{"id":4921,"date":"2009-02-20T03:29:11","date_gmt":"2009-02-20T03:29:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.filmdetail.com\/?p=4921"},"modified":"2009-06-29T03:04:32","modified_gmt":"2009-06-29T02:04:32","slug":"uk-cinema-releases-friday-20th-february-2009","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.filmdetail.com\/2009\/02\/20\/uk-cinema-releases-friday-20th-february-2009\/","title":{"rendered":"UK Cinema Releases: Friday 20th February 2009"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

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

Gran Torino<\/a><\/strong> (Warner Bros.): Just 3 months after Changeling opened<\/a> at UK cinemas Clint Eastwood<\/a> returns with another film, which he directs and stars in. The story is about a disgruntled Korean War vet (Eastwood) who sets out to reform his neighbour, a young Hmong<\/a> teenager (Bee Vang<\/a>), who tried to steal his vintage 1972 Gran Torino car.<\/p>\n

Although this project came together quickly, it is a lean and satisfying tale told with Eastwood’s customary efficiency and class. It would be safe to categorise it as a drama, but there are some very funny sequences, mostly involving the culture clash between Eastwood’s gruff character and his immigrant neighbours.<\/p>\n

There are times when the film skates on thin ice when dealing with the issue of race, but Eastwood and screenwriter\u00a0Nick Schenk<\/a> deserve credit for venturing in territory that most Hollywood execs wouldn’t touch with a bargepole.<\/p>\n

It is a pleasingly old fashioned drama of simple pleasures and a fitting swansong for the iconic tough guy persona Eastwood has owned for a generation.<\/p>\n

For some reason Warner Bros are doing a platform release in London before going nationwide next week (perhaps they were hoping for Oscar nominations that didn’t materialise?) when it can expect to do decent, if unspectacular business. [Cert 15 \/\u00a0Vue West End – Nationwide from 27 February]<\/p>\n

Che Part Two<\/a><\/strong> (Optimum Releasing): The second part of Steven Soderbergh’s Che biopic\u00a0focuses on his futile attempt to bring revolution to\u00a0Bolivia<\/a> and eventual ill-fated demise.<\/p>\n

When viewed as two films I have to admit a preference for the vibrancy and sweep of Part One<\/a>, but there is much to recommend in this darker second segment.<\/p>\n

Benicio Del Toro<\/a> is still splendid as the revolutionary icon and\u00a0the wide-screen lensing of the first part is replaced with a more claustrophobic shooting style – it was shot on the 1:85 ratio<\/a> instead of the wider 2:35 format.<\/p>\n

Although some critics<\/a> have found both films a little dry, Soderbergh deserves a great deal of credit for the\u00a0authenticity and audacity of this project – a testament to the director’s ability to mix his successful Hollywood career with more intriguing work.<\/p>\n

For a foreign laguage film, Part One did well early in January<\/a> (helped by some Film Coucil money<\/a> enabling a wider release) and Part Two can expect to do similar business.\u00a0[Cert\u00a015 \/\u00a0Cineworld Wandsworth, Odeon Covent Garden, Vue Shepherd’s Bush & Nationwide]<\/p>\n

Cadillac Records<\/a><\/strong> (Sony Pictures): A biopic<\/a> written and directed by\u00a0Darnell Martin<\/a> <\/span>that explores the musical era from the early 1940s to the late 1960s, chronicling the life of the influential\u00a0Chicago<\/a>-based record-company executive\u00a0Leonard Chess<\/a>, and the singers who recorded for\u00a0Chess Records<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

The cast includes\u00a0Adrien Brody<\/a> as Chess,\u00a0Cedric the Entertainer<\/a> as\u00a0Willie Dixon<\/a>,\u00a0Mos Def<\/a> as\u00a0Chuck Berry<\/a>,\u00a0Columbus Short<\/a> as\u00a0Little Walter<\/a>,\u00a0Jeffrey Wright<\/a> as\u00a0Muddy Waters<\/a>, and\u00a0Beyonc\u00e9 Knowles<\/a> as\u00a0Etta James<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Although this has a starry cast and got favourable US reviews<\/a>, it may struggle to find a sizeable audience in the UK. It may be that a more appreciative audience discovers the film on DVD and TV in the future.\u00a0[Cert 15 \/\u00a0Odeon Panton St, C’Worlds Enfield, Feltham, Wandsworth & Nationwide]<\/p>\n

