Category: cinema releases

NATIONAL RELEASES

Burn After Reading (Universal): After the Oscar winning triumph of No Country For Old Men, the Coen Brothers return to more comic ground with this tale of a demoted CIA agent (John Malkovich) who loses the manuscript to his memoirs and then gets blackmailed by two clueless gym workers (Frances McDormand and Brad Pitt). George Clooney, Tilda Swinton, Richard Jenkins and J.K. Simmons round out an impressive cast but this is actually a very quirky and mannered comedy. Critical reaction was mixed when it premiered at the Venice Film Festival and there is no doubt that some will find it a chilly, even condescending, film with its characters nearly all appearing to be either stupid, vain or clueless. I have to say that I found much of it a welcome satire on the unapologetic idiocy of the Bush era, with some excellent comic performances. Universal will be hoping for a repeat of the US box office performance, in which the starry cast helped sell what is actually quite an uncommercial film in many respects. [Cert 15 / Empire Leics Sq & Nationwide]

Eagle Eye (Paramount): Director D.J Caruso and Shia LeBeouf team up again after the success of Disturbia, which was essentially a teen version of Hitchcock’s Rear Window. I’m not sure if there is some kind of Hitchcock fetish at DreamWorks because this appears to be a reworking of North by Northwest. It also has elements of Enemy of the State and involves LeBeouf as a young man on the run from shady government forces after he gets framed for a crime. Although the pace and action are slickly handled it doesn’t help that most of the action is utterly preposterous. Although ’24’ creates a world in which computers can seemingly do anything at any given moment, this film takes that concept to new levels of incredulity. However Paramount can expect brisk business given the rising star of Shia LeBeouf and the slick, undemanding nature of the film.  [Cert 12A / Vue West End & Nationwide]

Igor (Momentum): This animated film about a lowly lab assistant named Igor (voiced by John Cusack) who dreams of becoming a scientist didn’t exactly hit the mark at the US box office last month. Directed by Anthony Leondis (the man behind straight-to-DVD animated sequels like The Emperor’s New Groove 2: Kronk’s New Groove and Lilo & Stitch 2: Stitch Has a Glitch) this doesn’t look like it will have much of an impact in the UK. Momentum will be hoping for the half term family crowd to check it out before recouping their money in DVD and ancillary markets. [Cert PG / Vue West End & Nationwide / Opened in Scotland on Friday 10th October]

The Rocker (Fox): This comedy about an unsuccessful drummer (Rainn Wilson) who is given a second chance at fame bombed at the US box office last month and looks like having similar prospects here. Directed by Peter Cattaneo, whose came to fame with The Full Monty in 1997, it also stars Christina Applegate and Will Arnett. Fox will be hoping that that their promotional activities for this might yield audiences hungry for a broad comedy (after all if The House Bunny can top the UK charts like it did last week, there is hope) but surely a film like this needs a clever concept (e.g. The 40 Year Old Virgin) or a big star? [Cert 12A / Odeon Leicester Square & Nationwide]

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IN SELECTED RELEASE

La Zona (Soda Pictures): A Mexican thriller from director Rodrigo Plá that explores the social divisions in modern Mexico. Soda Pictures will be pleased at the positive critical reviews and word of mouth and hoping for some decent art house action. [Cert 15 / Key Cities]

Young @ Heart (Yume Pictures): A documentary from director Stephen Walker about the Young@Heart Chorus, an elderly singing group in Massachusetts, who cover rock songs by The Clash, Nirvana and Coldplay. Yume Pictures will be hoping solid reviews and good word of mouth will get curious audiences in to see this. [Cert PG / Curzon Soho, Greenwich P/House & Key Cities / Opens in Scotland on Friday 24th October]

Afro Saxons (Chocolate Films): A new indie documentary that follows several hair stylists as they enter the Black Beauty and Hair awards – the biggest Afro hair competition in the UK. Chocolate Films will be aiming for word of mouth and a decent per-screen average. [Cert 15 / Peckham M/Plex, S/Case Wood Green, Ritzy & Tricycle]

Free Jimmy (Break Thru Films): A curious animated film about four stoners, five vegans, three mobsters, four hunters and a million reasons to free one junkie elephant. A cult hit in Norway (it is actually 2 years old) that has been revoiced and repackaged for the UK market. [Cert 15 / Showcase Newham & Selected Key Cities]

