Flick Picks: Cate Blanchett in Blue Jasmine, James McAvoy in Trance, and Salinger

FLICK PICKS: Blue Jasmine puts Cate Blanchett and Woody Allen on a career high. Could Oscars be calling for Our Cate?

What movies to see this weekend, with Leigh Paatsch.

A career-best performance by Cate Blanchett is the most obvious reason to catch Blue Jasmine, one of the year's best releases. But there is so much more to savour here, including the opportunity to witness veteran writer-director Woody Allen recapture the greatness many thought was long-gone. This is a film about the way things used to be. If you cannot let go of the past - or at the very least, learn from it - then the way things are right now will swallow you whole. Blanchett plays Jasmine, a former socialite who has fallen heavily on hard times after her husband (Alec Baldwin) is exposed as a swindler. Like all of the finest Woody Allen films, Blue Jasmine is at once funny, sad, bright-eyed, dark-hearted and, last but not least, incredibly astute about human nature. The hand-picked ensemble Allen has gathered to flesh out this bittersweet tale of woe is flawless. However, the film belongs to Blanchett in so many different ways, all of which could see her accepting a Best Actress statuette at the next Oscars. General release.

Salinger, Roadshow 2013. Picture: Supplied

The late J.D. Salinger would have loathed Salinger, the new documentary about his life. Like that timeless teen rebel Holden Caulfield, the hero of Salinger's sole published novel Catcher in the Rye, the author hated "phonies". This doco can get very phony on occasion. Understandable, perhaps, considering there is so little reliable info about Salinger on or off the record out there. The best that can be said of the movie is that it does string together all known Salinger factoids (and the odd salacious titbit as well) into one easy-to-follow chronology. The doco pushes all available data about the author at the viewer. But it cannot pull the viewer any closer to the man. Three years after his passing at age 91, J.D. Salinger can still black out the limelight at will. Limited release.

James McAvoy in Trance. Picture: AP Photo/Fox Searchlight, Susie Allnutt

TRANCE is a beguiling and bewildering mystery from filmmaker Danny Boyle (Slumdog Millionaire). Is Simon (James McAvoy) forgetting to remember? Or remembering to forget? When a priceless painting in his keeping goes missing and Simon cannot recall its whereabouts, the amnesiac art dealer is sent to a hypnotherapist (Rosario Dawson) for assistance. As hypnosis is all about plugging into the power of verbal suggestion, Boyle's job as director is to somehow alternate the current so that the verbal becomes visual. Some sequences in Trance achieve this task brilliantly. Other sections - particularly in a very convoluted final act - pose challenges to the viewer that will push some to the brink of outright frustration. By all means, expect to be entertained and excited, but don't be too surprised if you are often exasperated as well.

On DVD, Blu-ray, and selected streaming services.

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