Movies releasing in South Africa today: Scott Pilgrim is no Spud!
Four high profile new movies open in South Africa today. Before I get to my top 2 picks for the weekend, we might as well have a quick look at the other new releases.
Faster – Wrestler turned movie star Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson is back in badass Walking Tall action territory after a good few years of saccharine family comedies. In Faster, Johnson is a former bank robber out for revenge after the death of his brother, and a 10 year stint in prison. Billy Bob Thornton is the veteran cop on his trail. 43% Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes.
The American – A leisurely espionage thriller starring George Clooney as an assassin, and arms maker, who decides to lie low in a picturesque Italian village. The loner killer makes friends and may even have found love – but ultimately he just can’t escape his bloody past. After the coma-inducing trailer, I have no interest in seeing The American. 65% Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes.
Pick of the Week #1: Scott Pilgrim vs. the World – From director Edgar Wright, the master of the genre mash-up for comedic effect (Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz), comes this adaptation of Bryan Lee O'Malley's quirky comic book series. Scott Pilgrim (Michael Cera) is a twentysomething slacker and indie rocker, who finds his carefree life thrown into turmoil when he falls for mysterious delivery girl Ramona Flowers (Mary Elizabeth Winstead). Before he can be with Ramona, however, Scott must fight and defeat her 7 evil exes.
You'll be able to read my full review of Scott Pilgrim vs. the World on Monday. However, in summary, if you aren't a geek or gamer at heart, this hyper-energetic movie will probably be completely nonsensical to you. Even for gamers and geeks, I think many will struggle to digest Scott Pilgrim - at least initially - because the film is the craziest, most frenetic, comic-meets-movie-meets-cartoon-meets-video game mix you'll watch all year. Think of it as a smarter cinematic sibling to Speed Racer. Still though, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World is marvelous fun, guaranteed to make you smile. 81% Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes.
Pick of the Week #2: Spud – I blogged just the other week about this big screen adaptation of South African John van de Ruit's bestselling novel of the same name. Set in the early 1990s, this bitter-sweet coming of age tale focuses on runty John Milton (Troye Sivan) as he struggles to adjust to the craziness of boarding school life in the Natal Midlands. He finds direction though from unconventional English teacher, The Guv (John Cleese).
The premise of Spud isn't the most original – we've seen boarding school shenanigans blended with puberty and inspiration teaching in everything from Harry Potter to Dead Poets Society. This said, Spud comes with a built-in following of thousands of eager book fans (in South African alone) and the film looks to be a highly pedigreed South African production, on par with anything produced overseas. Early reviews seem to confirm the "solidity" of the film, and I have to admit, rather shamefully, that Spud is one of the few local movies that I'm actually very keen to watch at the cinema.
Faster – Wrestler turned movie star Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson is back in badass Walking Tall action territory after a good few years of saccharine family comedies. In Faster, Johnson is a former bank robber out for revenge after the death of his brother, and a 10 year stint in prison. Billy Bob Thornton is the veteran cop on his trail. 43% Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes.
The American – A leisurely espionage thriller starring George Clooney as an assassin, and arms maker, who decides to lie low in a picturesque Italian village. The loner killer makes friends and may even have found love – but ultimately he just can’t escape his bloody past. After the coma-inducing trailer, I have no interest in seeing The American. 65% Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes.
Pick of the Week #1: Scott Pilgrim vs. the World – From director Edgar Wright, the master of the genre mash-up for comedic effect (Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz), comes this adaptation of Bryan Lee O'Malley's quirky comic book series. Scott Pilgrim (Michael Cera) is a twentysomething slacker and indie rocker, who finds his carefree life thrown into turmoil when he falls for mysterious delivery girl Ramona Flowers (Mary Elizabeth Winstead). Before he can be with Ramona, however, Scott must fight and defeat her 7 evil exes.
You'll be able to read my full review of Scott Pilgrim vs. the World on Monday. However, in summary, if you aren't a geek or gamer at heart, this hyper-energetic movie will probably be completely nonsensical to you. Even for gamers and geeks, I think many will struggle to digest Scott Pilgrim - at least initially - because the film is the craziest, most frenetic, comic-meets-movie-meets-cartoon-meets-video game mix you'll watch all year. Think of it as a smarter cinematic sibling to Speed Racer. Still though, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World is marvelous fun, guaranteed to make you smile. 81% Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes.
Pick of the Week #2: Spud – I blogged just the other week about this big screen adaptation of South African John van de Ruit's bestselling novel of the same name. Set in the early 1990s, this bitter-sweet coming of age tale focuses on runty John Milton (Troye Sivan) as he struggles to adjust to the craziness of boarding school life in the Natal Midlands. He finds direction though from unconventional English teacher, The Guv (John Cleese).
The premise of Spud isn't the most original – we've seen boarding school shenanigans blended with puberty and inspiration teaching in everything from Harry Potter to Dead Poets Society. This said, Spud comes with a built-in following of thousands of eager book fans (in South African alone) and the film looks to be a highly pedigreed South African production, on par with anything produced overseas. Early reviews seem to confirm the "solidity" of the film, and I have to admit, rather shamefully, that Spud is one of the few local movies that I'm actually very keen to watch at the cinema.
Comments