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.
Lancaster sees a good selection of new movies over this valentine period. There is romance, of a sort, with Fifty Shades of Grey (18) and a more light hearted take on love with The Wedding Ringer (15). In addition science fiction adventure is represented with Project Almanac (12A) and family animation includes a re-telling of the story of Snow White in Fairytale: Story of the Seven Dwarves (PG). Finally we have musical drama with Whiplash (15),
which is being screened for the first time in Lancaster though it was
actually released in January. Children will appreciate the screening of
existing and a new episode of Peppa Pig in Peppa Pig: The Golden Boots (U).
Losses this week include Annie; Foxcatcher; Mortdecai and The Gambler. Also the following films look to be near the end of their screening: American Sniper; Birdman; Mr Turner; The Theory of Everything; The Woman in Black: Angel of Death and Unbroken.
Films that have returned to the screen during this period are Boyhood; The Book of Life and The Grand Budapest Hotel.
High culture is rather sparse during this period, thought we do have RSC Live: Love’s Labour’s Lost and NT: Treasure Island.
Films of note this week are the excellent, if tongue in cheek, drama Kingsman: The Secret Service and family animation as Shaun the Sheep
moves from the TV to the big screen. Also of note are two
documentaries. One is a telling of the scandal of NSA snooping with Citizenfour, the second a ‘look behind the scenes’ with National Gallery.
Reviews
American Sniper
Director: Clint Eastwood
Certificate: 15
Cast Includes: Bradley Cooper, Sienna Miller, Ben Reed, Luke Grimes.
This is the story of Chris Kyle (Cooper), the most lethal
sniper in American History with 160 confirmed kills. Following the
attacks of 9/11 Kyle enlisted, and became a Navy SEAL marksman serving
four tours of duty in Iraq. The film is based on his autobiography. As
a sniper, Kyle was separate from the other troops and was forced to
make life and death decisions depending of his perception of whether the
person in his rifle cross-hairs was a terrorist or simply an innocent
bystander. The film does not address the politics of the Iraq conflict,
but is told from Kyles point of view. Thus his is the only character
who has any depth (his history and the increasingly strained
relationship with his wife is told in flashbacks). This is a tense
movie, well acted and thought provoking, if a little one dimensional.
Still it merits a trip to the cinema.
Birdman
Director: Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu
Certificate: 15
Cast includes: Lindsay Duncan, Edward Norton, Michael Keaton, Andrea Riseborough, Zach Galifiankis, Emma Stone.
Subtitled ‘The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance’ this is the
story of washed up actor Riggan Thomas (Keaton), once famous for playing
a movie superhero Birdman. However once he left the franchise, his
career never recovered. Thus he is making a last ditch attempt to
revive his fortunes by directing and acting in a play at the St James
theatre on Broadway. The play is not going well and Riggan is plagued
by his inner voice (manifest as the character Birdman), by quarrels with
his actors and arguments with his family. The film appears to be shot
as a single, cut free. sequence and it contains surreal, ‘over the top’
interludes. This is a dark comedy, a flight of fancy, about a self
absorbed man. The acting is superb (especially Keaton) and the whole is
a quirky must see movie that could be the film of 2015. If you can
only see one movie, this is the one.
Ex Machina
Director: Alex Garland
Certificate: 15
Cast includes: Oscar Issac, Alicia Vikander, Corey Johnson, Domhnall Gleeson.
Caleb (Gleeson) is a twenty-four year old programmer working
at the world’s largest Internet Company. He wins a competition and so
gets to spend a week at the private estate of Nathan Bateman (Issac),
the CEO of the company. Nathan unveils his work, a female android Ava
(Vikander), and explains to Caleb that his role is to perform a Turing
test on her to explore if her thinking and behavior is indistinguishable
from that of a human. As Caleb gets to spend time with Ava, she starts
to become dominant in their relationship, trying to recruit Caleb for
her own ends. The film is reminiscent of Frankenstein, with Nathan
increasingly taking the role of mad scientist who does not have the
emotional empathy to support his creation. The movie is excellently
shot with impressive special effects that do not get in the way of the
story. A superb, thought provoking science fiction drama that explores
the interaction between man and machine.
Fifty Shades of Grey
Director: Sam Taylor-Johnson
Certificate: 18
Cast includes: Jamie Dornan, Dakota Johnson
This is a much hyped film with a record for ticket pre-sales.
It is based on the best selling 2011 novel by E. L. James. Anastasia
Steel (Johnson) is a student who interviews the publicity shy
billionaire Christian Grey (Dornan) as a college assignment. There is
an immediate sexual chemistry between the two and they embark on an
affair. However Grey has a desire to control everything in his life and
his relationships have a strong sado-masochistic element. Hence he
requires Anastasia to sign a contract if she wants the relationship to
continue that will allow Grey to subjugate her. The film is an accurate
portrayal of the book, though it omits the more sordid sex scenes.
Essentially the film is soft porn for a female audience.
