Source Code (Momentum): A sci-fi thriller about on a soldier (Jake Gyllenhall) who finds himself part of a mission to find out why a commuter train exploded. Directed by Duncan Jones, it co-stars Michelle Monaghan, Vera Farmiga and Jeffrey Wright. [Nationwide / 12A] [Trailer] [Reviews] [Read our full review here]
Hop (Universal): Live-action mixes with animation in this family film about a driver (James Marsden) who accidentally hits the Easter Bunny (Russell Brand) and then has to save the holiday where people celebrate the death of Jesus by eating chocolate eggs. Directed by Tim Hill and co-starring Gary Cole and Hugh Laurie. Nationwide / U] [Trailer] [Reviews]
Sucker Punch (Warner Bros.): A young girl (Emily Browning) is institutionalized by her wicked stepfather and retreats to an alternative reality as a coping strategy, as she envisions a plan which will help her escape from the facility. Directed by Zack Snyder, it also stars Abbie Cornish, Jena Malone and Carla Gugino. [Nationwide / 12A] [Trailer] [Reviews] [Read our full review here]
Killing Bono (Paramount): Based on the memoirs of music journalist Neil McCormick, two brothers in Dublin attempt to become global rock stars but can only look on as old school friends U2 become the biggest band in the world. Directed by Nick Hamm and starring Ben Barnes and Robert Sheehan. [Nationwide / 15] [Trailer] [Reviews]
ALSO OUT
Oranges and Sunshine (Icon): The story of a social worker from Nottingham (Emily Watson) who uncovered one of the forced migration of children from the United Kingdom to Australia and Canada. Directed by Jim Loach and co-starring Hugo Weaving and David Wenham. [Selected cinemas] [Trailer] [Reviews]
Essential Killing (Artificial Eye): Political thriller film by the Polish writer and director Jerzy Skolimowski, about a man captured in the desert by American forces, who finds himself transported to a nameless European country. Stars Vincent Gallo and Emmanuelle Seigner. [Selected cinemas / 15] [Trailer] [Reviews]
Blooded (Revolver): British indie horror done in the style of documentary. Directed by Edward Boase and starring Oliver Boot and Tracy Ifaechor. [Selected cinemas / 15]
Young Hearts Run Free (Bede Films Ltd): Romantic drama set against the backdrop of the 1974 miners’ strike. Directed by Andy Mark Simpson, it stars Andy Black and Jennifer Bryden. [12A]
Game (Eros International): A Hindi action film directed by Abhinay Deo and starring Abhishek Bachchan and Kangna Ranaut. [Selected cinemas]
Hatchet II (Arrow Films): Sequel to the 2006 horror, which sees Adam Green return to direct and Kane Hodder and Tony Todd reprise their roles from the first film. [18]
A gaudy, adolescent fantasy riddled with mindless slow motion set-pieces marks a creative low-point for director Zack Snyder.
Opening with a young girl named Babydoll (Emily Browning) being sent to an asylum, Sucker Punch explores how she tries to escape her grim reality by imagining another world of an underworld bordello where she and her fellow inmates (Abbie Cornish, Jena Malone, Vanessa Hudgens) dance for various men.
This then develops into another imaginary world every time she dances, which features various combat missions against fantastical enemies (which include giant samurais, zombie Nazis and fire-breathing dragons) whilst a wise man (Scott Glenn) offers her guidance.
(Incidentally, there are some striking similarities to John Carpenter’s The Ward, a little seen horror from last year about a young woman sent to an asylum.)
All of this plays like a low-rent version of Inception, as various characters traverse different levels that affect one other, mixed with the camp theatricality of Burlesque, with the female characters dressed in increasingly over the top costumes.
Incorporating a variety of influences, including graphic novels, manga and first-person shooter video games, it appears that Snyder has attempted a major homage to his own passions.
Like his previous film 300 (2007), this is a world heavily reliant on stylised CGI landscapes, and armed with a sizeable budget (reportedly $80m), he has created what is essentially a hyperactive console game for the big screen.
The fundamental flaw is that none of it really matters.
Despite the sword fights, gun battles and attempts to escape the asylum, nothing is ever at truly at stake and there is zero tension as the film plays out like a deranged firework.
Snyder’s trademark use of slow-motion is especially tiresome, especially in addition to the use of songs (including sacrilegious covers of tracks by The Beatles, The Smiths and The Pixies) which make long stretches feel like a Britney Spears video.
It is hard to talk about the effectiveness of the performances, as Snyder’s script (co-written by Steve Shibuya) only allows his leading actresses to be the most puerile of fantasy figures.
Their names – Babydoll, Sweet Pea and Blondie – and increasingly icky attire reduce them to ciphers and the unreal set-pieces play out like a Charlie’s Angels episode on acid.
Actors in supporting roles don’t fair much better: Carla Gugino is memorable only for a bad Russian accent; Jon Hamm barely has any screen time at all; and Scott Glenn is on auto-pilot as a fatherly figure spouting words of advice.
In order to get commercial-friendly ratings (PG-13 in the US and 12A in the UK), Snyder has removed a sex scene and cleverly cut around the violence, so we don’t actually see anything too graphic.
Despite this, an uneasy air of sleaze still hangs over the production, especially given the fetish gear costume designer Michael Wilkinson has designed for the female leads.
The persistent threat of rape and violence towards young women – usually from sleazy, overweight men – also pervades the film like a bad smell and feels vaguely creepy in a film aimed squarely at younger-leaning audiences.
It isn’t often that you get a brothel, lobotomies, shootings to the head and attempted sexual assault in a 12A film, but I guess its all fantasy, so who cares anyway?
Sucker Punch is an original story in the sense that it wasn’t adapted from an existing property, but it is pretty unoriginal in processing existing films and games in this genre.
But to what end?
There’s no heart, emotion or tension here and all the sequences seem to have been designed solely to make a certain kind of fantasy nerd go ‘awesome!’. It also tries to capture a younger female audience who might like the idea of girls in kick-ass action roles.
But this film shows the danger inherent in giving an audience ‘what they want’ (or what the studios think they want) as it has already largely failed to appeal to either crowd.
The tidal wave of negative reviews, plus the fact that finished up behind Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules on its opening weekend, suggest it alienated mainstream audiences and the very geeks it was supposed to indulge.
Snyder’s stock as a director is considerably diminished after this, but as he heads off to prepare for his upcoming Superman film one hopes he can put this relentless, vapid exercise behind him and make something worthwhile.
Limitless (Paramount/Momentum): A struggling writer (Bradley Cooper) discovers a top-secret drug which bestows him with super human abilities. As his usage begins to change his life, he begins to discover the drug’s shadowy origins. Directed by Neil Burger and co-starring Abbie Cornish and Robert De Niro, this has a promising first third but soon dissolves into a formulaic thriller. [Nationwide / 15] [Reviews] [Trailer]
The Eagle (Universal): In Roman-ruled Britain, a young Roman soldier endeavors to honor his father’s memory by finding his lost legion’s golden emblem. Directed by Kevin MacDonald and starring Jamie Bell and Channing Tatum. [Nationwide / 12A] [Reviews] [Trailer]
Country Strong (Sony Pictures): A fallen country star (Gwyneth Paltrow) strives to revive her career with some help from her husband (Tim McGraw), a young songwriter (Garrett Hedlund) and an emerging country artist (Leighton Meester). Directed by Shana Feste. [Nationwide / 12A] [Reviews] [Trailer]
Faster (Sony Pictures): An ex-convict (Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson) seeks revenge for his brother’s death in this revenge thriller, co-starring Billy Bob Thornton, Oliver Jackson-Cohen and directed by George Tillman Jr. [Nationwide / 15] [Reviews] [Trailer]
A Turtle’s Tale: Sammy’s Adventures (Optimum Releasing): A sea turtle who was hatched in 1959 spends the next 50 years traveling the world while it is being changed by global warming. Directed by Ben Stassen, it stars Melanie Griffith and Isabelle Fuhrman. [Nationwide / U] [Reviews] [Trailer]
ALSO OUT
Cave of Forgotten Dreams (Picturehouse): Werner Herzog’s latest documentary sees the German director gain access to film inside the Chauvet caves France, capturing the oldest known pictorial creations of humankind in their astonishing natural setting. [Selected cinemas / U] [Read our full review here] [Reviews] [Trailer]
Wake Wood (Vertigo Films): Irish horror film about the parents of a girl killed by a savage dog who are granted the opportunity to spend three days with their deceased daughter. [Selected cinemas / 18] [Reviews] [Trailer]
Toast (Momentum Pictures): Drama based on the memoirs of food writer Nigel Slater, which first premièred on BBC1 around Christmas. [Selected cinemas / PG] [Trailer]
The Lincoln Lawyer (Entertainment): A lawyer (Matthew McConaughey) conducts business from the back of his Lincoln town car while representing a high-profile client in Beverly Hills. Directed by Brad Furman and co-starring Marisa Tomei, Ryan Phillippe, John Leguizamo. [15] [Reviews] [Trailer]
You Will Meet A Tall Dark Stranger (Warner Bros.): The latest film from Woody Allen follows a pair of married couples in London: Alfie (Anthony Hopkins) and Helena (Gemma Jones), and their daughter Sally (Naomi Watts) and husband Roy (Josh Brolin), as their passions, ambitions, and anxieties lead them into trouble. [12A] [Reviews] [Trailer]
Chalet Girl (Paramount/Momentum): A working-class girl (Felicity Jones) lands a job in a posh ski resort and discovers her natural snowboarding genius while dating the boss’ son. Directed by Phil Traill and co-starring Bill Nighy, Ed Westwick, Brooke Shields and Tamsin Egerton. [12A] [Reviews] [Trailer]
Anuvahood (Revolver): An ‘urban comedy’ about a wannabe London drug dealer (Adam Deacon) who encounters a local villain (Richie Campbell) . [15] [Reviews] [Trailer]
ALSO OUT
Submarine (Optimum Releasing):A comedy which follows a 15-year-old boy with two objectives: To lose his virginity before his next birthday, and to stop his mother from leaving his father for her dance teacher. [15] [Read our full review here] [Trailer]
Route Irish (Artificial Eye): The story of a private security contractor in Iraq who rejected the official explanation of his friend’s death and sets out to discover the truth. Directed by Ken Loach. [15] [Reviews] [Trailer]
Ballast (Axiom Films): Acclaimed 2008 drama about A single mother and her embattled son struggling to survive in a small Mississippi Delta township. Directed by Lance Hammer. [Reviews] [Trailer]
Between the Canals (Avalon Films): Irish crime drama which follows three small time criminals from Dublin’s North Inner City. Directed by Mark O’Connor.
Benda Bilili! (Trinity Filmed Entertainment): Documentary about a Kinshasa band which has acquired a global following. Directed by Renaud Barret and Florent de La Tullaye. [Reviews] [Trailer]
The second film from director Duncan Jones is a satisfying sci-fi thriller which manages to pack invention and emotion into a neat 95 minutes.
Laying out the plot of Source Code is tricky as much of the pleasure of the film lies in how it gradually reveals its hand.
The basic set up is this: US soldier Colter Stevens (Jake Gyllenhaal) wakes up to find himself on a Chicago bound train, sitting opposite a woman (Michelle Monaghan) who appears to know him.
After a short time, the train explodes and he realises he is part of a futuristic military program which allows him to continually experience the last 8 minutes of a commuter’s life in order to discover who planted the bomb.
Supervised via video link by a military scientist (Jeffrey Wright) and a fellow soldier (Vera Farmiga), Colter finds out more about the suspected bomber on each ‘pass’ and why he was selected for this mission.
To the film’s credit, it manages to add a few more layers and twists without ever getting lost in complications, despite the nagging feeling that there are gaping logic holes with regard to the ‘science’ in the film.
What exactly is the source code? How can people communicate in the way they do in the film?
But we are basically in an extended, upscale episode of The Twilight Zone where none of that really matters when you are actually watching the film (although a post-screening discussion might be a different matter).
It moves quickly and efficiently as Gyllenhaal’s character gradually uncovers the truth and Ben Ripley’s script combines elements from films such as Groundhog Day (1993) and Déjà Vu (2006) as it explores the tensions and mysteries of a fantastical situation in a particular location.
This is familiar territory for Duncan Jones, as his debut feature Moon (2009) explored similar areas (although in a different context) and he handles the bigger budget and action sequences with an impressive ease.
Generally, the exterior locations of the train are blended well with the interior set of the train, although there are moments when the CGI and green screen aren’t fully convincing (a dramatic jump from a train is jarring).
But DOP Don Burgess and Jones manage to explore the location of the train well, getting across the claustrophobia and drama packed inside the carriages before visually opening out the film as it gets nearer the climax.
The performances suit the material well: Gyllenhaal is a solid lead, playing a more likeable version of his soldier in Jarhead (2005); Monaghan is a charming foil, whilst Farmiga and Wright bring a convincing level of military authority to their roles.
Chris Bacon’s score also adds a nice touch of urgency, effectively channelling Bernard Herrmann, and there is more than a dash of Hitchcock to the film as it centres around a MacGuffin (in this case a bomb) and the plot is a lean affair in which one sequence propels into another.
Although a mid-budget movie, reportedly made for around $35m, it could do better than expected as various elements combine in satisfying ways.
The action and suspense gives it across the board appeal; the central character is an honourable soldier who may strike a chord with flyover states; the twisty narrative will be a talking point among movie fans; and the surprising emotional chemistry could snare the date movie crowd.
Even if it doesn’t make a huge impact theatrically there seems an assured shelf life for Source Code as a sci-fi thriller with brains and ideas, even if some of them don’t seem to fully add up when the film is over.
A smart and beautifully crafted coming-of-age story marks an auspicious directorial debut for Richard Ayoade.
Set in Swansea and based on Joe Dunthorne’s novel, it explores the growing pains of 15-year old Oliver (Craig Roberts) as he falls in love with classmate Jordana (Yasmin Paige) and also struggles to prevent a new-age neighbour (Paddy Considine) from splitting up his father and (Noah Taylor) and mother (Sally Hawkins).
The time period is elusive as the lack of mobiles and computers hint that it could be the late 1980s (at one point a character mentions going to see Crocodile Dundee) or early 1990s, although presumably it has been left deliberately vague to emphasise the universal nature of the story.
It contains many familiar genre elements (articulate protagonist, voiceover, teen problems) but Ayoade manages to bring a fresh visual approach and combines it with just the right levels of comedy and emotion.
Roberts makes for a highly agreeable lead, with his articulate wit undercut by a natural insecurity about people and the world, whilst Paige manages to be both elusive and down-to-earth.
Together they make a charming pair as they go for walks on the beach, watch small fires outside industrial estates and struggle to deal with the stuff of teenage life.
The supporting roles are perfectly cast: Hawkins is a dowdy but humane presence, Taylor is a quietly withdrawn but affectionate patriarch and Considine is hilarious as spiritual guru (almost like a British version of Tom Cruise’s character in Magnolia).
At one point Oliver says that he imagines his own life as a movie and what really elevates this above most home grown British films is its obvious love for cinema.
Not only are there playful visual references to zooms but there is a real visual style here as it leaves behind the clichés that litter home grown films (council estates, cockney gangsters, country houses) and instead takes its cues from US and French directors.
Some have already observed Wes Anderson as a stylistic influence (Rushmore being the obvious touchstone) and there are numerous visual hat-tips to French new wave directors such as Truffaut and Godard with the use of jump-cuts and hand-held camera work.
The world of British comprehensive schools is also vividly depicted: the frustrated teachers, playground taunts and unreasonable peer pressure are all evoked with hilarious accuracy.
DOP Erik Alexander Wilson and Ayoade create a world filled with interesting compositions and use of colour, giving the local British settings an unusual richness.
There are also lots of impressive little touches, such as the recreation of Open University TV programs, the way in which characters speak (Considine is especially good in this regard) and even a brief cameo from executive producer Ben Stiller.
