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.
Four new films are released during this period. Two of these are fantasy adventure namely The Avengers: Age of Ultron (12A) and The Divergent Series: Insurgent (12A). Family animation comes with The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge out of Water whereas erotic drama is represented by The Duke of Burgundy (18).
The film The Boy next Door has dropped from the screens. However we see the return of Angelina Jolie’s Unbroken.
Straight drama features in our cinemas with Run all Night; Inherent Vice and Suite Francaise. Drama in a more light hearted vein is available with Focus; The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel and Kingsman: The Secret Service.
For more fantasy drama, the Vue has a one night avengers triple bill comprising Avengers Assemble; Captain America: The Winter Solider and Avengers: Age of Ultron.
The erotic romance Fifty Shades of Grey continues to be shown and is now joined by a second film in similar vein with The Duke of Burgundy.
Theatre includes NT Live: A View from the Bridge and NT Encore: Behind the Beautiful Forevers. Also the Dukes is screening a modern take on Shakespeare with Maxine Peake as Hamlet. In addition there is opera at the Vue with Royal Opera House: Swan Lake.
The Campus in the City continues its screening of foreign films, giving a look at Chilean propaganda with No.
Reviews
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.
Focus
Director: John Requa, Glenn Ficarra
Certificate: 15
Cast includes: Will Smith, Gerald McRaney, Margot Robbie, Rodrigo Santoro, Robert Taylor
Nicky Spurgeon (Smith) is a career con artist who, early in
the film, takes on an inexperienced Jess Barrett (Robbie) as an
apprentice. There is a sexual chemistry between the two, but Nicky and
Jess part. Years later Nicky is running a con for the billionaire
motorsport owner Rafael Garriga (Santoro), but finds that Jess is now
Santoro’s girlfriend. The chemistry again starts between Jess and Nicky
and we find they are both trying to con Garriga. However the latter
seeks revenge. The movie is something of a dark romance with some
violence and a good amount of comedy. It is well acted in exciting
locations and is sure to entertain.
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.
Suite Francaise
Director: Saul Dibb
Certificate: 15
Cast includes: Michelle Williams, Matthias Schoenaerts
Set in 1940 occupied France, this is a love story based on the
unfinished 2004 novel by Irene Nemirovsky. French woman Lucille
Angellier (Williams) waits for news of her husband who is a prisoner of
war. A regiment of German soldiers arrive at their town and the
soldiers are billeted in the French homes. In this way Lt. Bruno von
Falk moves in with Lucille and over time the two fall in love. However
the war ensures the course of the romance will not be smooth. This is a
very competent production with excellent acting. It does not break any
new ground and a more adventurous film may have made more of the
material in Nemirovsky’s novel. However as a sentimental romance the
film works and is worth a trip to the cinema.
The Duke of Burgundy
Director: Peter Strickland
Certificate: 18
Cast Includes: Sidse Babett-Knudsen, Chiara D’Anna
Cynthia (Babett-Knudsen) is an expert in the field of
butterflies (The Duke of Burgundy is the name of a butterfly) and she
employs Evelyn (D’Anna) as her housekeeper. They live in a grand old
house located in a forest and the film explores the relationship of the
two women. Cynthia is a stern employer with something of a
sadomasochistic streak and an increasing obsession with erotica. Evelyn
seems at first to be submissive, but she also holds some power in the
relationship. The movie is a little out of the ordinary. Erotica but
with some depth.
Unfinished Business
Director: Ken Scott
Certificate: 15
Cast includes: Vince Vaughn, Tom Wilkinson, Dave Franco, Sienna Miller
Dan Trunkman (Vaughn) owns a small business and he takes his
two associates Tim (Wilkinson) and Mike (Franco) with him to Germany in
order to close an essential and very profitable deal. However he finds
he is competing for the work against his former employer Chuck Portnoy
(Miller). In addition, every aspect of the German trip goes radically
wrong including clashes with Oktoberfest, a gay fetish festival, a UN
summit and the Berlin Marathon. The film is a comedy with plenty of
scope for real laughs. However the film suffers from a rather overly
contrived plot, somewhat mediocre acting and poor reviews. This is a
comedy that will raise a smile, but not much more.