{"id":4459,"date":"2009-01-16T17:38:51","date_gmt":"2009-01-16T17:38:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.filmdetail.com\/?p=4459"},"modified":"2009-01-16T17:45:59","modified_gmt":"2009-01-16T17:45:59","slug":"uk-cinema-releases-friday-16th-january-2009","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.filmdetail.com\/2009\/01\/16\/uk-cinema-releases-friday-16th-january-2009\/","title":{"rendered":"UK Cinema Releases: Friday 16th January 2009"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"UK<\/a><\/p>\n

NATIONAL RELEASES<\/strong><\/p>\n

Seven Pounds<\/a><\/strong> (Sony Pictures): Will Smith<\/a> stars in this drama about an IRS agent who tries to change the lives of seven people. Directed by Gabriele Muccino<\/a>, who worked with Smith on The Pursuit of Happyness<\/a> in 2006, it is a fable-like story that won’t be to everyone’s taste. However, in its way it does work and Smith and Rosario Dawson<\/a> give good performances in the lead roles. Some of the supporting characters don’t fully click but this is much better than some of the US reviews would have you believe. Although Smith’s status as the biggest movie star in the world still holds, it didn’t help the US gross, which was below par for his usual standards. That said it should expect to do decent business over here, especially as it will have a wider opening than the other national releases.\u00a0[Cert\u00a012A \/\u00a0Empire Leicester Square & Nationwide]<\/p>\n

The Wrestler<\/a><\/strong> (Optimum Releasing): Since making waves and winning awards at the Venice and Toronto film festivals, this proved a glorious comeback for\u00a0Mickey Rourke<\/a>. He plays\u00a0\u00a0an ageing wrestler – Randy \u2018The Ram\u2019 Robinson – who struggles to make ends meet doing shows on the weekends in\u00a0New Jersey<\/a>.\u00a0The story follows him as he works in a deli, strikes up a relationship with a stripper (Marisa Tomei<\/a>) and seeks a reconciliation with his estranged daughter (Evan Rachel Wood<\/a>).\u00a0It marks a departure of sorts for director Darren Aronofsky, with none of the stylistic flourishes of his earlier work. However, it has a refreshing down-to-earth quality and in Rourke contains one of the performances of the year. Rourke won a Golden Globe earlier this week and is a (un)likely Oscar contender. Given the popularity of wrestling here and the buzz over the film this could do excellent business for Optimum.\u00a0[Cert\u00a015 \/\u00a0Nationwide]<\/p>\n

Beverly Hills Chihuahua<\/a><\/strong> (Walt Disney): The tale of\u00a0a\u00a0Chihuahua<\/a>\u00a0who gets\u00a0dognapped<\/a>\u00a0in\u00a0Mexico<\/a>\u00a0and has to escape from an evil\u00a0Doberman<\/a>\u00a0did surprisngly brisk business at the US box office and could ensnare family audiences over here. It stars Jamie Lee Curtis<\/a>\u00a0and features the voice\u00a0of\u00a0Drew Barrymore<\/a>\u00a0as the chihuahua. Depressingly decent box office could await. [Cert\u00a0U \/\u00a0Odeon Mezzanine & Nationwide]<\/p>\n

My Bloody Valentine 3-D<\/a><\/strong> (Lionsgate UK): A 3-D remake of the 1981 Canadian\u00a0slasher film<\/a>\u00a0of the\u00a0same name<\/a>. The lack of big names and awareness might hamper its prospects but horror in January can do well.\u00a0[Cert\u00a018 \/\u00a0Vue West End & Nationwide]<\/span><\/p>\n

[ad]<\/p>\n

IN SELECTED RELEASE<\/strong><\/p>\n

A Christmas Tale<\/a><\/strong> (New Wave Films): The latest film from director\u00a0Arnaud Desplechin<\/a>, who made\u00a0Kings and Queen<\/a>in 2004,\u00a0\u00a0is a drama about a dysfunctional family who gather together for the first time in years after a tragedy and stars\u00a0Catherine Deneuve<\/a>\u00a0and Mathieu Amalric<\/a>. It got solid reviews when it premiered in Cannes and is likely to do decent arthouse business here.\u00a0[Cert\u00a015 \/\u00a0Apollo Picc Circus, Cine Lumiere, Odeon Covent Garden, Renoir & Key Cities]<\/span><\/p>\n

Boogie<\/a><\/strong> (Dogwoof Pictures):\u00a0Three Romanian thirty-somethings relive their college days for one night. Directed by\u00a0Radu Muntean<\/a>\u00a0it stars\u00a0Dragos Bucur<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Anamaria Marinca<\/a>. [Renoir & Key Cities]<\/span><\/p>\n

Chandni Chowk To China<\/a><\/strong> <\/span>(Warner Bros.): \u00a0A Bollywood\u00a0action-comedy about a simple cook from Chandni Chowk who is mistaken for the reincarnation of an ancient peasant warrior Liu Shengh by residents of an oppressed Chinese village. Directed by\u00a0Nikhil Advani<\/a>\u00a0it stars\u00a0Akshay Kumar<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Deepika Padukone<\/a>\u00a0in the lead roles.\u00a0[Cineworld Shaftesbury Ave & Nationwide]<\/span><\/p>\n

Clubbed<\/a><\/strong> (Route One Rel.):\u00a0An underworld drama set in the early 1980s, about a lonely factory worker whose life is transformed when he becomes a nightclub doorman.\u00a0[Cert\u00a018 \/\u00a0Apollo Picc. Circus, Empire Leicester Square & Key Cities]<\/p>\n

Hansel & Gretel<\/a><\/strong> <\/span>(Terracotta Distribution):\u00a0\u00a0A\u00a0South Korean<\/a>\u00a0horror film<\/a>\u00a0loosely based on the fairytale, which sees a salesman (Chun Jeong-myeong) crash his car and wakes up to find an angelic little girl standing over him. When he goes back to her house in the woods things take a sinister turn.\u00a0 <\/span>[ICA Cinema & Key Cities]<\/p>\n

Notorious<\/a><\/strong> (bfi Distribution): Alfred Hitchcock<\/a>‘s classic 1946 thriller which stars\u00a0Cary Grant<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Ingrid Bergman<\/a>\u00a0as two people whose lives become intimately entangled during an\u00a0espionage<\/a>\u00a0operation.\u00a0<\/span>[BFI Southbank & Key Cities]<\/span><\/p>\n

>\u00a0UK Cinema Releases for January 2009<\/a>
\n>\u00a0Get the latest showtimes for your local cinema via Google Movies<\/a>
\n>\u00a0Check out our latest DVD picks<\/a> (Monday 12th January)
\n<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

NATIONAL RELEASES Seven Pounds (Sony Pictures): Will Smith stars in this drama about an IRS agent who tries to change the lives of seven people. Directed by Gabriele Muccino, who worked with Smith on The Pursuit of Happyness in 2006, it is a fable-like story that won’t be to everyone’s taste. However, in its way […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[25],"tags":[754,753,702,535],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.filmdetail.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4459"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.filmdetail.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.filmdetail.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.filmdetail.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.filmdetail.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4459"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.filmdetail.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4459\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.filmdetail.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4459"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.filmdetail.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4459"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.filmdetail.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4459"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}