These titles are based on anticipated release dates and may be subject to change.Film reviews round-up: Viceroy's House, Certain Women, Fist Fight A tale of the agonising birth of two nations, Kelly Reichardt's quiet portraiture, Michael Fassbender in a familial saga, and Charlie Day vs Ice Cube Film reviews round-up: Patriots Day, A Cure for Wellness, Best A Cure for Wellness is deliriously bonkers Logan, film review: 'A Marvel movie with a bit of soul and true grit' (15) James Mangold, 137 mins, starring: Hugh Jackman, Boyd Holbrook, Patrick Stewart, Doris Morgado, Stephen Merchant, Dafne Keen, Elizabeth Rodriguez Film reviews round-up: The Founder, The Great Wall, Hidden Figures Moonlight is a lyrical triumph that comes straight from the heart Fifty Shades Darker review: ‘A drippy romantic drama’ Plot wise, the film is utterly threadbare and the sex scenes, which are fairly graphic at times, are always accompanied by syrupy rock music
Film reviews round-up: Fences, The LEGO Batman Movie Denzel Washington’s take on a classic play, a spin-off to 2014’s ‘The LEGO Movie’, Ang Lee’s daring visual experiment, and a murderous pregnant woman Oscar nominee Annette Bening is fierce in 20th Century Women Even at its most nostalgic, 20th Century Women never loses its ironic humour or its habit of questioning and analysing everyone’s behaviour After The LEGO Batman Movie, all other Batman parodies are defunct Sorry, this LEGO Movie spin-off has made every Batman joke possible, so the rest of you might as well go home Film reviews round-up: Toni Erdmann, Gold, Resident Evil, Tower A German comedy, a prospecting adventure, a long-running zombie franchise, and a chilling documentary Loving is a quiet, powerful film about one of America's historic cases Loving is an intimate domestic drama in which the protagonists themselves hardly seem to notice their own historical roles
Film reviews round-up: Denial, Christine, Sing A historic British legal case, the tragic death of a newsreader in the 1970s, and an upbeat kids' movie from the studio behind 'Despicable Me' Mel Gibson makes a rousing film out the grimness of Hacksaw Ridge Film reviews round-up: Lion, Split, Goodfellas re-release Jackie: Natalie Portman explores the mystique of an iconic First Lady Pablo Larraín explores the mystery of Jackie and the huge gulf between her public and her private persona Film reviews round-up: Live By Night, Underworld: Blood Wars Ben Affleck's latest directorial project, the newest instalment of Kate Beckinsale's long-running vampire franchise, and an Irish shaggy dog tale Manchester by the Sea review: An absorbing look at grief Manchester By The Sea's strength is down to Lonergan’s painstaking directorial style and a superb Method-style performance from Casey Affleck Film reviews round-up: Endless Poetry, Zero Days
Alejandro Jodorowsky and Alex Gibney return to screens with brand new cinematic offerings of very different flavourings Film reviews round-up: Monster Trucks, Assassin's Creed, Crash & Burn A Monster Calls isn't afraid to let the monster out Film reviews round-up: Collateral Beauty, Why Him?, Operation Chromite One of the worst films of the year, one of James Franco’s most loveable performances, and a South Korean action flick with Liam Neeson Chris Pratt & Jennifer Lawrence float aimlessly in space in Passengers It may deliver plenty of fairground ride-like spectacle, but it doesn’t begin to atone for its evasive and equivocal storyline or for the mood of phoney optimism that always prevails Assassin's Creed boasts stunning visuals but a script penned by Reddit Film reviews round-up: The Eagle Huntress, Through the Wall Star Wars: Rogue One review: What it lacks is any real originality The fast-paced Star Wars spinoff, direted by British director Gareth Edwards, is entertaining but a bit of a letdown after the huge success of ‘The Force Awakens’
Silence review: It is forbidding and austere in the extreme Martin Scorsese's meditation on faith stars Adam Driver and Andrew Garfield as two 17th-century missionaries looking for their mentor Liam Neeson in Japan after rumours he has renounced Christianity Film reviews round-up: Snowden, Office Christmas Party, Life Animated The Birth of a Nation: Powerful, disturbing piece hinges on bloodshed Film reviews round-up: Moana, Bleed For This, Chi-Raq Disney's latest animated princess, one of boxing's greatest comebacks, and Spike Lee's unique adaptation of the Lysistrata Sully: Tom Hanks offers Oscar-worthy performance as heroic pilot It’s a tale of quiet, unfussy heroism; of highly trained professionals doing their jobs in the most challenging circumstances imaginable First impressions of The Weeknd's new album 'Star Boy' Film reviews round-up: Creepy, Magnus, Mum's List, I am Bolt Paterson: Adam Driver stars in a quiet, rewarding film
Allied: Pitt and Cotillard's wartime romance proves insincere Film reviews round-up: Dog Eat Dog, Gimme Danger, Your Name Indignation: Philip Roth adaptation is grim but poignant viewing ‘Indignation’ is a coming-of-age tale with a very elegiac feel, a film about youth made from the perspective of someone clearly very old Fantastic Beasts: A mightily impressive new JK Rowling adaptation The first entry into this five-film franchise is a thoroughly invigorating affair which only whets our appetites for its sequels Film reviews round-up: Napoleon, 100 Streets, The Innocents A digital restoration of Abel Gance’s 1927 masterpiece, a Poland-set film about nuns, and Idris Elba’s latest thriller The Lego Movie: Everything is Awesome EditionChris Pratt, Emily Banks, Morgan Freeman, Will Ferrell, Will Arnett, Liam NeesonUS DVD: 17 Jun 2014Amazon The Lego Movie is a branded piece of entertainment about little plastic bricks who are limited only by imagination.
