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 four new films making their debut during this period. We have comedy with Life Skills (15) and with a revised Ghostbusters (12A). There is conjuring mischief with Now You See Me 2 (12A) and finally action/adventure in The Legend of Tarzan (12A).
Movies due to appear later this month include Batman: The Killing Joke; Jason Bourne; Star Trek: Beyond and The BFG.
Films that have been withdrawn this period include Gods of Egypt and The Angry Birds Movie. However, we see the return of the drama A Hologram for the King, the comedy Bad Neighbours 2 and the family adventure The Jungle Book.
This is an excellent period for comedies with Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie; Adult Life Skills; Bad Neighbours 2; Central Intelligence; Florence Foster Jenkins; Ghostbusters; Ice Age: Collision Course and The Secret Life of Pets all on offer.
Action/drama is represented by Now You See Me 2; The Daughter and The Legend of Tarzan. Also there is the romantic drama Me Before You.
Science fiction action come with Independence Day: Resurgence and in the category of horror there is Green Room and The Conjuring 2.
High culture comes with Glyndebourne: Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg and Kenneth Branagh Theatre Company: Romeo & Juliet.
Finally the Dukes are holding another Film Quiz on the 12th July.
Reviews
A Hologram for the King
Director: Tom Tykwer
Certificate: 12A
Cast includes: Tom Hanks, Alexander Black, Sanita Choudhury
Based on the best selling 2012 novel by Dave Egger, Alan Clay
(Hanks) is an American Businessman whose life is falling apart following
the recession. He is trying to make a comeback, leading a team to sell
a new holographic telepresence system to the King of Saudi Arabia.
However he is out of his depth with no knowledge of the local customs
and facing a bureaucracy worthy of Kafka. Attempts to see the king
repeatedly fail and he and his team just wait in a venue with failed
communications and air conditioning. The only hope seems to be his taxi
driver Yousef (Black). This is something of a convoluted story which
is both funny and terribly sad. However Hanks gives a great performance
and the whole provides a very entertaining movie.
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.
Bad Neighbours 2
Director: Nicholas Stoller
Certificate: 15
Cast includes: Seth Rogen, Rose Byrne, Chloe Grace Moretz, Zac Efron
A sequel to the 2014 Bad Neighbours. Mac Radner (Rogen) and his
wife Kelly (Byrne) are expecting their second child. They are in the
process of selling their old house when a newly established female
sorority, Kappa Kappa Nu led by Shelby (Moretz), moves into the house
nextdoor. Excessive partying on the part of the sorority makes life a
nightmare for the Radner’s and will jeopardise the sale of their house.
Their requests for the girls to keep the partying quiet lead to an all
out war. Teddy (Efron) from the previous film has not done well outside
of college and he is enlisted by the Radner’s to be their ally in the
battle with the sorority. This movie is little more than a re-run of
the first Bad Neighbours, but the film still has more than its share of
very funny moments. Good entertainment.
Central Intelligence
Director: Rawson Marshall Thurber
Certificate: 12A
Cast includes: Dwayne Johnson, Kelvin Hart
Robbie Wierdicht (Johnson) was bullied at high school. On leaving, he
changed his name to Bob Stone, developed an impressive physique and
became a CIA operative. Calvin Joyner (Hart) was his friend at high
school and had a career in accounting. At the time of their high school
reunion, Bob starts to work with Calvin to stop the illegal sale of
satellite codes by a mystery agent Black Badger. Calvin however is
approached by the CIA and told that Bob is actually delusional. Yet
Calvin continues to help his friend and the two of them face fights, gun
battles and car crashes to track Black Badger. The movie is a fast
paced buddy action comedy. Johnson and Hart work well together and the
fast talking dialogue from Hart goes a long way to carrying the film.
Expect some slapstick and a great deal of humour.
Florence Foster Jenkins
Director: Stephen Frears
Certificate: PG
Cast includes: Meryl Streep, Hugh Grant
A period drama based on the true story of Florence Foster
Jenkins (Streep). Jenkins is a rich heiress with ambitions to be a
singer despite a terrible singing voice. Her husband St Clair Bayfield
(Grant), despite being something of a cad, arranges for her to sing in a
concert, having carefully selected the audience to ensure her efforts
will be well received. This is the second recent movie based on the
life of Jenkins and it provides a more light hearted approach than the
2015 film Marguerite. The movie is has been well received and provides
a good share of laughs, though, for this reviewer, it was something of a
one joke film.
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?
Independence Day: Resurgence
Director: Roland Emmerich
Certificate: 12A
Cast includes: Liam Hemsworth, Jeff Golgblum, Bill Pullman, Brent Spiner, Judd Hirsch
In the 1996 film ‘Independence Day’ the earth underwent alien invasion
but this was finally repulsed and the attackers were defeated. In the
aftermath, earth spent time understanding the alien technology and
developing a global defence program with military based on the Moon,
Mars and a moon of Saturn. Now twenty years later, the aliens return,
with a larger and much more powerful battle fleet. Again earth must
fight for its independence. This is a fast moving film with everything
bigger and better than the original, thought the plot is a little
lighter. Some of the old characters return to provide continuity though
Will Smith is absent. A fun, action packed, visually impressive and
entertaining movie.
The Conjuring 2
Director: James Wan
Certificate: 15
Cast includes: Vera Farmiga, Patrick Wilson, Frances O’ Connor, Madison Wolfe
A sequel to the 2013 film ‘The Conjuring’. Lorraine (Farmiga) and Ed
(Wilson) Warren are psychic investigators. The hear of a haunting and
travel to the UK to help Peggy Hodgson (O’Connor), a single mother of
four, who is plagued by poltergeist activity in her London council
house. However things get worse when Peggy’s youngest daughter Janet
(Wolfe) shows signs of daemon possession. The psychic investigators
come to find themselves in peril. A superior horror movie which
provides plenty of frights and has been well received.
The Jungle Book
Director: Jon Favreau
Certificate: PG
Cast includes: Neel Sethi, Bill Murray, Scarlett Johansson, Ben Kingsley, Idris Elba
Based on Rudyard Kipling’s works, this is a reworking of a the
well known classic using live action and CGI. Mowgli (Sethi) is an
orphaned boy raised by a wolf and thence by Bagheera (Kingsley) a black
panther. Mowgli alienates the Bengal tiger Shere Khan (Elba) and so
must make his way to humankind for safety, meeting the well known
characters Baloo and Kaa on the way. Subsequently he returns to the
jungle to face Shere Khan. The movie is a good example a remake that
improves on the original. An excellent movie that will entertain all
ages.
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.
Zootropolis (Zootopia)
Director: Byron Howard, Rich Moore, Jared Bush
Certificate: PG
Cast includes: Ginnifer Goodwin, Jason Bateman
This is a comedy animation set in the city of Zootropolis which
is populated by animals. Judy Hopps (Goodwin) is a rabbit rookie police
officer. She parters with a con-artist fox Nick Wilde (Bateman) to
solve the mystery of a missing husband. An excellently made fun movie
that will appeal to a wide range of ages.