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This week, there are FIVE new films out for you to choose from, led by Ready Or Not. Here are the titles, with more info below:Ready Or Not
Skin
Don’t Let Go
The Goldfinch
Hotel Mumbai
Ready Or Not looks to be one of those films where I see the trailer and from the first time I watch it, I instantly think – and hope! – that it’s going to be in my Top 10 films of the year as it looks amazing.
Young bride Grace (Samara Weaving) is about to marry new husband Alex (Mark O’Brien) and marry into his rich, eccentric family, but when someone joins the family, they must play a game, and tonight, Matthew, her game has been decided as Hide and Seek. From midnight until the next morning.
Sounds easy, yes? Well, no, because they’re all coming for her with a number of different lethal implements, which turns this time-honored tradition into a game with everyone fighting for their survival, as it gets a bit ‘Final Destination‘. Like that, I wonder if it’ll also spawn sequels?
I loved this trailer so much, especially with the sharp direction, that I watched it twice more, straight away.
Ready Or Not is released in the UK on September 27th, and given how the trailer turns out, it does look fitting that it’s in the run-up to Halloween… almost.
Directors: Matt Bettinelli-Olpin, Tyler Gillett
Writers: Guy Busick, Ryan Murphy
Also stars: Andie MacDowell, Adam Brody, Henry Czerny, Nicky Guadagni, Melanie Scrofano, Daniela Barbosa
Hit or Miss? Verdict: Hit!
Skin
Jamie Bell plays a destitute young man, raised by racist skinheads and notorious among white supremacists, turns his back on hatred and violence to transform his life, with the help of a black activist and the woman he loves.
This looks to be powerful stuff, and a definite must-see, although I suspect it’s unlikely to get a wide cinema release and so I’ll catch it on Blu-ray in due course.
Writer/Director: Guy Nattiv
Stars: Danielle Macdonald, Daniel Henshall, Bill Camp, Vera Farmiga, Mary Stuart Masterson
Hit or Miss? Verdict: Hit!
Don’t Let Go centres around Jack Radcliff (David Oyelowo) whos family dies in what appears to be a murder, but he then gets a phone call from one of the dead, his niece. He’s not sure if she’s a ghost or if he’s going mad, but as it turns out, he’s not.
So, he and she are in a different point in time from one another. Will they resolve everything? Will you care? Well, probably not, as it comes from the same production company as Get Out, and that was an overhyped limp lettuce.
Writer/Director: Jacob Estes
Also stars: Storm Reid, Mykelti Williamson, Byron Mann, Shinelle Azoroh
Hit or Miss? Verdict: Miss!
The Goldfinch centres around 12-year-old New Yorker Theo Decker (Ansel Elgort), whose life is turned upside down when his mother is killed in a terrorist attack at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and, confused, in the rubble of the tragedy, he steals a priceless piece of art known as The Goldfinch. The movie follows his life following this turn of events and the loss of his mother.
But it looks a bit dull, so ‘turn of’ becomes ‘turn off’ for me.
Director: John Crowley
Screenplay: Peter Straughan
Novel: Donna Tartt
Also stars: Nicole Kidman, Sarah Paulson, Finn Wolfhard, Aneurin Barnard, Luke Wilson, Jeffrey Wright, Denis O’Hare, Oakes Fegley
Hit or Miss? Verdict: Miss!
Hotel Mumbai takes a true-life terrorist attack and turns it into ‘Hotel Has Fallen’ with crap dialogue such as when the staff are told it’s okay if they go home to their familes, and one replies, “I’ve been here 35 years. THIS is my home”. Oh dear…
But as per the billing: A gripping true story of humanity and heroism, Hotel Mumbai vividly recounts the 2008 siege of the famed Taj Hotel by a group of terrorists. Among the dedicated hotel staff is the renowned chef Hemant Oberoi (Anupam Kher) and a waiter (Dev Patel – The Last Airbender), who choose to risk their lives to protect their guests. As the world watches on, a desperate couple (Armie Hammer – Call Me By Your Name, and Nazanin Boniadi – Ben Hur 2016) is forced to make unthinkable sacrifices to protect their newborn child.
Director: Anthony Maras
Screenplay: John Collee, Anthony Maras
Also stars: Jason Isaacs, Angus McLaren, Natasha Liu Bordizzo, Tilda Cobham-Hervey
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.