My experience with Legos probably exceeded the recommended ages listed on the box but, as the movie notes, age is no restriction on fun or creativity. Despite my penchant for not mixing up the pirate people with the space people, these “children’s toys” provided an outlet for telling stories and later, designing architecture. Those little blocks, so simple in their interconnected design, have been used to build everything from houses and castles to the Batcave and Millenium Falcon. Given the Lego brand’s worldwide recognition and cross-media markets, it’s something of a wonder that it has taken this long for Hollywood to take on the little plastic people. In an era when movies are more often than not aiming for the common denominator of guaranteed massive opening numbers, another movie based on a licensed product sounds like a two-hour excuse to prep taking some Advil (or equivalent headache medicine). It’s therefore another pleasant surprise by co-writers/directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller (Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, 21 Jump Street) that they can take this exercise in commercialism and make something so honestly entertaining.
Lord and Miller have successfully embraced the Lego company’s philosophy of boundless, imaginative play. This anything goes philosophy makes The Lego Movie one of the more successful brand-to-film translations, not only because it successfully sells its product, but because it sells the enjoyment of the product and is itself an enjoyable experience. It’s pure fun for kids and adults. The plot centers around an average, run-of-the-mill, non-distinguishable Lego drone named Emmet. Emmet is just one of the pack. He doesn’t stand out, he just going about his day job, following the instructions and enjoying life in Lego Town. For Emmet (Chris Pratt) and everyone in Lego Town, everything is awesome under the jurisdiction of President Business (Will Ferrell). However, when Emmet discovers a non-traditional Lego piece and gets the opportunity to be recognized as something special, his ordered world becomes creative chaos. There’s a dualist philosophy here between following the instructions and letting creativity reign.
One’s desire to break through the wall can open up a creative wellspring, but it also has the potential to destroy the structural integrity of society. The movie boils it down to doing what you are told and being capable of making your own choices. President Business rules life by prescribed instructions; meanwhile, the movie’s League of Heroes are freethinkers, building from the pieces as they see fit, mixing and matching different Lego sets and opening Emmet’s mind up to the endless Lego combinations that exist. Emmet is able to build upon what he has learned and eventually think up solutions himself, using both creativity and order to establish a balance. He may have been designated as a “gifted child” (that is, “slow”) by his mentors, but he earns the status himself by the time the happy-ending rolls through. Like any good parents, Lord and Miller take care to establish that rules are meant merely as building blocks for creativity and one’s own personal development.
Emmet is very childlike, behaving as a model citizen, doing as he is told, controlled, essentially, by his parent, President Business. Indeed, many of Emmet’s exclamations, including the pervasive “This is awesome!” feel like something a child would say while developing his or her own creations and stories. President Business and his associate, Bad Cop (Liam Neeson), play into more of the domineering parent archetypes. Other characters that populate Emmet’s quest include Vitruvius (Morgan Freeman), Wildstyle (Elizabeth Banks), and Batman (Will Arnett), representing the different varieties of Lego creatives, but also playing a parenting role to Emmet’s development. Much of the dialogue could just as likely be a conversation of a child playing with a (sarcastic) parent as it could to serve the plot. This meta-awareness is key to the film’s success, as many of the jokes are able to play to both children and adults. The story’s thematic material seems to have extended over to the creative process for the film itself, as it follows a basic story but largely has an anything goes attitude.
Each cast member voices his or her character with just the right amount of self-awareness, simultaneously rolling their eyes and providing assistance to Emmet’s journey from average to special. The design of The Lego Movie stays true the reality of the blocks, with every CG set piece having the potential to be built from Lego bricks in the real world. The cinematography makes the bricks look closer to the actual plastic pieces collecting dust in a box in your basement, rather than bright and shiny computer modeled ones, keeping with the film’s aesthetic of anything is possible, if you only had thousands of hours to build all this stuff. The writers and designers have fun with this idea, switching everything from hairpieces for body parts, to the heroes using pieces to build and rebuild their world. It also allows the writers to get away with some cartoonish violence that would never make it into most other animated (let alone live-action) PG rated features. The “Everything is Awesome” home version comes in standard, high, and three dimensional definitions.