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 just four new releases this period. There is drama with Captain Fantastic (15) and family fun in the animation Storks (U). In addition there are the documentaries Lo and Behold, Reveries of the Connected World (12A) and Yarn (12A).
Movies that have come to an end of their screening include Kubo and the Two Strings and Lights Out. However we do see the return, for one day, of the comedy Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie.
For drama there is the oil spill disaster Deepwater Horizon; a mystery thriller The Girl on the Train; the Western The Magnificent Seven and war in War Dogs. In addition we have supernatural horror in Blair Witch; violence in Don’t Breathe and zombie action in The Girl with all the Gifts.
For adult comedy there is the return of the excellent Absolutely Fabulous: the movie; the continuing saga of Bridget Jones’s Baby and adult animation in Sausage Party.
Family movies come this period with the animations Finding Dory; Ice Age: Collision Course; The Secret life of Pets and the new release Storks. In addition there is magical action in Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children; Pete’s Dragon and The BFG.
Films of note include Herzog’s Lo and Behold, Reveries of the Connected World, an examination of societies accommodation of technology and the Internet; My Scientology Movie starring Louis Theroux and Yarn which reveal how artists are re-examining this traditional material. In addition there is Look Up and Laugh filmed in the Northwest and starring Gracie Fields.
The Dukes are holding another Film Quiz on the 10th October.
Finally high culture this period is represented with RSC Live: King Lear.
Reviews
Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie
Director: Mandie Fletcher
Certificate: 15
Cast includes: Jennifer Saunders Joanna Lumley, Julis Sawalha, June Whitfield, Jane Horrocks
It was 1992 when Absolutely Fabulous first appeared on the TV
and twenty four years later Patsie and Eddy finally make it to the big
screen. The couple are blamed for a major incident involving Kate Moss
at a fashionable launch party. To escape the paparazzi and poor
publicity, they flee, penniless, to the French Riviera, where they
concoct a plan to regain their fortune. The film retains the cast of
the TV series and a number of major celebrities also make cameo
appearances. This is a hilarious film, that maintains the character of
the original TV series. Excellent entertainment.
Blair Witch
Director: Adam Wingard
Certificate: 15
Cast includes: James Alen McCure, Callie Hernandez, Corbin Reid, Brandon Scott
This is a sequel to the 1999 ‘Blair Witch’ movie. James Donahue
(McCure) thinks his sister Heather, who disappeared twenty years ago,
may still be alive in the Black Hills Forest of Maryland. He, along
with a group of friends and a couple of guides, enter the forest to
explore the facts surrounding the Blair Witch and Heather’s
disappearance. As the night comes, all hell starts to breaks loose.
The movie is in the ‘found footage’ genre and it comes with plenty of
frights and some original twists, despite remaining faithful to the
original film. A very competent horror movie though it doesn’t quite
capture the novelty of the original.
Bridget Jones’s Baby
Director: Sharon Maguire
Certificate: 15
Cast Includes: Renee Zellweger, Emma Thompson, Colin Firth, Patrick Dempsey
After a break of twelve years, this is the third instalment of the
romantic comedy franchise and author Helen Fielding co-wrote the script.
Bridge Jones is now aged forty-three and still single, having broken up
with Mark Darcy (Firth). She decided to concentrate on her career as a
news producer. However she meets a handsome American Jack (Dempsey)
and has consecutive one night stands with both Jack and Mark. She finds
herself pregnant, but does not know which one is the father. This
movie captures the spirit of the original and is an improvement on the
previous ‘Edge of Reason’. It is set in London with Jones in her old
flat and the movie features strong acting both from Zellweger and from
Thompson. There are some very funny moments and excellent one liners.
Finding Dory
Director: Andrew Stanton, Angus MacLane
Certificate: U
Cast Includes: Ellen DeGeneres, Albert Brooks, Ed O’Neill, Hayden Rolence
Pixar’s sequel to the 2003 movie ‘Finding Nemo’. Dory (DeGeneres), who
helped reunite Nemo (Rolence) with his father Marlin (Brooks) in the
first movie, has a flashback in which she remembers her own family. She
decides to look for them despite her problems with a faulty memory.
