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 is something of a churn among the films on display in our region during this period.
We have three new releases, namely an erotic drama with The Boy Next Door (15); a comedy sequel with The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (PG) and comedy drama in Focus (15).
Films that have disappeared from the cinema this week include American Sniper; Into the Woods; Paddington; Taken 3 and the docu-drama Wild. Also it appears likely that the following films will soon cease to be screened: The Penguins of Madagascar; Peppa Pig; The Imitation Game and the award winning Birdman. We do however see the return of Night of the Museum: Secret of the Tomb and Ex Machina.
The adult drama Fifty Shades of Grey is still
one of the major events. This is just the first of a number erotic
dramas making it to the big screen, soon to be joined by The Boy Next Door released on Friday and The Duke of Burgundy which is due to be screened later in March.
We have a dearth of horror movies at the moment. However Science fiction is currently well represented with Project Almanac and Jupiter Ascending. Also there is a good selection of drama, including a one night double bill of Fast and Furious 6 and 7, as well as the entertaining Kingsman: The Secret Service and the much acclaimed Selma.
The Lancaster ‘Campus in the City’ initiative continues,
bringing predominantly European cinema to the region. Of special note
is the screening of Hannah Arendt, a biopic of the influential German-Jewish philosopher.
Reviews
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.
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.
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 Boy Next Door
Director: Rob Cohen
Certificate: 15
Cast Includes: Jennifer Lopez, Ryan Guzman, Ian Nelson.
Claire Peterson (Lopez) is a lonely English teacher. She is a
single parent looking after her teenage son Kevin (Nelson) following
separation from her unfaithful husband. A man half her age, Noah
(Guzman), moves into the house across the street. Initially he helps
Claire with chores, but their closeness results in a night of passion.
Claire realizes this was a mistake and abruptly finishes the
relationship. Noah however shows his unstable side. He becomes her
stalker and threatens her, his obsession becoming ever stronger till
there is a final culmination at the end of the film. The movie however
has attracted rather poor reviews as both the plot and the dialogue are a
little ‘clunky’. Also Guzman proves to be more convincing as a
handsome hulk than a threatening obsessive. However this is an
acceptable entry into the category an erotic drama.
The Imitation Game
Director: Morten Tyldum
Certificate: 12A
Cast Includes: Benedict Cumberbatch, Rory Kinnear, Keira Knightley
A portrayal of the life of computer genius Alan Turing
(Cumberbatch) who masterminded the cracking of the German Enigma code in
the second world war and continued to develop computer theory at
Manchester University. The film opens in 1951 with a robbery taking
place in Turing’s house. Thence the film explores Turing’s life by
flashbacks to his schooling and his life in Bletchley Park. The acting
in the film is excellent with Cumberbatch giving a particularly good
performance. However the film rather backs away from Turing’s
homosexuality and his subsequent suicide after his persecution by the
British Government.
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.