anyone. FIREWORKS (PG) Many of the key production creatives behind last years breakout anime hit Your Name reconvene for Fireworks, which intriguingly fuses a gentle teen romance with plotting that would not be out of place in Groundhog Day. Norimuchi (voiced by Misaki Suda) is a typical enough Japanese high school boy. You wouldnt quite call him emotionally astute, but he is making steady progress by the time he develops a crush on pretty classmate Nazuna (Suzu Hirose). The film takes a sharp turn away from a predictable opening act when Nazuna learns she will have to change schools to accommodate the whims of her much-married mum. ALSO SHOWING The flicks Just as funny with twice the not-so-nice in BAD MOMS 2, and for another gruesome reboot, the eighth cut is not the deepest in JIGSAW leigh paatsch movie review BAD MOMS 2 (MA15+) Directors: Jon Lucas, Scott Moore Starring: Mila Kunis, Kristen Bell, Kathryn Hahn, Christine Baranski, Cheryl Hines, Susan Sarandon, Justin Hartley. Rating: k FIRST things first Bad Moms 2 is a Christmas movie. An American Christmas movie, it should be emphasised. You know, with all the trimmings and baubles: snow, carols sung by door-to-door choirs, and people shopping and going to church in three layers of clothes. The works. Here in Australia, it is the first week in November and summer is nigh, for crying out loud. With more than 50 shopping days still left until Santa and his reindeers drop from the sky, this is way, way, wayyyyyyy too early for such festive cheer. As for the Bad Moms franchise itself, a quick check of last years calendar reveals the first movie (a very profitable smash hit around the world) was only released 15 months ago. So surely it is way, way, wayyyyyyy too soon for another ransacking of our box-office pockets? Not quite. Somewhat surprisingly, this swiftly assembled sequel earns its keep as a crowd-pleasing comedy for two telling reasons. Most importantly of all, Bad Moms 2s hit-tomiss joke ratio is moderately high. When the big laughs do come, they arrive with gusto (having caught this movie with a packed house of punters, theres no denying the movies ability to magnetise mirth). Almost as tellingly, Bad Moms 2 refreshes the proven formula of the original by doubling the number of misbehaving mothers in play. This time around, the foundation trio of Bad Moms Amy (Mila Kunis), Kiki (Kristen Bell) and Carla (Kathryn Hahn) must go head-tohead with their own bad mothers. As it is indeed Christmas, a period which brings the worst out of most families, Amys control-freak mom Ruth (Christine Baranski), Kikis clingy mom Sandy (Cheryl Hines) and Carlas trailer-trash mom Isis (Susan Sarandon) will be doing their best to ruin this hallowed holiday for all. It must be said that in terms of effective screen chemistry, the combined casting of these six women is a winning card Bad Moms 2 can play with confidence repeatedly. Each performer brings something endearing to the mix, a blessing in the second half of the movie, where sluggish pacing means it goes close to outstaying its welcome. As was the case in the first film, Hahns earthy, tearaway stylings are the standout here a romantic subplot which pairs her with an unusually gifted male stripper (Justin Hartley) went down a storm with the preview audience while the amusingly stony-faced Baranski is the best of the new recruits. Actors Kathryn Hahn, left, and Susan Sarandon get ready to pummel the festive season in the film, Bad Moms 2 JIGSAW (MA15+) Directors: Michael Spierig, Peter Spierig Starring: Matt Passmore, Cl Bennett, Hannah Emily Anderson, Mandela Van Peebles, Laura Vandervoort. Rating: SPOILER alert: the grisly horror movie Jigsaw ends with some brains departing a skull, and making tracks for the floor. To keep your own grey matter where it should be housed, you should only come along should you feel the urge to witness a belated eighth instalment to the Saw franchise. There hasnt been one of these flicks since 2010. A lot has changed in the realm of horror in that time thanks to the likes of It and Get Out, 2017 is actually the most popular year for the genre in movie history. Despite this, it is very much business as ooze-ual in the Saw slaughterhouse. You know the drill here. A movie like Jigsaw is not here to make friends. It is here to make you feel as if you might be about to lose your lunch. A quartet of young miscreants is being held against their will in an enclosed space, which houses an elaborate maze of pop-up torture chambers, snap-down booby traps and an assortment of all-too-literal dead ends. As is the one abiding rule in the Saw playbook, contestants in this event have earned their place on the gruesome obstacle course for past sins they are yet to confess. To make it to the finish line, they might well have to wave goodbye to vital organs, digits, limbs, or a substantial percentage of their lifespan. Meanwhile, a cabal of clueless cops and forensic morticians wonder aloud if this is all the work of the murderous mastermind Jigsaw, seemingly still hard at work despite dying at the end of Saw 3. If you have taken in all the Saw movies, youve probably given the franchise a leave pass to keep raising and erasing the spectre of Jigsaw (and his spookily soothing voice, courtesy of actor Tobin Bell) as it so sees fit. So if its just those ornately designed dicings with death that youve come to see, there will be enough pieces to Jigsaw to keep you enthused, amused and repulsed. Matthew Passmore as Logan in Jigsaw a reboot of the grisly horror series, Saw