Gary Williamson’s impressive production design and Charlotte Walter’s costumes also help shape the world of the film and give it an extra visual lift.
Andrew Hewitt’s atmospheric score and the specially-composed songs by Alex Turner add to the melancholy vibe without ever descending into mawkish sentimentality or overpowering the story.
Mainstream audiences might not initially embrace the quirky style of Submarine but over time it could become a firm cult favourite as its common themes and inventive approach hit home with viewers.
On paper this is a film that contains many familiar elements but the execution is really something special and marks Ayoade as a director to watch.
Submarine opens at selected UK cinemas from Friday 18th March
Battle: Los Angeles (Sony Pictures): Sci-fi action film about a Marine platoon fighting an alien invasion in Los Angeles. Directed by Jonathan Liebesman and starring Aaron Eckhart, Michelle Rodriguez, Bridget Moynahan and Michael Pena.[12A] [Reviews] [Trailer]
Fair Game (Entertainment One): Political drama about CIA agent Valerie Plame and her diplomat husband in the run up to the Iraq War. Directed by Doug Liman and starring Naomi Watts and Sean Penn. [12A] [Reviews] [Trailer] [Read our review]
The Company Men (Universal): Drama about workers struggling to cope with corporate lay offs during the current recession. Directed by John Wells and starring Ben Affleck, Tommy Lee Jones, Chris Cooper and Rosemary DeWitt.[15] [Reviews] [Trailer] [Read our review here]
Hall Pass (warner Bros.): Comedy about a married man granted the opportunity to have an affair by his wife. Directed by The Farrelly Brothers and starring Owen Wilson and Christina Applegate. [15] [Reviews] [Trailer]
The Resident (Icon): Horror film about a young doctor suspects she may not be alone in her new Brooklyn apartment. Directed by Antti Jokinen and starring Hilary Swank, Jeffrey Dean Morgan and Christopher Lee. [15] [Reviews] [Trailer]
ALSO OUT
His & Hers (Element Pictures Distribution): Documentary about Irish women and their views on men. Directed by Ken Wardrop. [Trailer]
Legacy: Black Ops (Revolver): Conpsiracy thriller about a solider on the verge of a breakdown. Directed by Thomas Ikimi and starring Idris Elba, Eamon Walker and Monique Gabriela. [Trailer] [Reviews]
Norwegian Wood (Soda Pictures): Drama based on the 1987 novel by Haruki Murakami about two lovers struggling to deal with their past in 1960s Tokyo. Directed by Tran Anh Hung and starring Rinko Kikuchi. [15] [Reviews] [Trailer]
Life Goes On (SD Films): British-Asian drama about family struggles. Directed by Sangeeta Datta and starring Om Puri, Sharmila Tagore and Girish Karnad. [12A] [Reviews] [Trailer]
Living In Emergency (Arts Alliance): A documentary about humanitarian group Médecins Sans Frontières who provide emergency medical help to distressed countries. Directed by Mark Hopkins. [15] [Reviews] [Trailer]
It didn’t find an audience in the US but this drama is a thoughtful depiction of the American workplace during the current recession.
Exploring the contemporary economic malaise through the lens of a fictional Massachusetts company GTX, the story focuses on various employees as they gradually feel the effects of corporate downsizing.
The principle focus is on a cocksure sales guy (Ben Affleck) in his late 30s; his veteran colleague (Chris Cooper) and the company’s co-founder (Tommy Lee Jones) as they all try to deal with the pressures applied by their cost-cutting CEO (Craig T Nelson).
As they have to deal with the soul destroying effects of losing their white-collar livelihoods, they all struggle to cope with unemployment and its impact on their personal and professional lives.
Director John Wells has had an illustrious career in television with megahits like ER and The West Wing, and like those shows his debut feature deals with white-collar workers and contemporary social issues.
Some will criticise the film for not dealing with those lower down the economic food chain, but it is arguably more daring to examine the soured dreams of the American middle class.
Although by no means perfect, it is a restrained but compelling portrait of people coming to terms with the uncertainty and despair following the financial collapse of 2008.
Wells has assembled an excellent ensemble cast: Affleck convincingly displays the arc of a complacent man gradually humbled by circumstance; Rosemary DeWitt is an effective voice of reason and love as his wife; Jones brings a wise, grizzled anger to his part whilst Cooper paints a haunting portrait of an older worker in despair.
The supporting turns are also of a high standard: Nelson makes for a ruthlessly logical boss; Maria Bello is his conflicted hatchet woman; whilst Kevin Costner has his best role in some time as Affleck’s blue-collar brother-in-law who offers him work.
Set in sterile corporate offices or suburban houses, the hiring Roger Deakins as cinematographer was a master stroke: not only does he light these environments with his customary skill and taste, but he also brings a visual elegance to the film which is so well executed you barely notice it.
This is not a film with especially earth shattering revelations, as anyone with a brain can deduce that unemployment leads to misery and despair.
But the screenplay, based on extensive interviews and research, is filled with painfully accurate touches: the outplacement seminars designed to help laid off workers; the corporate obsession with the stock market; the quiet agony of trying to get re-employed, the effects on loved ones and the struggle to re-establish an identity defined by a job.
Coming at time when America and Europe is only just coming to terms with the scope of the late 2000s recession, the film is powerful reminder of the Capitalism gone horribly wrong.
No doubt that is why audiences have largely stayed away from the film, as this is a raw subject, perhaps too close to home for many individuals and families affected by job losses.
There are times when the screenplay and guitar-inflected score reach for sentimental uplift, but overall the message throughout is fairly subversive for a mainstream American film.
Not only does it point out the callow nature of corporate America but also highlights the emptiness of material possessions and shallow thinking that played a part in inflating the sub-prime mortgage bubble.
An unusually bold film, it deserves credit for confronting an issue that will unfortunately be around for some time to come.
Although it barely made a dent at the US box office, the story of ex-CIA agent Valerie Plame makes for an impressive political drama.
Despite being one of the key world events of the last decade, the Iraq War has proved to be box office poison for films attempting to deal with it.
Films such as In the Valley of Elah (2007), Body of Lies (2008), Stop-Loss (2008) and Green Zone (2010) have all shunned by mainstream US audiences who presumably don’t want to dwell on the painful consequences of a politically divisive conflict.
So it proved with Fair Game, which explores how the Bush White House leaked the identity of CIA agent Valerie Plame (Naomi Watts) in retaliation for an article her diplomat husband Joe Wilson (Sean Penn) had criticised the justification for war in 2003.
But despite the lack of interest from US audiences it is an expertly assembled piece of work and easily director Doug Liman’s best film in years.
After an opening which establishes Plame’s background as an undercover operative the drama begins when Wilson is asked to travel to Niger in order to ascertain whether they have sold uranium to Iraq.
After concluding that there’s no substance to the claim, he is enraged when the White House use his report as part of their justification for war, prompting him to write an angry counter-blast in the New York Times.
This then triggers a rebuttal by syndicated columnist Robert Novak which outs Plame and triggers not only the end of her career but a political scandal involving Vice President Cheney’s chief of staff, Scooter Libby (David Andrews) and undercover operatives endangered by the leak.
Some will have issues with the details of the script by Jez Butterworth and John Butterworth, which is largely based on the Wilson’s two memoirs.
But whatever the interpretations it weaves reporting, details and anecdotes to powerfully evoke the heady rush to war in 2003 when the Bush White House was keen to steamroller any dissent regarding the invasion.
It is also a powerful depiction of a marriage thrown into turmoil as many in the media establishment initially side with the White House having swallowed the justifications for war.
Watts is convincing as a working CIA agent, conveying her frustrations with agency politics and the consequences for her life and career.
Penn inhabits his role effectively, as one might expect, even if his performance does involve a fair bit of scenery chewing as he seeks to defend his wife and principles.
In small but significant supporting roles, Sam Shepard, Noah Emmerich, Michael Kelly and Bruce McGill are all good value as Washington insiders.
The real star though is Doug Liman and the film represents a new creative lease of life for him after making studio fare such as Mr and Mrs Smith (2005) and Jumper (2008).
Serving as his own cinematographer for the first time since Go (1999), the visuals have a compelling immediacy and the narrative moves at a decent pace despite cramming in a lot of material into the 105 minute running time.
The world of Washington circa 2003 is also effectively evoked by Jess Gonchor’s production design.
It may be some years before mainstream US culture is ready to digest the Iraq War – it took a decade before films like Platoon (1986) revisited the deep scars of Vietnam – but Fair Game is an honourable and well made reminder of the nature of the government who engineered the conflict.
Fair Game opens at UK cinemas on Friday 11th March
The Adjustment Bureau (Universal): Sci-fi drama/thriller based on a Philip K Dick story in which the affair between a New York politician (Matt Damon) and a dancer (Emily Blunt) is affected by mysterious forces keeping the lovers apart.
Directed by George Nolfi and co-starring Jon Slattery, Anthony Mackie and Terence Stamp this is a mostly disappointing affair, enlivened only by the two leads and the occasional visual flourish. Audiences will likely be turned off by middling reviews and the fact that it is anything but ‘Bourne Meets Inception’ as the poster promises with a silly quote from Total Film. [Odeon Leicester Square & Nationwide / 15] [Read our full review here]
Rango (Paramount): Animated film about a chameleon (voiced by Johnny Depp) who aspires to be a swashbuckling hero and finds himself in a Western town plagued by bandits and is forced to literally play the role in order to protect it.
Directed by Gore Verbinski it also features the voices of Isla Fisher, Bill Nighy, Alfred Molina and is produced by Nickelodeon Movies. Early reviews are very positive, which suggests this could be a big hit and an audience favourite. [Nationwide / PG]
Unknown (Optimum Releasing): After the surprise 2008 hit Taken, Liam Neeson stars in another thriller in which he kicks the crap out of dodgy Europeans. This time he plays a man who awakens from a coma, only to discover that someone has taken on his identity and that no one, (not even his wife), believes him.
Mixed reviews might hamper the box office slightly but given that this is basically an unofficial sequel to Taken, it should lure in male audiences eager for some undemanding action. Directed by Jaume Collet-Serra, it co-stars Diane Kruger and January Jones. [Nationwide12A]
Ironclad (Warner Bros.): Medieval action film set in the 13th century about a determined group of Knights who defend Rochester Castle against the tyrannical King John.
Directed by Jonathan English, it stars Paul Giamatti, James Purefoy, Brian Cox, Mackenzie Crook and Kate Mara. It has 18 credited producers, which suggests the financing was a tricky affair. [Nationwide / 15]
The Tempest (Walt Disney): Julie Taymor’s version of Shakespeare’s play reverses the gender of the lead character to Prospera (Helen Mirren) and stars David Strathairn as King Alonzo, Djimon Hounsou as Caliban, and Russell Brand as Trinculo.
Early buzz on this from the festival circuit has been terrible and it is likely to have a short life at the UK box office, before becoming of interest to academics and teachers. [Key Cities / PG]
ALSO OUT
Archipelago (Artificial Eye): Joanna Hogg’s latest film sees middle class people arguing about things on the Isles of Scilly. [Key Cities / 15]
Client 9 (Dogwoof): The latest documentary from Alex Gibney explores the rise and fall of Eliot Spitzer, the former New York Attorney General brought down after a scandal involving a prostitute. [Key Cities]
Patagonia (Verve Pictures): The stories of two women travelling are intercut as one goes through Wales, whilst the other is in Argentina. Directed by Marc Evans, it stars Matthew Rhys, Nia Roberts and Duffy, in her acting debut. [Odeon Covent Garden & Key Cities / 15]
Babies (Optimum Releasing): A look at one year in the life of four babies from around the world, from Mongolia to Namibia to San Francisco to Tokyo. [Key Cities]
The Insatiable Moon (Blue Dolphin Films): A drama about a self-proclaimed ‘son of god’, directed by Rosemary Riddell.
The African Queen (Park Circus): BFI reissue for the 1951 drama about two missionaries (Humphrey Bogart and Katherine Hepburn) in East Africa during World War I. Directed by John Huston.
An uneven hybrid of drama, romance and sci-fi turns out to be a good deal less than the sum of its parts.
Loosely based on a Philip K. Dick short story called ‘Adjustment Team‘, it involves the chance meeting of a New York politician, David Norris (Matt Damon) and a dancer named Elise (Emily Blunt) as they deal with various mysterious men who have an interest in keeping them apart.
As the film develops we gradually learn more about these shadowy figures, which include Anthony Mackie, John Slattery and Terence Stamp, why they wear Trilby hats and how they mysteriously appear at random.
Written and directed by George Nolfi (better known until now as the screenwriter of Ocean’s Twelve) it has an intriguing setup that quickly morphs into a bizarre science-fiction romance.
Despite its problems, there are certain elements which resonate: Damon is highly convincing as an aspiring politician, with scenes of him on the campaign trail featuring expertly woven in cameos from the likes of Mayor Bloomberg, Jon Stewart and James Carville, whilst Blunt makes for a charming romantic foil.
Contemporary New York is also shot in a distinctive way with several real life locations effectively blended into Kevin Thompson’s production design, even though they opted for a drab, wintry feel.
It also deals with some intriguing themes such as fate and the role of chance in our lives and Thomas Newman has a typically polished score with his trademark hanging strings and tasteful electronic flourishes.
Unfortunately the overall film is undermined by a shaky approach to the subject matter as it seems Nolfi was unsure as to what kind of story he was trying to tell.
By playing around with so many different genres, it ends up with an unsatisfactory mix of them: the thrills aren’t exciting enough, the romance is underdeveloped and ultimately the story just doesn’t engage as it should.
The men in suits seem to personify the film’s problems. Crucial to the narrative, they are never satisfactorily explained and their funny hats and flashing notebooks come across as unintentionally funny.
Furthermore, actors who play these mysterious agents, such as John Slattery, Anthony Mackie and Terence Stamp are wasted in one-note roles with lame, expository dialogue. Slattery in particular is a mere clone of his character in Mad Men.
The central concept is also never fully realised on screen. Mostly Nolfi and DP John Toll have gone for a naturalistic look but – apart from some slick use of green screen near the end – there aren’t enough compelling visual ideas, compared to films exploring similar territory like Inception (2010) or The Matrix (1999).
Much of the action is explained away as soon as it happens and the climax to which it builds is underwhelming, to say the least. You know there is a major problem when a key scene feels like a cheap copy from Monster’s Inc (2001).
To be fair, the film deserves credit for trying something different from the usual Hollywood formula (it was funded independently by Media Rights Capital and only distributed by Universal) but Dick’s provocative ideas have been lost in this underwhelming adaptation.
The Adjustment Bureau opens in the UK and the US on Friday 4th March
Werner Herzog’s latest documentary is an awe-inspiring 3D exploration of the ancient Chauvet cave in France.
Almost working as a companion piece to Encounters at the End of the World (2007), which explored the vastness exteriors of the South Pole, this film takes an interior look at a truly remarkable place.
The Chauvet-Pont-d’Arc Cave in southern France was discovered in 1994 and contains paintings and markings dating back thousands of years to the Paleolithic era.
Enter Herzog, a filmmaker with a knack of unearthing the poetic in nature, who became interested in filming inside the carefully preserved caves, which the public are not allowed to enter.
Unlike his documentaries about eccentric individuals (e.g. Grizzly Man or The White Diamond), this is more about a place and the dream-like feelings which it inspires.
Filled with stalactites, pawprints and the bones of extinct animals, the interior of the caves are hypnotic, filled with charcoal drawings which suggest Paleolithic people were practising an early form of visual entertainment, or ‘proto-cinema’ as Herzog calls it.
After receiving special permission from the French government to film inside – albeit with some heavy restrictions – the German director and his small crew used specially modified 3D cameras and lights to capture the extraordinary images inside.
This adds another layer to the project as it becomes about the actual filming, as well as what the images captured might mean, and the crew and their equipment become part of the action, giving the whole thing a vérité feel.
