GSCENE OUT & ABOUT 59
FILM
BY MICHAEL HOOTMAN
SAFETY NOT GUARANTEED
Dir: Colin Trevorrow
Stars: Aubrey Plaza, Mark Duplass,
Jake Johnson
Plot: Three magazine employees
head out on an assignment to
interview a guy who placed a
classified ad seeking a companion
for time travel.
Word on net: "Not only has dialogue that's about something, but
characters who have some depth and dimension.” I “Touching,
generous, sweet, this little slip of a movie puts you under some kind of
spell.” I “Off-the-wall premise, snarky wit and heartfelt performances...
an inspired original.” I “The filmmaker takes you on an audacious
journey and makes you believe every moment of it.”
side of a village loner.
Word on net: "In the mismatch of
its blankly naturalistic style and its
unquestionably supernatural
events, the film confronts us with
the moral openness of our own
secularism.” I “Film asks us if we'd
know the difference between a
saviour and the devil... interesting
enough to justify its
unpleasantness.”
human blood for sustenance leading to law enforcement
suspecting him in a series of
grizzly murders
Word on net: "A smart, intense,
and unpredictable film that is tons
of ghoulish fun from beginning to
end.” I “Very well-acted,
beautifully shot, and most of all:
deftly directed.” I “The perfect
quiet, slow-boil existential chiller
to watch alone at night, quiet and
in a contemplative mood."
THE SESSIONS
GRABBERS
Dir: Jon Wright
Stars: Richard Coyle, Ruth Bradley,
Russell Tovey
Plot: When an island off the coast
of Ireland is invaded by
bloodsucking aliens, the heroes
discover that getting drunk is the
only way to survive.
Word on net: "A polished,
watchable genre entertainment
that nonetheless lacks the inspired
dialogue and situations needed to
make a memorable impression.” I
“Topping the list of great movie
drunks is Ruth Bradley whose
legless performance getting drunk
as a skunk is paralytic perfection.”
I “Is this the best alien invasion
comedy ever... very possibly.”
emotional true story of family
survival.” I “Bayona, like Spielberg
before him, has the gumption of a
master manipulator, and really
doesn't hold back, holding off
catharsis, scene by scene, with all
the sheer chaos at his disposal.” I
“One of those rare films that comes
along once in a blue moon...
flawless in its delivery, from script
through to production design to
the remarkable performances from
all the cast.”
Dir: Ben Lewin
Stars: John Hawkes, Helen Hunt,
William H. Macy
Plot: A man in an iron lung who
wishes to lose his virginity
contacts a professional sex
ALSO OUT
I Tom Cruise stars as action hero
Jack Reacher, a homicide
investigator digging deeper into a
case involving a trained military
sniper who shot five random
victims. Also stars Rosamund
Pike, Robert Duvall and art house
film director Werner Herzog.
I Billy Crystal, Bette Midler and
Marisa Tomei star in PARENTAL
GUIDANCE. Artie and Diane agree
to look after their three grandkids
surrogate with the help of his
when their parents need to leave
therapist and priest.
town for work. Problems arise
Word on net: "The movie is so
when the kids' 21st-century
clammily sensitive and tame that it
behaviours collide with Artie and
stifles any strong response.” I “A
Diane's old-school methods.
touching, profoundly sex-positive
I Sean Penn, Ryan Gosling and
film that equates sex with
intimacy, tenderness and emotional Emma Stone star in GANGSTER
connection instead of performance, SQUAD, a chronicle of the LAPD's
fight to keep the East Coast Mafia
QUARTET
competition and conquest.” I “A
out of Los Angeles in the 1940s
Dir: Dustin Hoffman
bit like My Left Foot only with a
and 50s.
Stars: Maggie Smith, Michael
different appendage.”
I Quentin Tarantino's latest,
Gambon, Billy Connolly
DJANGO UNCHAINED, stars Jamie
Plot: At a home for retired opera
MIDNIGHT SON
Foxx, Don Johnson and Leonardo
singers, the annual concert to
Dir: Scott Leberecht
celebrate Verdi's birthday is
Stars: Shawn-Caulin Young, Tracey DiCaprio. With the help of his
mentor, a slave-turned-bounty
disrupted by the arrival of Jean, an Walter, Arlen Escarpeta
hunter sets out to rescue his wife
eternal diva and the former wife of Plot: A young man called Jacob
one of the residents.
has a very rare skin disorder which from a brutal Mississippi plantation
owner.
Word on net: "Hoffman has
worsens, forcing him to drink
delivered a love letter to the
elderly thesps of his adoptive
country... we can forgive him its
falsehoods.” I “Charming and well
I Successful stage musical LES
acted - especially by Maggie
MISÉRABLES makes it onto the big
Smith.” I “Tugs confidently on the
screen with actors belting out the
heart strings.” I “Hoffman has a
songs including Hugh Jackman,
gentle hand with his ancient cast
Russell Crowe and Anne
and a doting eye for the English
Hathaway. To win two tickets to
country house.”
the Odeon Brighton send the
answer to the following question
HORS SATAN
to Gscene Competition, 111 Western Road, Hove, BN3 1DD:
Dir: Bruno Dumont
Who wrote the novel Les Misérables?
Stars: David Dewaele, Alexandra
Lemâtre, Christophe Bon
DECEMBER COMPETITION: Feet.
Plot: A miracle reveals an unseen
FILM C O M P E T I T I O N
THE IMPOSSIBLE
Dir: Juan Antonio Bayona
Stars: Naomi Watts, Ewan
McGregor, Tom Holland
Plot: An account of a family
caught, with tens of thousands of
strangers, in the mayhem of 2004's
tsunami in South East Asia.
Word on net: "The most harrowing
disaster movie in many a moon,
film marries a tremendous feat of
physical filmmaking to an