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Entertainment Reel  

Out on Video - Tues Jan 24

 

 

Out on release this week: A young man deals with a rare form of cancer, a father and son bond over some ‘bots, ‘found footage’ reveals what happened to the sisters in the ‘Paranormal Activity’ series, a young girl with a secret befriends a lonely funeral chaser, and a fish-out-of-water American cop takes on a human trafficking ring in Bosnia.

 

50/50
 

Adam (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) is a young 27 year-old who discovers that the back pain and night sweats he’s been experiencing is being caused by a rare form of cancer that is attached to his spine.

As Adam embarks down a journey of aggressive chemotherapy treatment, he still tries to keep some semblance of a normal life.

Leaning mainly on his best friend Kyle (Seth Rogan), his slightly selfish girlfriend Rachael (Bryce Dallas Howard) and his new therapist Katherine (Anna Kendrick), Adam attempts to make sense of his shattered life - all the while keeping his over-protective mother (Anjelica Huston) at arms-length as she deals with other worries.

Rating 4 out of 5:  A must-see if you have ever experienced, or know someone who has, cancer.  The performances are all solid, and the lighter moments give a very real balance to such a heart aching subject matter.

Real Steel
 

In the year 2020, robots have replaced human boxers in the ring. 

Charlie Kenton (Hugh Jackman), a former boxer, now promotes his own robots for such fights, racking up debt as well as enemies, while piecing together bots from scrap metal to earn enough dough to get to the next venue.

When Charlie receives word that his ex-sister-in-law (Hope Davis) would like to adopt his son, Max (Dakota Goyo) – whose mother has passed – Charlie decides to try and make some money on the deal, agreeing to spend some time with his estranged son while his sister-in-law and fiancé head off to Italy for the summer.

Neither father nor son is thrilled with the idea, both being extremely stubborn and both having their own issues to deal with, but through the love of one robot named ‘Atom’, the two end up becoming closer then they both ever imagined.

Rating 3 out of 5: The story line is nothing to write home about (think real life ‘Rock em, Sock em’), but the really interesting part of the film is the fact that the robots in it are real!  While the fighting sequences are motion capture animation, the eight foot robots the actors interact with (19 in total) were built by the technical crew - very impressive to see!

Restless

A young, eccentric funeral crasher named Enoch (Henry Hopper, son of actor Denis Hopper) becomes obsessed with a beautiful, mysterious girl named Annabelle (Mia Wasikowska), who is dying of a brain tumor.

As the two become close, Enoch finally fesses up about his one and only other friend…  a Japanese Kamikazi ghost named Hiroshi, putting a damper on their budding relationship.

Whistleblower

Based on true events, Kathryn Bolkovac (Rachel Weisz) is a cop from Nebraska who is thrown into the scandalous world of child sex slavery and human trafficking when she begins to work for a private corporate army after the war in Bosnia.

In Kathryn’s quest for truth, she discovers something that no one wants to expose and that the organizations who are aiding the crimes are those that were created to stop them.

Also Out: Paranormal Activity 3, Broken Sun, Tales of an Ancient Empire, Monarchy; The Royal Family at Work

This article is written by or on behalf of an outsourced columnist and does not necessarily reflect the views of Castanet.

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About the Author

With certification in Film & Media Production, Kathrine worked in the B.C. film industry in various capacities. After gaining experience in casting, production and location scouting, Kathrine moved home to the sunny Okanagan to be closer to family and friends.

Though no longer behind the scenes, Kathrine still enjoys all things entertainment from movies, television and local music and entertainment.

For more information on Kelowna Entertainment, please e-mail [email protected]



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The views expressed are strictly those of the author and not necessarily those of Castanet. Castanet does not warrant the contents.

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