For up to date local cinema links and day-by-day listings of what’s showing on local screens every week visit the Virtual-Lancaster Cinema Page. Read on for the weekly round-up, and reviews.
This period sees three new releases making it to the local screens. There is family animation with The Angry Birds Movie (U); Fantasy adventure in X-Men: Apocalypse (12A) and Holocaust drama with Son of Saul (15).
Quite a few films have been lost, including Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Road Chip; Bastille Day; My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2; Ratchet & Clank; The Huntsman: Winter’s War and Zootropolis. In addition it looks like Norm of the North is nearing the end of its screening. However we do see the return of Capture the Flag and the comedy Dad’s Army.
This is a good period for caped crusaders with Captain America: Civil War; Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and the recently released X-Men: Apocalypse all being shown. Also, for one night only the Vue is offering an X-Men triple bill with X-Men: First Class; X-Men: Days of Future Past and X-Men:Apocalypse on the 17th May.
Family comedy this period is represented by Dad’s Army and the well received Florence Foster Jenkins. Somewhat more adult humour comes with Bad Neighbours 2.
Drama is provided by Eddie the Eagle; Eye in the Sky; the second in the classic colours trilogy Three Colours White and the deeply moving Son of Saul. In addition there is supernatural adventure with Friend Request.
For family entertainment there is Capture the Flag; Norm of the North; Robinson Crusoe; The Angry Birds Movie and the excellent The Jungle Book.
For high culture, the Vue is screening NT Live:A View from a Bridge and the Royal Opera House take on Frankenstein
Reviews
Bad Neighbours 2
Director: Nicholas Stoller
Certificate: 15
Cast includes: Seth Rogen, Rose Byrne, Chloe Grace Moretz, Zac Efron
A sequel to the 2014 Bad Neighbours. Mac Radner (Rogen) and his wife
Kelly (Byrne) are expecting their second child. They are in the process
of selling their old house when a newly established female sorority,
Kappa Kappa Nu led by Shelby (Moretz), moves into the house nextdoor.
Excessive partying on the part of the sorority makes life a nightmare
for the Radner’s and will jeopardise the sale of their house. Their
requests for the girls to keep the partying quiet lead to an all out
war. Teddy (Efron) from the previous film has not coped well outside of
college and he is enlisted by the Radner’s to be their ally in the
battle with the sorority. This movie is little more than a re-run of
the first Bad Neighbours, but the film still has more than its share of
very funny moments. Good entertainment.
Dad’s Army
Director: Oliver Parker
Certificate: PG
Cast includes: Michael Gambon, Bill Nighy, Toby Jones, Catherine Zeta-Jones, blake Harrison
After some fifty years, the famous Dads army TV sitcom makes it to the
big screen. It is 1944 and the end of the second world war is in sight.
Morale in the Walmington-on-Sea Home Guard is low until Rose Winters
(Zeta-Jones) a glamorous journalist, arrives to report on the exploits
of Mainwaring (Jones) and his platoon. In addition evidence is
uncovered of a local German spy who must be caught. The movie makes
references to the original series and surviving members make a couple of
cameo appearances. This is a very amiable movie, quietly amusing
rather than riotously funny. One is left with the impression that a
star studded cast should have been capable of making something a little
more spectacular.
Eye in the Sky
Director: Gavin Hood
Certificate: 15
Cast includes: Helen Mirren, Alan Rickman
Colonel Katherine Powell (Mirren) is tasked with capturing a terrorist
who is attending a meeting in Kenya. The meeting room is bugged and a
drone used to provide surveillance. Powell discovers the terrorists are
actually planning suicide bombing attacks and so she seeks authority to
call in a missile attack on the building. However there is a chance
any attack will result in civilian casualties. The movie is a gripping
and well received drama that explores some of the moral issues of drone
warfare.
Florence Foster Jenkins
Director: Stephen Frears
Certificate: PG
Cast includes: Meryl Streep, Hugh Grant
A period drama based on the true story of Florence Foster Jenkins
(Streep). Jenkins is a rich heiress with ambitions to be a singer
despite a terrible singing voice. Her husband St Clair Bayfield
(Grant), despite being something of a cad, arranges for her to sing in a
concert, having carefully selected the audience to ensure her efforts
will be well received. This is the second recent movie based on the
life of Jenkins and it provides a more light hearted approach to the
2015 film Marguerite. The movie is has been well received and provides
a good share of laughs, though, for this reviewer, it was something of a
one joke film.
Friend Request
Director: Simon Verhoeven
Certificate: 15
Cast includes: Alycia Debnam-Carey, Liesl Ahlers
Laura (Debnam-Carey) is a popular college student and an avid user of
social media. She received a friend request from an unknown girl Marina
(Ahlers) but finds her new friend is stalking her. Subsequently Marina
commits suicide but her spirit continues to stalk Laura. Despite some
occasional rough lines, this is an effective horror story that delivers
enough twists to keep the plot interesting and provides some real
scares.
The Jungle Book
Director: Jon Favreau
Certificate: PG
Cast includes: Neel Sethi, Bill Murray, Scarlett Johansson, Ben Kingsley, Idris Elba
Based on Rudyard Kipling’s works, this is a reworking of a the well
known classic using live action and CGI. Mowgli (Sethi) is an orphaned
boy raised by a wolf and thence by Bagheera (Kingsley) a black panther.
Mowgli alienates the Bengal tiger Shere Khan (Elba) and so must make
his way to humankind for safety, meeting the well known characters Baloo
and Kaa on the way. Subsequently he returns to the jungle to face
Shere Khan. The movie is a good example a remake that improves on the
original. An excellent movie that will entertain all ages.