We see Herzog and regular DP Peter Zeitlinger navigate the metal walkways inside the caves and some of the artwork is fascinating, providing glimpses of another era.
As experts talk about what’s inside, this is intercut with footage of academics talking about their findings.
The German auteur brings his probing curiosity to the interviews, discovering that a scientist used to be a circus juggler and also finding some gentle comedy in how hunting with spears might have worked thousands of years ago.
Using graphics and computer models, the film also details the relative flurry of activity that has taken place since the mid-90s as scientists have mapped the dimensions of the cave and the nature of the rock inside.
What prevents the film from being just another nature programme is Herzog’s unique presence, as his distinctive voice and working methods lend a quirky gravity to proceedings.
He seems equally absorbed by the challenges of filming outside and inside the caves, at one point using a prototype remote controlled drone (operated by Jonathan Watts) to capture shots of the local landscape.
For such a veteran director, the use of 3D cameras might seem a radical departure but it is far removed from the CGI spectacle of mainstream features using the format and enhances the claustrophobic beauty of the caves.
When the film ventures outside, the effect is less dramatic although a scene where someone literally pokes a spear towards the camera may suggest Herzog is having a laugh at Hollywood’s current adoption of the format (he has since stated that he will never use 3D again).
The atmosphere is enhanced considerably by Ernst Reijseger‘s score, which fuses strings and choral singing to compelling effect and helps create the sense of awe the film reaches for.
Cave of Forgotten Dreams is more restrained than Herzog’s previous documentaries, even though he still crams in a segment involving a radioactive albino crocodile, but the awe-inspiring subject matter and the maverick sensibilities of the director make for a perfect match.
Cave of Forgotten Dreams opens in the UK on March 25th
I Am Number Four (Walt Disney): A sci-fi drama aimed at the Twilight demographic about nine alien teens who come to Earth after their planet is destroyed by an enemy species.
Directed by D.J. Caruso (Disturbia, Eagle Eye) it stars Alex Pettyfer, Dianna Agron and Timothy Olyphant. Negative reviews in the US suggest this is a film for undiscerning teenagers. [Apollo West End, Cineworld Shaftsbury Avenue, BFI Imax Waterloo & Nationwide / 12A]
Drive Angry (Lionsgate UK): The latest action film starring Nicolas Cage sees the actor in full-on pay cheque mode (see The Wicker Man remake and Next) as he plays a character who breaks out of Hell (!) so he can stop a cult from sacrificing his infant granddaughter.
Directed by Patrick Lussier and co-starring William Fichnter and Amber Heard, this promises to shamelessly exploit every 3D trick in the book and, if successful, allow Cage buy a few more castles. [Vue West End & Nationwide / 18]
No Strings Attached (Paramount): Romantic comedy starring Natalie Portman and Ashton Kutcher as two friends who have sex one morning and make a pact to casual sex with “no strings attached”.
Directed by Ivan Reitman, this seems like more Judd Apatow influenced ‘raunchy’ comedy that only succeeds in embarrassing all concerned. Ironically, it opens in the UK on the weekend when Portamn may win an Oscar for her work in Black Swan. [Vue West End & Nationwide / 15]
The Rite (Warner Bros.): Horror film about a young priest (Colin O’Donoghue) who travels to Rome where goes to study exorcism under the guidance of an elderly Father (Anthony Hopkins).
Directed by Mikael Hafstrom and co-starring Ciaran Hinds and Alice Braga, this has got negative reviews in the US and would appear to be early year nonsense designed for the easily pleased horror fan. [Nationwide / 15]
ALSO OUT
Animal Kingdom (Optimum Releasing): Outstanding Australian crime drama about a young man who joins a Melbourne crime family headed by a sinister matriarch (Jackie Weaver) and the cop (Guy Pearce) who tries to tempt him away.
An astonishing debut feature for David Michôd, it is filled with excellent performances, especially Ben Mendelsohn as a creepily psychotic villain, and the writing, music and visuals are all first class. Optimum will be hoping the strong reviews and festival buzz over the past year will translate into respectable art-house business. [Curzon Soho & Nationwide / 15] [Read our full review here]
Waste Land (Entertainment One): Oscar-nominated documentary that follows Brazilian artist Vik Muniz as he goes back to Rio and recruits garbage pickers from a landfill site to create art out of rubbish.
Directed by Lucy Walker, it is an accessible and inspiring look at an unlikely and fascinating subject. Critical buzz and Oscar recognition could provide a boost to its art-house prospects. [Apollo West End & Key Cities / PG]
Howl (Soda Pictures): The life of Beat poet Allen Ginsberg (played by James Franco) is recounted through his Six Gallery debut and the 1957 obscenity trial related to his poem Howl.
Written and directed by Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman, it co-stars Jon Hamm and David Strathairn. After opening at Sundance in 2010 it has got middling reviews and may struggle to break out of its arthouse niche. [Soho, Wimbledon Curzon, Notting Hill Gate, Ritzy Brixton & Key Cities / 15]
West Is West (Icon): The long-delayed sequel to East is East (1999), is set four years after that film in 1975 as Father George Khan takes his youngest son, Sajid (now 15) to Pakistan.
Directed by Andy DeEmmony, it stars Aqib Khan, Om Puri, Linda Bassett, Ila Arun and Jimi Mistry. Lack of critical buzz and a general sense of ‘why are they making this now?’ could hamper its commercial prospects. [Empire Leicester Square & Nationwide / 15]
A superbly crafted Australian crime drama filled with excellent performances marks a stunning debut feature for director David Michôd.
Set in Melbourne, and loosely based on real events, it tells the story of Joshua Cody (James Frecheville), a teenager who joins a crime family headed by his grandmother, Janine ‘Smurf’ Cody (Jacki Weaver).
We gradually realise that his new suburban home is a snake pit of illegality featuring a sinister eldest son Pope (Ben Mendelsohn), his business partner Baz (Joel Edgerton), the livewire drug dealer Craig (Sullivan Stapleton) and the quiet Darren (Luke Ford).
When a local police officer (Guy Pearce) engaged in a lengthy battle with the family tries to tempt Joshua to help him bring down the Cody family, things start to escalate.
Skilfully avoiding crime movie clichés, Animal Kingdom has a distinctive, brooding menace that you rarely see in modern cinema, let alone the crime genre.
This is a claustrophobic and unpredictable world in which hardly anyone can be trusted and where slow burning tensions instantly explode.
Interestingly, the focus is kept mostly on the Cody clan and the police form a shadowy background presence, popping up like eagles snatching eggs from the family nest.
It works more as a riveting character study than a conventional crime film and features some brilliant ensemble acting: Frecheville is quietly brilliant as the protagonist; Weaver is wonderfully charismatic as the Lady Macbeth matriarch and Mendelsohn is hypnotic as one of the creepiest villains in recent film history.
Michôd must be given huge credit for the fact that this is a crime movie with no obvious influences. At times it appears to be channelling Michael Mann and Michael Haneke, but it has its own unique flavour.
Part of what makes the film so effective is that terror can lurk in the most everyday places, so the audience – like the protagonist – is always kept on edge and doesn’t quite know who to trust.
One scene in which a car reverses out of a suburban garage is masterfully wrought with dread and tension.
The confident, widescreen visuals by DP Adam Arkapaw are highly effective, contrasting the shadowy, interior worlds of bungalows and offices with the harsh exterior light of Southern Australia.
A distinctive score by Antony Partos adds to the atmosphere of dread and overall Michôd has crafted one of the most accomplished films to come out of Australia in recent years.
Directed by Jon Chu, it also features Justin Bieber, Miley Cyrus and Jaden Smith. The hordes of young fans (or ‘Beliebers’) are likely to make this a financial success and some surprisingly strong reviews are going to provide some degree of comfort for parents dreading the thought of watching it alongside screaming kids. [Nationwide / U]
Big Momma’s: Like Father, Like Son (20th Century Fox): Martin Lawrence reprises his role as an FBI agent who disguises himself in drag for a third time.
Directed by John Whitesell and co-starring Brandon T. Jackson, this is going to get scathing reviews but its very existence confirms the appetite for lame slapstick. [Nationwide / PG]
Inside Job (Sony Pictures): One of the most important documentaries in years explores the deeply troubling relationship between financial and political elites which triggered the global economic crisis.
Narrated by Matt Damon, it includes several highly revealing interviews and manages to clearly explain the underlying causes of how Wall Street persuaded successive governments to turn a blind eye to their practices. Nominated for an Oscar, it should do solid arthouse business on the back of great reviews and word of mouth. [Empire Leicester Square & Nationwide / 12A] [Read the full review here and listen to our interview with director Charles Ferguson here]
ALSO OUT
Confessions (Third Window Films): This startling Japanese drama is the story of a teacher (Takako Matsu) who reveals that her daughter was killed by two pupils in her class and explores the consequences of her revenge as we see the aftermath through a series of first-person narratives.
Directed by Tetsuya Nakashima and co-starring Yoshino Kimura and Masaki Okada it is similar in style and substance to films like Oldboy (2004) although has its own peculiar charms and qualities, which have helped it get nominated for the Best Foreign Film at the Oscars. A brief arthouse run will probably create some buzz before the DVD and Blu-ray release in April. [ICA, Ritzy, Genesis & Key Cities / 15]
Day for Night (BFI): A re-issue of the Francois Truffaut film about the making of a film, stars Jacqueline Bisset and Jean-Pierre Léaud. [BFI Southbank, Filmhouse Edinburgh & Key Cities]
True Grit (Paramount): This beautifully crafted Western from the Coen Brothers is a much richer adaptation of the Charles Portis novel than the 1969 film version. It begins in Arkansas during the 1870s with a young girl named Mattie Ross (Hailee Steinfeld) hiring grizzled US Marshal Rooster Cogburn (Jeff Bridges) to track down her father’s killer (Josh Brolin).
A Texas Ranger named Le Beouf (Matt Damon), who is also after Chaney, joins them as they head out into Indian Territory (present day Oklahoma) and, despite their differences in age and temperament, gradually form a close bond. Although regarded by some as a remake of the film that finally won John Wayne his first Oscar, this is actually more faithful to the original novel, preserving the point of view of Mattie and its distinctive depiction of the Wild West.
Both the town of Fort Smith and the rugged surrounding landscape are recreated with consummate skill: regular cinematographer Roger Deakins shoots the terrain with a harsh beauty and Jess Gonchor’s production design helps create a detailed, but never romanticised, world.
Coming off positive reviews, Oscar nominations and surprisingly strong box office in the US, it stands a good chance of doing decent business here, although UK audiences are notoriously resistant to the Western genre. But the sheer quality and the fact that The King’s Speech has peaked in popularity could be factors in discerning audiences going to see this. [Vue West End & Nationwide / 15] [Read our full review]
Never Let Me Go (20th Century Fox): Adapted from Kazuo Ishiguro’s novel this is an exquisitely crafted drama set in an alternate timeline of England, where a young woman named Kathy (Carey Mulligan) looks back on her childhood when she grew up with two friends, Ruth (Keira Knightley) and Tommy (Andrew Garfield). As youngsters they attend Hailsham, a boarding school sheltering them from the outside world, and as they grow older it slowly dawns on them that they have been excluded from mainstream society for a reason.
From the opening credits director Mark Romanek establishes a carefully controlled mood, and for the early section we see younger actors (Isobel Meikle-Small, Ella Purnell and Charlie Rowe) convincingly play the three leads as children in 1978. Hints are dropped fairly early on about the mysterious nature of their youth, alongside a developing love triangle as Kathy realises Tommy, who she bonded with from an early age, is in love with Ruth.
The recreation of an ageing English boarding school is thoroughly convincing, with some first rate costume and production design, and the transition to their teenage years in the mid-1980s is fairly seamless. Romanek handles the material with considerable skill and technically the film is exquisitely made: Adam Kimmel’s widescreen cinematography and Barney Pilling’s editing all help to create a rich mood of sadness and regret.
Although it seemed like an early contender for BAFTAs and Oscars, the early reactions on the festival circuit were mixed and it ended up dying a quick death at the US box office. Its UK release was timed for BAFTA nominations which never materialised. It will probably suffer the same fate here as the nature of the story will put some viewers off. Nevertheless, it is a film of considerable craft, emotion and intelligence that deserves to find a wider audience over time. [Curzon Mayfair, Vue West End & Nationwide / 12A] [Read our full review here]
Paul (Universal): A new comedy about two British comic geeks (Simon Pegg and Nick Frost) who go on a road trip through America only to discover an alien named Paul (voiced by Seth Rogen) who has escaped from Area 51. [Nationwide from Monday 14th / 15]
Just Go With It (Sony Pictures): A romantic comedy starring Adam Sandler and Jennifer Aniston based on the 1969 film Cactus Flower about a plastic surgeon who pretends to be unhappily married in order to get women. [Nationwide / 12A]
ALSO OUT
Son Of Babylon (Dogwoof): A Iraqi drama directed by Mohamed Al-Daradji set in 2003 about a 12-year-old boy and his grandmother who go on a cross-country journey to find a loved one. [Empire Leicester Square & Key Cities]
Nothing To Declare (Pathe): A comedy written and directed by Dany Boon set in 1993, about two customs officers, one Belgian and the other French, who find out their small customs post is to be closed. [Showing exclusively at Cine Lumiere]
The Flying Machine (Break Thru Films): A a part animation part live action production, celebrating the life of Frederic Chopin. [Royal Festival Hall / 12th & 13th Only]
Two In The Wave (New Wave Films): A documentary about Jean-Luc Godard and Francois Truffaut and their creative and personal differences. [BFI Southbank, ICA & Key Cities / ]
My Kidnapper (Renegade Pictures): Documentary about Mark Henderson, one of eight backpackers taken hostage in Colombia during 2003. [Ritzy Picturehouse & selected Key Cities]
Tantric Tourists (Independent/Slack Alice Films): A documentary about a tantric guru and 10 US students who go to India in search of a life-changing tantric experience. [Opens on February 14th in Key Cities]
How did hotly anticipated Oscar contender Never Let Me Go fall out of the race and die a box office death?
This week sees the UK release of the highly accomplished adaptation of Kazuo Ishiguro’s acclaimed novel, which is about three children who grow up together and slowly realise their lives are not what they expected.
A prestige project financed by Film4, DNA Films and Fox Searchlight, it was only last summer that it seemed like a solid awards season candidate.
All the right ingredients were there: a talented director in Mark Romanek, a script by Alex Garland and a promising young cast featuring Carey Mulligan, Andrew Garfield, Keira Knightley and Sally Hawkins.
When the first one sheet poster and trailer appeared around June, it looked like Fox Searchlight’s formidable marketing machine was clicking into gear.
The buzz established there can be the fuel that sustains an awards campaign, as was the case in 2008 when Slumdog Millionaire began its all-conquering Oscar run at Telluride.
This year the big audience favourite was The King’s Speech, which got people buzzing and pundits immediately declaring it as an Oscar front runner.
There seemed to be an aversion to the actions of the main characters, especially in the final stages of the film, although to say anymore would be venturing into spoiler territory.
In one interview Garland said that some people ‘hated’ the film and Romanek even pointed people (via Twitter) to Ishiguro’s defence of why the characters act the way they do.
This mixed buzz would have been alarming for the team at Fox Searchlight who had hoped this would be one of their major Oscar contenders. But worse was to come.
Most films like Never Let Me Go are given a platform release, which means that they open gradually in major cities, hoping to build on good reviews and positive word of mouth.
On its opening weekend in mid-September, it played at 4 cinemas in New York and Los Angeles, scoring an impressive $120,830, and Sheila DeLoach of Fox Searchlight seemed upbeat, saying to IndieWire:
“It’s one of the top opening per screen averages of a limited film this year, and we feel we’ll have good word of mouth.”
But as the studio expanded the number of screens, audiences stayed away and it gradually died a box office death over the next few weeks, ultimately grossing just $2.4m in the US against a reported production budget of $15m.
