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This week, there are SEVEN new films out for you to choose from, led by The Man Who Killed Don Quixote. Here are the titles, with more info below:The Man Who Killed Don Quixote
Richard Jewell
A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood
The Lighthouse
The Rhythm Section
Queen and Slim
Inmate Zero (aka Patients of a Saint)
The Man Who Killed Don Quixote is the film which writer/director Terry Gilliam (Time Bandits) has been trying to make for 30 years, originally starring Johnny Depp in the role of Toby, who has now been cast with Adam Driver, while Jonathan Pryce plays Don Quixote.
With so many problems along the way, this even led to Gilliam’s documentary, Lost in La Mancha, originally a ‘making of’ but ended up being a standalone movie, and was released in 2002.
Toby, a cynical advertising director finds himself trapped in the outrageous delusions of an old Spanish shoe-maker who believes himself to be Don Quixote. In the course of their comic and increasingly surreal adventures, Toby is forced to confront the tragic repercussions of a film he made in his idealistic youth – a film that changed the hopes and dreams of a small Spanish village forever. Can Toby make amends and regain his humanity? Can Don Quixote survive his madness and imminent death? Or will love conquer all?
As for how it finally looks… it’s a bit of a mess, based on this trailer, but given how long he’s been taking to make it, it’s still a must-see.
Screenplay: Terry Gilliam, Tony Grisoni
Also stars: Will Keen, Jason Watkins, Paloma Bloyd, Stellan Skarsgård, Olga Kurylenko, Jordi Mollà, Rossy de Palma
Hit or Miss? Verdict: Hit!
Richard Jewell is the name of the American security guard, played by Paul Walter Hauser, who saved thousands of lives from an exploding bomb at the 1996 Olympics, but was vilified by journalists and the press who falsely reported that he was a terrorist.
Director: Clint Eastwood
Writers: Billy Ray, Marie Brenner, Kent Alexander
Stars: Paul Walter Hauser, Sam Rockwell, Brandon Stanley, Olivia Wilde, Jon Hamm, Kathy Bates
Hit or Miss? Verdict: Hit!
A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood stars Tom Hanks as Mr Rogers in, as the synopsis states, a timely story of kindness triumphing over cynicism, and is based on the true story of a real-life friendship between Fred Rogers and journalist Tom Junod.
After a jaded magazine writer (Matthew Rhys) is assigned a profile of Fred Rogers, he overcomes his skepticism, learning about empathy, kindness, and decency from America’s most beloved neighbour.
Personally, while I’ve heard of Mr Rogers (and the first time of that was a mention in The Breakfast Club), I’ve never seen his programme and it’s one of those things that was well before my time. That said, Whitney Houston’s music was never for me, and it still resulted in at least one decent documentary, Whitney: Can I Be Me? And similarly, I didn’t like The Exorcist, but I did enjoy the 70-minute documentary made by Mark Kermode, so it could still work for me.
Director: Marielle Heller
Writers: Micah Fitzerman-Blue, Noah Harpster Also stars: Enrico Colantoni, Chris Cooper, Wendy Makkena, Tammy Blanchard, Kevin L Johnson (Ozark)
Hit or Miss? Verdict: Maybe!
The Lighthouse
As the wavering cry of the foghorn fills the air, the taciturn former lumberjack, Ephraim Winslow, and the grizzled lighthouse keeper, Thomas Wake, set foot in a secluded and perpetually grey islet off the coast of late-19th-century New England.
For the following four weeks of back-breaking work and unfavourable conditions, the tight-lipped men will have no one else for company except for each other, forced to endure irritating idiosyncrasies, bottled-up resentment, and burgeoning hatred. Then, amid bad omens, a furious and unending squall maroons the pale beacon’s keepers in the already inhospitable volcanic rock, paving the way for a prolonged period of feral hunger; excruciating agony; manic isolation, and horrible booze-addled visions.
Now, the eerie stranglehold of insanity tightens. Is there an escape from the wall-less prison of the mind?
After watching this trailer, it does look pretty odd, but very fascinating.
Director: Robert Eggers
Writers: Robert Eggers, Max Eggers
Stars: Robert Pattinson, Willem Dafoe, Valeriia Karaman
Hit or Miss? Verdict: Hit!
The Rhythm Section stars Blake Lively stars as Stephanie Patrick, an ordinary woman on a path of self-destruction after her family is tragically ki -lled in a plane crash. When Stephanie discovers that the crash was not an accident, she enters a dark, complex world to seek revenge on those responsible and find her own redemption.
Ms Lively did redeem herself in A Simple Favour, and this does look pretty interesting, so I’ll definitely check it out.
Director: Reed Morano
Writers: Mark Burnell
Stars: Blake Lively, Jude Law, Sterling K Brown, Daniel Mays, Max Casella
Hit or Miss? Verdict: Hit!
Queen and Slim are the two leads – Queen (Jodie Turner-Smith) and Slim (Daniel Kaluuya – Get Out) – who go on a first date, get stopped by a cop, a gun is pulled out, a shot rings out, and then they’re on the run…
Director: Melina Matsoukas
Writers: James Frey, Lena Waithe
Also stars: Chloë Sevigny, Indya Moore, Bokeem Woodbine, Sturgill Simpson, Kenneth Kynt Bryan, Dominic Cancelliere
Hit or Miss? Verdict: Hit!
Inmate Zero (aka Patients of a Saint)
When medical trials are pushed to their limits, the most extreme tests end up on St. Leonards Island in the north Atlantic – a re-purposed prison for some of the world’s most violent criminals. But when one experiment goes wrong, the entire island becomes a terrifying, disease riddled maze for desperate survivors.
This hasn’t had a good reception on IMDB, but it does look like it could be quite fun, so I will check it out.
Director: Russell Owen
Writers: Matthew J Gunn, Russell Owen
Stars: Meg Alexandra, Gabz Barker, Kate Bell
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.