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This weekend there are five new films out for you to choose from: censored action in Spectre, a decent drama in Mississippi Grind, Nicolas Cage on an off day in Pay The Ghost, more censored action in The Last Witch Hunter, and a year-old family drama in Paper Planes.
Spectre is the 24th film in the James Bond series and the plot revolves around a cryptic message from Bond’s past which sends him on a trail to uncover a sinister organization. While M battles political forces to keep the secret service alive, Bond peels back the layers of deceit to reveal the terrible truth behind SPECTRE.
Daniel Craig portrays 007 for the fourth time and Sam Mendes will again direct, following his first entry in the series with 2012’s Skyfall. Ralph Fiennes returns as M, as does Naomie Harris as the new Miss Moneypenny, aka Eve, and it’s a sort-of twist like that in Skyfall which makes you realise that while newbie Christoph Waltz is Franz Oberhauser, you just know he’d make a great baddie, and with the title of the film being “Spectre“, you just know he’s going to be Ernst Stavro Blofeld!
However, it’s CENSORED! So, do I wait until an uncut version is available for home viewing, or do I see it now to avoid spoilers?
And it’s not out today. Instead, oddly, it’s out on Monday! Why? No idea.
Hit or Miss? Verdict: Maybe!
Mississippi Grind stars Ben Mendelsohn as Gerry, a man down on his luck and facing financial hardship, who teams up with younger charismatic poker player, Curtis (Ryan Reynolds), in an attempt to change his luck. The two set off on a road trip through the South with visions of winning back what’s been lost.
The film also stars Sienna Miller, Analeigh Tipton, Robin Weigert and Alfre Woodard, but while my heart was filled with dread at the thought of a Ryan Reynolds stoner comedy, such was what echoed from the title at me, this is clearly Mendelsohn’s movie and looks like a decent drama.
For some reason though, it has two directors – Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck – which rarely is a good sign. They both wrote it so maybe it’ll improve due to that, as they have their heart in the project.
However, while I want to see this, it’ll get pushed off the screens by the above Bond film.
Hit or Miss? Verdict: Hit!
Pay the Ghost is the new Nicolas Cage movie, released in time for Halloween where his son gets snatched and he thinks the lad has gone to some mysterious place along with all the other kids who go missing at Halloween.
Pay the what? Yes, exactly. What a stupid name for a film. Will he find his son? Who cares. Cage was happy to let his son run off with his dead friend’s daughter AND a bunch of weird-looking aliens in Knowing, and all those aliens were strangers, so surely the pot’s calling the kettle black, here, as he objects to the boy’s disappearance at the hand of some nefarious force?
Pay the Ghost is directed by Uli Edel, who also directed last year’s Houdini drama starring Adrien Brody, and this stars Alex Mallari Jr, Veronica Ferres and Prison Break‘s Sarah Wayne Callies.
However, this is just a brief cinema release ahead of next Monday’s Blu-ray and DVD release, which is rather odd.
Hit or Miss? Verdict: Miss!
The Last Witch Hunter looks like a load of childish nonsense as Fast And Furious‘ Vin Diesel pitches up as Kaulder, the last remaining witch hunter, who battles against an uprising of witches in modern day New York… as you do.
The modern world holds many secrets, but the most astounding secret of all is that witches still live amongst us; vicious supernatural creatures intent on unleashing the Black Death upon the world. Armies of witch hunters battled the unnatural enemy across the globe for centuries, including Kaulder (Vin Diesel), a valiant warrior who managed to slay the all-powerful Witch Queen (Julie Engelbrecht), decimating her followers in the process. In the moments right before her death, the Queen curses Kaulder with her own immortality, forever separating him from his beloved wife and daughter in the afterlife.
Today, Kaulder is the only one of his kind remaining, and has spent centuries hunting down rogue witches, all the while yearning for his long-lost loved ones. However, unbeknownst to him, the Queen Witch is resurrected and seeks revenge on her killer causing an epic battle that will determine the survival of the human race.
Also Rose Leslie, Elijah Wood, Joseph Gilgun from Pride, and Michael Caine (why?), this looks utterly dreadful.
And… it’s also CENSORED!!!
Hit or Miss? Verdict: Miss!
Paper Planes has the bizarre premise (to me, at least) about a young Australian boy’s passion for flight and his challenge to compete in the World Paper Plane Championships in Japan. I’d never even heard of these before.
Sam Worthington plays Dad Jack, and Ed Oxenbould, his son Dylan, plus there’s Deborah Mailman, Nicholas Bakopoulos-Cooke and Ena Imai.
This film has taken a whole year to reach the UK, and it looks entirely predictable.
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.