In late October the LA Times published a post-mortem piece speculating as to why it didn’t catch fire citing:
the melancholy tone
mixed reviews
lack of appeal to male viewers
the high expectations set by the novel
issues with the release date.
It was around this time that I saw the film at the London Film Festival and remember being deeply impressed with the world created by Romanek and the performances (especially Mulligan) whilst also feeling that it was emotionally distant.
But something about it stayed with me and on a recent second viewing in anticipation for the UK release, it struck me that the film might be too effective for its own good.
The powerful, unnerving sadness baked into the story hit a profound chord as deeper themes slowly emerged.
On the surface the it deals with how precious time is, but you could also see it as a story about the way a society rationalises cruelty for the greater good.
The characters in the film could represent anyone in the unfortunate position of being deemed expendable in the eyes of the wider public, be they the homeless, the dispossessed or simple transgressors.
What really hit home on second viewing was a social resonance which Ishiguro probably didn’t intend when he wrote the novel but which the film eerily catches in the current era.
That is how the three central characters, as children and young adults, all seem represent the younger generation of today, one which will potentially pay a heavy price for the prolificacy and greed of the one that spawned them.
Two scenes drive this home: one where a teacher (Sally Hawkins) cryptically explains to her pupils what their life will be and another late on in the film where a key character quietly explains something truly devastating.
In short, you could read Never Let Me Go as a parable of the expendable or how one generation suffers for the sins of its parents.
The focus on the innocence and emotions of the central characters, gently suffocated by wider social forces, is what makes the film really affecting.
But perhaps the sci-fi framework, revealed at the beginning, along with the muted colour palette put some people off from engaging with the film.
It is largely a moot point whether or not the characters ‘accept’ their lives, because the film is – in part- about that very notion of acceptance and how people are conditioned for various reasons to accept their lot.
This is the melancholy truth at the heart of story, which makes it work artistically but not financially in the current era of austerity and gloom when audiences aren’t really up for sadness at the multiplex.
In addition the performances help keep us interested in the strange lives of Kathy, Tommy and Ruth: whilst Knightley and Garfield are good, it is Carey Mulligan’s performance as Kathy which is the emotional lynchpin of the film.
She deserved all the plaudits for her breakout role in An Education, but here she surpasses it with a performance of great emotional range.
Whilst enduring the slow-burning torment of having her one true love stolen by her best friend, she reacts to this (and worse!) by becoming a thoroughly decent and compassionate person.
This is heartbreaking to watch and Mulligan doesn’t hit a false note, especially in the key final act.
Mark Romanek also brings his considerable technical skills to the table and with the help of his DP Adam Kimmell captures the English locations with a piercing eye for detail and the haunting beauty of the landscape.
Although he has only directed two features before this – the little seen Static (1985) and One Hour Photo (2002) – he puts things together with the assurance of an accomplished veteran director.
In the build up to awards like the BAFTAs and Oscars it is easy to forget films that have fallen out of the media spotlight, as but fallen contenders like Never Let Me Go are still worth a look, even if its beautifully designed one-sheet poster has been replaced with a dumbed down UK quad.
It won’t win any major awards and will leave some audiences cold, but I have a feeling that it will find a more appreciative audience over time, as its sad insights are reflected in the wider world.
Never Let Me Go opens in the UK on Friday 11th February
The Fighter (Paramount/Momentum): The real life story of boxer ‘Irish’ Micky Ward (Mark Wahlberg) and his half-brother and trainer Dickie Eklund (Christian Bale) is brought to the screen with formidable skill and energy by director David O’Russell. The story of two very different fighters from Lowell, Massachusetts, it explores the wider tensions within their large Irish family, which include his tough mother-manager (Melissa Leo), father (Jack McGee), several sisters and Micky’s girlfriend (Amy Adams).
Although the framework of the film is familiar, the performances are electric: Bale is astonishing as the crack-addicted trainer, Wahlberg nicely underplays the lead role and Leo chews up her scenes as the controlling matriarch. Working from a screenplay by Scott Silver, Paul Tamasy and Eric Johnson, director David O’Russell uses his considerable skills to transcend the limitations of the conventional boxing movie.
Part of this involves some brilliant camerawork from Hoyte Van Hoytema, which makes great use of handheld and Steadicam, drawing us in to the world of the characters and infusing the film a restless, raw energy. Another clever element is the visual look of the boxing sequences, shot on video to duplicate the TV look of HBO pay-per-view fights in the 1990s, with ringside reactions, instant-replays and image pixelation.
Like his best films, O’Russell seems to inspire technical excellence across the board: the acting, cinematography, Pamela Martin’s editing, and the convincing period detail are all stellar and they combine to create a convincing portrait of the boxing world. [Read our full review] [Odeon Leicester Square & Nationwide / 15]
Brighton Rock (Optimum Releasing): Graham Greene’s classic crime novel has been updated to the 1960s, during the Mods and Rockers era, with budding gangster Pinkie Brown (Sam Riley) in charge of a protection mob challenging the status quo of Colleoni (Andy Serkis). When a chance sequence of events leads to an incriminating photograph being taken, Pinkie seduces the innocent Rose (Andrea Riseborough) in order to avert arrest.
Directed by Rowan Joffe and co-starring Helen Mirren and John Hurt, the film got a decidedly mixed reception at the London Film Festival (where it screened in the surprise film slot) although other reviews have been more positive. It will need very good word of mouth to make an impact in the current box office climate. [Curzon Soho, Hampstead Everyman & Nationwide / 15]
Rabbit Hole (Metrodome Distribution): Adapted for the screen by David Lindsay-Abaire from his own Pulitzer Prize-winning play, this drama explores the grief of a married couple (Nicole Kidman and Aaron Eckhart) who struggle to cope with the aftermath following the loss of their young child. Although a lot of potential viewers (especially parents of young children) will find the subject matter radioactive, this is a powerful and absorbing film filled with fine performances.
The two leads are superb as they depict complex emotions of loss and love, whilst in the supporting cast Miles Teller is terrific as the teenager Kidman’s character strikes up a friendship with. Director John Cameron-Mitchell has crafted a moving film, the kind that is rarely seen in modern Hollywood, and although the subject matter has meant less-than-stellar US box office, it is well worth seeking out. [The Renoir, Electric Cinema, Clapham Picture House, Everyman Belsize Park & Key Cities / 12A]
Sanctum (Universal): Presented as ‘James Cameron’s Sanctum’ this tale of underwater explorers who get trapped in underground caves combines his passions for deep sea exploration and 3D. However, Cameron is only an executive producer on the film which is directed by Alister Grierson and stars Richard Roxburgh as a diver who wants to be the first to explore the Esa-ala cave system in the South Pacific, only for things to go horribly wrong.
Co-starring Rhys Wakefield and Ioan Gruffudd, the posters and publicity will probably have fooled many suspecting viewers in to thinking it is the new 3D film from Cameron, which could be a disappointment for some. [Vue West End & Nationwide / 15]
ALSO OUT
The Clink Of Ice (Wild Bunch): French black comedy written and directed by Bertrand Blierabout an alcoholic writer (Jean Dujardin) who is confronted by an incarnation of his own cancer (Albert Dupontel). [Cine Lumiere]
A Little Bit Of Heaven (Entertainment Film Distributors): A romantic comedy directed by Nicole Kassell about a woman (Kate Hudson) with cancer who meets her soulmate (Gael García Bernal). [Odeon West End & Nationwide / 12A]
Nenette (Artificial Eye): Documentary by Nicolas Philibert (best known for Être et Avoir) about an orang-utan who is the oldest inhabitant at the oldest zoo in the world, in Paris. [Curzon Renoir / PG]
New York I Love You (The Works): A belated release for this collective work of eleven short films, with each segment running around 10 minutes long. The various segments star Natalie Portman, Shia LaBeouf, Hayden Christensen, Orlando Bloom, Irrfan Khan, James Caan and Christina Ricci with each shooting their part in one of New York’s five boroughs. [Curzon Mayfair & Key Cities / 15]
Silken Skin (bfi Distributors): A re-release for Francois Truffaut’s Hitchcockian tale of adultery which the director described as ‘a violent answer to Jules Et Jim’, his previous film about a love triangle. [BFI Southbank & Key Cities / PG]
Tangled (Walt Disney): Disney’s latest animated film is a reworking of Rapunzel, featuring a young maiden with magical hair (Mandy Moore) who lives in a secluded tower, until a visiting thief (Zachary Levi) shows her the outside world. In keeping with the renaissance of Disney Animation under the guidance of John Lasseter, Tangled is a satisfying and well-crafted affair with a good mix of heart and humour.
The 3D is very well done – although not entirely necessary – and visually the hair works a treat, with the animators finding ever more creative ways to manipulate it for narrative and comic effect. Directed by Nathan Greno and Byron Howard, it is reportedly the second most expensive film of all time due to years of development, but it has already grossed over $400m worldwide and along with strong reviews is likely to do excellent business over here with family audiences. [Vue West End & Nationwide / PG]
Hereafter (Warner Bros.): Clint Eastwood’s latest outing as a director is this curious tale of three people across the world affected in different ways by death. There is a French TV presenter (Cécile de France) who narrowly surviving the 2004 Asian Tsunami; a former psychic (Matt Damon) in San Francisco who feels cursed by abilities; and a London schoolboy (Frankie McLaren) grieving after losing his twin brother.
Scripted by Peter Morgan, best known for political dramas The Queen (2006) and Frost/Nixon (2008), the material boldly dives in to big themes but as it progresses feels curiously disjointed and more like an early draft of something more profound.
The intercutting of the three stories at first feels like a bold move but soon becomes wearying and as the film enters into the final act, the curious lack of tension or revelation for a subject as big as death feels oddly underwhelming. Box office is likely to be as muted as it was in the US, where it sank relatively quickly after mixed reviews. [Nationwide / 12A] [Read full review here]
Barney’s Version (Universal Pictures): Adapted from the novel by Mordecai Richler, this comedy-drama stars Paul Giamatti as Barney Panofsky, a man who falls for a woman (Rosamund Pike) at the wedding to his second wife (Minnie Driver).
Narrated by the central character, the film spans 30 years of his odd life – from his first marriage, his affair with a free spirit (Rachelle Lefevre), his third marriage and his relationship with his loyal father (Dustin Hoffman). Directed by Richard J. Lewis, it has got mostly positive reviews in the US although it will face significant challenges to find an audience over here in a crowded week. [Empire Leicester Square & Nationwide / 15]
How Do You Know (Sony Pictures): A romantic comedy centering around a softball player (Reese Witherspoon), an executive (Paul Rudd) and a baseball pitcher (Owen Wilson) for the Washington Nationals.
Directed by James L Brooks, it co-stars Jack Nicholson as Rudd’s father and boss but bombed in the US, triggering an industry debate about how much a film like this should really cost. Box office here is likely to be similar. [Nationwide / 12A]
The Mechanic (Lionsgate UK): A remake of the 1972 thriller, with Jason Statham as the title character, a professional assassin who hunts down the murderers of his friend Harry (Donald Sutherland). Directed by Simon West, it is unlikely to win any critical support or acting awards. It will probably find its natural home on DVD. [Nationwide / 15]
ALSO OUT
Biutiful (Optimum Releasing): A powerful depiction of life on the edges of a modern city, the latest film from Alejandro González Iñárritu is a full on experience featuring a dazzling central performance by Javier Bardem. Marking a break from his triptych of films with screenwriter Guillermo Arriaga, Biutiful is the more linear tale of Uxbal (Bardem), a father struggling in the slums of contemporary Barcelona.
The character is brought vividly to life by an incredible central performance by Javier Bardem: in addition to his magnetic screen presence, he convinces as a shady, underworld operator but also conveys his interior emotions with remarkable grace and authenticity.
Iñárritu is a director who likes to deal with big themes on a wide canvas, which can run the risk of seeming grandiose or self-important. But Biutiful – the title comes from a misspelling within the story – is admirable precisely because it tackles huge subjects with an unusual intensity and a refreshing lack of distance or irony.
The film’s grim milieu is expertly realised and, to its great credit, doesn’t shy away from showing the stark reality of a modern metropolis built on cheap labour and the suffering of the poor. Technical contributions are especially of note here: Rodrigo Prieto’s handheld camerawork, Stephen Mirrione’s editing and the sound design by Martin Hernandez are all first class.
Optimum will be hoping for buzz of Bardem’s Oscar nominated performance but this is a tough watch, even for discerning arthouse audiences, and will do well to make an impact. [Curzon Soho & Nationwide /15] [Listen to our interview with Alejandro González Iñárritu here]
Accursed Blood (Metrodome): A horror film starring Kellan Lutz and Roddy Piper, about five people who unlease a curse in a hotel. [Altrincham, Burnely, Leamington, Redditch Appollos & Key Cities]
How Much Does Your Building Weigh, Mr Foster? (Dogwoof): A documentary by Deyan Sudjic about the architect Norman Foster, who has designed Beijing airport and the revamped Reichstag in Berlin. [ICA & selected Key Cities]
Men on the Bridge (Verve Pictures): Turkish drama following the lives of three young inhabitants from the suburbs of Istanbul. Directed by Asli Ozge. [Odeon Panton Street, BFI Southbank & Key Cities]
The Lovers’ Guide 3D (Optimum Releasing): A 3d update of the 1991 Lovers’ Guide video presumably intended as some kind of cash-in or joke. Or maybe both. [Selected cinemas / 18]
Zebra Crossing (Exile Media): A drama set against the backdrop of a south London council state, directed by Sam Holland. [Riverside Hammersmith & Selected Cinemas / 18]
The Dilemma (Universal): Directed by Ron Howard, this comedy is about a Chicago car designer (Vince Vaughn) who discovers that the wife (Winona Ryder) of his best friend and business partner (Kevin James) is having an affair. However, various circumstances prevent him from telling the truth to his friend and this in turn causes problems with his own girlfriend (Jennifer Connelly).
Written by Allan Loeb, it deserves credit for trying to be something more than a run-of-the-mill romantic comedy but several elements conspire against it. The lead characters are not especially sympathetic, which doesn’t help when the film tries to be more serious and the idea of James and Ryder as a believable on-screen couple is ludicrous.
There are promising moments but mostly the humour appears to be wearily copied from the Judd Apatow school of comedy: crude slapstick undercut by cheesy life lessons. For a comedy, it has an impressive visual look – shot by Salvatore Totino – but ultimately it drags for much of its running time and just isn’t that funny.
Given the lack of buzz, hideous poster and flurry of films out at UK cinemas, Universal will be hoping that undiscerning couples will opt to see this. [Nationwide / 12A]
Morning Glory (Paramount): A comedy-drama about a TV producer (Rachel McAdams) who gets the job working for a US morning show with two contrasting presenters (Diane Keaton and Harrison Ford).
Directed by Roger Michell and written by Aline Brosh McKenna, who penned The Devil Wears Prada, it has some similarities to the 2006 film, with a young woman thrust into a powerful position at a high-pressured workplace. The mixed reviews in the US and lacklustre box office probably mean that UK audiences aren’t going to embrace it, despite the startling coincidence of the film’s TV show sharing the same name (‘Daybreak’) with ITV’s recently relaunched breakfast programme. [Nationwide / 12A]
Black Swan (20th Century Fox): Darren Aronofsky’s dark psychological drama explores the world of a ballerina having a meltdown during a production of Swan Lake. When Nina (Natalie Portman) gets the lead part, various factors start causing her problems, including a suffocating mother (Barbara Hershey), a tyrannical director (Vincent Cassell) and a free-spirited rival (Mila Kunis).
Intriguing parallels with The Wrestler abound: both examine the physical and mental costs of being a performer; show the pressures of ageing; feature a character’s desire to connect; and climax with a grand flourish. Black Swan goes further in cranking up the tension and, along with a paranoid, unreliable narrator, there is an unusual amount of visual effects shots that depict the crumbling reality of Nina’s world.
