It starts somewhat conventionally and the first reel takes its time filling you in on the details. From that point on however, it’s an all out effort to zig when you think it will zag. Anarchy is a word that comes to mind. There is even a scene that feels like it could have easily come from the mind of Quentin Tarantino.

At times it tends to be overly cute and the vibrant colours rival that of a lolly shop but then more often than not if turns convention on its head and becomes surreal to the extreme. Parents taking the young ones out for a day at the cinema might have some explaining to do after this one.

In an effort to ramp things up, the film’s creators have come up with something unique, a sequel chock full of unexpected surprises and pleasant extremes. There was no resting on past laurels and painting within the lines this time. If this makes good bank, can’t wait to see AB 3.

Rob Hudson
www.facebook.com/SonyPicturesAUS

The flightless angry birds and the scheming green piggies take their beef to the next level in The Angry Birds Movie 2! When a new threat emerges that puts both Bird and Pig Island in danger, Red (Jason Sudeikis), Chuck (Josh Gad), Bomb (Danny McBride), and Mighty Eagle (Peter Dinklage) recruit Chuck’s sister Silver (Rachel Bloom) and team up with pigs Leonard (Bill Hader), his assistant Courtney (Awkwafina), and techpig Garry (Sterling K. Brown) to forge an unsteady truce and form an unlikely superteam to save their homes.

Starring Jason Sudeikis, Josh Gad, Leslie Jones, Bill Hader, Rachel Bloom, Awkwafina, Sterling K. Brown, Eugenio Derbez, Danny McBride, Peter Dinklage, Zach Woods, Pete Davidson, Dove Cameron, Lil Rel Howery, Beck Bennett, Nicki Minaj and Brooklynn Prince

Angry Birds Movie 2 will be released in cinemas September 12!
www.facebook.com/SonyPicturesAUS

The flightless angry birds and the scheming green piggies take their beef to the next level in The Angry Birds Movie 2! When a new threat emerges that puts both Bird and Pig Island in danger, Red (Jason Sudeikis), Chuck (Josh Gad), Bomb (Danny McBride), and Mighty Eagle (Peter Dinklage) recruit Chuck’s sister Silver (Rachel Bloom) and team up with pigs Leonard (Bill Hader), his assistant Courtney (Awkwafina), and techpig Garry (Sterling K. Brown) to forge an unsteady truce and form an unlikely superteam to save their homes.

Starring Jason Sudeikis, Josh Gad, Leslie Jones, Bill Hader, Rachel Bloom, Awkwafina, Sterling K. Brown, Eugenio Derbez, Danny McBride, Peter Dinklage, Zach Woods, Pete Davidson, Dove Cameron, Lil Rel Howery, Beck Bennett, Nicki Minaj and Brooklynn Prince, The Angry Birds Movie 2 will be released in Australian cinemas September 12!
www.facebook.com/SonyPicturesAUS

When a new threat emerges that puts both Bird and Pig Island in danger, Red (Jason Sudeikis), Chuck (Josh Gad), Bomb (Danny McBride), and Mighty Eagle (Peter Dinklage) recruit Chuck’s sister Silver (Rachel Bloom) and team up with pigs Leonard (Bill Hader), his assistant Courtney (Awkwafina), and techpig Garry (Sterling K. Brown) to forge an unsteady truce and form an unlikely superteam to save their homes.

Starring Jason Sudeikis, Josh Gad, Leslie Jones, Bill Hader, Rachel Bloom, Awkwafina, Sterling K. Brown, Eugenio Derbez, Danny McBride, Peter Dinklage, Zach Woods, Pete Davidson, Dove Cameron, Lil Rel Howery, Beck Bennett, Nicki Minaj and Brooklynn Prince, The Angry Birds Movie 2 is in Australian cinemas September 12.

www.facebook.com/SonyPicturesAUS

Determined never to fall short of their peers, the girls set out on a mission to cram four years of fun into one night.

Booksmart is directed by Olivia Wilde, stars Beanie Feldstein, Kaitlyn Dever, Jessica Williams, Jason Sudeikis, Lisa Kudrow, Will Forte and is in Australian cinemas July 11!
www.facebook.com/UniversalPicturesAU

The story involving a dying father attempting to reconnect with an estranged son has been done many times before. Even with such familiarity, there are some truly moving scenes and even the ending, while completely predictable is very satisfying.

