RENDEZVOUS WITH FRENCH CINEMA
Luc Jacquet made March Of The Penguins (2005) one of the highest-grossing documentaries ever. Ice And The Sky (NC16, 89 minutes) brings him back to the Antarctica, this time to profile polar researcher Claude Lorius, whose work from the 1950s to recent times helped prove that the world is warming. Using both archival and freshly shot footage, Jacquet tells a fascinating detective story about the search for clues in ice thousands of years old.
WHERE: Alliance Francaise Theatre, GV Plaza, The Cathay Cineplex, Shaw Theatres Lido WHEN: Tomorrow to Dec 13 ADMISSION: Various prices INFO: For schedules and bookings, go to www.rendezvouswithfrenchcinema.sg
DEATHGASM(R21)
86 minutes/ 3.5/5
Splatter cinema, Kiwi-style, makes a gory return to form with this coming-of- age story about a teen metal-head who discovers that the gates of hell have opened in his small New Zealand town. He and members of his rock band Deathgasm, armed with loud guitars and chainsaws, are the only thing between Satan and his town's not-so-innocent citizens. Presented by Scum Cinema, which is also bringing back to the big screen the 1975 road mayhemclassic, Death Race 2000.
WHERE: The Projector, Golden Mile Tower WHEN: Dec 10,8pm ADMISSION: $13 INFO: Tickets at scumcinema.com
THE GOOD DINOSAUR (PG)
101 minutes/ 4/5
In an alternate universe, where dinosaurs did not become extinct and have learnt to create communities, there is young Arlo, who comes from a farming family. He tries to be a good son, but is held back by his fear of everything. A raging river sweeps him far from home one day. He makes a return trek, dogged by a feral human he names Spot. Just as you are about to relax into what looks like a movie for the under-10s, something happens to turn it all upside down. In one of the best horror-movie character switchups to happen in recent times, someone who appears at first to be a friend does something that proves that first impressions can be fatally wrong. First-time director Peter Sohn makes scenes as strange and scary as a child's survival story needs to be. The film is a masterpiece of minimalism; there are almost no references to the world unless it is to up-end expectations.
SLOW WEST (TBA)
84 minutes/ 4/5
Tickets are stilll available for this weird Western, part of the 26th Singapore International Film Festival's Cinema Today section. The hopelessly naive Jay (Kodi Smit-McPhee) makes a reckless trek across America's wilder reaches to find a lost love. His path is blocked by weirdos, charlatans and killers. The silent Silas (Michael Fassbender) offers to help Jay. Silas is good with a gun, but should Jay trust him? Scottish writer-director John MacLean's debut feature moves at an odd, poetic pace; characters move across frontiers of the mind as much as they do the Old West.
WHERE: Shaw Theatres Lido WHEN: Tomorrow, 4.30pm ADMISSION: Tickets at $12 INFO: Bookings at sgiff.com