Natalie Portman now seems like a strong favourite for the Best Actress Oscar with her captivating central performance. In what is easily the best part of her career, she conveys a believable kaleidoscope of emotions – including fear, aggression and pain – in a relentless push for artistic perfection.
A bold and exhilarating film, it has deservedly reaped a lot of buzz on the festival circuit, although the heightened style is likely to divide general audiences. Given that it has already grossed $76m in the US on limited release Fox will be quietly confident about its prospects over here with upscale audiences and those curious to see what all the fuss is about. [Read our full review here] [Nationwide / 15]
ALSO OUT
Neds (Entertainment One UK): Peter Mullan’s third feature as a writer and director, after Orphans and The Magdalene Sisters, returns him to the 1970s Glasgow of his youth.
The title stands for “Non Educated Delinquents” and is about about a young man’s journey from prize-winning schoolboy to knife-carrying youth. The cast features Martin Bell, Linda Cuthbert, Richard Mack and Connor McCarron. [Selected cinemas nationwide / 18]
John Carpenter’s The Ward (Warner Bros): The first horror film form John Carpenter in several years involves a young woman (Amber Heard) who is haunted by a mysterious ghost in a psychiatric hospital during the 1960s.
Co-starring Jared Harris, it is very much Carpenter on autopilot with few real scares and an air of predictability hanging over most scenes. [Selected cinemas nationwide / 15]
Get Low (Sony Pictures): A quirky drama about an old man named Felix Bush (Robert Duvall) who lives as a hermit in the woods and surprises the locals by demanding a “living funeral”.
This leads to the owner of a local funeral parlor (Bill Murray) agreeing to let the townsfolk tell Felix the stories they’ve heard about him, but as his ‘funeral’ gets neaerer he promises to reveal why he has been in the woods for so many years. [Selected cinemas nationwide / PG]
I Spit On Your Grave (Anchor Bay Films): A remake of the 1978 horror film, in which a rape victim (Sarah Butler) goes vengeful rampage against the locals perpetrators. Directed by Steven R. Monroe. [Selected cinemas]
Breakfast at Tiffany’s (BFI): A reissue of the 1961 romantic comedy starring Audrey Hepburn and George Peppard.
Honeymooner (Soda Pictures): British film about a twenty-something man (Gerard Kearns) who tries to get his life back on track after a marriage proposal gone wrong. [Selected cinemas]
The Portuguese Nun (ICA Cinema): Drama about a French actress (Leonor Baldaque) who arrives in Lisbon to film a few scenes from an adaptation of the classic 17th-century text Letters of a Portuguese Nun, which details the eponymous figure’s romance with a naval officer.
Ride, Rise, Roar (Kaleidoscope Entertainment): A documentary film following David Byrne and Brian Eno on their tour during 2008–2009, including concert footage and interviews with the musicians and dancers.
Living on Love Alone (BAC Films): French drama from director Isabelle Czajka about a young woman (Anaïs Demoustier) who finds refuge from her soul-destroying jobs with a young actor (Pio Marmaï), who shows her another way to live life.
Three parallel stories connected by life after death make for an ambitious but disappointing drama.
Clint Eastwood’s directing career over the last few years has encompassed diverse subject matter, including female boxing (Million Dollar Baby), World War II (Falgs of Our Fathers, Letters From Iwo Jima), retired car workers (Gran Torino), missing children (Changeling) and the 1995 Rugby World Cup (Invictus).
But even by his eclectic standards Hereafter is something of a curveball, exploring how three characters across the globe are affected by the afterlife in different ways.
There is a French TV presenter (Cécile de France) obsessed with death after narrowly surviving the 2004 Asian Tsunami; a former psychic (Matt Damon) in San Francisco who feels cursed by his ability to communicate with the dead; and a London schoolboy (Frankie McLaren) struggling to cope after losing his twin brother.
Scripted by Peter Morgan, best known for political dramas The Queen (2006) and Frost/Nixon (2008), the material boldly dives in to big themes but as it progresses feels curiously disjointed and more like an early draft of something more profound.
The intercutting of the three stories at first feels like a bold move but soon becomes wearying and as the film enters into the final act, the curious lack of tension or revelation for a subject as big as death feels oddly underwhelming.
All this is exacerbated by Eastwood’s signature pared down directing style which (with the exception of the opening) keeps things low key and distant.
This gave his better films of recent years (Mystic River, Letters From Iwo Jima) a slow burning power and richness, but here it works against the material, muting the themes and emotions of the lead characters.
There are parts of the film that show promise: the San Francisco section handles the potentially laughable subject of psychics with an elegant restraint and Damon conveys the loneliness of a decent man haunted by a strange gift.
In a similar way, Cécile de France is convincing as a career woman profoundly touched by death and a scene where she visits a clinic, hints at a more interesting film about humans can briefly experience the afterlife.
Instead the afterlife is presented through the cliché of quick cuts, sound effects and glowing white CGI which is both disappointing and underwhelming.
This is compounded by the London section, which not only bungles key details of the 2005 London bombings (getting the tube stations wrong) but suffers from a dramatic inertia, compounded by a bizarre final section in the city which is lacking in tension.
Morgan’s initial script may have stood out in Hollywood because he wrote it on spec – rather than be commissioned by a studio – and the unusual elements might have piqued Eastwood’s interest because they weren’t chasing an industry trend.
(Strangely, films dealing with death and loss suddenly now appear to be more common, with Never Let Me Go, Biutiful, Enter the Void and Inception all exploring these themes in different ways.)
To be fair to the veteran director, his handling of the locations and interior scenes is impressive, with Tom Stern’s lean and clean cinematography featuring a little more movement than their previous collaborations.
Eastwood’s score is also a plus, with the guitar and piano providing a nice counterpoint to the struggle of the different characters struggling to comprehend their situations.
Some scenes hint at what might have been: such as a quietly disturbing psychic reading on a first date; the startling opening sequence and a brief discussion about the commonality of near-death experiences.
The film deals with the subject of death without the loud bombast favoured by mainstream cinema and moves at a reasonable, if fractured, pace but the story never really digs deep or rises to be anything special.
A set of underdeveloped ideas and a patchwork, dislocated narrative provide a weak foundation, which means that by the curiously uninvolving climax you might have forgotten it is about arguably the biggest subject of all.
Ultimately Hereafter is a film which chooses not to stare death in the face, but give it a distracted, passing glance.
In the latest drama from director Alejandro González Iñárritu, an underworld fixer in Barcelona struggles to deal with his family’s future and his own mortality.
Uxbal (Javier Bardem) oversees an illegal underground operation involving immigrant workers, drugs and construction, whilst also trying to be a good man to his estranged wife (Maricel Álvarez) and his two children (Hanaa Bouchaib and Guillermo Estrella).
Notable for an outstanding lead performance from Bardem, the film powerfully explores the dark edges of a modern city and the lives of those who live in it.
It marks a break from Iñárritu’s triptych with screenwriter Guillermo Arriaga (Amores Perros, 21 Grams and Babel) and I recently spoke with the director in London about his latest work.
You can also download this interview as a podcast via iTunes by clicking here.
N.B. The title of the film refers to the orthographical spelling in Spanish of the English word beautiful as it would sound to native Spanish speakers.
Biutiful opens in the UK on Friday 28th January and is already in limited release in the US
It begins in Arkansas during the 1870s with a young girl named Mattie Ross (Hailee Steinfeld) hiring grizzled US Marshal Rooster Cogburn (Jeff Bridges) to track down her father’s killer (Josh Brolin).
A Texas Ranger named Le Beouf (Matt Damon), who is also after Chaney, joins them as they head out into Indian Territory (present day Oklahoma) and, despite their differences in age and temperament, gradually form a close bond.
Although regarded by some as a remake of the film that finally won John Wayne his first Oscar, this is actually more faithful to the original novel, preserving the point of view of Mattie and its distinctive depiction of the Wild West.
Both the town of Fort Smith and the rugged surrounding landscape are recreated with consummate skill: regular cinematographer Roger Deakins shoots the terrain with a harsh beauty and Jess Gonchor’s production design helps create a detailed, but never romanticised, world.
The wintry setting makes for palette which emphasizes blacks, browns and greys, which is in stark contrast to the garish Technicolor of the Henry Hathaway film.
Aspects of the setting such as the rough way of life and the violence also mark this out from the previous version.
Not only does this help make the current film distinctive but also provides a convincing backdrop for the actors to shine, although it might surprise some audiences how much of a presence Steinfeld has in the film.
In what is effectively the lead role, she anchors the narrative and acts as a surrogate for the audience, as we see much of the action through her perspective.
A precocious performance, it is amongst the best any child actor has given in recent years and bodes well for her future career.
As Cogburn, Bridges banishes any lingering memories of Wayne in the role, mixing the grizzled, boozy charm of his country singer in Crazy Heart with the believable tough streak of a hardened lawman.
Damon has the slightly lighter role of Le Beouf (pronounced ‘Le Beef’), but his comic timing is impeccable and provides an excellent foil for Bridges and Steinfeld.
All three main actors cope well with the affected dialogue, which the Coens have gleefully taken straight from the novel, and this is mirrored by quirky ‘Coenesque’ behaviour, which involves characters shooting at cornbread and arguing about Confederate guerrillas.
With less screen time, actors such as Brolin and Barry Pepper (as ‘Lucky’ Ned Pepper) make a strong impression and there are the usual array of distinctive, odd-looking minor characters that often crop up in the work of the Coens.
Carter Burwell’s plaintive score is moving without ever being sentimental and provides a highly satisfying mix of hymns, strings and piano to augment the action.
Despite featuring the ironic tone so beloved of the Coen Brothers, there is a pleasing sincerity to Mattie’s quest, as her scripture-fuelled journey captures her determination and spirit, which rubs off on the men around her.
This is something that is movingly depicted as the film reaches its latter stages.
Certain memorable sequences, such as a group hanging or the climax, skilfully weave humour in with genuine tension, showing the light and shade of the West as originally imagined by Charles Portis.
Since the book and previous film came out in the cultural tumult of the late 1960s, the image of John Wayne cast a long shadow over the source material, obscuring the way in which Portis slyly undercut the very traditions of the Western that ‘Duke’ embodied.
The Coens have translated this humour and pathos for a time of similar cultural transition, making a Western that both celebrates and wryly debunks the genre.
A reminder of their prodigious filmmaking talent, it is also an evocation of a distant time and place that feels strangely radical in the current era of Hollywood.
True Grit is out in the US and opens in the UK on Friday 11th February
The Green Hornet (Sony Pictures): This story featuring the masked vigilante, who previously appeared in radio serials, comic books and a TV series, updates the action to modern day Los Angeles. When Britt Reid (Seth Rogen), inherits his father’s media empire, he decides to turn his life around and become a crime fighter with the help of a mysterious employee named Kato (Jay Chou).
After recruiting a new secretary (Cameron Diaz), Britt (aka The Green Hornet) takes on a Russian crime boss (Christoph Waltz) who is controlling the city’s underworld operations.
Unlike more recent superhero adaptations, the tone here is closer to an irreverent 1980s action-comedy, with the script by Rogen and Evan Goldberg showing glimpses of their work on Superbad (2007) and Pineapple Express (2008). There are some amusing moments, mainly between Rogen and Chou as they get to know each other, but mostly this is formulaic stuff.
One dimensional characters, explosions, Matrix-style fight sequences and a general feel of creative auto-pilot make you wonder if Michel Gondry actually directed this.
This is getting a major release, so it will be very interesting to see how it fares against The King’s Speech and 127 Hours as they enter their second weeks. Bad word of mouth could be a problem for a comedy like this but the action could be a pull for undemanding audiences. [Read the full review here] [Nationwide / 12A]
Conviction (20th Century Fox): A legal drama based on the real life case of Betty Anne Waters (HIlary Swank), an unemployed single mother who exonerated her wrongfully convicted brother (Sam Rockwell) of murder over the course of two decades.
Directed by Tony Goldwyn, the case makes for a potentially gripping film which is never quite realised. Although the performances are solid (especially Swank and Rockwell), it is hampered by too many cliches and the pedestrian direction which gives it a TV-movie vibe. [Nationwide / 15]
Henry’s Crime (Entertainment Film Distributors): This offbeat romantic comedy is an unambitious man named Henry (Keanu Reeves), who has his dull routine change when he stumbles across an armed robbery crime scene and is mistaken by police for one of the robbers and thrown into jail.
There he shares a cell with career criminal Max (James Caan), who becomes a mentor of sorts and on his release, Henry joins forces with Max to commit the crime for which he figures he has already done the time, and becomes romantically entangled with local TV presenter (Vera Farmiga), who literally runs into him at the crime scene. [Nationwide / 15]
ALSO OUT
Blue Valentine (Optimum Releasing): The changes in a long-term relationship are examined with rare intimacy in this second feature from writer-director Derek Cianfrance. Over the course of several years we see how a young couple, Dean (Ryan Gosling) and Cindy (Michelle Williams), fall in and out of love over a number of years.
Juxtaposing their initial, youthful courtship (shot on super 16mm) with their marital struggles (filmed on the Red One digital camera), it employs clever framing along side the contrasting visual palettes to convey how their lives have changed.
The narrative and visual design is impressive, conveying the passage of time and providing a highly effective counterpoint for the two stages of their relationship.
Already acclaimed after a buzz-fuelled run on the festival circuit, it looks likely to snag Oscar nominations for Gosling and Williams. Although a tough watch in places, it feels like a breath of fresh air in the current climate for movies. Highly recommended. [Selected cinemas nationwide / 15]
Brotherhood (Kaleidoscope): Directed by Will Canon, this US thriller uses college initiation ceremonies as the backdrop to explore who a group of students spiral out of control. [/ 15]
Travellers (High Fliers): A Deliverance-style British thriller about a group of guys from the city who venture into the countryside only to be terrorised by Irish travellers. Directed by Kris McManus. [Selected cinemas / 18]
Yamla Pagla Deewana (Eros International): Bollywood comedy-drama film directed by Samir Karnik, starring Dharmendra, Sunny Deol, and Bobby Deol in the lead roles. [Acton Vue, Feltham Cineworld, Harrow Vue, Trocadero & Key Cities]
A flat take on minor comic book character is a curious waste of all the talents involved.
This story featuring the masked vigilante, who previously appeared in radio serials, comic books and a TV series, updates the action to modern day Los Angeles.
When Britt Reid (Seth Rogen), inherits his father’s media empire, he decides to turn his life around and become a crime fighter with the help of a mysterious employee named Kato (Jay Chou).
After recruiting a new secretary (Cameron Diaz), Britt (aka The Green Hornet) takes on a Russian crime boss (Christoph Waltz) who is controlling the city’s underworld operations.
Unlike more recent superhero adaptations, the tone here is closer to an irreverent 1980s action-comedy, with the script by Rogen and Evan Goldberg showing glimpses of their work on Superbad (2007) and Pineapple Express (2008).
There are some amusing moments, mainly between Rogen and Chou as they get to know each other, but mostly this is formulaic stuff.
One dimensional characters, explosions, Matrix-style fight sequences and a general feel of creative auto-pilot make you wonder if Michel Gondry actually directed this.
The only trace of his considerable visual talents is a trippy ‘explanation’ sequence towards the end – that feels weirdly out of place – and some action shots designed for 3D.
Which brings us on to another problem with the film, which was the decision to post-convert the film into 3D.
Technically it looks quite sharp (although it wasn’t shot on dedicated 3D cameras) but it is used in a gimmicky way and overall was my first experience of a 3D-induced headache.
I’m unsure why this was the case, but it may have something to do with the amounts of quickly cut, meaningless action on display and the way in which it has been shot with even the most perfunctory scenes adapted for the third dimension.
Rogen and Chou have an agreeable chemistry together but nearly every other actor is given little to chew on.
Waltz seems to have been asked to repeat his creepy-but-funny Nazi routine from Inglourious Basterds and Diaz has a depressingly thin role as an obligatory love interest.
