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.
We have gained three new movies this period but six films vanished from
the local screens. The new releases are science fiction with Resident Evil: The Final Chapter (15); horror in Rings (15) and comedy animation in the family movie The Lego Batman Movie (U).
Films that have disappeared from the cinemas include Assassin’s Creed; Fantastic Beasts and where to find them; Moana; Passengers; Storks and Sully. in addition the following movies are approaching the end of their screening, A monster Calls; Arrival; Collateral Beauty; Rogue One: A Star Wars Story and xXx: The Return of Xander Cage.
Drama this period comes with psychological crises in Collateral Beauty and Split. There is family loss in Lion & Manchester by the Sea; Reunion and self destruction in T2 Trainspotting; action with xXX: The Return of Xander Cage and biographical war drama in Hacksaw Ridge. Also crime comes with Goodfellas & Live by Night whereas political biography is represented buy Jackie.
Science fiction comes with Arrivals; Resident Evil: The Final Chapter and Rogue One: A Star wars Story. We also have the new horror horror Rings.
On a lighter note, there is still the excellent musical romance La La Land.
For family entertainment consider A Monster Calls; Ballerina; Sing; The Lego Batman Movie; The Secret Life of Pets and Trolls.
Finally the following satisfy any need for high culture: Bolshoi Ballet: Swan Lake; National Theatre Live: Amadeus and The Royal Ballet:Woolf Works.
Reviews
La La Land
Director: Damien Chazelle
Certificate: 12A
Cast Includes: Emma Stone, Ryan Gosling
Mia (Stone) works as a barista during the day but aspires to be an
actress. She is involved in a road rage incident with Sebastian
(Gosling) a jazz pianist. The two subsequently meet again and start to
fall for each other as they try to satisfy their ambitions, she
attending auditions and he playing in dingy bars as he plans to open his
own jazz club. However the daily drudge of trying to live their dreams
starts to take its toll. This movie, set in modern day Los Angeles, is
brilliantly written and very well acted. Excellent musical
entertainment.
Resident Evil: The Final Chapter
Director: Paul W S Anderson
Certificate; 15
Cast Includes: Milla Jovovich
The movie is a sequel to the 2012 Resident Evil: Retribution and forms
the sixth and final film in the series. Alice (Jovovich) has lost her
psychic powers and now is assisted by the Red Queen who has switched
sides. She returns to the demolished Raccoon City where, with a band of
survivors, she has one last battle with the Umbrella Corporation and
myriads of mutants and zombies. This reviewer has greatly enjoyed the
Resident Evil Movie series and can recommend the Final Chapter as
offering more of the same special effects and fight sequences. However
the film is not the best of the bunch and the franchise is now starting
to feel a little tired. See it if you are a Resident Evil fan.
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
Director: Gareth Edwards
Certificate: PG
Cast includes: Diego Luna, Mads Mikkelsen, Felicity Jones
This movie is set just before the events of the original Star Wars.
There are rumours circulating that the Galactic Empire are about to
construct a horrendous new weapon, a ‘Death Star’ designed by Galen Erso
(Mikkelson) A small team of rebels led by his daughter Jyn Erso
(Jones) and Cassian Ander (Luna) strive to find the designer and steal
the design schematics. The movie hosts new and familiar aliens who
strive to ‘use the force’ and it comes with breathtaking special
effects. This is more gritty that the familiar star wars offering, more
of a war move with a higher body count and more muddied ethics. The
movie has been well received and will delight audiences. It breaks new
ground from the classic Star Wars, but only just.
T2 Trainspotting
Director: Danny Boyle
Certificate: 18
Cast includes: Ewen McGreger, Ewen Bremner, Robert Carlyle, Jonny Lee Miller, Anjela Nedyalkova
Mark Renton (McGregor) returns to Edinburgh after twenty years in
Amsterdam and finds his old associates are still much as he left them
only older. Spud Murphy (Bremner) continues to struggle with heroin
addiction. Simon ‘Sick Boy’ (Lee Miller) nurses old grievances and has
swapped a heroin addiction for cocaine. He plans to turn a run down pub
onto a bordello. Francis Begbie (Carlyle) is serving a prison
sentence, but he escapes. He still harbours a grievance against Renton.
The movie is part black comedy, part thriller and total melancholic
drama that draws on Welsh’s 1993 novel and the 2002 sequel Porno. This
is an inventive and vibrant film that captures the spirit of the
original. Excellent viewing.
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.