This week at the movies: Toy Story 5 is a triumph, Spielberg disappoints and a Netflix true crime story will make your jaw drop

The Screen Critic with Jim Schembri

The latest sign that Disney is back to making excellent family films is Toy Story 5, a warm, heartfelt, uplifting chapter in filmdom’s most beloved animation franchise.

The big challenge facing Woody, Buzz, Jessie, Hamm and the rest of the gang here is the arrival of Lilypad, a device that offers their owner Bonnie endless entertainment so long as she stares into its screen.

Like other kids, Bonnie begins neglecting her toys for the bright colours and promises of friends, something she struggles to find in the real world.

For Toy Story fans this busy adventure – featuring no fewer than four main storylines – is full of the type of character-driven action and emotional themes Pixar’s better films are known for.

Primed to rule the world’s multiplexes, kids will love it, as will the parents, grandparents and other assorted adults who introduced them to the Toy Story films, having fallen in love with them in their younger years. (How sobering it is to note that the first Toy Story came out in … 1995)

Grown ups will also appreciate the raft of positive messaging about friendship, the dangers of screen addiction and the value of playtime vs screen time.

For a tight, tense, good old-fashioned heist thriller it’s hard to fault Tuner, an absolute ripper of a film about a piano tuner with over-sensitive hearing who turns to crime.

Set in New York, Niki (Leo Woodall) is forced to use his skills to crack safes for a criminal gang when his elderly friend and co-worker Harry (Dustin Hoffman, superb as usual) is hit with medical bills after a heart attack.

Dealing with a talented girlfriend (Havana Rose Liu) from whom he must keep his side hustle secret, Niki has to face the unavoidable reality of how the effects of crime reach far beyond those who commit it.

As a species we tend to regard the release of each new Steven Spielberg film as a major event.

Perfectly understandable, really, given the great films he has given us: Jaws; Schindler’s List; Jurassic Park; Duel: the Indiana Jones movies (well, the first two, at least).

Sadly, Disclosure Day is a bit of a letdown despite all the hype and signage that has been swamping us.

It’s yet another tale about alien visitation – after Close Encounters, ET and War of the Worlds – only this effort doesn’t really have any sense of wonder, fear or all that much excitement.

In possession of super-secret info about alien contact, a whistleblower (Josh O’Connor) intends telling the world everything, provided he can survive the incompetent team of agents chasing him.

Meanwhile, a TV weather girl (Emily Blunt) undergoes a jump in IQ that is not in keeping with her character and so goes hunting for the reasons why she’s suddenly so smart.

Some good mystery elements spice up the first stretch of this mega-budget adventure, and there is a nifty car sequence involving a train, but the film ultimately descends into sci-fi cliches we’ve all seen before. A shame.

A big treat at the arthouses is the beautiful Italian film Primavera, a period drama set in gorgeous 1700s Venice about orphan Cecilia (Tecla Insolia) whose skills with the violin are honed by the famous, and famously ill, composer Vivaldi (Michele Riondino).

Trouble is, Cecilia is waiting for her much older husband-to-be Sanfermo (Stefano Accorsi) to return from war, dooming her to a future in servitude rather than music.

Sumptuous widescreen cinematography, fine direction and a superb musical score distinguish this marvellous piece.

Also worth catching is Leviticus, a very well-made Australian horror film about a curse that is cast upon the same-sex love between two teenage boys by disapproving elders.

There’s loads of creepy small-town atmosphere and a big handful of old-school scares as one of the lads has to deal with his boyfriend’s evil clone.

A solid offering for genre fans and the latest example of the love local filmmakers have for the scary stuff.

Big on Netflix is Maternal Instinct, a bizarre, macabre tale of deception and death that even true-crime fans will find jaw-dropping.

The story tells of the huge web of lies spun by Taylor Parker, a young Texas woman whose marriage to an unwitting man involved elaborate tales of wealth and an alleged pregnancy.

Using police footage and interviews with all the people caught up in Parker’s deranged mindset, it’s an extraordinary story that leads to an horrific crime difficult to imagine.

It’s a compelling case with graphic elements and detail, so anyone with a sensitive disposition should brace themselves for a most unsettling journey.

For more visit jimschembri.com with updates on X at @jimschembri

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