NATIONAL RELEASES

Righteous Kill (Lionsgate UK): Although there will be considerable interest in seeing Robert De Niro and Al Pacino team up for the first time since Heat (1995), I would be surprised if this routine cop thriller does any real business outside of the opening weekend. The two stars play veteran New York cops on the trail of a killer but the hacky direction and plodding narrative make it a dull experience. This is all a great shame as the two screen icons at the centre of it all have only shared a few minutes together on screen in Heat and were in separate stories in The Godfather II. Here it is sad to see them wasted in such an average film and I expect it will only do moderate  box office numbers for Lionsgate once the negative reviews and word-of-mouth pile up. [Cert 15 / Nationwide]

Taken (Fox): Liam Neeson stars in this Luc Besson produced thriller as an ex-CIA agent who goes after his daughter when she is kidnapped in Paris. The fact that this came out in France back in February – and doesn’t come out in the US until next year – might have signalled problems but despite being an older version of Jason Bourne, Liam Neeson’s character is actually fun to watch as he wreaks havoc against all manner of sleazy types in Paris (who are presented in a massively un-PC light). There are some weak spots but this is a well paced, crowd-pleasing thriller that could earn a tidy sum for Fox. [Cert 15 / Nationwide]

Death Race (Universal): This loose remake of Roger Corman’s Death Race 2000 sees Jason Statham as a convict in a futuristic prison forced by the warden (Joan Allen) to participate in a death race involving souped up armed cars. Although, a lot of it is fairly mindless, the actual death races themselves are well done and there is a certain gritty charm to the look of the film. However, things like plot and character are not the strong points here. Universal will be hoping the car/action angle will entice male audiences away from Taken, so it will be interesting to see how they fare against one another. [Cert 15 / Nationwide]

Swing Vote (Delanic Films): This political comedy stars Kevin Costner as an Average Joe single father in New Mexico, who by an improbable series of events, comes to be the swing voter in the US general election. With an impressive cast including Paula Patton, Kelsey Grammer, Dennis Hopper and Nathan Lane this is actually not that bad, with some intelligent digs at the US political process. The problem it has is twofold: 1) It died at the US box office, which suggests the same will be true here, and 2) The real US election is far more entertaining. The marketing and awareness factor for this film appears close to zero, which is eerily reminiscent of it’s US release, which appears to suggest it will get voted out of cinemas rather quickly. [Cert 12A / Nationwide]

Appaloosa (Entertainment): Based on the 2005 novel by Robert B. Parker, this western centres around a  lawman (Ed Harris) and his sidekick (Viggo Mortensen), who are hired to defend a lawless town from a murderous rancher (Jeremy Irons). Renée Zellweger rounds out an impressive cast but given the lack of awareness and the poor track record of Westerns at the UK box office, this faces an uphill task to make decent box office for Entertainment.  [Cert 15 / Entertainment]

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IN SELECTED RELEASE

I’ve Loved You So Long (Lionsgate UK): Although it will be getting a selected opening around the country, this is easily the pick of the week’s cinema releases. Kristin Scott Thomas and Elsa Zylberstein play two sisters who reconnect with one another after a prolonged absence and the result is a rich and deeply satisfying emotional drama. Scott Thomas is almost certainly a contender for end of year awards and Zylberstein is almost as good. Try to avoid reviews which give too much of the plot away and experience this gem with as little plot information as possible.  [Cert 12A / Key Cities]

Redbelt (Sony Pictures): David Mamet wrote and directed this drama starring Chiwetel Ejiofor as a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu expert who comes across a popular actor (Tim Allen) and a legion of Hollywood folk before realising he has been the victim of a con. [Cert 15]

Alexandra (Artificial Eye): This story about a mother who goes to see her son at a military outpost during the Second Chechen War, was written and directed by Alexander Sokurov (who made the one-take 2004 film  Russian Ark). [Cert PG / Key Cities / Opens in Ireland on October 3rd)

The Foot Fist Way (Momentum Pictures): Made for just $70,000, this cult comedy sees Danny R. McBride play a deluded martial arts instructor. Well done for the budget in which it was made, it seems likely to find more of an audience on DVD. [Cert 12A / Key Cities]

Steep (Metrodome): An IMAX run for this documentary which traces the legacy of extreme skiing from its early pioneers to the daredevils of today. [Cert PG / BFI Imax]

A Matter Of Life And Death (bfi Distribution): A BFI re-release for this classic from the writer-director-producer team of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger which sees David Niven as a British World War II Royal Air Force pilot who forms an unlikely relationship with an American radio operator (Kim Hunter) based in England. [Cert U / BFI Southbank & Key Cities]

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If you have any questions about this week’s cinema releases or any upcoming titles then just email me or leave a comment below.