Marlin and Nemo agree to help and the three swim to California to start
the search. Dory is caught and held in a marine life institute aquarium
for shipping to Cleveland. However with the help of Hank (O’Neill),
the octopus she escapes back to the ocean and finds her parents Charlie
and Jenny. Now she has to come to the aid of Marlin and Nemo who are
also imprisoned in the institute aquarium. The movie is essentially the
same plot as the original, but provides impressive animation and
contains some emotional scenes. However this is ultimately a fun ‘happy
ever after’ sort of film that will delight people of all ages.
Ice Age: Collision Course
Director: Mike Thurmeier and Galen T Chu
Cast includes: Simon Pegg, Roy Romano, Jennifer Lopez, Queen Latifah, Hohn Leguizamo, Denis Leary, Chris Wedge
A computer animation family adventure film. This is the fifth
instalment in the Ice Age series and the sequel to Continental Drift.
Scratt (Wedge), the sabre toothed squirrel, activates an alien UFO in
his continued pursuit of the acorn. The craft propels Scratt into outer
space and thence causes a planetary collision resulting in the creation
of meteors that threaten to engulf the earth. Manny (Romero) the Wooly
Mammoth, Sid (Leguizamo) the sloth and Diego (Leary) the sabre toothed
tiger hatch a plan with the weasel Buck (Pegg) to save the earth. The
plot is quite unbelievable, but the resulting mayhem is as entertaining
as ever. New characters are introduced as the movie unfolds and the
film a worthy addition to the franchise. Whats not to like?
Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children
Director: Tim Burton
Certificate: 12A
Cast includes: Samuel L Jackson, Eva Green, Asa Butterfield, Judi Dench
A rather dark fantasy drama based on the 2011 best selling novel by
Ransom Riggs. Jake (Butterfield), following the death of his
grandfather, finds Miss Peregrines Home for Peculiar Children. This is a
refuge for people with extraordinary gifts and it is fixed in one day
in 1940, which they continually re-live. The inhabitants of the home
can access different time zones. However they have powerful enemies,
led by Mr Barron (Jackson), who also have peculiar powers. Jake finds
himself being called upon to help his new friends. This is a very busy
film with plenty of characters, lots of action and CGI special effects.
However, in this variety, there seems limited time for the characters to
fully develop. The movie has received mixed reviews but this reviewer
found it great fun.
The Girl on the Train
Director: Tate Taylor
Certificate: 12A
Cast includes Emily Blunt, Haley Bennett, Luke Evans, Justin Theroux
A movie based on Paula Hawkins best selling 2015 novel of the same
name. Rachel (Blunt) is an alcoholic who recently divorced her husband
Tom (Theroux). She commutes every day by train and on her journey she
fantasises about the seemingly perfect couple Scott (Evans) and Megan
(Bennett) Hipwell who live in a house that she passes. Rachel witnesses
something shocking on her journey and then hears Megan Hipwell is
missing. She tells the police and starts her own investigation. Yet she
cannot remember where where she was on the night of Megan’s
disappearance, and Megan and Scott are neighbours of her ex husband.
Hence Rachel find the police start to suspect she is involved in the
mystery. This is a well acted first rate mystery with a plot that
provides a good number of unexpected turns. A must-see movie.
The Girl with all the Gifts
Director: Colm McCarthy
Certificate: 15
Cast Includes: Gemma Arterton, Sennia Nanua, Paddy Considine, Glenn Close.
Set in the near future, most of humanity is infected by a fungal
disease that robs its victims of free-will, turning then into flesh
eating ‘hungries’. A small group of children show some signs of
resistance. When infected, they retain their free will and only crave
flesh when they smell bodily fluids. These children are imprisoned in a
military base where they are schooled by Helen Justineau (Arterton) and
studied by Dr Caldwell (Close) who is trying to make a vaccine. The
base is invaded. One of the brightest children Melanie (Nanua), along
with a handful of adults must fight for survival and in the process
Malanie starts to mature. This is an intelligent zombie movie, based on
the novel by M. R. Carey. It benefits from a strong cast and some
developments of the zombie genre. A good and entertaining horror film.
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.