After a decade of superhero movies, it feels like major studios are scraping the bottom of the barrel when it comes to characters.
The Green Hornet seems like a depressing portent of things to come, as B-list superheroes are reycled for the Comic-Con generation.
Like 3D, it seems like there are a lot more of these films to come.
The King’s Speech (Momentum Pictures): A superbly crafted period drama about the relationship between King George VI and his speech therapist provides a memorable showcase for its two lead actors.
Beginning in 1925, the film traces how with Prince Albert (Colin Firth), The Duke of York, enlisted the help of an unconventional speech therapist named Lionel Logue (Geoffrey Rush), who helped him overcome a crippling stammer as he eventually assumed the throne and helped rally his people during World War II.
The bulk of the film explores the relationship between the stiff, insecure monarch and the charmingly straightforward Logue, his loving and supportive wife Elizabeth (Helena Bonham-Carter) and the royal relatives who may have contributed to his problem.
Having spent his life in the shadow of his domineering father, George V (Michael Gambon), the shy Albert struggles with the responsibility of assuming the throne when his headstrong brother, Edward (Guy Pearce), decides to abdicate.
Rush and Firth are both outstanding, and their chemistry is a joy to watch, depicting the social hangups of the British class system as they gradually form a deep bond.
An astutely observed social comedy, it also has great depth as a drama, beginning and ending with sequences of considerable weight and tension.
The film has already proved a hit on the festival circuit this year and it is very hard to see audiences and Oscar voters resisting its classy blend of history, humour and emotion. [Odeon Leicester Square, Renoir, Barbican & Nationwide / 12A]
127 Hours (Warner Bros/Pathe): Director Danny Boyle returns from the success of Slumdog Millionaire with a vibrant depiction of man versus nature.
The story here is of Aron Ralston (played by James Franco), the outdoor enthusiast who in 2003 was stranded under a boulder after falling into a remote canyon in Utah.
Beginning with an extended opening section, Boyle uses a variety of techniques (including split screen, weird angles, quick edits) to express Ralston’s energetic lifestyle as he ventures into a situation that would become ominously static.
He meets two women (Kate Mara and Amber Tamblyn) before parting with them and climbing across an isolated canyon where he becomes trapped for the next 127 hours (look out for a killer title card).
An unusual project, in that so much of it revolves around a central location, Boyle contrasts the vital specifics of Ralston’s confinement in the canyon with his interior thoughts as it becomes an increasingly desperate experience.
Using two cinematographers (Anthony Dod Mantle and Enrique Chedia) working in tandem, the ordeal is powerfully realised using a bag of visual tricks to delve deep into his physical and emotional trauma.
Franco is the joker in the pack here: with an unusual amount of screen time he hits all the notes required: exuberant daring as he cycles across Utah; determined ingenuity as he tries to escape the canyon; and the desperate, haunted pain as he stares into the face of death.
Although the grisly details might put viewers off the climax is surprisingly transcendent. [Nationwide /15]
The Next Three Days (Lionsgate): A remake of the French thriller Anything For Her, which sees a Pittsburgh college professor (Russell Crowe) plan to break his wife (Elisabeth Banks) out of jail after he becomes convinced she is innocent of a murder conviction.
Directed by Paul Haggis, it is an old fashioned tale featuring two solid lead performances and is also put together with a quiet skill and confidence which makes the plot tick along nicely.
Although there is nothing revolutionary here, there is something pleasing about a nuts and bolts thriller in the current climate of superhero, CGI-drenched world in which we now live.
Some aspects strain credibility (Crowe becomes a criminal mastermind pretty quickly) and Liam Neeson is wasted in what is essentially a cameo role, but overall this is a solid effort even though it may struggle to make an impact at the box office given the muted reception in the US and tough competition at the UK box office this week. [Nationwide / 15]
Season Of The Witch (Paramount/Momentum): A sword and sorcery adventure about two knights (Nicolas Cage and Ron Perlman) who return from the Crusades and to find their homeland devastated by the Black Plague.
When a young woman (Claire Foy) is accused of being a witch and causing the devastation, they have to escort her on a journey across the land in order to put an end to her ‘spell’.
Directed by Dominic Sena, this is a lame affair complete with hammy dialogue, unconvincing CGI and a ponderous narrative.
It feels like a paycheque affair for everyone involved and it is hard to see audiences get excited about it once the bad reviews are unleashed and the bad buzz spreads. [Nationwide / 15]
It’s Kind Of A Funny Story (Universal Pictures): The latest film from Ryan Fleck and Anna Boden (the team behind Half Nelson and Sugar) comes this adaptation of Ned Vizzini’s 2006 novel, which is the story of a burnt-out teenager (Keir Gilchrist) who checks into a mental health clinic, only to find himself in the adult ward.
There he befriends a fellow patient (Zach Galifianakis) and gets to know another teenage patient (Emma Roberts) during his five day stay.
After receiving decidedly mixed reviews on the festival circuit, this didn’t exactly set the US box office alight back in October and will struggle to make an impact here in a busy week. [Nationwide / 12A]
ALSO OUT
Abel (Network Releasing): The drama of a nine-year-old boy who has stopped talking since his father left home only to then believe he is head of the family. Directed by Diego Luna. [Key Cities / 15]
Amer (Anchor Bay Films): A French horror, influenced by the giallo genre, charts the crazy journey of a Catholic schoolgirl into a mature woman. Directed by Hélène Cattet and Bruno Forzani. [Selected cinemas / 18]
Midgets Vs Mascots (Kaleidoscope Entertainment): In what appears to be a low-budget exploitation comedy, 10 contestants (including Gary Coleman) compete for 1 million dollars in prize money. [Selected cinemas / 18]
The changes in a long-term relationship are examined with rare intimacy in this second feature from writer-director Derek Cianfrance.
Over the course of several years we see how a young couple, Dean (Ryan Gosling) and Cindy (Michelle Williams), fall in and out of love over a number of years.
Juxtaposing their initial, youthful courtship (shot on super 16mm) with their marital struggles (filmed on the Red One digital camera), it employs clever framing along side the contrasting visual palettes to convey how their lives have changed.
The narrative and visual design is impressive, conveying the passage of time and providing a highly effective counterpoint for the two stages of their relationship.
Co-written by Cianfrance, Cami Delavigne and Joey Curtis, the script manages to avoid the clunking clichés that can haunt mainstream relationship movies.
Not only does it contain telling details that reveal much about the characters, it also significantly leaves room for speculation as to what happened in the intervening years.
Cianfrance and DP Andrij Parekh also shoot scenes with a vivid sense of being in the room with these characters. At times the effect can be claustrophobic, but it heightens the drama without resorting to cheap theatrics.
But what really gives Blue Valentine added kick is the two lead performances: Gosling is a convincing as a genuinely decent man, whose lack of ambition and devotion to his young daughter (Faith Wladyka), make him a bad husband but a good father.
Williams in some ways has the harder role, as a frustrated wife pushing for change but finding herself increasingly isolated in her wants and desires. Together, they form a completely believable couple in both sections of the film.
The almost total lack of false beats in their scenes together seems like a product of Cianfrance giving his actors room to improvise and feel like awkward, real people instead of puppets controlled by a screenwriter.
One of the most astute elements of the film is the way in which it depicts the snowballing conflicts in a crumbling relationship, when innocent words and actions quickly become weapons seized upon by the frustrated parties.
There are other aspects to admire: an atmospheric score from Grizzly Bear, solid – if fleeting – supporting performances from John Doman, Mike Vogel and Ben Shenkman; and an exploration of class, which is rare in most American movies.
The considered pace and often raw emotions might prevent Blue Valentine from breaking out of the indie realm, but it has already garnered deserved praise on the festival circuit at Sundance and Cannes.
Coupled with strong awards season buzz, it marks a remarkable turnaround for Derek Cianfrance, who has persevered for years to follow up his first feature Brother Tied (1998).
The independent film world is currently in a state of crisis, with many films outside the studio ecosystem struggling to be financed or distributed, but the existence of this film is a heartening reminder that the indie flame can still burn brightly.
Blue Valentine opens in the UK on January 14th and is currently on limited release in the US.
Little Fockers (Paramount): Thr third film in the comedy franchise sees the war between Jack Byrnes (Robert De Niro) and son-in-law Greg Focker (Ben Stiller) reach new levels.
Directed by Paul Weitz, it co-stars Laura Dern, Jessica Alba and Harvey Keitel, and one revolves around the fact that Greg has two children (the Fockers of the title) and Jack’s suspicions about him having an affair. Expect big business on both sides of the Atlantic as undemanding audiences lap up the slapstick. [Odeon Leicester Square & Nationwide / 12A]
Gulliver’s Travels (20th Century Fox): Jack Black stars in this update of Jonathan Swift’s satire as Lemuel Gulliver, a travel writer on his way to Bermuda who ends up on the island of Liliput, where he towers over its tiny citizens.
The trailers and posters for this have not looked promising and the Jack Black brand is considerably diminished of late. But an easy story hook, a good supporting cast (Jason Segal, Emily Blunt and Billy Billy Connolly) might entice audiences during the Christmas period even if reviews are likely to be bad. [Out on Boxing Day]
The Way Back (E1 Entertainment): An epic escape from a Russian gulag during World War II forms the backdrop for Peter Weir’s first film in seven years. Loosely based on Slavomir Rawicz’s book “The Long Walk: The True Story of a Trek to Freedom” (more of which later), it begins with an soldier named Janusz (Jim Sturgess) being sent to a remote Siberian prison camp on trumped up charges of spying.
After enlisting the help of inmates to escape, including an ex-pat American (Ed Harris) and a tough gang member (Colin Farrell), the group venture on a massive trek across Asia where they meet an orphan (Saoirse Ronan), struggle to survive and attempt to reach the safety of India. Although it suffers from having a tangled truth problem, this is an absorbing, well crafted drama even though the gruelling nature of the story might put some viewers off. [Nationwide / 12A / Out on Boxing Day]
Love And Other Drugs (20th Century Fox): A new comedy drama set in the late 1990s, about a charming pharmaceutical rep (Jake Gyllenhaal) who falls an artist (Anne Hathaway) suffering from Parkinson’s disease.
Directed by Ed Zwick, it is loosely based on the book Hard Sell: The Evolution of a Viagra Salesman by Jamie Reidy and co-stars Oliver Platt, Hank Azaria and Josh Gad. Although the stars do their best with the roles they’ve been given, the inconsistent tone and occasional gross out humour (often involving Josh Gad) might mean reduced box office and mixed reviews. [Out on Weds 29th December]
Arthur and the Great Adventure (Entertainment): A part-animated, part-live action film, which is a sequel to Arthur and the Invisibles. Written and directed by Luc Besson, and starring Freddie Highmore and Mia Farrow. [Nationwide / PG]
ALSO OUT
Chatroom (Revolver Entertainment): A psychological thriller about teenagers who encourage each other’s destructive behavior. Directed by Hideo Nakata and starring Aaron Johnson, Imogen Poots, Matthew Beard and Hannah Murray. [Nationwide]
Toonpur Ka Superhero (Eros): India’s first live action full length animated film which stars Ajay Devgan and Kajol. [Cineword Feltham & Ilford, Odeon Greenwich, Vue Acton & Key Cities / U]
An epic escape from a Russian gulag during World War II forms the backdrop for Peter Weir’s first film in seven years.
Loosely based on Slavomir Rawicz’s book “The Long Walk: The True Story of a Trek to Freedom” (more of which later), The Way Back begins with an soldier named Janusz (Jim Sturgess) being sent to a remote Siberian prison camp on trumped up charges of spying.
After enlisting the help of inmates to escape, including an ex-pat American (Ed Harris) and a tough gang member (Colin Farrell), the group venture on a massive trek across Asia where they meet an orphan (Saoirse Ronan), struggle to survive and attempt to reach the safety of India.
Weir shoots everything with convincing detail: the prison camp is believably hellish and the landscapes form a frequently stunning backdrop as the prisoners venture across sub-zero Russia, the Gobi Desert and the Himalayas on their way to India.
Visually, the film feels grittier than one might expect, with D.P. Russell Boyd appearing to use a lot of natural light and the splendour of the landscapes are frequently intercut with shots of blisters and the physical cost of the journey.
The performances all round are solid: Sturgess and Harris stand out as the two lynchpins of the group; Farrell is charmingly gruff; Ronan has presence and depth and Mark Strong is believably seductive as a prison camp veteran with his own agenda.
As a narrative experience, the initial tension of the prison break quickly becomes a fight for survival as the group struggle to eat, stay warm and avoid all manner of hardships involving the harsh landscape.
This means that it lacks conventional tension, but there is a certain pleasure in the gruelling sprawl of the story as they keep moving across a bewildering variety of landscapes and adverse weather conditions on their 4,000-mile trek.
Sequences that particularly stand out are the initial prison break in a blizzard, a lake infested with mosquitoes, a harsh desert which drives them to the brink and the latter stages which involve some famous Asian landmarks.
For the most part it is absorbing and features well drawn characters, even though it occasionally suffers from the problem of mixing English and native dialogue, which in the modern era diminishes the overall authenticity of the film.
The film hinges on the central character’s desire to get back home (hence the title) to see his wife, which we see in a recurring vision, and it is hard not to be moved by the climactic depiction of the personal set against the historical.
But although The Way Back is an undeniably powerful experience, there is a problem at the very heart of the adaptation which directly relates to the original book that inspired it.
Although Rawicz’s account was acclaimed for a number of years, in 2006 the BBC discovered records that essentially debunked his version of events, even though there is evidence to suggest that the journey may have been undertaken by other people.
Peter Weir was fully aware of the controversy surrounding the book when he made the film, hence certain key changes, and overall it demonstrates the taste, tact and intelligence that has informed his career.
But given the extraordinary nature of the journey there is something dispiriting about finding out the truth about Rawicz, even if the actual trek may have been done by someone else.
It remains a powerful and handsomely constructed piece of cinema but also suffers from the shady origins of its source material.
Zwick’s previous films have included Glory (1989), Legends of the Fall (1994), The Siege (1998), The Last Samurai (2003), Blood Diamond (2006), and Defiance (2008).
Along with his producing partner Marshall Herskovitz, he also created the TV shows Thirtysomething and My So-Called Life.
I recently spoke with Ed in London about his latest film and you can listen to the interview here:
As usual these are my favourite films of the year in alphabetical order (just click on each title for more information).
THE BEST FILMS OF 2010
Animal Kingdom (Dir. David Michôd): The outstanding debut feature from director David Michôd is a riveting depiction of a Melbourne crime family headed by a sinister matriarch.
Another Year (Dir. Mike Leigh): A moving, bitter-sweet drama about relationships, filled with great acting, is arguably the peak of Mike Leigh’s career.
Biutiful (Dir. Alejandro González Iñárritu): Searing exploration of life and death in a modern European city, featuring a tremendous central performance from Javier Bardem.
Black Swan (Dir. Darren Aronofsky): Swan Lake is retold with glorious intensity, channelling Polanski and Cronenberg whilst giving Natalie Portman the role of a lifetime.
Carlos (Dir. Olivier Assayas): Scintillating and immersive depiction of a 1970s terrorist with a tremendous performance by Edgar Ramirez.
Enter the Void (Dir. Gaspar Noé): Technically dazzling depiction of a dead drug dealer that also features what is possibly the greatest opening title sequence of all time.
Exit Through The Gift Shop (Dir. Banksy): An ingenious and hilarious hall of mirrors which is brilliantly executed and so much more than a ‘Banksy documentary’.
Inception (Dir. Christopher Nolan): The ingenious puzzles of Christopher Nolan’s early films were given the scale of his blockbusters in this hugely ambitious sci-fi actioner.
Inside Job (Dir. Charles Ferguson): Devastating documentary about the financial crisis which plays like a heist movie, only this time it is the banks robbing the people.
Tabloid (Dir. Errol Morris): The media feeding frenzy surrounding a bizarre 1970s sex scandal provided Errol Morris with the raw material for one of the most entertaining documentaries in years.
