JULIE & JULIA (12A)
Meryl Streep looks certain to secure a 16th Oscar nomination for her tour-de-force portrayal of American cultural icon Julia Child in the new comedy from writer-director Nora Ephron (Sleepless In Seattle). Based on two memoirs set more than 50 years apart, Julie & Julia is a frothy and entertaining tale of cuisine and l’amour which simmers nicely but never quite comes to the boil. Amy Adams co-stars as the modern-day cook and blogger Julie Powell.
Rating: ****
SORORITY ROW (15)
SISTERS are doin’ it for themselves – covering up murder, that is – in Stewart Hendler’s competent remake of the 1983 slasher, The House On Sorority Row.
A prank on the two-timing brother of a sorority member goes horribly wrong, and months later the girls involved are stalked by a killer in a black graduation robe, wielding the same weapon used to slay their friend. The good-looking young cast includes Briana Evigan, Rumer Willis and Leah Pipes.
Rating: ***
DORIAN GRAY (15)
THE corruptive power of celebrity casts a long, dark shadow over Victorian London in Oliver Parker’s take on Oscar Wilde’s Gothic horror.
The set and costume designs are impressive, much more so than Ben Barnes – whose portrayal of the beautiful titular lead is more wooden than the frame of his infamous portrait. His lifelessness is thrown into greater relief by Colin Firth’s eye-catching performance as his corrupter.
Rating: ***
ADVENTURELAND (15)
GROWING pains leave bruises, rather than scars, in writer-director Greg Mottola’s nostalgic coming-of-age tale set at a Pittsburgh theme park in the summer of 1987.
Jesse Eisenberg stars as the college graduate forced to take a part-time job so he can follow his dream of going to university. He falls for a co-worker (Kristen Stewart) who is having a secret affair with the park’s married handyman (Ryan Reynolds), setting himself up for heartbreak.
Rating: ****
DISTRICT 9 (15)
FORGET Transformers, Terminator Salvation, GI Joe and even the rejuvenated crew of the Starship Enterprise – the science fiction blockbuster of the year has arrived.
South African director Neill Klomkamp’s feature debut is a heart-breaking morality tale about humanity’s intolerance emerging from the arrival of an alien spaceship, augmented with state-of-the-art visual effects and a spectacular finale.
Rating: *****