> Get local showtimes via Google Movies (just enter your local postcode)
> Find out about films showing near you at MyFilms

NATIONAL RELEASES

Rocknrolla (15) Although director Guy Ritchie plumbed the depths with his last two movies (Revolver and Swept Away ), Warner Bros will be aiming for this London-set gangster caper to signal redemption for the British director. Despite a spaghetti-shaped narrative and too many cockney gangsterisms, this is a deliberate throwback to the subject and style of Ritchie’s earlier work like Lock, Stock… and Snatch. Some of it feels strangely dated but for the most part it is watchable, has an impressive cast (including Gerard Butler, Tom Wilkinson, Toby Kebbell, Thandie Newton & Mark Strong) and goes into the weekend as the box office favourite.

The Duchess (12A): Pathe will be hoping that a period costume drama starring Kiera Knightley as an unhappy 18th century aristocrat (Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire) will tempt the female and highbrow audiences. The recent faux-controversy about Princess Diana being used to market the film (the main character is distantly related to her) seems a little stage managed, but the main problem this film has is that, despite some decent production values and competent performances, it is essentially a TV costume drama with a more handsome budget. Although Knightley has become a big star (mainly down to the Pirates franchise), she has yet to really prove herself as someone who can open a movie. Despite the presence of Ralph Fiennes in a key supporting role, this will be an interesting test of a film heavily marketed on her pulling power alone.

Bangkok Dangerous (18): The Pang Brothers remake their own 1998 thriller stars Nicolas Cage as a hit man in Bangkok. Entertainment will be hoping action fans will turn out for this one, but given the lack of buzz, a key change to the original film and wildly erratic career of Cage it is difficult to gauge how this one will do. I imagine the target audience at the multiplex will opt to choose Rocknrolla, if their girlfriends haven’t already dragged them to The Duchess. It opens in the US today as well, although I suspect if it does any real box office it will be in foreign and ancillary markets.

Disaster Movie (12A): One can only hope that the US box office failure of this spoof will signal justice for the cinematic crimes Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer have inflicted upon audiences. In case you are unaware, they are the team behind a series of wildy unfunny – but bafflingly successful – comedies such as Date Movie, Epic Movie and Meet the Spartans. The formula is to just spoof recent hits at the box office along a certain theme. However, the cycle now looks in trouble as last week potential viewers might have found the release of this film on the third anniversary of Hurricane Katrina to be a little too much. Momentum will be hoping less discerning viewers see it or at least buy the DVD in the near future.

IN SELECTED RELEASE

El Cantante (15): Revelation Films are the UK distributor for this film based on the life story of salsa singer Héctor Lavoe (who is played in the film by Marc Anthony). The main point of interest from a commercial viewpoint is that Jennifer Lopez starred and produced in it, but it gets a release two years after premiering at the Toronto Film Festival and a full year after bombing at the US box office to mixed reviews. Given the dramatic decline of Lopez as a box office star and the niche appeal of the story, it is hard to see this doing any real business. [Opens in Select Key Cities]

Never Apologise (15): Verve Pictures give a limited release for this documentary about director Lindsay Anderson, who made such films as This Sporting Life (1963), If…. (1968) and O Lucky Man! (1973). It is narrated by Malcolm McDowell, who was a friend and collaborator. [Opens at the Curzon Soho & selected Key Cities]

Sweet Land (PG): Revelation Films release this 2005 independent film about a woman who travels from Germany to Minnesota in order to meet the man destined to be her husband. [Opens in Select Key Cities]

Mera Pind – My Home (U): Adlabs release this film centered around a Punjabi village, starring Navjot Singh Sidhu and Harbhajan Mann. [Opens at C’Worlds Feltham, Ilford, Staples Corner, Wood Green & Nationwide]

> Get local showtimes via Google Movies (just enter your local postcode)
> Find out about films showing near you at MyFilms
> Check out the full UK release schedule for cinemas this month
> DVD releases for this week (W/C Monday 1st September)