Into the Woods
Director: Rob Marshall
Certificate: PG
Cast Includes: Meryl Streep, Emily Blunt, Johnny Depp, James Corden, Anna Kendrick
This is a Walt Disney adaptation of Sondheim’s 1987 hit
musical of the same name. The film posits that the fairy tales of
Little Red Riding Hood, Cinderella, Jack and the Beanstalk and Rapunzel
are all happening simultaneously. Meanwhile a Baker and his wife wish
to begin a family, but they cannot due to a witches curse. To lift the
curse they must collect items from each of the fairy tales. This is a
star studded musical with excellent performances, especially from Meryl
Streep who plays the wicked witch. The original stage musical had a
number of adult themes which are softened for the Disney version, but
the end result is a great and entertaining family movie.
Kingsman: The Secret Service
Director: Matthew Vaughn
Certificate: 15
Cast Includes: Michael Caine, Samuel L. Jackson, Colin Firth, Sophie Cookson, Taron Egerton.
A spoof spy adventure based on the comic book series by Dave
Gibbons and Mark Miller. Kingsman is an international covert spying
agency and they recruit members from street wise misfits. A chavvy gang
member Egysy (Egerton) is recruited by the ultra suave agent Harry Hart
(Firth). To be accepted Egysy must become both refined and also pass a
grueling ‘boot camp’ where he will learn how to be an agent. In the
meantime the eccentric billionaire Valentine (Jackson) is planning to
distribution free SIM cards, an act that will trigger the eradication of
most of mankind. This is a very ‘tongue in cheek’ movie, in equal
measures a violent action adventure and a comedy. There are outrageous
gadgets and wonderful set pieces, with the movie being part James Bond
and part every other spy movie you have ever seen. Irreverent and
unmissable.
Mr Turner
Director: Mike Leigh
Certificate: 15
Cast includes: Timothy Spall, Marion Bailey
A biographical dramatization of the life of English painter J.
M. W Turner. The film starts when Turner is aged 51 and working in his
London studio. It follows Turner through depression following his
father’s death up until the painters own death in 1851 when he was
living in Chelsea with his mistress Sophie Booth (Barley). Spall gives a
great performance as Turner, bringing out his humanity and
eccentricity. A very enjoyable movie.
Selma
Director: Ava DuVernay
Certificate: 12A
Cast Includes: David Oyelowo, Carmen Ejogo, Tom Wilkinson
A slice of American History. The film follows Martin Luther
King (Oyelowo) and the events that led up to the 1965 civil rights march
from Selma to Montgomery which preceded President Johnson’s (Wilkinson)
signing the voting Act of 1965 giving equal voting rights to
Afro-American citizens. Not only does this film show the build up to
the march, it also portrays something of the humour and character of
Martin Luther King and the strain that his work imposed on his marriage
to Coretta (Ejogo) and on his friends. It covers much of the political
backdrop to the civil rights movement and contains images of violence
and racial slurs that were endured by the marchers in their quest for
equal voting rights.
The Grand Budapest Hotel
Director: Wes Anderson
Certificate: 15
Cast includes: Saoirse Ronan, Ralph Fiennes, Jason Schwartzman, Bill Murray, Tony Revolori
An idiosyncratic movie telling the adventures of Gustav
(Fiennes) the concierge at the Budapest hotel and his friend Zero
Moustafa (Revolori). The film is full of madcap characters and is
filmed in the classic Anderson style. Set in Europe between the wars,
the film tells the story of the theft of a Renaissance painting and
disputes over fortunes. The movie has a star-studded cast and much of
the plot of interlocking stories is told in flashbacks. A fine comedy
making this a must see movie.
The Theory of Everything
Director: James Marsh
Certificate: 12A
Cast Includes: Eddie Redmayne, Felicity Jones, Charlie Cox
A biopic of the early years of the world renown physicist
Stephen Hawkins, based on the memoir ‘Traveling to Infinity: My life
with Stephen Hawkins’ by Jane Hawkins. At Cambridge, Stephen Hawkins
was an active young man who fell in love with literature student Jane
Wilde. However, aged 21, Hawkins had an accidental fall which led to
his being diagnosed with motor neuron disease and given just two years
to live. The film shows the marriage of Stephen and Jane and how she
supported him and their children during the years of their marriage
(they divorced in 1995). This is a beautiful film likely to leave the
audience in tears. The acting is excellent especially Redmayne’s
portrayal of Hawkins and the movie shows the lighter side of Hawkin’s
character, his humour and his passion.
The Woman in Black: Angel of Death
Director: Tom Harper
Certificate: 15
Cast Includes: Helen McCrory, Jeremy Irvine, Phoebe Fox, Oaklee Pendergast
This is the sequel to the film ‘The Woman in Black’ which was
based on the novella by Susan Hills. The Second World War is raging and
a group of eight school children are evacuated away from London and the
Blitz to rural England. They are accompanied by their Headmistress
Jean Hogg (McCrory) and teacher Eve Parkin (Fox). The group occupy the
abandoned Eel Marsh House which had been haunted forty years ago. Eve
tries to build trust with Edward (Pendergast), one of the vulnerable
children, who starts to exhibit trance like stages. Subsequently other
children start acting strangely as a dark force is awakened. Eve seeks
the cause of the problem aided by a pilot Harry Burnstow (Irvine). The
film is a very competent horror movie with some romantic interest. It
is well acted and has plenty of frights. However like many sequels, it
does not quite live up to the suspense of the original.