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This weekend there are four new films out for you to choose from: action reboot in Terminator Genisys, music documentary in Amy, horror in Housebound, and muscles a-flexing in Magic Mike XXL.
Arnold Schwarzenegger (right, sort-of) is back!… in his original role, which was a T-800 Terminator. IMDB just lists him as “The Terminator”, while fitness-trainer-to-the-stars Aaron V. Williamson is listed as “T-800”. The reason for that, in a hastily-deleted tweet from the latter, is that Williamson is playing a younger T-800.
Other cast members cast include Jai Courtney (best known for the god-awful
A Good Day To Die Hard) as Kyle Reese, Jason Clarke (Malcolm in Dawn of the Planet of the Apes) as John Connor, British actress Emilia Clarke (no relation) playing Sarah Connor, John’s mother – but Ms Clarke is almost 20 years younger, Byung-hun Lee (Storm Shadow in the terrible G.I. Joe: Retalliation), Courtney B. Vance (ER, FlashForward, Revenge) as Miles Dyson, an as-yet-unnamed character for Matt Smith (Doctor Who) and it’s directed by Alan Taylor (Thor: The Dark World and Game of Thrones).
After finding himself in a new time-line, Kyle Reese teams up with John Connor’s mother Sarah and an aging terminator to try and stop the one thing that the future fears, “Judgement Day”. In addition, Sandrine Holt (House of Cards), turns up as Detective Cheung to “arrest Kyle and Sarah when they arrive in 2017.”
As to whether this film is a hit or a miss, I will go and see it, but I know I won’t enjoy it, so it’ll have to be a…
Hit or Miss? Verdict: Miss!
Amy Winehouse died from alcohol poisoning in July 2011 at the age of 27, and Amy is a new documentary from BAFTA award-winning director Asif Kapadia (Senna) and produced by James Gay-Rees (Senna, Exit Through The Gift Shop), which tells the incredible story of six-time Grammy-winner Amy Winehouse – in her own words. It feature extensive unseen archive footage and previously unheard tracks, shining a light on the world we live in, in a way that very few can.
The press releases stated: “A once-in-a-generation talent and a pure jazz artist in the most authentic sense, Amy Winehouse wrote and sung from the heart using her musical gifts to analyse her own problems. The combination of her raw honesty and supreme talent resulted in some of the most original and adored songs of the modern era.
Her huge success, however, resulted in relentless and invasive media attention which coupled with Amy’s troubled relationships and precarious lifestyle saw her life tragically begin to unravel.”
Personally, I wasn’t a fan of Amy Winehouse’s music, but I’m intrigued by this documentary. It’s been disowned by her father, Mitch, yet it’s getting a great amount of critical acclaim. On similar lines, I was never a big fan of The Exorcist, but I did enjoy the documentary about it, The Fear of God: 25 Years of ‘The Exorcist’.
So as for how I’ll view this when I see it…
Hit or Miss? Verdict: Maybe…
Housebound stars Morgana O’Reilly as Kylie Bucknell, forced to return to the house she grew up in when the court places her on home detention. Her punishment is made all the more unbearable by the fact she has to live there with her mother Miriam – a well-intentioned blabbermouth who’s convinced that the house is haunted.
Kylie dismisses Miriam’s superstitions as nothing more than a distraction from a life occupied by boiled vegetables & small-town gossip. However, when she too becomes privy to unsettling whispers & strange bumps in the night, she begins to wonder whether she’s inherited her overactive imagination, or if the house is in fact possessed by a hostile spirit who’s less than happy about the new living arrangement.
Housebound also stars Rima Te Wiata, Glen-Paul Waru and Ross Harper, and it does look very ‘seen it all before’ and I was very unimpressed.
Hit or Miss? Verdict: Miss!
Magic Mike XXL
The second one about male strippers, featuring Channing Tatum.
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.