PLANNING ON HEADING to the cinema this weekend?

There are a few new movies out, but which is a must-watch, and are there any you should avoid? We take a look.

Which one would you go see first?

Downsizing

What we know 

Matt Damon and Kristen Wiig star as a couple who find they’re being squeezed when it comes to money. So they decide to downsize and become tiny humans and live in a world called Leisure Land. Well, one of them goes through with it…

What the critics say

• “Instead, the movie resembles an episode of “The Twilight Zone” directed by Preston Sturges. An outlandish, pointedly allegorical conceit is inhabited not by symbolic figures but by terrestrial oddballs. You don’t see this at first, because Mr. Payne is so charmed by the conceit itself.” - New York Times
• “There’s no denying the inventiveness of the concept, but the two do very little with the idea besides presenting a bemusing “what if?” scenario. The story treads water and goes through the motions with no real through-line to follow until well into the film, and by then the central conflict (if it can be called that) is introduced far too late for the audience to truly care.” – Downsizing

What’s it rated?

• RottenTomatoes: 5.1/10
• IMDB: 5.8/10

Early Man

What we know

The latest from the fab Aardman stable (Wallace and Gromit) comes a sweet story about the Stone age, soccer, and freedom.

What the critics say

• “Early Man focuses on an insular, small-minded tribe who live in a giant crater, cut off from the outside world (the prologue identifies their location as “near Manchester”). They’re surprisingly diverse for such a small group, with varying skin colours and accents, and voices supplied by the likes of Timothy Spall, Selina Griffiths, Johnny Vegas, Gina Yashere and Richard Ayoade.” – The Guardian
• “Audiences beyond the shrinking shores of the British Isles may not get all the specifically local references and in-jokes, but they’ll still appreciate the dryness of the vocal cast’s line delivery and the laser-like precision of the comic timing throughout, a feature further refined by Sim Evan-Jones’ ultra-crisp editing” – Hollywood Review

What’s it rated?

• RottenTomatoes: 7.2/10
• IMDB: 7.9/10

Last Flag Flying

What we know

Three men – played by Steve Carell, Brian Cranston and Laurence Fishburne – reunite 30  years after serving together in order to attend the military funeral of Carrell’s son. Directed by Richard Linklater.

What the critics say

• “Last Flag Flying is a quasi follow-up to Hal Ashby’s 1973 The Last Detail starring Jack Nicholson, Randy Quaid and Otis Young (both films are based on novels by Darryl Ponicsan). It changes the names of the characters, but keeps similar story threads, moods and a sense of disillusionment. The result is by turns warm, funny, angry and melancholic.” – Empire
• “But for the majority of Last Flag Flying’s running time, the director doesn’t know whether to be angry, sad, or funny, instead drifting between tones. When the film finally builds to its conclusion (of sorts), it hasn’t achieved the kind of momentum needed to land a big political punch.” – The Atlantic

What’s it rated?

• RottenTomatoes: 7.1/10
• IMDB: 7.0/10

Which one would you go see first?

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