Confessions Of A Shopaholic<\/a><\/strong> (Walt Disney): Disney execs who greenlit this film must have been kicking themselves when Wall Street and modern consumer capitalism started to implode last Autumn<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Why? Well, this is a film based on the\u00a0chick-lit<\/a> novel by\u00a0Sophie Kinsella<\/a> about young woman\u00a0(Isla Fisher<\/a>) who moves to\u00a0Manhattan<\/a> in order to nurture her shopping addiction and get involved in the\u00a0New York<\/a> magazine world.<\/p>\n

Directed by\u00a0P. J. Hogan<\/a>, it also stars\u00a0John Goodman<\/a> and\u00a0Joan Cusack<\/a> as her parents and was probably rushed into production when The Devil Wears Prada<\/a> became a hit.<\/p>\n

This might seem like a bad time to be releasing such a film, but perhaps reverse psychology and a desperate need for escapism might help it to a better than expected gross.\u00a0[Cert\u00a0PG<\/span> \/ <\/span>Vue West End & Nationwide]<\/p>\n

Push<\/strong><\/a> (Icon): This sci-fi thriller about\u00a0a group of young American ex-pats with telekinetic and clairvoyant abilities seems to bear some similarities to last year’s\u00a0Jumper<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Directed by\u00a0Paul McGuigan<\/a>, it stars\u00a0Chris Evans<\/a>,\u00a0Dakota Fanning<\/a>,\u00a0Djimon Hounsou<\/a>, and\u00a0Camilla Belle<\/a> as some of the\u00a0psychic<\/a> peoplewho band together to attempt to battle a government agency.<\/p>\n

It has already spawned possibly\u00a0the longest ever ever plot summary on Wikipedia<\/a> but on a more serious note, the negative US reviews and lack of any real star may hamper its UK box office prospects.\u00a0[Cert\u00a012A \/\u00a0London & Nationwide]<\/p>\n

[ad]<\/p>\n

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

Anvil! The Story Of Anvil<\/strong><\/a> (The Works): An offbeat\u00a0documentary about a 30-year-old Canadian metal band led by two lifelong friends in their 50’s.<\/span> Directed by\u00a0Sacha Gervasi<\/a> it premiered at the\u00a0Sundance Film Festival<\/a> in January 2008, and has won Audience Awards at various other festivals since then.\u00a0[Cert\u00a015 \/\u00a0Curzon Soho & Key Cities]<\/p>\n

20th Century Boys<\/a><\/strong> (4Digital Asia): A limited run at the ICA Cinema<\/a> for this\u00a0live-action take on Naoki Urasawa’s ace manga series. <\/span>[Cert\u00a015 <\/span>\/\u00a0ICA Cinema & Key Cities]<\/p>\n

>\u00a0UK Cinema Releases for February 2009<\/a>
\n>\u00a0Get the latest showtimes for your local cinema via Google Movies<\/a>
\n>\u00a0Check out our latest DVD picks<\/a> (W\/C Monday 16th February)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

NATIONAL RELEASES Gran Torino (Warner Bros.): Just 3 months after Changeling opened at UK cinemas Clint Eastwood returns with another film, which he directs and stars in. The story is about a disgruntled Korean War vet (Eastwood) who sets out to reform his neighbour, a young Hmong teenager (Bee Vang), who tried to steal his […]<\/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":[834,835,831,800,833,801,832,535],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.filmdetail.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4921"}],"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=4921"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.filmdetail.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4921\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.filmdetail.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4921"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.filmdetail.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4921"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.filmdetail.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4921"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}