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Based on the famous work of Leo Tolstoy, Director Joe Wright has re-imagined the tale of Anna Karenina. Set in the late 19th century of Russia’s high society, Anna (Kiera Kightley) is married to and has a child with Karenin (Jude Law). But, after a trip to visit family across the country and a brief encounter with Count Vronsky (Aaron Taylor-Johnson), her life is turned upside down as a fiery romance burns between the two, a romance that ultimately stands to undo her marriage to Karenin causing even greater upset in society. What’s a girl to do? Meticulously planned out, and choreographed from start to finish director Wright has created nothing short of amazing for cinema and theatre buffs. While capturing any piece of classic literature for the screen will no doubt always have some glitches to it, the creative vision that is employed to finesse a number of difficult concepts (time, distance, location, social structure, etc.) works to pull the viewer further into the narrative. Acting from the ensemble all feels strong, combined with the afore mentioned artistic direction and you’ve got the makings of a modern classic. Anna Karenina is rated R for awesome!

Survivor of a disastrous shipwreck at sea, Pi Patel (Suraj Sharma), the son of a Zookeeper, is lost and left to survive aboard a lifeboat in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Drifting further into the abyss he quickly learns of the other survivor on board his lifeboat, a vicious Bengal tiger by the name of Richard Parker. Tested to the extreme of what his body will tolerate, pushed to mental limits, forced to contemplate the meaning of his own existence in the universe and ultimately find god, Pi’s journey is one of biblical proportions. Now, years later re-telling his story, where does this all leave him, and what has he learned?Directed by the gentle and poetic Ang Lee the film is a cinematic work nothing short of amazing. From compelling 3D cinematography that pulls you deeper into the cosmos feeling of the narrative, to quite possibly the most realistic CGI animal we have cast eyes upon, what starts out so simple in premise quickly becomes a mind bending trip. Furthermore, Lee’s continued examination of philosophy, love, and religion remains a deep well full of interesting flavours and intricacies. Unfortunately one sour note does repeatedly stand out– interaction between an adult Pi (Irrfan Khan) and a writer (Rafe Spall) listening to Pi’s story rings hollow. For all the greatness put forward visually, the interstitial dialogue just falls flat in comparison. None the less, it’s the fable quality of the film that sells the drama that much sweeter. Worth your attention. Life of Pi is rated PG.

Oh man, remember this one? Wow!? Someone had the guts to remake the already flawed but lovable 80’s smash hit Red Dawn. The premise, a communist nation, in this case North Korea, has made the decision to invade the U.S. and take over the nation. This go round we follow a group of high school students in Spokane, WA. Named after their school mascot, the Wolverines, this band of determined rabble rousers led by military trained Jed Eckert (Chris Hemsworth) is set on a mission to steal secret North Korean communication technology. Steal the tech and save the country….oh, and save the girlfriend (Isabel Lucas), and don’t get killed.Now it’s a tall order to replace the love many felt for the original, so how to measure? Well let’s start with the basics, the story is still hokey, but how’s the acting? Actually, not so bad considering the absurdity of it all. Yes there’s overacting, but hey, BIG EXPLOSIONS! See? So it almost doesn’t matter. While the younger cast is clearly the weaker in chops, we actually can appreciate Hemsworth in another role pre Thor (the film was shot back in 2009). And yeah, BIG EXPLOSIONS. While we don’t develop deep feelings for many of our supporting actors, those who live and those who die, the bottom line is still moderately more entertaining than one might anticipate. Maybe a matinee, probably a rental. Red Dawn is rated PG-13.