The Fighter (Dir. David O’Russell): A boxing story which follows a familiar path but remains energetic, inspirational and funny, with Christian Bale on career-best form.
The Kids Are Alright (Dir. Lisa Cholodenko): A perfectly pitched comedy-drama that explores modern family life with genuine heart and humour.
The King’s Speech (Dir. Tom Hooper): Wonderfully crafted period drama with two brilliant lead performances and a moving story filled with hilarious one liners.
The Social Network (Dir. David Fincher): The inside story of Facebook is a riveting tale of ambition and betrayal, which sees Fincher, Sorkin and a young cast firing on all cylinders.
Toy Story 3 (Dir. Lee Unkrich): The ground breaking animated series gets a worthy final chapter whilst maintaining Pixar’s impeccable standards of story and animation.
HONOURABLE MENTIONS
127 Hours (Dir. Danny Boyle) Blue Valentine (Dir. Derek Cianfrance) Catfish (Dir. Ariel Schulman and Henry Joost) Four Lions (Dir. Chris Morris) Let Me In (Dir. Matt Reeves) Restrepo (Dir. Tim Hetherington and Sebastian Junger) Somewhere (Dir. Sofia Coppola) The American (Dir. Anton Corbijn) The Ghost Writer (Dir. Roman Polanski) The Illusionist (Dir. Sylvain Chomet) Winter’s Bone (Dir. Debra Granik)
Tron: Legacy (Walt Disney): The original Tron was about a brilliant software engineer, Kevin Flynn (Jeff Bridges), who enters into a virtual world whilst this sequel picks up many years later as his son Sam (Garrett Hedlund) tries to solve the disappearance of his father.
Responding to a mysterious message he finds himself pulled into the world where Kevin has been trapped. Aided by a female warrior Quorra (Olivia Wilde), father and son have to escape the new digital universe and the clutches of those who now rule it.
Disney’s decision to reboot Tron for a new generation, seems to be an attempt to engage audiences who remember it and to adapt the technology driven story for the current digital age, utilising cutting edge 3D and digital effects.
Visually, it looks amazing with director Joseph Kosinski upgrading the look of the first film and making good use of 3D cameras.
The dark, neon lit landscape is a dazzling upgrade from the original and the stylised costumes, light cycles, discs and various vehicles all provide a feast for the eyes in both the action sequences and calmer moments.
However, the script by Adam Horowitz and Edward Kitsis is much more problematic and feels clunky and episodic, playing out like levels on a computer game that are just there to be completed.
This leads to an inherent lack of drama and consequence to the material, despite the visual pyrotechnics that make it so captivating to look at. It also means the performances suffer, as the characters are often just cogs in a wheel.
Disney will be nervous as the film cost a lot of money (reportedly $200 million) and early reports suggest that audience awareness isn’t what it could be, which along with mixed reviews could dent its box office potential over the Christmas period. [Empire Leicester Square & Nationwide / PG]
Burlesque (Sony Pictures): A drama about a small-town girl (Christina Aguilera) who ventures to Los Angeles and finds her place in a neo-burlesque club run by a former dancer (Cher).
Directed by Steven Antin, it co-stars Cam Gigandet, Stanley Tucci, Alan Cumming, Kristen Bell and Eric Dane. The script was originally written by Diablo Cody and later revised by Susannah Grant. This appears to be a tamer version of Showgirls and the critical reaction is likely to be mixed. [Nationwide / 12A]
Animals United (Entertainment): An animated film with an eco-message about a group of animals, including a meerkat and a lion, who team up to protest at the UN about climate change. Directed by Reinhard Klooss and Holger Tappe, it features the voices of Ralf Schmitz, Thomas Fritsch, Christoph Maria Herbst and Vanessa Redgrave. [Nationwide / U]
ALSO OUT
Catfish (Momentum Pictures): One of the most talked about films of the year is this intriguing documentary about a group of New York filmmakers who go on a road trip to find out more about a woman one of them has befriended online.
Even though there has been much controversy about the ‘truth’ depicted in the film, it is a gripping experience that has been put together with considerable taste and skill. (Warning: you should know as little as possible before seeing it). [Curzon Soho, Screen on the Green / Various VOD outlets including Lovefilm and iTunes / 12A]
Boudu Saved From Drowning (Park Circus): A re-issue of Jean Renoir’s 1932 comedy about a Parisian bookseller (Charles Granval) who rescues a drowning tramp named Boudu (Michel Simon), which leads to considerable complications when he invites him to stay at his home. [Curzon Renoir, Curzon Richmond & Key Cities / PG]
Cuckoo (Verve Pictures): British thriller starring about an academic (Richard E Grant) and his troubled research student (Laura Fraser). [Apollo Piccadilly Circus, Clapham Picturehouse & Key Cities]
Fred: The Movie (Lionsgate UK): The feature film version of a YouTube phenomenon about a teenager named Fred with a speeded-up voice. [West End Vue & Key Cities / 12A]
Loose Cannons (Peccadillo Pictures): Italian romantic comedy about what happens when two scions of a family are reluctant to take over a pasta business. [Apollo Piccadilly Circus, Cine Lumiere, Odeon Covent Garden, Shepherds Bush Vue & Key Cities]
An increasingly mysterious online relationship forms the backdrop for a compelling documentary.
The first thing to say about Catfish is that you should know as little as possible before seeing it.
This was a common refrain when it premièred to buzz and acclaim at Sundance back in January, but it really is true.
So, even though this review won’t reveal full spoilers, if you haven’t seen the film I’d highly recommend you stop reading this right now and come back after watching it.
It begins when Nev, a 24-year-old photographer based in New York, is contacted online by Abby, an 8-year-old girl from Michigan, who wants permission to paint one of his photos.
An online correspondence develops with Abby’s family and things get stranger when Nev also virtually befriends Abby’s older sister, Megan, who appears to be a musician and model.
Up to this point everything we see has been filmed by Nev’s brother Ariel Schulman along with their friend Henry Joost, and in a pivotal scene Ariel persuades his sibling to actually meet Abby and Megan in the real world.
This is when things get really interesting, with the gradually unfolding mystery playing like a suspense thriller.
Except this is arguably more exciting, as fictional films can often be predictable and this is anything but that, as we share the curiosity and excitement of the three young men on screen.
It also explores the impact of modern technology and how the web has gradually embedded itself into the rituals of everyday life, through mobile devices, email, social networking sites and video.
These issues are reflected in the form of the film, which was co-directed by Ariel Schulman and Henry Joost. The raw footage was shot handheld on consumer digital cameras and the online elements are cleverly integrated into the overall look.
When they set off on a journey we see it through a Google Maps graphic; we see close-ups of the central characters using Facebook and the visual look of the film reflects a generation who don’t think twice about filming their everyday lives.
The titles and graphics are tastefully rendered and the editing is especially noteworthy, managing to build and maintain the raw suspense whilst never letting the basic story drag.
Watching it with an audience at the London Film Festival was fascinating: they audibly gasped at certain moments and it seemed to tap right in to contemporary questions and fears about how people connect online.
Unsurprisingly, it made a big impact at Sundance and was the subject of a bidding war before being acquired by Rogue Pictures and Universal, who gave it a limited US release last October.
This is where the story gets even more interesting: does the film have a ‘truth problem’? Was it manipulated for effect? Is it even a documentary?
In a year that has seen ‘fake’ documentaries like Exit Through The Gift Shop and I’m Still Here, such questions seem to reflect a wider ambiguity about the genre itself.
As for Catfish, there are nagging doubts that creep in retrospectively.
Was it always their intention to make a film? Would a group of savvy New Yorkers really be this naïve about strangers online? Are the events that unfold too structurally perfect?
There is also one scene where they look at videos on YouTube which seems like the audio has been altered in post-production, although this may not be the case.
Unless there is compelling evidence to suggest otherwise, proving whether the film was real or not is possibly a rabbit hole from which no definitive conclusion can be drawn.
As for my own take, it seems that the film is basically real but polished in post-production to the point where people began to have nagging doubts about its presentation of events.
Whatever the truth, it seems fitting that a film which depicts the uncertainty of online identities should have its own personality crisis.
Despite, or possibly because of this, Catfish is still a notable achievement.
It captures a cultural mood, inspires instant debate and stretches the documentary form in new and imaginative ways.
Catfish opens at selected UK cinemas on Friday 17th December and is also available to watch on various VOD platforms including iTunes, Lovefilm and Sky Box Office
The Chronicles of Narnia: Voyage of the Dawn Treader (20th Century Fox): The third instalment of the Narnia series sees Edmund (Skandar Keynes) and Lucy Pevensie (Georgie Henley) return to the magical land with their cousin Eustace ((Will Poulter), where they meet up with King Caspian (Ben Barnes) for an ocean trip aboard the ship The Dawn Treader.
Directed by Michael Apted, it also stars Tilda Swinton and Simon Pegg in supporting roles. It also has a new distributor, after the relative financial disappointment of the second film, with owners Walden Media opting to replace Disney with 20th Century Fox. Given the popularity of the books and a return to a Christmas release date, this should easily top the box office this weekend, especially with the bump in 3D takings along with a wide 2D release. [Empire Leicester Square & Nationwide / PG]
The Tourist (Optimum Releasing): A thriller about an American tourist (Johnny Depp) visiting Italy, who encounters a mysterious woman (Angelina Jolie) who gets him into trouble.
Despite featuring two of the biggest movie stars on the planet, the director of The Lives of Others (Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck) and the producer of The Departed (Graham King), the buzz on this film is almost non-existent with very few reviews showing up until the week of release. It should have a decent opening weekend, but bad word of mouth might affect its long term box office. [Cineworld Wandsworth, Empire Leicester Square & Nationwide]
Somewhere (Universal): The fourth film from writer-director Sofia Coppola is the story of a pampered movie star (Stephen Dorff) living a life of excess at the Chateau Marmont Hotel in Hollywood before receiving an unexpected visit from his 11-year-old daughter (Elle Fanning).
Although this has divided critics on the festival circuit, it managed to scoop the Golden Lion at Venice and might possibly get some BAFTA and Oscar attention (although it doesn’t feel like a serious frontrunner). The opening scene sets the tone and mood, and if you are up for Coppola’s wry, stylised portrait of Hollywood, then there is much to appreciate here, especially the two lead performances, some beautiful visuals from Harris Savides and a predictably tasteful soundtrack. [Curzon Soho & Nationwide / 15]
For Colored Girls (Lionsgate UK): Tyler Perry’s latest film is adapted from Ntozake Shange’s 1975 stage play For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow Is Enuf. Written, directed and produced by Perry, the film features an ensemble cast including Janet Jackson, Whoopi Goldberg, Phylicia Rashad, Thandie Newton, Kimberly Elise, and Kerry Washington. [Empire Leicester Square & Key Cities / 15]
ALSO OUT
Enemies of the People (Dogwoof): Acclaimed documentary about the genocide committed by the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia which killed around two million people during the 1970s. Written and produced by Thet Sambath and Rob Lemkin [ICA Cinema & Key Cities /
In Our Name (Artificial Eye): British drama about a British soldier (Joanne Froggatt) who returns from her experiences in Iraq and struggles to cope with readjusting to society. Directed by Brian Welsh. [Curzon Renoir & Key Cities / 15]
Lemmy (Miracle Communications): A documentary about the Motorhead frontman, directed by Greg Olliver and Wes Orshoski. [Brixton, Clapham & Stratford East Picturehouses & selected Key Cities]
No Problem (Eros): Bollywood film directed by Anees Bazmee and starring Sunil Shetty, Sushmita Sen and Kangana Ranaut. [Cineworlds Feltham, Ilford, Shaftesbury Ave., Vue Acton & Key Cities / ]
On Tour (Artificial Eye): French comedy-drama directed by Mathieu Amalric, starring Miranda Colclasure, Suzanne Ramsey and Dirty Martini. [Cine Lumiere, Curzon Soho & Selected Key Cities]
Outcast (Vertigo Films): Supernatural thriller directed by Colm McCarthy and starring James Nesbit. [Apollo Piccadilly Circus & Key Cities / 18]
A Serbian Film (Revolver Entertainment): Controversial horror film directed by Srđan Spasojević about a porn star who agrees to participate in an “art film”, only to discover that he has been drafted into a snuff movie. [Key Cities / 18]
The Shop Around The Corner (bfi Distribution): Reissue of the 1940 film directed by Ernst Lubitsch, and starring James Stewart and Margaret Sullavan. [BFI Southbank, Filmhouse Edinburgh & Selected Key Cities]
The Thorn In The Heart (Soda Pictures): A French documentary directed by Michel Gondry about his aunt Suzette Gondry and her son, Jean-Yves. [Gate, Ritzy, Screen On The Green & Key Cities]
After 28 years, the Tron franchise is resurrected with a visually stunning but emotionally hollow update to the original film.
The first film was about a brilliant software engineer, Kevin Flynn (Jeff Bridges), who enters into a virtual world whilst this sequel picks up many years later as his son Sam (Garrett Hedlund) tries to solve the disappearance of his father.
Responding to a mysterious message he finds himself pulled into the world where Kevin has been trapped.
Aided by a female warrior Quorra (Olivia Wilde), father and son have to escape the new digital universe and the clutches of those who now rule it.
The original film was by no means a huge hit, but it was a pioneering film that used computer graphics and live action in a way that foreshadowed the revolution in CGI over the last 30 years.
Disney’s decision to reboot Tron for a new generation, seems to be an attempt to engage audiences who remember it and to adapt the technology driven story for the current digital age, utilising cutting edge 3D and digital effects.
On a purely technical level, the film largely succeeds.
Director Joseph Kosinski has a background in architecture and commercials and the look of the film is remarkable.
Not only are the individual visual effects impressive, but the alternate digital world of ‘The Grid’ is brilliantly realised by the effects team from Digital Domain.
The dark, neon lit landscape is a dazzling upgrade from the first film and the stylised costumes, light cycles, discs and various vehicles all provide a feast for the eyes in both the action sequences and calmer moments.
Utilising a similar 3D camera system on which Avatar was shot has paid off, using the frame in an immersive, considered way which contrasts with recent productions which unwisely opted for retrofitted 3D in post-production.
The one visual misstep involves a digital version of Bridges, which only serves to highlight the difficulty in crossing the ‘uncanny valley‘ when using motion capture characters on screen.
But there is a deeper problem at the heart of Tron: Legacy, which is the chasm between the pioneering visuals and the writing.
The script by Adam Horowitz and Edward Kitsis feels clunky and episodic, like episodes of TV show cobbled together in a rush or levels on a computer game that are just there to be completed.
This leads to an inherent lack of drama and consequence to the material, despite the visual pyrotechnics that make it so captivating to look at. It also means the performances suffer, as the characters are often just cogs in a wheel.
Hedlund is a generic young lead who lacks charisma; in contrast, Bridges has presence and gravitas as the elder Flynn, whilst these qualities are absent in his younger alter-ego C.L.U.; Wilde looks and feels right for her part, but has little to do except kick some obligatory butt.
In supporting roles Michael Sheen seems to be doing a camper version of David Frost as a mysterious club owner and actors such as James Frain and Beau Garrett also feel like elaborate props rather than actual characters.
Despite these fundamental drawbacks, the score by Daft Punk is absolutely epic: a wonderful mixture of their trademark electronica with a full orchestra that gives the whole film an extra kick.
It is curious to predict how audiences will react to Tron: Legacy as it references a lot of the original film and yet at the same time feels quite different.
Disney have opted not to re-release the original, so its presence lingers over this sequel in a strange way: are they worried about it looking dated in comparison or just planning for releasing both films on Blu-ray and DVD at a later date?
Certainly the original, whilst groundbreaking, wasn’t a huge hit and there has to be a concern that a new generation might be a little confused as to why this new film exists and why it took nearly thirty years to warrant a sequel.
