James Absolon explains how this Pope-themed film, despite its risky premise, works
Alex Pollard reviews Hollywood's biopic of the controversial Margaret Thatcher
- The biggest news of this week is probably that the Tomb Raider film franchise is going to be rebooted. The popular videogame series has already spawned two films starring Angelina Jolie, the most recent being Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life (2003). The reboot will reportedly recast the lead role, although it is currently unknown who will be cast in Jolie’s place.
- 2010 action film The Expendables will get the sequel treatment, although it now looks unlikely that the second will be directed by Sylvester Stallone. Stallone both directed and starred in the first film, but is now reportedly looking for another director to take the reins of the sequel.
- Visionary director Guillermo Del Toro has had his latest project cancelled. Del Toro, director of films such as Pan’s Labyrinth and Hellboy was planning to helm an adaptation of H. P. Lovecraft’s At The Mountains of Madness, but a combination of money and rating issues have seemingly sunk the project.
- The animated series Voltron is currently the subject of a bidding war between rival studios who wish to adapt it into a feature film. Previous attempts have been thwarted by disputes over the original production rights, but this appears to have been resolved.
The childish but remarkably satirical Small Soldiers (1998) is on ITV1 at 2:15pm tomorrow. If you’re looking for something more heartfelt, try the Will Smith-starring The Pursuit of Happyness, which is on 5* (formerly Fiver) at 6:40pm on that same day. Slightly later in the evening is Spielberg’s cautionary sci-fi Jurassic Park, which is on ITV2 at 7:10pm. Directly afterwards, also on ITV2 is The Last Samurai at 9:30pm. The critically acclaimed romantic comedy Terms of Endearment (1983) is on Film4 at 6:25pm on Sunday.
- Battle: Los Angeles
Described as a realistic alien invasion movie, this appears to be a new step in a frequently seen genre. Starring Aaron Eckhart and Michelle Rodriguez, this may look intriguing at first glance, but it is directed by Jonathan Leibesman (best known for Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning) and has not been widely press screened with the few available reviews being predominantly negative.
- The Resident
Hammer horror returns to the screen with Hilary Swank moving into an apartment owned by an obsessive landlord (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) and has Christopher Lee as a neighbour. Unsurprisingly, things take a turn for the worse and according to critics so does the film.
- Hall Pass
Friends Owen Wilson and Jason Sudeikis are given a week by their wives to do whatever they want with other women knowing that they will fail to attract anyone. This supposedly leads to hilarity, though critics seem to disagree.
- Fair Game
This political thriller has failed to gain any major awards. It tells the real-life story of Valerie Plame (Naomi Watts), a CIA agent whose identity was exposed to prevent her giving evidence arguing against the invasion of Iraq. Also starring Sean Penn this is probably an interesting drama with excellent performances, yet its subject matter now seems like yesterday’s news.
- The Company Men
Businessmen Ben Affleck, Tommy Lee Jones, Chris Copper and their families struggle to cope with the pressure of redundancy. Not a very exciting premise particularly considering Ben Affleck’s reputation as an actor, though the film has received mixed reviews.
- Norwegian Wood
Japanese drama in which, after hearing the Beatles song Norwegian Wood, Toro (Kenichi Matsuyamma) remembers 1960s Tokyo. At that time, he had to cope with the grief of a friend’s suicide, making for what is apparently an interesting and deeply moving drama.
You must log in to submit a comment.
