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.
There are five new releases coming to our region this week. We have the much anticipated science fiction thriller Independence Day: Resurgence (12A). There is Fantasy action with Gods of Egypt (12A); comedy animation in The Secret Life of Pets (U); horror with Green Room (18) and fantasy horror with Tale of Tales (15).
The movie Florence Foster Jenkins has again vanished from the screens. However we do see the return of Eddie the Eagle; London Has Fallen and Robinson Crusoe.
Movies coming in July include Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie; Batman: The Killing Joke; Finding Dory; Ghostbusters and The BFG
Comedy this period is represented by Bad Neighbours 2; The Boss and Mother’s Day. For drama we have Eddie the Eagle; London has Fallen; The Nice Guys and X-Men: Apocalypse. Romance is also on offer with Me Before You. Finally, horror is well represented with The Conjuring 2; along with Green Room and Tale of Tales.
Family entertainment this period includes Alice through the Looking Glass; Robinson Crusoe; The Angry Birds Movie; The Jungle Book; and The Secret Life of Pets.
Finally high culture comes with Glyndebourne: The Barber of Seville.
Reviews
Alice Through the Looking Glass
Director: James Bobin
Certificate: PG
Cast includes: Johnny Depp, Alice Hathaway, Mia Wasikowska
Alice (Wasikowska) has spent three years travelling and has now
returned to London to contemplate her future. She uses a mirror to
return to Wonderland but find things are not well, and the Hatter is
more mad than ever. To aid him she must go back in time and face the
Jabberwocky. This is Disney’s sequel to the 2010 production of ‘Alice
in Wonderland’ and all the major characters from the original movie make
an appearance. The film is a visual feast, a lavish performance with a
star studded cast. However for this reviewer the whole seemed more
gloss than substance. It does not quite live up to the magic of the
original.
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.
London Has Fallen
Director: Babak Najafi
Certificate: 15
Cast includes: Aaron Eckhard, Gerard Butler, Morgan Freeman, Charlotte Riley
The UK prime minister has died in mysterious circumstances. A
state funeral is held and the leaders of the western world attend.
However the event is exploited by terrorists, who have infiltrated the
British Secret Service and are intent on killing the leaders and
devastating London. Working to thwart the plot is the US President
Benjamin Asher (Eckhart), a US agent Mike Banning (Butler) the American
vice president Allan Trumbull (Freeman) and a British MI6 agent
Jacquelin Marshall (Riley). The president gets stranded in the London
streets and Banning has to battle the terrorists to escort him to the US
Embassy. This is a sequel to the hit movie ‘Olympus has Fallen’ and it
follows a similar format. There are some very good set pieces in the
film and footage of many of the London landmarks coming under attack.
For this reviewer it did not quite have the magic of the original, but a
competent and entertaining film nevertheless.
Mother’s Day
Director: Garry Marshall
Certificate: 12A
Cast includes: Jennifer Aniston, Shay Mitchell, Kate Hudson, Britt Robertson, Julia Roberts
Set in Atlanta, the film follows the lives of a number of middle class
mothers as mother’s day approaches. These include Sandy (Aniston) a
mother of two boys who is now divorced but finds her ex is about to
marry a younger woman Tina (Mitchell). There is a writer Miranda
(Roberts) who gave her only baby Kristen (Robertson) up for adoption.
However, when grown her daughter decides to try to find her birth
mother. Yet more people give rise to a bewildering set of sub-plots
that play out leading to a climax on Mother’s Day. Despite a star
studded cast, and some gags that work, this comedy drama never really
takes off and the movie has received poor critical review.
The Conjuring 2
Director: James Wan
Certificate: 15
Cast includes: Vera Farmiga, Patrick Wilson, Frances O’ Connor, Madison Wolfe
A sequel to the 2013 film ‘The Conjuring’. Lorraine (Farmiga) and Ed
(Wilson) Warren are psychic investigators. The hear of a haunting and
travel to the UK to help Peggy Hodgson (O’Connor), a single mother of
four, who is plagued by poltergeist activity in her London council
house. However things get worse when Peggy’s youngest daughter Janet
(Wolfe) shows signs of daemon possession. The psychic investigators
come to find themselves in peril. A superior horror movie which
provides plenty of frights and has been well received.
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.
The Secret Life of Pets
Director: Chris Renaud, Yarrow Cheney
Certificate: U
Cast Includes: Louis C.K., Ellie Kemper, Eric Stonestreet, Kevin Hart
A family animation film that follows the lives of pets living in a
Manhattan apartment building during the time their owners leave them
alone. Max (Louis) is a rather spoilt terrier who starts to find himself
neglected when his owner Katie (Kemper) brings home Duke (Stonestreet),
a mongrel, from a dog pound. However the two dogs must put their
rivalry behind them when they are captured by Snowball (Hart) a rabbit
and an army of abandoned pets who are trying to get back at all happily
owned pets and their owners. This is a delightful and energetic
animation movie that is inoffensive and fun for all, young and old.