Triple Bill Mini Musings: Exes, Voices, and Maxes...

Burying The Ex:
What's it about?
Max, a horror nerd, comes to realise his horny environmentalist vegan girlfriend Evelyn isn't exactly a match for him, so he decides to dump her. However, a spanner in the works comes in the form of a bus - which promptly runs over his soon-to-be-ex. Sufficiently grieved, our young hero starts a new relationship with someone far suited to him (Olivia, a fellow horror fan and novelty ice cream shop owner). Trouble is, our boy's dead ex-girlfriend is back from the dead, un-killable, and distinctly unaware that they're no longer in a relationship!
Who would I recognise in it?
Anton Yelchin, Ashley Greene, Alexandria Daddario, Oliver Cooper, Dick Miller.
Great/Good/Alright/Shite?
Joe Dante makes a welcome return to our screens with this L.A.-set, cine-literate (Romero references, the horror of a folded film poster) slice of comedy horror. It's an efficiently told, sparky, and decidedly fun ride. Dante fans would do well to check it out, and in the - admittedly slim - sub-genre of the 'rom-zom-com', Burying The Ex is the best entry since Shaun of the Dead (although don't go in expecting something as blow-you-over-fantastic as Edgar Wright's audience favourite). Gleefully silly and occasionally quite gooey. Good.

Click "READ MORE" below for weirdo Ryan Reynolds and feral Tom Hardy...

The Voices:
What's it about?
Factory worker Jerry is an awkward sort of a person, shy but also eager to find a nice girl to settle down with. It's a bit of a bugger, then, that he's a nutter whose animals talk to him (a devilish Scottish cat, and a good old boy of a dog). Naturally, when he accidentally kills one of his co-workers, things start to spiral out of control in this 'funny ha-ha' meets 'funny peculiar' comedy/drama from the director of Persepolis.
Who would I recognise in it?
Ryan Reynolds, Gemma Arterton, Anna Kendrick, Jacki Weaver, Ella Smith, Stanley Townsend.
Great/Good/Alright/Shite?
Game performances all-around provide solid ground for Reynolds to run the gamut from put-together boy next door to full-on festering loon. The tone wrestles back and forth from black comedy to surprisingly dark drama, much like the schism between Jerry's skewed cherry blossom view of his world and the medicated reality of his fetid existence. With a film like this it all rests on the shoulders of the main star who populates practically every single moment, and Reynolds nails the tonal shifts and nature of the character with skill. He even goes so far as to provide the voices for Jerry's aforementioned pets, very much the Angel and Devil on his respective shoulders. At times it makes for a strange cocktail, but the intriguing script and presentation help make this an oddity that will last. Good.

Mad Max: Fury Road:
What's it about?
George Miller returns to his legendary antipodean apocalypse world of snarling vehicles and crazed psychopaths in what is, to all intents and purposes, a thrilling two hour chase. Imperator Furiosa (Theron) makes off with Imortan Joe's (Keays-Byrne) precious and pure wives in search of The Green Place. Caught up in the middle of it all is Max Rockatansky (Hardy), still the same grieving husband and father, but now gone practically feral from too much isolation in a harsh wilderness (he eats a two-headed lizard whole, and is a chronic mumbler to boot!).
Who would I recognise in it?
Tom Hardy, Charlize Theron, Nicholas Hoult, Hugh Keays-Byrne, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, Zoe Kravitz.
Great/Good/Alright/Shite?
If every good thing you've heard about this movie, every trailer and clip and glowing review, hasn't sold you on this movie then nothing will - you must be a strange and curious sort. The effusive praise - about the pulverising action, the exquisite design, and the powerful Hardy/Theron one-two character punch - is well deserved, in what has become one of the most triumphant franchise returns in cinematic history. The story is lean and mean, but the wasteland is full of unspoken stories - entire communities might only be glimpsed at (the crow men), but evidently have whole worlds of their own tales to tell. What's more, everything has a function, and clear thought and reason has been injected into how these sorry souls manage to survive (they even have book-keepers analysing resource management). Perhaps the biggest draw though, is the impressive action (all done practically, with little in the way of CGI enhancement), which boasts extraordinary amounts of invention and choreography. Breathless, richly textured, jam-packed with fantastical ideas, and thunderously good fun. Great.