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This week, there are FIVE new films out for you to choose from, led by Peterloo. Here are the titles, with more info below:
- Peterloo
Slaughterhouse Rulez
Mirai
Juliet, Naked
The Nutcracker and the Four Realms
Peterloo is an epic portrayal of the events surrounding the infamous 1819 Peterloo Massacre, where a peaceful pro-democracy rally at St Peter’s Field in Manchester turned into one of the bloodiest and most notorious episodes in British history.
The massacre saw British government forces charge into a crowd of over 60,000 that had gathered to demand political reform and protest against rising levels of poverty. Many protesters were killed and hundreds more injured, sparking a nationwide outcry but also further government suppression. The Peterloo Massacre was a defining moment in British democracy which also played a significant role in the founding of The Guardian newspaper.
Writer/Director: Mike Leigh
Stars: Rory Kinnear, Maxine Peake, Neil Bell, Pearce Quigley, David Moorst, Rachel Finnegan, Tom Meredith, Simona Bitmate, Robert Wilfort, Karl Johnson, Sam Troughton, Roger Sloman, Kenneth Hadley, Tom Edward-Kane, Lizzy McInnerny, Alastair Mackenzie
Hit or Miss? Verdict: Hit!
Slaughterhouse Rulez takes place at an illustrious British boarding school, which becomes a bloody battleground when a mysterious sinkhole appears at a nearby fracking site, unleashing unspeakable horror.
It looks okay, but while I find Simon Pegg and Nick Frost are great together in anything when they team up with Edgar Wright (eg. Spaced, Shaun of the Dead), the Pegg/Frost combo rarely works, eg. Paul.
Since it’s released on October 31st, it felt like it was going for the Halloween market, even though it’s cutting it close.
Director: Crispian Mills
Stars: Hermione Corfield, Michael Sheen, Finn Cole, Asa Butterfield, Nick Frost, Jamie Blackley, Jassa Ahluwalia, Jo Hartley
Hit or Miss? Verdict: Maybe!
Mirai follows a 4-year old boy who is struggling to cope with the arrival of a little sister in the family, until things turn magical. A mysterious garden in the backyard of the boy’s home becomes a gateway allowing the child to travel back in time and encounter his mother as a little girl and his great-grandfather as a young man. These fantasy-filled adventures allow the child to change his perspective and help him become the big brother he was meant to be.
These sorts of films can be hit or miss for me.
Writer/Director: Mamoru Hosoda
Stars: Haru Kuroki, Moka Kamishiraishi, Gen Hoshino
Hit or Miss? Verdict: Maybe!
Juliet, Naked tells the story of Annie (Rose Byrne – X-Men: Apocalypse), the long-suffering girlfriend of Duncan (Chris O’Dowd), and her unlikely transatlantic romance with once revered, now faded, singer-songwriter, Tucker Crowe (Ethan Hawke), who also happens to be the subject of Duncan’s musical obsession.
I’ve never *got* Chris O’Dowd, and I don’t know what makes him a Hollywood draw (same with James Corden), and for this film, the premise is a case of two people unlikely to meet, who then do meet, and it all looks sickly sweet and predictable, so I’ll give this a miss.
It’s also a bloody stupid title, too. She’s certainly not naked, plus the fact there’s a comma in the title really screws with SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) when ranking with Google, and the very word ‘naked’ triggers whatever it is that makes Google’s Adsense adverts stop showing on the page!
Director: Jesse Peretz
Also stars: Megan Dodds, Jimmy O Yang, Lily Newmark, Azhy Robertson, Lily Brazier
Hit or Miss? Verdict: Miss!
The Nutcracker and the Four Realms proves that since Christmas is almost upon us, it’s time to bleat on about what’s in the cinema next year, and since Beauty and the Beast took over $2bn at the box office for Disney, and since they can’t make a direct sequel to that, they’ll milk the idea with this other twist on a fairytale.
Taking the lead as Clara, is Mackenzie Foy (above with Keira Knightley) who played Matthew McConaughey’s daughter in Interstellar.
This film looks like it was going to come out in time for the October half-term… but it’s now missed that, which doesn’t sound clever.
Directors: Lasse Hallström, Joe Johnston
Also stars: Keira Knightley, Morgan Freeman, Matthew Macfadyen, Helen Mirren, Miranda Hart, Richard E Grant, Sergei Polunin, Jack Whitehall, Ellie Bamber, Meera Syal, Omid Djalili
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.