BOOK OF THE WEEK
BLUE TICKET
A PAPER slip allocated in a compulsory lottery determines the fate of hundreds of girls every day – white means you will become a mother; a blue ticket deals you the illusion of freedom. Muddy the waters and you will be banished like Calla, granted a 12-hour head-start before the hunt begins. Illicitly pregnant, she hopes to cross the border to safety,
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forging alliances with other women on the way.
Told with ragged prose that catches the breath, Calla’s journey articulates the irrepressible desires and wounds that can lie deep within, and is marked by a claustrophobia that never stops pressing in from the margins. This unsettling re-imagining of the anxieties and pressures around motherhood lays bare the alienation that comes when your body is not truly yours.
TEN-YEAR-OLD Ryder (voiced by Jaxon Mercey) and his four-legged crew – police dog Chase (Justin Kelly), firefighter dog Marshall (Drew Davis), pictured, recycling dog Rocky (Samuel Faraci), construction dog Rubble (Devan Cohen), air rescue dog Skye (Kallan Holley) and aquatic rescue dog Zuma (Carter Thorne) – are hired as the mobile pit crew for the inaugural Adventure Bay 500 road race.
The high-octane spectacle should be a coronation drive for fan favourite The Whoosh (Isaac Heeks). Other competitors include The Cheetah (Addison Holley), cousin of Foggy Bottom’s power-hungry Mayor Humdinger (Ron Pardo), who is determined to win at any cost.
She sidelines The Whoosh with a sprained arm following a stomach-churning spin on the track and Marshall is hand-picked to deputise behind the wheel.
PAW Patrol: Ready, Race, Rescue is a turbocharged, extended instalment of the Canadian animated TV series.
Computer-generated visuals look crisp at home, pacing is brisk and there is wholesome intent in the script. The gentle burning of rubber will transfix litters of wide-eyed, pint-sized fans
The DVD packaging folds out to reveal a Paw Patrol race board game, which should rev the engines of younger viewers for half an hour. Available from May 25 on DVD.
THE LOVEBIRDS (15)
ORIGINALLY intended to world premiere at the South By Southwest festival, romantic comedy The Lovebirds finds a new nest on Netflix under the direction of Michael Showalter (The Big Sick). Sweethearts Jibran (Kumail Nanjiani) and Leilani (Issa Rae, pictured with Nanjiani) are out for a drive when a police officer (Paul Sparks) requisitions their vehicle to chase a suspect.
The shocked couple witnesses the cop knock over the perpetrator then repeatedly run over the man with their car before fleeing the scene.
Jibran and Leilani are wrongly identified as the killers and flee into the night to hastily concoct a plan of action.
They agree the only way to clear their names is to locate the bogus police officer and unravel a bizarre murder mystery.
Over the course of one frantic night, Jibran and Leilani discover a darker side to New Orleans and test their perfect relationship to breaking point. Stream/download from May 22 on Netflix.
I SEE YOU (15)
THE search for a missing boy plunges an estranged family into a living nightmare in a ghoulish horror thriller written by Devon Graye and directed by Adam Randall. Detective Greg Harper (Jon Tenney) is assigned to locate 10-year-old Justin Whitter, who has vanished without a trace from a local park. A green pocket knife is the only clue.
Harper’s investigation is hampered by events back home with his unfaithful wife Jackie (Helen Hunt, pictured) and son Connor (Judah Lewis).
The teenager is attacked at home by a masked figure and Jackie’s former lover Todd (Sam Trammel) suffers a grim fate when he visits the residence.
The mystery behind the masked figure unravels in flashback, linked to the shocking disappearance of Justin Whitter in the present day.
Available on download and streaming services and on DVD/Blu-ray from May 25.