Jason Sudeikis as the son steps away from his comic past and successfully connects with the serious role, while Ed Harris, the father, ratchets up the crankiness as a world famous photographer who lives every spoiled artist cliche to the hilt. Elizabeth Olsen also pauses from huge budget films to delivers a nuanced performance.

This is a small film with noble ambitions and the ability to transcend its structure and content to create memorable cinema. It’s a welcome change to some of more over the top entertainment making the rounds at the moment.

Rob Hudson
www.iconmovies.com.au/movies/kodachrome

Gloria (Anne Hathaway) is an out-of-work party girl who, after getting kicked out of her apartment by her boyfriend, is forced to leave her life in New York and move back to her hometown. When news reports surface that a giant creature is destroying Seoul, South Korea, Gloria gradually comes to the realisation that she is somehow connected to this far-off phenomenon. As events begin to spin out of control, Gloria must determine why her seemingly insignificant existence has such a colossal effect on the fate of the world.

Deconstructing the monster movie genre in wildly imaginative ways, writer-director Nacho Vigalondo (TIMECRIMES, EXTRATERRESTRIAL, OPEN WINDOWS) unleashes a fantastical tale that also triumphs as a wholly original and subversive romantic comedy. Featuring an empowering central performance by Anne Hathaway — playing a train-wreck fumbling toward redemption as she did in RACHEL GETTING MARRIED — COLOSSAL is that rare beast, the story of a woman battling for her survival and taking control of her own life in the shadow of two very different monsters on either side of the world. Releasing at Palace Centro from April 13.
www.sheiscolossal.com

Competition will be drawn 12 April 2017, winners will be notified by mail.

Led by social outcast and unnaturally angry, Red (Jason Sudeikis), the birds make for the piggies’ island where they use a slingshot to destroy their town and retrieve the eggs. If you’ve played the game (and who hasn’t), the plot will be entirely familiar and dully predictable.
 

 
What is less predictable, however, is the film’s release date that could scarcely be further from a school holiday. Given the kiddie interest in the film, this release slot is, to say the least, interesting.

Perhaps it is an uncharacteristic attempt to discourage kids from actually seeing it, as the humour in the film can be a little subversive and, at times, downright decadent, much in line with an episode of The Simpsons. Kids will be curious at mum and dad cackling away from time to time as the assorted sordid jokes sail harmlessly over their heads. But thank goodness for these jokes as otherwise this would be a dire film indeed. In fact, if the writers could only have done something more interesting with the plot, this could have been a very good comedy.

As it is though, The Angry Birds Movie is series of cracking jokes punctuated by boring exposition.

Stuart Jamieson
www.angrybirds-movie.com

Following the success of NEW YEAR’S EVE and VALENTINE’S DAY director Garry Marshall promises to again deliver big things for MOTHER’S DAY with his winning storytelling style and an all-star cast.

This heart-warming film follows the very different relationships between mothers and their children. MOTHER’S DAY intertwines poignant tales of parenthood which include a mother’s attempts to share parenting roles with her ex-husband (and his much younger partner), a daughter who is desperate to find and build a relationship with her absentee birth mum, a father struggling to fill the hole in his children’s lives after the tragic loss of his wife and an adult daughter with children of her own finding it difficult to reconnect with her parents. Filled with touching moments and big laughs, MOTHER’S DAY is guaranteed to melt the hearts of audiences the world over.

www.seemothersday.com

Competition will be drawn 27 April 2016, winners will be notified by mail.

Can two serial cheaters get a second chance at love? After a one-night stand in college, New Yorkers Lainey (Alison Brie) and Jake ) meet by chance twelve years later and discover they each have the same problem: because of their monogamy-challenged ways, neither can maintain a relationship. Determined to stay friends despite their mutual attraction, they make a pact to keep it platonic, a deal that proves easier said than done.

www.sleepingwithotherpeoplefilm.com

Competition will be drawn 28 October 2015, winners will be notified by mail.