After he’s given us “Where the Truth Lies”, a very mainstream (and outstanding) film, director Atom Egoyan comes back to his artistic roots with a much more cerebral film. This time, one of Canada’s greatest filmmakers deals with technology, communication, bereavement and curiosity about one’s true identity. In short, you either like it (just like me) or you don’t.Without necessarily being the tour de force that it could have been, “Adoration” is a fine character-driven film that needed a little bit more development.

You know that grief affects everyone differently, but most of the time in cinema you only see the more explosive, emotional side of dealing with death. It’s a touchy subject, and there never seems to be the shade of grey that should truthfully sit in between. Caos Calmo (Quiet Chaos) fills that hole as you discover that silence does sometimes speak so much louder than words.

No wonder why a bikini clad Lara Bingle stopped asking the world “where the bloody hell are ya?”;  there’s really no need for to further associate the words ‘bloody hell’ with Australia when our film industry does the job so well. Following in the grisly footsteps of Wolf Creek, the deeply chilling Acolytes further suggests that Australia is a murderer’s playground. If you can survive the Outback, we’ve now got serial killers lurking behind closed doors in model suburban homes.  Not only does this make Acolytes Tourism Australia’s worst nightmare, it’s sure as hell to be yours as well.

Confession: I have never sat through an entire episode of Star Trek, nor seen any of the ten prior films belonging to the franchise up until this latest reboot. As scientifically proven to be true with 4 out of 5 people, I consider myself a Star Wars fan if anything, making me somewhat proud of such ignorance…that is until now. In Star Trek XI, Director J.J Abrams wipes the slate clean and achieves the seemingly impossible; he’s made Star Trek ‘cool’. Regardless of whether you’re fluent in Klingon or not, Abrams’ reboot is an exciting sci-fi action extravaganza well worth the Trek.

After Mission Impossible’s Tom Cruise appeared earlier this year as a ridiculous one-eyed turncoat Nazi in Valkyrie, it seems only fitting to now see the latest James Bond embody the role of a ridiculously blue-eyed Eastern European Jew in Definace. Daniel Craig has taken the switch from shaken martinis to homebrewed vodka well; based on a true story, Defiance sees Craig pull all the right emotional punches to create a captivating wartime drama,  partly making up for all the wrong ones he pulled in Quantum of Solace.  It might not be as hard hitting as The Pianist, or as action packed as Saving Private Ryan (it’s certainly as long), but there’s something oddly refreshing about a film sits defiantly in the middle.

Summer Hours is a gently paced movie that tells the story of three adult siblings, Adrienne, Frédéric and Jérémie who have grown apart. Adrienne has moved to New York to pursue a career as an artist while Jérémie has moved to China to work for Puma while Frédéric remains in France. They reunite occasionally for family gatherings at their mother’s home just outside of Paris and this is where the film opens; with lavish shots of the beautiful house which is full of artwork by their mother’s deceased uncle, a celebrated artist whose legacy hangs over the family.

Who would have thought corporate espionage could be this exciting. When I phrase it like that though, it tends to sound like it ought to be. But it was director Tony Gilroy’s previous film Michael Clayton that firmly put the terms ‘corporate politics’ and ‘thriller’ in the same sentence. With 7 Academy Award nominations to show for it, there’s little wonder why he is back with a similar angle in Duplicity. However, in this endlessly deceptive caper tale, Gilroy is more inclined to mix business with heavy doses of pleasure than he was with Clayton. It’s certainly no worse to show for it; Duplicity is still a stylish, engaging and complex thriller, perhaps excessively so.

It’s likely that James Gray’s Two Lovers would have gotten a lot less attention had it not been for Joaquin Phoenix’s sudden downward spiral, lengthy beard, and subsequent turn to the rap industry, but beyond the Phoenix press fest, this is actually a film worth your attention.