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This week, there are FOUR new films out for you to choose from: Frances McDormand and Woody Harrelson go toe-to-toe as anguished mother and long-time cop in Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, the guitarist known as God tells his tale in Eric Clapton: Life in 12 Bars, Gary Oldman portrays Churchill in Darkest Hour, and Lin Shaye is back as Elise for a fourth time in Insidious Chapter 4: The Last Key.
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri tells a darkly comic drama from writer/director Martin McDonagh (In Bruges).
After months have passed without a culprit in her daughter’s murder case, Mildred Hayes (Frances McDormand) makes a bold move, painting three signs leading into her town with a controversial message directed at William Willoughby (Woody Harrelson), the town’s revered chief of police.
When his second-in-command Officer Dixon (Sam Rockwell), an immature mother’s boy with a penchant for violence, gets involved, the battle between Mildred and Ebbing’s law enforcement is only exacerbated, and I’m really looking forward to this.
Also stars: Peter Dinklage, Caleb Landry Jones, Abbie Cornish, Kathryn Newton, Kerry Condon, Zeljko Ivanek
Hit or Miss? Verdict: Read the review!
Eric Clapton: Life in 12 Bars is the documentary about the singer/songwriter who was once, rightly, called God.
The film takes in his early influences – which were mostly blues music (although precious few of his peers were), plus with some voiceover from his late grandmother, Rose Clapp – who he lived with, as well as from the man, himself.
Hit or Miss? Verdict: Read the review!
Darkest Hour follows Churchill and Dunkirk, making me wonder if, like with Marvel and DC, someone’s trying to start their own Winston Churchill movie franchise…
Imagine it:
- First, there was the Marvel Cinematic Universe, then the DC Extended Universe, then the Universal Dark Monsters Univ… almost.
Now, after Churchill and Dunkirk, comes the third in the Winston Churchill Extended Cinematic Universe Trilogy with Gary Oldman as… Churchill in Darkest Hour.
And next year, on April 1st, all the Churchills will unite as a team for Churchill: World War Infinity!
Within days of becoming Prime Minister of Great Britain, Churchill (Gary Oldman) must face one of his most turbulent and defining trials: exploring a negotiated peace treaty with Nazi Germany, or standing firm to fight for the ideals, liberty and freedom of a nation. As the unstoppable Nazi forces roll across Western Europe and the threat of invasion is imminent, and with an unprepared public, a skeptical King, and his own party plotting against him, Churchill must withstand his darkest hour, rally a nation, and attempt to change the course of world history.
Hit or Miss? Verdict: Read the review!
Insidious Chapter 4: The Last Key sees the return of Parapsychologist Dr. Elise Rainier (Lin Shaye), and if you believe the billing, this time, she faces her most fearsome and personal haunting yet – in her own family home.
I’ve seen the first two, so still need to watch Chapter 3, but this looks like reasonably hokum. They’re certainly better movies than the Conjuring series, and the split-surround audio is usually fantastic. Either way, producer (and sometimes director) James Wan is frequently involved.
The fact this is released in January shows that they don’t have much hope for it in terms of quality, as Jan/Feb is always a dumping ground for non-award movies. However, Fox did that with Taken 3, in 2015, and it still made a stack of cash!
Director: Adam Robitel
Writer: Leigh Whannell
Also stars: Javier Botet, Josh Stewart, Kirk Acevedo, Bruce Davison, Spencer Locke and Hana Hayes in the role of ‘Teenage Elise’
Hit or Miss? Verdict: Hit!
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.