If you look closely at the end credits you’ll see the filmmakers thank the fans of Hall H at Comic-Con, the annual convention which has held such a sway over Hollywood in recent years.
This film has been a fixture there since 2008 when Joseph Kosinski and producer Sean Bailey gauged interest for the project with test footage and even earlier this year where they recorded audio from the crowd, presumably for the arena sequence.
But is there a danger of Hollywood pandering to the geek-fuelled fantasies of Comic-Con?
Given that Disney has spent a rumoured $200 million on this film, they will be anxiously hoping that mainstream audiences are as passionate as fans in Hall H.
The finished film reflects the strange journey it has had to the screen, as it is both technically dazzling and structurally disjointed.
Although Disney can expect a big opening, the film’s shortcomings as a drama and possible confusion as to what it actually is (a sequel to a semi-cult 1982 film) could mean it struggles to have an impact on the wider culture.
Megamind (Paramount): The latest animated film from the DreamWorks stable is a riff on the superhero genre from the perspective of a super villain. When the evil Megamind (Will Ferrell) somehow manages to kill his nemesis Metro Man (Brad Pitt), he faces the challenge of having no-one left to fight, so he creates a new foe, Titan (Jonah Hill) in order to impress a female reporter (Tina Fey).
Directed by Tom McGrath, it bears many similarities to The Incredibles (2004) but is witty, well paced and makes imaginative use of 3D. Family audiences made this a big hit in the US and it should easily claim the top spot in the UK this week. [Paramount Vue West End & Nationwide / PG]
Secretariat (Walt Disney): Drama based on the life story of Penny Chenery, owner of legendary US racehorse Secretariat, who won the Triple Crown in 1973. Chenery (Diane Lane) is a housewife takes over her ailing father’s Virginia stables, and despite her lack of experience, with the help of a veteran trainer (John Malkovich) she manages to navigate the world of horse racing.
Mixed to good reviews in the US didn’t help it at the box office where it was a relative disappointment. Audiences in the UK may less familiar with the story, so Disney faces a challenge selling this potential cinemagoers. [Empire Leicester Square & Nationwide / U]
Monsters (Vertigo Films): Set a few years after mysterious alien creatures have landed in Mexico, a photojournalist (Scoot McNairy) is ordered to escort his publisher’s daughter (Whitney Able) to the safety of the US. However, due to various circumstances it becomes a difficult task as they venture through the ‘infected zone’, which contains various giant monsters which can harm humans and property.
A curious hybrid of mumblecore and monster movie, this marks an impressive debu effort from director Gareth Edwards, who also shot the film and did the impressive visual effects.
Although internet buzz has been loud on this film, multiplex audiences may be disappointed to learn that it is a talky road movie in which monsters appear intermittently. So whilst this auspicious debut it will get good reviews, the box office may not be as impressive as some expect. [Curzon Soho, Screen On The Green, Vues Islington, West End & Nationwide / 12A]
ALSO OUT
Of Gods And Men (Artificial Eye): French drama from director Xavier Beauvois based on the kidnapping and murder of Cistercian monks in Algeria by fundamentalists in 1996.
Starring Etienne Comar, Lambert Wilson and Michael Lonsdale, it was one of the favourites for this year’s Palme D’Or at Cannes, before losing out to Uncle Boonmee. Hardcore cinephiles may make this do respectable arthouse business. [Curzons Mayfair, Renoir, Richmond, HMV Curzon Wimbledon & N’wide / 15]
Miral (Warner/Pathe): Based on the novel by Rula Jebreal, this drama is about an orphaned Palestinian girl (Frieda Pinto) growing up during the Arab-Israeli war, who finds herself gradually drawn into the conflict.
Normally a film from director Julian Schnabel would be a significant release but poor reviews on the festival circuit effectively killed the buzz and any awards prospects it may have harboured. Mixed reviews in the UK, along with a tricky subject matter, will present significant challenges for this to do decent limited release box office. [Key Cities / 12A]
Bathory (Metrodome Distribution): Historical drama tracing the life of Slovakia’s infamous mass murderer, starring Anna Friel and directed by Juraj Jakubisko. [Prince Charles Cinema / 15]
Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale (Icon): A strange Christmas film from Finnish director Jalmari Helander, about an evil Santa Claus rising from the grave. [Odeon Covent Garden & Nationwide / 15]
The Be All & End All (Verve Pictures): UK drama about two teenagers from Liverpool (Josh Bolt and Eugene Byrne) on a mission after one of them gets sick. [Empires Basildon, Leicester Square, Vue Shepherds Bush & Key Cities / 15]
Easier With Practice (Axiom Films): A low budget US indie film about a lonely author (Brian Geraghty) on a campus book-tour who engages in an unusual relationship on the phone. [Key Cities]
Freakonomics (Optimum Releasing): A documentary based on the 2005 bestselling book with several contributions from filmmakers including Alex Gibney and Eugene Jarecki.[Selected Key Cities / 12A]
Legend Of The Fist: The Return Of Chen Zhen (Metrodome Distribution): A Hong Kong action film set during World War Two starring Donnie Yen as a masked avenger taking on the Japanese invaders. [The Ritzy / 18]
Love Life (Yellow Knife Releasing): A romantic drama starring Carice Van Outen and Barry Atsma, which was a big hit at the Dutch box office. [Apollo Piccadilly Circus & Key Cities]
The Warrior’s Way (Entertainment): A drama about warrior-assassin () who hides in a small American town after turning down a job. It stars Danny Huston, Dong-gun Jang, Geoffrey Rush, Jang Dong-Gun, Kate Bosworth and Tony Cox. [Nationwide / 15]
Road To Las Vegas (ICA Cinema): Documentary from director Jason Massot about a homeless American family and their struggle to survive in Las Vegas. [ICA Cinema]
A low budget monster movie fused with a mumblecore romance is a refreshing change for the genre even if excitement is lost at the expense of mood.
Set a few years after mysterious alien creatures have landed in Mexico, a photojournalist (Scoot McNairy) is ordered to escort his publisher’s daughter (Whitney Able) to the safety of the US.
However, due to various circumstances it becomes a difficult task as they venture through the ‘infected zone’, which contains various giant monsters which can harm humans and property.
Although it begins with a dramatic opening sequence, director Gareth Edwards has opted to invert the traditional monster action movie with a greater focus on personal relationships, as creatures for part of the background atmosphere.
Shot on a low budget and relying heavily on improvisation, the film paints a convincing picture of life during a social crisis, as the characters are forced to improvise and travel with a constant threat lurking in the background.
Technically the film duplicates the look of much bigger budget rivals with clever use of digital cameras and also uses the landscapes of Guatemala, Mexico and Texas to full effect.
A special effects professional, Edwards utilises his skills to augment the natural landscapes with digitally created objects including helicopters, enormous barriers and various fantastical creatures.
For the most part this creates a highly believable setting, further heightened by the naturalistic performances from his two leads and the non-actors who populate the supporting cast.
McNairy and Able have a chemistry and a believable awkwardness which provides a solid foundation for what is essentially a road movie as they journey with bodyguards and mercenaries to the US border.
Shot guerrilla-style, the film has an impressively convincing feel which stands out because it eschews many of the conventions of the monster movie, even though the setup has many similarities to Cloverfield (2008) and District 9 (2009).
It could be argued that it is too successful in sacrificing adrenaline for realism. Apart from a couple of sequences, especially the climax, audiences might be surprised at the lack of excitement on screen.
More of a relationship movie than one might, for a film called Monsters there isn’t actually a lot of monster action in it.
This paradox means it lacks the traditional excitement of the genre, but it still has a unique flavour as a kind of mumblecore sci-fi drama and a clever, narrative twist should provide audiences with a talking point as they leave the cinema.
Technically it punches well above its weight, with Edwards combining several roles with impressive aplomb: in addition to directing he also served as D.O.P and visual effects artist.
But this is an accomplished film across the board: the effective use of sound, Colin Goudie’s editing and an ambient electronic score by Jon Hopkins are also crucial in giving the film a convincing feel and atmosphere.
Monsters is a striking debut and, although probably costlier more than some reports have suggested, bodes well for Edwards’ future efforts as a director.
Although it follows the well worn traditions of a boxing drama, this tale of fighter ‘Irish’ Micky Ward is elevated by some fine acting and energetic direction.
Based on real events, it is the story of two very different fighters from Lowell, Massachusetts: Micky (Mark Wahlberg), a welterweight hoping to establish himself as a prize fighter; and Dickie Eklund (Christian Bale), his half-brother and trainer, whose own boxing career fizzled out into crack addiction.
It is also explores the wider tensions within their large Irish family, which include his tough mother-manager (Melissa Leo), father (Jack McGee) and several sisters.
The central drama is powered by Micky’s inner conflicts as he is forced to choose between his increasingly unstable family setup or opt for a new trainer and management on the advice of others, including his bartender girlfriend (Amy Adams).
Viewers will find little new in the general framework of this film: a fighter has to overcome obstacles, juggle professional needs and personal relationships and suffer setbacks before getting a chance at redemption through a climactic fight.
So far, so familiar, but what elevates The Fighter above the sub-genre are some brilliant performances and canny direction: the cast is uniformly excellent and O’Russell digs deep into these characters rather than just coasting on genre tropes.
Wahlberg is restrained but sympathetic in the title role (reminiscent of his breakout role in Boogie Nights) and he physically convinces as a professional boxer.
Bale is sensational as his brilliant but flawed mentor.
He admittedly has the showier part but, like his turns in American Psycho (2000) and The Machinist (2004), his physical transformation is remarkable and he injects Dicky with an intoxicating charm.
In key supporting roles, Leo is tough and brilliantly overbearing as the mother whilst Adams matches her, giving her potentially clichéd ‘girlfriend role’ a lot more substance than is usual for films in this genre.
Working from a screenplay by Scott Silver, Paul Tamasy and Eric Johnson, director David O’Russell uses his considerable skills to transcend the limitations of the conventional boxing movie.
Part of this involves some brilliant camerawork from Hoyte Van Hoytema, which makes great use of handheld and Steadicam, drawing us in to the world of the characters and infusing the film a restless, raw energy.
Another clever element is the visual look of the boxing sequences, shot on video to duplicate the TV look of HBO pay-per-view fights in the 1990s, with ringside reactions, instant-replays and image pixilation.
This has a parallel in the HBO crew that follow Dicky around for a documentary about his struggles and it could be argued that the title may refer to both brothers.
Like his best films, O’Russell seems to inspire technical excellence across the board: the acting, cinematography, Pamela Martin’s editing, and the convincing period detail are all stellar and they combine to create a convincing portrait of the boxing world.
His most recent film Nailed was shut down after financial problems, and may not even be released, but like Dicky he is a brilliant talent with a loyal champion in Mark Wahlberg, who was instrumental in getting this film made.
It is a shame that since Three Kings, one of the best and most subversive films released by a major studio, that he has struggled to make more inside the Hollywood system.
The Fighter is a compelling comeback story, not just of a boxer and his trainer, but also of its director.
The Fighter is released in the US on December 18th and in the UK on February 4th 2011
The American (Universal): Anton Corbijn’s second film as a director is a stylish, existential drama about an enigmatic American hiding out in a remote Italian town. Beginning with a prologue in wintry Sweden, we first see the titular character, Jack (George Clooney), as circumstances force him to relocate to the Abruzzo region in Italy.
There we slowly learn more about him: he makes a rifle for an assassin (Thekla Reuten) under the orders of his handler (Johan Leysen), befriends a priest (Paolo Bonacelli) and falls for a local prostitute (Violante Placido), as he begins to think about changing his life.
Although The American appears to be channelling the minimalist crime dramas of Jean-Pierre Melville (especially Le Samouraï), the form and structure resemble a Sergio Leone western, with its story of a stranger arriving in a new town, extended silences and widescreen cinematography.
As a vehicle for Clooney, this is an unusually European film – despite being a US/UK production – and the slow burn pacing and gradual revelations will probably limit its appeal to a mass audience.
The trailer and TV spots have misleadingly sold it as an action thriller but its respectable opening in the US probably meant the box office ends were justified by the marketing means. [Empire Leicester Square & Nationwide / 15]
Unstoppable (20th Century Fox): Tony Scott’s latest film is stimulating mainstream fare and, after last year’s remake of The Taking of Pelham 123, he has returned with another film involving a train and Denzel Washington.
The setting this time is rural Pennsylvania and, inspired by true events, it deals with two railway engineers (Denzel Washington and Chris Pine) who must stop a runaway train which is loaded with toxic chemicals.
The supporting characters include a plucky yardmaster co-ordinating the rescue (Rosario Dawson); a weakly corporate boss (Kevin Dunn); a visiting safety inspector (Kevin Corrigan); and a persistent railroad welder (Lew Temple).
Like much of Scott’s work, this is a nakedly commercial project executed with considerable technical skill, utilising his stylistic palette: multiple cameras, desiderated images, whip-pans, crash zooms and frenzied editing.
In the wrong hands this could be deeply average and clichéd, but under Scott’s direction there is an invigorating professionalism to the whole film that elevates it above most studio fare. [Vue West End & Nationwide / 12A]
Machete (Sony Pictures): Based on one of the trailers from the Grindhouse project (the Robert Rodriguez/Quentin Tarantino double bill movie from 2007), this is about a rouge Mexican hit man (Danny Trejo) who seeks revenge after being double crossed and left for dead.
Directed by Ethan Maniquis and Robert Rodriguez, it co-stars Jessica Alba, Michelle Rodriguez and Robert De Niro. The mixed reviews from the US suggest that it might struggle to compete with other films in a crowded weekend at the UK box office. [Nationwide / 18]
London Boulevard (Entertainment): The directorial debut of screenwriter William Monahan (who wrote The Departed) is a crime drama about a man just released from prison (Colin Farrell) who falls for a reclusive young film star (Keira Knightley) and finds himself at odds with a vicious gangster (Ray Winstone).
Early buzz for this is not promising although the presence of heavyweight stars might attract adult audiences eager for a home grown crime film with recognisable stars. [Nationwide / 18]
The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet’s Nest (Momentum Pictures): The third and final part of the Swedish version of Millennium trilogy sees Lisbeth Salander (Noomi Rapace) hospitalized after meeting her father, and put on trial. Mikael Blomkvist (Michael Nyqvist) tries to prove her innocence whilst uncovering the reasons why she has been targeted by the Swedish authorities.
Directed by Daniel Afredson, the mixed reviews might put off fans of the books in a busy week at the UK box office. The US version is currently filming in Sweden with David Fincher at the helm. [Cineworld Haymarket, Odeon Covent Garden & Nationwide / 15]
ALSO OUT
Waiting For Superman (Paramount/Vantage): A documentary about the failings of America’s education system directed by Davis Guggenheim.
Although it won an audience award at Sundance and is a potential Oscar winner, it has generated considerably less buzz over here, possibly because its subject matter doesn’t resonate outside America. [Curzon Soho & Picturehouse Clapham/ PG]
Leap Year (Axiom Films): Not to be confused with the Amy Adams comedy which came out earlier this year, this study of urban alienation in Mexico is the debut feature from Michael Rowe and earned him the Camera D’Or at Cannes earlier this year. [Key Cities / Axiom Films]
An Ordinary Execution (Arrow Films): Based on his novel of the same name, Marc Dugain’s debut feature is the story of an imagined encounter between the ageing Joseph Stalin (André Dussolier) and a young doctor Anna (Marina Hands) who has healing powers. [Cine Lumiere, Clapham Picturehouse & Nationwide / 12A]
Break Ke Baad (Reliance Big Entertainment): A romantic coming-of-age dramedy directed by Danish Aslam and starring Deepika Padukone and Imran Khan. [Cineworlds Feltham, Ilford, Wandsworth, Woodgreen & Nationwide / PG]
When Britt Reid (Seth Rogen), inherits his father’s media empire, he decides to turn his life around and become a crime fighter with the help of a mysterious employee named Kato (Jay Chou).
