Summer holidays movie special: Our critics’ picks of the flicks
Already seen Wicked? Want a film that will please the family? Our reviewers have you covered from Boxing Day and beyond.
★★★★
Crazy, stupid love: Anora takes you somewhere quite unexpected
The Cannes Palme d’Or winner about a stripper and her wealthy Russian suitor features a cast so spirited that anything seems possible.
- by Sandra Hall
★★★★
Cannes award-winner breaks one of screenwriting’s biggest rules – and it works
Set in Mumbai, All We Imagine As Light is a film of two halves, with loneliness and belonging at its centre.
- by Sandra Hall
★★★
It has its devotees, but Julianne Moore and Tilda Swinton euthanasia drama left me cold
Spanish master director Pedro Almodovar’s English-language feature debut is visually rich, but lacking in earthiness.
- by Craig Mathieson
★★★
Robbie Williams as an ape? This biopic is more than monkey business
Better Man is far more unconventional than Bohemian Rhapsody, but lacks the connective personal tissue that held Rocketman together.
- by Craig Mathieson
★★★½
Jesse Eisenberg and Kieran Culkin collide in not-so-solemn Holocaust pilgrimage
A Real Pain follows two bickering cousins as they travel to Poland to honour their grandmother.
- by Jake Wilson
★★
Jim Carrey’s showboating double-act can’t save Sonic the Hedgehog 3
The comedian takes on a second role as Dr Robotnik’s lookalike grandpa, which doubles the number of movie characters he’s played this decade.
- by Jake Wilson
★★★
The comedy is back in the Lion King, but that doesn’t mean we needed it
Even with a soundtrack by Lin-Manuel Miranda, the Lion King prequel, which tells the story of Simba’s father, has a repetitive feel about it.
- by Sandra Hall
★½
Russell Crowe stuck between credibility and camp in blockbuster shocker
Crowe plays a Russian gangster in Kraven the Hunter, which alternates between entertainingly awful and just terrible.
- by Jake Wilson
★★★
Cate Blanchett’s political zombie comedy swiftly descends into chaos
Featuring a starry cast, Rumours is the kind of film where the ability to keep a straight face qualifies as consummate acting.
- by Sandra Hall
★★★
Disney’s Moana retread misses the Lin-Manuel Miranda magic
Despite its lush visuals, the long-awaited sequel proves there’s no good idea Hollywood won’t drive into the ground.
- by Robert Moran
★★★½
Hugh Grant is seriously scary in his first horror film
At first, Grant doesn’t look like a monster in Heretic, then he pushes his familiar mannerisms into grotesque caricature.
- by Jake Wilson
★★★★
Perfectly cast, Wicked is made bigger and better on screen
Director Jon M. Chu has taken a successfully radical approach to the beloved Broadway musical, smoothing out the kinks in the narrative.
- by Sandra Hall
★★★
Mescal is the star of Gladiator II, but Denzel Washington steals the show
As the gladiator Lucius, Paul Mescal wisely doesn’t try to emulate Russell Crowe’s swagger in the original film.
- by Jake Wilson
★★★
Italian master Paolo Sorrentino’s films feel like deranged ads. His new one is no exception
Starring Celeste Dalla Porta and Gary Oldman, Parthenope is an experience you can drift through as the heroine drifts through life, enchanted and sceptical at once.
- by Jake Wilson
Original URL: https://www.watoday.com.au/culture/movies/summer-holidays-movie-special-our-critics-picks-of-the-flicks-20241219-p5kznq.html