January 2 2020
The Gentlemen
Great Bear Rainforest - IMAX

It's hard to believe we are into a new decade (or are we? Some believe it starts at 2021, but let's not get into that debate.) Happy New Year to you all, though I find it hard to be happy in the face of this horrendous crisis we are facing with the bushfires. My heart goes out to everyone affected by it. What a catastrophe. Maybe when life is so oppressive, the cinema is a place to forget for a couple of hours. 

The Gentlemen
Director: Guy Ritchie
Length: 113 min

©  Roadshow - a smart film to chase away the 
blues. 

Mickey Pearson (Matthew McConaughey) is a suave drug lord, running his marijuana empire out of London. He's ably assisted by his astute wife (Michelle Dockery). When he  decides it's time to sell up and starts negotiations with a couple of potential buyers, the plotting, scheming, bribery and general double-crossing shenanigans begin. Ritchie is back to his early form in this highly entertaining, cleverly scripted, action-packed comedy. Editing is well-paced, and the script whip-smart. There are so many wonderful one-liners, and countless mind-boggling convolutions in the plot, and the cast is to die for. Hugh Grant sports an outrageous cockney accent, playing a manipulative journo looking to make some quick cash. Colin Farrell, Charlie Hunnam, Henry Golding, Jeremy Strong and Eddie Marsan all play criminal personalities larger than life. The characters appear true to the title, but when the violence starts, it's full-on. I can't profess to follow all the intricacies of the plot, but I find myself extremely entertained and impressed by this caper.  
4 - highly recommended!

Great Bear Rainforest
Director: Ian McAlister
Length: 41 min

©  IMAX - don't try this at home! Getting up close
and personal with a white spirit bear

The Great Bear Rainforest on Canada's Pacific coast is one of the wildest places on earth, and the last intact temperate rain forest. Grizzlies, wolves and otters are there in abundance, as well as a bear sacred to the Indigenous people of the area - known as the spirit bear (a sub-species of the American black bear). Local Indians, appearing on film for the first time ever, protect the animals. As with most IMAX films this is all too short - I want to see much more of this inspiring area and its fascinating inhabitants, human and animal, but it's over almost as soon as it starts. Still, it's a great treat for nature lovers, especially bear buffs, though even there, we don't see as much of the furry fellows as I'd have wished for.
3 - recommended!