SHOTGUN WEDDING (M)

And what families they are: Tom’s Mom is the over-the-top Carol (Jennifer Coolidge riding high on the cred from TV’s The White Lotus) and his Dad is the blank Larry (Steve Coulter), while Darcy’s disapproving mother Renata (Sonia Braga) is furious that Darcy’s Dad Robert (Cheech Marin from Cheech & Chong) is on the guest list, along with his rather younger gal-pal Harriet (D’Arcy Carden from TV’s The Good Place). Got all that?

Darcy’s swoony ex Sean has also been improbably invited, and he turns up in the form of no less than ‘90s rocker Lenny Kravitz, who can’t really act but still looks kind of hot.

REVIEW: Dave Bradley, Film/Arts Writer

Jennifer Lopez toplines this goofy nonsense which, despite a promising cast, is pretty much completely indistinguishable from all the other romcom twaddle she turns out.

MUST-READ BOOKS

Autumn reading is upon us and we have some beauties to whet every appetite.

Under the direction of Jason Moore (who specialises in female-centric fluff), this has JLo as Darcy Rivera, who’s in the middle of a huge wedding extravaganza in a fancy Filipino hotel (although this was actually filmed in the Dominican Republic). She and her hubby-to-be Tom Fowler (Josh Duhamel in a role nearly played by Ryan Reynolds or Armie Hammer) are arguing, mostly because their families are so annoying.

Darcy and Tom have a nasty fight just as heavily armed pirates attack, and the rest of the running-time is devoted to them dashing around frenziedly, as the rest of the ensemble wait at gunpoint while trying hard to steal back a laugh. Any laugh.

SHOTGUN WEDDING is now streaming on Amazon Prime. Lucky them.

The Porcelian Moon

By JANIE CHANG

France, 1918. In the final days of the first World War, a young Chinese woman, Pauline Deng, runs away from her uncle’s home in Paris to evade a marriage being arranged for her in Shanghai. To prevent the union, she needs the help of her cousin Theo, who is working as a translator for the Chinese Labour Corps in the French countryside. In the town of Noyelles-surMer, Camille Roussel is planning her escape from an abusive marriage, and to end a love affair that can no longer continue. When Camille offers Pauline a room for her stay, the two women become friends.

$32.99 HarperCollins

Over The Hill And Up The Wall

By Todd Alexander

Over the Hill and Up the Wall is an affectionate, funny look at the frictions of taking a more active role in our elders' lives. It's a nod to every child who has waited three hours for a parent to fasten their seatbelt, and every parent whose child assumes they can't count to twenty. And, if your parents are just hitting middle age, it may well be a warning of things to come!

$34.99 Harper Collins

The Death Of John Lacey

By Ben Hobson

An Australian western set in the goldfields of Ballarat, The Death of John Lacey is a viscerally powerful story of greed, power and violence from the author of Snake Island. 'A ripping, unflinching reckoning with Australia's past. Hobson turns the popular national mythos on its head and, with guns blazing, creates one of his own.'

Bram Presser, author of The Book of Dirt

He felt the lump of gold still in his pocket. He would find his way out of this place and leave his brother happy and he would etch his name into the red earth or be damned

$32.99 Allen & Unwin

One Illumined Thread

By

Sally Colin-James

Kindness

Kindness

What surviving on the kindness of strangers taught me about perspective, connection and happiness

A moving story of hope, resilience and the lifechanging power of kindness, from the founder of the global not-for-profit, Kindness Factory. Kath Koschel has faced almost unimaginable hurdles. In her mid-twenties, she broke her back and was told she may never walk again. Shortly afterwards, she lost her beloved partner to suicide. Then, just as she was piecing her life back together, she was hit by a car while cycling and forced to relearn to walk a second time.

$32.99 Allen & Unwin

In Judea, under the brutal rule of King Herod, a woman yearns for a child but is outcast when she does not fall pregnant. Against all convention, she masters the art of glassblowing, a creative act she believes will keep her dream of motherhood alive. In Renaissance Florence, a young wife is left penniless by her hopelessly unfaithful husband, and struggles to find a way to support herself and her young son.

$32.99 4th Estate AU

Pineapple Street

By Jenny Jackson

Driven

By Bill Sutcliffe

Bill Sutcliffe is an ordinary man with an extraordinary story to tell. Coming from a childhood of poverty and abuse, Bill is a remarkable example of how seemingly insurmountable obstacles can be overcome with faith and a belief that anything is possible and achievable.

$34.99 Allen & Unwin

Darley, the eldest daughter in the wellconnected, carefully-guarded Stockton family, has never had to worry about money. Darley followed her heart, trading her job and her inheritance for motherhood, sacrificing more of herself than she ever intended. Sasha, Darley's new sister-in-law, has come from more humble origins, and her hesitancy about signing a prenup has everyone worried about her intentions. And Georgiana, the baby of the family, has fallen in love with someone she can't (and really shouldn't) have, and must confront the kind of person she wants to be.

$32.99 Hutchinson Heinemann