Skip to content
This week, there are EIGHT new films out for you to choose from: horror in Hereditary, Timothy Spall is Stanley: A Man Of Variety, Sylvia Sims and Peter Bowles want to stay Together when circumstances force them apart, Sandra Bullock leads a potential new trilogy of heist movies in Oceans 8, Studio 54 is a new documentary about the famous 1970s New York City nightclub, Super Troopers 2 comes to cinemas 17 years after the original, Rupert Everett portrays Oscar Wilde in The Happy Prince, and in a small Romani community in Calabria, there’s a tale of teen rebellion in A Ciambra.
Hereditary, written and directed by Ari Aster and starring Toni Collette, and from the team behind The Visit and Split, means you quickly get where the trailer is heading.
When Ellen, the matriarch of the Graham family, passes away, her daughter’s family begins to unravel cryptic and increasingly terrifying secrets about their ancestry. The more they discover, the more they find themselves trying to outrun the sinister fate they seem to have inherited. The film brings a nightmare vision of a domestic breakdown that exhibits the craft and precision of a nascent auteur, transforming a familial tragedy into something ominous and deeply disquieting, and pushing the horror movie into chilling new terrain with its shattering portrait of heritage gone to hell.
It’s also shot in a rather strange aspect ratio of 2.00:1, the same used by a lot of TV shows, these days, but this sort of ratio can have problems on the big screen, windowboxing the image and looking tiny, as per my review of 2015’s Tomorrowland.
Hit or Miss? Verdict: Hit!
Stanley: A Man Of Variety stars the brilliant Timothy Spall (Away) as a man who has been stuck in prison for far too long starts to see hallucinations. As Mark Kermode said, it could be the one film where a single actor gets nominated for ‘Best Ensemble Performance’, as one many plays many parts in this 83-minute movie, and he co-wrote the movie with director Stephen Cookson.
Hit or Miss? Verdict: Hit!
Together
After 60 years of marriage, Rosemary (Sylvia Sims) and Philip Twain (Peter Bowles) are happily sharing their golden years taking care of one another. When Rosemary is taken to hospital for a routine procedure their perfect retirement starts to unravel. Philip is admitted to a care home and even when his wife is returned to the marital home he is not allowed to join her. Frustrated by the system they take their lives in to their own hands and fight back. Even if they have to take a test to prove they are capable of independent living they will do it. They will do anything to be together.
With two fantastic actors in the lead roles, this looks to have far more layers to it than the billing implies, and I really can’t wait to see this. Naturally, it won’t be in my local multiplex, sadly, because that will be dominated by the usual Hollywood fare.
Director: Paul Duddridge
Also stars: Amanda Barrie, Cathy Tyson, Nina Wadia
Hit or Miss? Verdict: Hit!
Oceans 8 brings us back to a franchise I never watched in the first place, as Debbie Ocean (Sandra Bullock) gathers a crew to attempt an impossible heist at New York City’s yearly Met Gala. She is Danny Ocean’s estranged sister, and her first stop is to assemble the perfect crew: Lou, Rose, Daphne Kluger, Nine Ball, Tammy, Amita, and Constance.
As you’d expect, there’s a big cast of well-known names, and sadly, they’re also included the dreadfully unfunny James Corden. Why do the Americans like him? And if they like him, can’t they just keep him locked in a cage in the basement?
The film was relased in the US on June 8th, while it was due over here on the 22nd, i.e. next Friday, but to mirror the ‘8’ – and because mirroring June 8th was clearly too difficult – it’s been moved to Monday next week, i.e. June 18th. By doing that, it also means that instead of the traditional 3-day weekend, from Friday to Sunday, it’s scamming a 7-day ‘weekend’ in box office gross, i.e. Monday-Sunday.
Oceans 8 is released in the UK on June 22nd 2018, although in the US and for many other countries, it’s June 8th… which makes sense as it’s Oceans 8.
Director: Gary Ross
Writers: Olivia Milch, Gary Ross
Also stars: Cate Blanchett, Olivia Munn, Matt Damon, Dakota Fanning, Anne Hathaway, Sarah Paulson, Richard Armitage, Katie Holmes, Helena Bonham Carter, Rihanna, Adriana Lima, Mindy Kaling, Hailey Baldwin, Samantha Cocozza
Hit or Miss? Verdict: Miss!
Studio 54 is a new documentary about the famous 1970s New York City nightclub, and not a place I ever went to, since I was far too young at the time, and it was also immortalised in the film 54, 20 years ago, with its story told through the eyes of a young employee.
The place was the epicenter of ’70s hedonism – a place that not only redefined the nightclub, but also came to symbolize an entire era. Its co-owners, Ian Schrager and Steve Rubell, two friends from Brooklyn, seemed to come out of nowhere to suddenly preside over a new kind of New York society. Now, 39 years after the velvet rope was first slung across the club’s hallowed threshold, a feature documentary tells the real story behind the greatest club of all time.
Director: Matt Tyrnauer
Starring: Steve Rubell, Ian Schrager
Hit or Miss? Verdict: Maybe!
Super Troopers 2
When a border dispute arises between the U.S. and Canada, the Super Troopers are tasked with establishing a Highway Patrol station in the disputed area. Seann William Scott, takes the lead, and he’s also taking over as Riggs in the Lethal Weapon TV series, after the first two seasons’ Clayne Crawford stepped down/was fired after being a bit ‘handsy’ with the staff.
I never saw the Super Troopers – which came out as far back as 2001, so clearly the public weren’t clamouring for it, either, and this sequel currently scores a mediocre 6.9 on IMDB.
Director: Jay Chandrasekhar
Starring: Jay Chandrasekhar, Kevin Heffernan, Steve Lemme, Paul Soter, Erik Stolhanske, Rob Lowe, Brian Cox
Hit or Miss? Verdict: Miss!
The Happy Prince
The untold story of the last days in the tragic times of Oscar Wilde, a person who observes his own failure with ironic distance and regards the difficulties that beset his life with detachment and humor.
This isn’t my sort of thing, and sounds more like something that’d best serve as a play, but it’s keeping Rupert Everett in a job.
Director: Rupert Everett
Starring: Rupert Everett, Colin Firth, Emily Watson, Colin Morgan, Edwin Thomas, Tom Wilkinson
Hit or Miss? Verdict: Miss!
A Ciambra
In this film, a small Romani community in Calabria, Pio Amato is desperate to grow up fast. At 14, he drinks, smokes and is one of the few to easily slide between the region’s factions – the local Italians, the African refugees and his fellow Romani. Pio follows his older brother Cosimo everywhere, learning the necessary skills for life on the streets of their hometown. When Cosimo disappears and things start to go wrong, Pio sets out to prove he’s ready to step into his big brother’s shoes but soon finds himself faced with an impossible decision that will show if he is truly ready to become a man.
I wasn’t wholly sold on this, but it looks like it could be okay.
Director: Jonas Carpignano
Starring: Pio Amato, Koudous Seihon, Lolanda Amato, Damiano Amato
Hit or Miss? Verdict: Maybe!
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.