For up to date local cinema links and day-by-day listings every week visit the Virtual-Lancaster Cinema Page. Read on for the weekly round-up, and reviews.
New releases during this period include comedy with The Love Punch (12A) and The Other Woman (12A); science fiction with Transcendence (12A) and action/adventure with The Raid 2 (18).
Films no longer being screened are Epic, Tinker Bell and the Pirate Fairy and 12 Years a Slave. Also this week looks like the last chance to catch The Grand Budapest Hotel, The LEGO movie, Mr Peabody & ShermanMuppets Most Wanted and Frozen.
Alternative options are provided by RSC Encore: Richard II (12A), and Vikings Live from the British Museum (12A).
Reviews
Divergent
Director: Neil Burger
Certificate: 12A
Cast includes: Kate Winslet, Theo James, Shailene Woodley
The movie is based on Veronica Roth’s popular trilogy. Tris
(Woodley) is a 16 year old girl living in Chicago after a war which
wiped out most of civilisation. Society has been divided into different
factions and as teens come of age they undergo tests to decide which
faction will contain them. Yet Tris proves to be divergent, not fitting
into any of the factions and divergent people are considered a threat
to the status quo. She must work with the mysterious Four (James) to
determine why being divergent is considered to be so dangerous. The
movie is rather a slow starter. However the cast is full of talent,
there is some nice dialogue and the film finishes with a tense climax. A
must see movie if you have read and enjoyed Roth’s books.
Frozen
Director: Chris Buck
Certificate PG
Cast Includes Kristen Bell, Idina Menzel, Josh Gad,Alan Tudyk, Jonathan Groff
This Disney musical animation is loosely based on the fairy tale ‘The
Snow Queen’ who has condemned a kingdom to eternal winter. It is up to
Anna (sister to the snow queen) and a loner Kristoff to undertake an
epic journey to find the Snow Queen and convince her to lift the icy
spell. This is a magical movie destined to become a classic. It will
appeal to families and children of all ages.
Mr Peabody & Sherman
Director: Rob Minkoff
Certificate: U
Cast Includes: Ty Burrell, Max Charles, Ariel Winter
A DreamWorks comedy animation. Mr Peabody is a dog, but this does
not stop him being an inventor, scientist, sportsman and general genius.
Accompanied by his boy Sherman, the duo use their WABAC time machine
in order to impress Sherman’s friend Penny. However during their
adventures meeting famous characters of history,they accidentally rip a
hole in the Universe. As a result they must repair history in order to
save the future. A great yarn and appealing family movie. There is
little here to offend the youngest of children, and some of the jokes
will entertain an older audience.
Muppets Most Wanted
Director: James Bobin
Certificate: U
Cast includes: Ricky Gervais, Ty Burrell, Tina Fey, Eric Jacobson, Steve Whitmire
A long awaited sequel to ‘The Muppets’ in which the entire Muppet
cast undertake a sell out world tour. However Constantine (a Kermit
lookalike and major criminal) and his right hand man Dominic (Gervais)
involve the Muppets in an international crime heist. The film is an
upbeat Disney musical comedy that will appeal to all ages and generates
plenty of laughs. An excellent film.
Noah
Director: Darren Aronofsky
Certificate: 12A
Cast includes: Russell Crowe, Emma Watson, Jennifer Connelly, Anthony Hopkins
A movie based on the biblical story of Noah and the flood, but it
takes quite a bit of artistic license. Crowe and Watson as Noah and Ila
respectively give excellent performances and this is epic movie which
very much goes its own way. With stunning effects and some surreal
sequences this is a very entertaining film.
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 Love Punch
Director: Joel Hopkins
Certificate: 12A
Cast includes: Pierce Brosnan, Emma Thompson, Tuppence Middleton, Timothy Spall, Celia Imrie
Richard and Kate (Brosnan and Thompson) are a divorced couple who hit
financial hard times as Richard is facing bankruptcy as a result of a
corporation wiping out his company’s pension fund. Vincent, the
villainous boss of the corporation, has used these proceeds to buy a
diamond necklace for his own bride. Richard and Kate, along with
friends Jerry and Penelope (Spall and Imrie) decide to get revenge by
stealing the necklace and using this to replenish the retirement fund.
This is a comedy with big name stars set in an exotic location. The
humour seems a little contrived at times but in all it works well to
make a genuinely funny and entertaining movie.
The Quiet Ones
Director: John Pogue
Certificate: 15
Cast includes: Sam Claflin, Erin Richards, Jared Harris, Olivia Cooke
A Hammer Horror film set in 1974. Professor Coupland (Harris),
helped by a group of university students, relocates to a country estate
in order to try an unorthodox cure for a mentally unstable woman Jane
Harper (Cooke) with malignant alter ego Evey. The experiment is
recorded by cameraman Brian McNeil (Claflin). This is a stylish movie
with impressive visual effects. However the performances of the
students are a little wooden and the film does not break any new ground.
However in all a competent and gripping horror film.
Transcendence
Director: Wally Pfister
Certificate: 12A
Cast includes: Johnny Depp, Morgan Freeman, Rebecca Hall, Kate Mara, Paul Bettany
Dr Will Caster (Depp), a brilliant scientist in the field of
researching artificial intelligence, is creating a sentient computer
called PINN. However anti-technology extremists embark on a series of
of attacks against the artificial intelligence community and Dr Caster
is one of the casualties. In order to survive he digitises and loads
his consciousness into the computer. Here he starts a quest for
knowledge and for power that seems unstoppable. The film is well
produced and visually appealing. However the characters come across as
rather wooden and the topics examined in this film have already been
explored in earlier science fiction movies.