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This week, there are FIVE new films out for you to choose from, led by First Man. Here are the titles, with more info below:
- First Man
Bad Times at the El Royale
22 July
Mandy
Smallfoot
First Man
First Man reunites La La Land‘s star and director for a run-through about Neil Armstrong and what led to him becoming the first man on the moon, but it made me wonder – how come this has never been told before, i.e. solely focused on him?
Going through his life from 1961-1969, the film explores the sacrifices and costs on the Nation and Neil (Ryan Gosling) himself – including leaving his wife Janet (Claire Foy) and family, during one of the most dangerous missions in the history of space travel.
First Man is released on October 12th in the UK, although it does make you wonder why they didn’t wait until July 2019 to mark the 50th anniversary.
Director: Damien Chazelle
Also stars: Pablo Schreiber, Kyle Chandler, Ciarán Hinds, Ethan Embry, Jason Clarke, Brian d’Arcy James, Corey Stoll, Christopher Abbott, Patrick Fugit, Shea Whigham, Lukas Haas
Hit or Miss? Verdict: Read the review!
Bad Times at the El Royale gives us seven strangers, each with a secret to bury.
They meet at Lake Tahoe’s El Royale, a rundown hotel with a dark past. Over the course of one fateful night, everyone will have a last shot at redemption – before everything goes to hell.
I really like the look of this as the trailer shows it mixing humour and action/thrills brilliantly.
The film comes from Writer/Director: Drew Goddard, who directed the mostly superb The Cabin In The Woods, and was the screenwriter for The Martian (which was based on Andy Weir’s book)
Stars: Chris Hemsworth, Dakota Johnson, Jon Hamm, Nick Offerman, Jeff Bridges, Cailee Spaeny, Lewis Pullman, Manny Jacinto
Hit or Miss? Verdict: Hit!
22 July tells the true story of the aftermath of Norway’s deadliest terrorist attack.
On 22nd July, 2011, 77 people were killed when far-right extremist Anders Behring Breivik detonated a car bomb in Oslo before carrying out a mass shooting at a leadership camp for teens. The film uses the lens of one survivor’s physical and emotional journey to portray the country’s path to healing and reconciliation.
This looks fascinating and it was a terrible tragedy, so I hope the film does it justice.
Director: Paul Greengrass
Writers: Paul Greengrass, Åsne Seierstad
Stars: Anders Danielsen Lie, Jonas Strand Gravli, Jon Øigarden
Hit or Miss? Verdict: Hit!
Mandy takes place in 1983, where Red (Nicolas Cage) is a lumberjack who lives in a secluded cabin in the woods. His artist girlfriend Mandy (Andrea Riseborough) spends her days reading fantasy paperbacks. Then one day, she catches the eye of a crazed cult leader, who conjures a group of motorcycle-riding demons to kidnap her. Red, armed with a crossbow and custom Axe, stops at nothing to get her back, leaving a blo -ody, brutal pile of bodies in his wake.
Ms Riseborough is always worth a watch, so I’ll definitely check this out.
Director: Panos Cosmatos
Also stars: Linus Roache, Ned Dennehy, Olwen Fouéré, Richard Brake, Bill Duke
Hit or Miss? Verdict: Hit!
Smallfoot stars Channing Tatum, in a CGI-filled piece of junk for kids, as a yeti called Migo, who comes across a human called Percy, and since humans have smaller feet than him… yes, you guessed it.
Sadly, Percy is played by James Corden. Yes, him again. Why? God alone knows. Make it stop. Make it stop. PLEASE make it stop.
Also involved in this mess are: Zendaya, Gina Rodriguez, Danny DeVito, Yara Shahidi, Common, Jimmy Tatro and LeBron James.
Hit or Miss? Verdict: Miss!
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.