There’s a bit more on offer this week after a relatively lacklustre affair last time around. There’s a couple of action big-hitters, a dash of historical adventure, a magnificent re-release of an old classic and a starry Brit-flick (for the mum’s). A little something to suit all tastes.
If you want to check to see if any of these films are playing near you, you can visit Find Any Film and they’ll be able to help.
Rampart *Pick of the Week*
This hard-hitting drama stars Woody Harrelson as dirty LAPD cop Dave Brown. He is a brutal and immoral enforcer whose violent tendencies become public knowledge when he is caught on camera severely beating a suspect. Directed by Oren Moverman, who also directed Harrelson in the well-received The Messenger (2009), and co-written by LA Confidential novelist James Ellroy, this gritty drama features a strong cast and has the ingredients to be a potential hit.
You can read Adam Lowes’ review here
Safe House
This action thriller comes courtesy of relative newcomer Daniel Espinosa. It stars Ryan Reynolds as the up and coming young CIA agent who is tasked with flying to Cape Town and protecting Denzel Washington’s dangerous fugitive in, you guessed it, a safe house. When the safe house is attacked however, the two men find themselves on the run from dangerous thugs. No word yet on whether Ryan Reynolds has his shirt off at some point but it’s usually a fair bet.
You can read our coverage of a Q+A with Espinosa and Washington here
The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
A light-hearted comedy drama from the director of Captain Corelli’s Mandolin and Shakespeare in Love. A slight change of pace to Woody Harrelson punching his way across LA and Denzel brooding his way across Cape Town. In this new film from director John Madden, a group of British retirees are lured to India to spend their golden years at the titular hotel. Once there though, the hotel does not quite live up to what they may have expected. There’s a whole host of national treasures in the cast including Bill Nighy, Tom Wilkinson, Maggie Smith and Judi Dench. As you may have guessed, this is the ‘one for the mum’s’ I mentioned in the intro.
Black Gold
According to the film’s official website;
“Black Gold” is the story of the rivalry between two Emirs in the Arabian Peninsula in the early 20thCentury just as oil is being discovered, and the rise of a young, dynamic leader who unites the tribes of the desert kingdoms.
Directed by Jean-Jacques Annaud, perhaps best known for directing Enemy at the Gates back in 2001, the film stars Antonio Banderas and Mark Strong. It seems to have slipped relatively under the radar in terms of press coverage but it’s an interesting topic and if nothing else it does have a very impressive website which you can check out here.
Our review is here.
One for the Money
Katherine Heigl stars in this comedy based on the novel by the same name. She stars as Stephanie, an unemployed recently divorced woman who resorts to working for her seedy cousin’s bail bonds company. She is soon on the case of a high-profile bail jumper, a former cop no less, who also just so happened to break her heart way back in High School. I’m not going to lie to you, it has had some fairly poor reviews so far, but hey, maybe the critics have got it wrong!
Laura
Otto Preminger’s seminal Film Noir gets a hotly anticipated theatrical re-release. The film follows a police detective who is investigating the murder of a beautiful advertising executive called Laura Hunt. Laura is dead at the film’s outset, shot in the face with a shotgun in her own apartment. The detective begins to build up a mental image of the deceased girl through various interviews with those who knew her and slowly finds himself becoming strangely obsessed. As you’d expect from a Noir movie, it’s dark and moody and full of deceit and betrayal. If you haven’t seen it before, it’s well worth a watch.
Blood Car
A black comedy set in the near future where gas prices are pushing the $40 mark in America. Archie, a nerdy vegan schoolteacher, vows to find a cheaper alternative fuel for his car and stumbles upon the discovery that blood is actually a surprisingly effective substitute for oil. Things take an expected turn for the worst as Archie is forced to find a continuous source of blood for his car. To make matters worse, there are soon government agents snooping around too. Sounds suitably bizarre and could well be a cult favourite in the making.
