This week brings a motley bag of films, with the standout being the extended season of Shakespeare Live (see my review last week). Horror slasher fans get a look in, as do maths buffs, while Atom Egoyan's latest, a sort of post-Holocaust revenge thriller, is an interesting watch.

Remember
Director: Atom Egoyan
Length: 94 mins

Fresh from the Holocaust Film Series, Atom Egoyan's latest gets a mainstream (limited) release. Christopher Plummer plays Zev, a Holocaust survivor with memory problems, residing in an old folks home. His buddy and fellow survivor Max (Martin Landau) reminds Zev that they made a pact to track down a brutal Auschwitz camp guard responsible for the deaths of their families and take revenge. Zev is sent out on the mission. There are a few plot holes that defy credibility, but overall this works well as a tense thriller, even with the odd humorous moments, and a ripper twist at the denouement. 

3 - Recommended!

Showing only at Elsternwick Classic, Lido, Sun Yarraville 

The Man Who Knew Infinity
Director: Matt Brown
Length: 108 mins

Another true story makes it to the movie screen, this time about a self-taught mathematician, Srinivasa Ramanujan (Dev Patel) who hailed from Madras India, and made it all the way to Cambridge to present his theories to renowned mathematician GH Hardy (Jeremy Irons). It's hard to bring maths to the big screen, and although the film makes a decent job of bringing in sub-plots of Ramanujan's love-sick wife, and the odd-fellow friendship between the genius and Hardy, it's difficult to completely immerse in this plot. However, that said, I always adore seeing Irons do his English gentleman thing, and young Patel manages to bring a level of emotion and  interest to his role. With strong support from the likes of Toby Jones and Jeremy Northam as Bertrand Russell it's still a worthwhile look at the rarefied world of  the intellectuals of the early 20th century. (And I love the film's title!)

3 - Recommended!

For a full review from Bernard Hemingway:
http://www.cinephilia.net.au/show_review.php?movieid=6014


Shakespeare Live - update - more screenings! 
I raved last week about this unmissable film, and the short season has been extended. Here's another chance to catch it at Cinema Nova on:Saturday May 14, Sunday May 15, Tuesday May 17 and Wednesday May 18

5 - Absolutely unmissable!

The Green Room
Director: Jeremy Saulnier
Length: 95 mins
Exclusive to Cinema Nova

A punk band head to a last-minute gig at a backwoods Oregon roadhouse. Some of the patrons resemble neo-Nazi thugs, but things start to get really hairy when one of the band members stumbles upon a grisly murder scene. 
It's hard for me to separate the content from the quality of the film. I guess if you are a fan of this sort of violent, terror-driven slasher film, then you'll find Green Room a worthy addition to the genre. Patrick Stewart certainly is superb as the ruthless owner of the club, and his minions are truly formidable. The youngsters defending themselves (to the death) are all absolutely believable, with Anton Yelchin and Imogen Poots especially fine, but it's just not my style of movie-going so it's hard for me to recommend. 

2.5 - Maybe - if that's your bag!

For a full review from Chris Thompson (who loves it!):
http://www.cinephilia.net.au/show_review.php?movieid=6019