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This week, there are FOUR new films out for you to choose from: one of the biggest action films of the year in Wonder Woman, a great British comedy with Jonathan Pryce in Dough, a fascinating French/Swiss animation in My Life as a Courgette, and an engaging new drama from Hirokazu Koreeda with After The Storm.
Wonder Woman has come a long way since I first saw her played by Lynda Carter in the ’70s TV series, even though she’s been played by many more actresses over the years.
This time, she’s portrayed by Gal Gadot, star of four of the Fast and Furious movies, as well as Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice.
where she clearly made her mark, so hopefully that’s her introduction out of the way and we won’t need to waste an hour in her own film telling us what we already know.
While this is an origins movie, it looks far more interesting than most of them out there, in this film which is directed by Patty Jenkins (Monster), and which also stars Robin Wright, Chris Pine, Connie Nielsen, David Thewlis, Elena Anaya, Lucy Davis, Ewen Bremner and Danny Huston.
Another change is that, according to IMDB, there is no footage shot for this film other than in the ratio of 2.35:1. Originally, the IMAX version reportedly had some footage shot in 1.44:1 (like a number of scenes in BvS), since such a portion would have been shot on 70mm film, but digital presentations can only open up to 1.90:1 so you would still miss out, and even when 1.44:1 footage is available, it depends on whether cinemas will actually GET that version. Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens had one scene in that format, BUT it was only available to THREE cinemas in the UK, clearly because Disney are complete cheap-asses. If I’d known this before I booked my ticket, I’d have gone with the regular non-IMAX version in Manchester. Conversely, BvS *was* shown in 70mm IMAX, there.
Hit or Miss? Verdict: Hit!
Dough – is dough as in bread, not money, although you have to spend money to buy bread, and that’s also a problem for Nat Dayan (Jonathan Pryce), an orthodox jew who runs a failing bakery, with the lease owned by Pauline Collins‘ late husband. Since she’s now sold her stake on to businessman Phil Davis, will the moneygrabber carry it on? Seems unlikely.
Will you laugh a lot? Seems a certainty.
Check out our review here!
Hit or Miss? Verdict: Read our review!
My Life as a Zucchini (aka My Life as a Courgette) centres around 9-year-old lad Courgette, who calls himself Zucchini, and is voiced by Gaspard Schlatter.
Following his mother’s disappearance, he’s befriended by a police officer Raymond (Michel Vuillermoz), who accompanies him to his new foster home filled with other orphans his age. At first he struggles to find his place in this strange, at times, hostile environment. Yet with Raymond’s help and his new-found friends, Courgette eventually learns to trust and might find true love in Camille (Sixtine Murat)…
Directed by Claude Barras, from a screenplay by Céline Sciamma and the novel from Gilles Paris, with additional contributions from Germano Zullo, Morgan Navarro and Barras, himself, the cast also includes Paulin Jaccoud, Raul Ribera, Estelle Hennard, Elliot Sanchez and Lou Wick, and it comes across as a really sweet and charming animated tale. Regular readers know I don’t normally go in for animated movies, but that’s generally the typical Hollywood/Pixar CGI borefests, whereas last year’s Kubo And The Two Strings turned out to be my second-best movie of 2016.
Hit or Miss? Verdict: Hit!
After the Storm (aka Umi yori mo mada fukaku)
Dwelling on his past glory as a prize-winning author, Ryota (Hiroshi Abe) wastes the money he makes as a private detective on gambling and can barely pay child support. After the death of his father, his aging mother (Kirin Kiki – Sweet Bean) and beautiful ex-wife (Yoko Make) seem to be moving on with their lives. Renewing contact with his initially distrusting family, Ryota struggles to take back control of his existence and to find a lasting place in the life of his young son (Taiyo Yoshizawa) – until a stormy summer night offers them a chance to truly bond again.
Written and directed by Hirokazu Koreeda, I found his last film – Our Little Sister – very engaging, and it also features Kirin Kiki from Sweet Bean, so I’m very much looking forward to this film.
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.