Ghostbusters, The Hard Stop and Theeb: Your Week In Film (July 11-17)

The whole tooth: The Coens are on top form with Hail, Caesar!

Monday 11th: Who you gonna call? Certainly not Ghostbusters because, get this, they're ALL BLOODY GIRLS NOW! How can girls bust ghosts when they'd have to stop every five minutes to worry about periods and make-up and whether they fancy Justin Bieber or not? Melissa McCarthy, Kristen Wiig and the other two have kidnapped my childhood, put it in a sack, taken a big wee on it, then thrown it in the river. It's absolute sacrilege, just like that time when I made a petition to get Ben Affleck sacked from playing Batman. He was really good as it turned out and not a woman, but that's beside the point – if we give in to the PC feminazi brigade over this, before we know it there'll be a black Captain America, a female Thor, and a black female Iron Man. And further more... sorry, what? There is? Dear god... i-if anyone wants me I'll be at my gentleman's club drinking scotch and growing a neck beard. (Paul Feig's Ghostbusters is in cinemas from today).

That's the spirit: Ghostbusters is in UK cinemas now 

On the home entertainment front, three films that made my top 20 of the year so far are out today in various formats and all are worth parting with your hard-earned cash for. Hail, Caesar! (DVD, Blu-ray and VOD) is the Coen Brothers' love letter to old Hollywood - it oozes warmth, wit and charm. Somewhat darker is Deniz Gamze Ergüven's drama Mustang (DVD, Blu-ray and VOD), about five orphaned Turkish sisters who are held prisoner by their conservative guardians after being caught fraternising with local boys. Couple In A Hole (DVD) is a real hidden gem; Paul Higgins (The Thick Of It) and Kate Dickie (The Witch) are the titular marrieds living like savages in a French forest following a family tragedy. 

Sister act: Mustang is a dark but defiant drama

In fact, it's an uncommonly excellent week for home entertainment releases because also out today are Charlie Kaufman's stop-motion oddity Anomalisa (DVD, Blu-ray and VOD), Ken Russell's satirically seedy Crimes Of Passion (Dual Format), gripping psychodrama Queen Of Earth (Dual Format) and Andrei Tarkovsky's 15th century-set Russian epic Andrei Rublev (DVD and Blu-ray). TV-wise, Joseph Gordon-Levitt just about gets away with his outrageous French accent in The Walk (20:00, Sky Cinema Premiere) as he plays high-wire artist Philippe Petit who, in 1974, walked between the towers of the World Trade Centre.

French connection: Joseph Gordon-Levitt in The Walk

Tuesday 12th: There's only place to be tonight and that's sat in front of the box watching Film4. They are serving up a fine hat-trick of marvellous movies, starting off with Bridesmaids (21:00). Due to the release of Ghostbusters, the channel is showing several Melissa McCarthy movies this week and this smart and raucous wedding comedy gets proceedings off to a cracking start. Kristen Wiig, Maya Rudolph and Rose Byrne also star. Based on a true story, Sofia Coppola's The Bling Ring (23:25) is a deliberately slight but blade-sharp reflection on celebrity culture, consumerism and class. A gang of fame-obsessed teenagers – including Emma Watson’s Nicki – use the internet to track favourite celebs’ whereabouts in order to rob their homes. Of course, their crime spree can’t continue and it isn’t long before they start showing up on stars’ security footage all over Los Angeles. A Pigeon Sat On A Branch Reflecting On Existence (01:10) is an utterly surreal and gloriously downbeat Swedish movie that should appeal to any self-respecting fan of British/Irish comedy. Spike Milligan, Samuel Beckett, Monty Python and the sitcoms of Dick Clement and Ian De Frenais are all invoked in a film that plays out as a series of sketches, most featuring two hopeless travelling salesmen. Roy Andersson's work is an acquired taste for sure but one you should definitely have a nibble on.

Special Branch: The surreal delights of Swedish cinema

Wednesday 13th: Do my eyes deceive me or are Sky actually showing a sub-titled foreign language film on their main movie channel? Yes, it's really happening and they've picked a very good one. In Arabic, Theeb (22:35 and 02:35, Sky Cinema Premiere, also available on NOW TV) is a powerful coming-of-age tale, set in the years before WWI, about a young Bedouin boy marooned in the desert with an injured bandit after the death of his brother. It's a beautiful-looking piece of work (shades of Lawrence Of Arabia at times) and effortlessly carried by youngster Jacir Eid Al-Hwietat as the titular Theeb. British-Jordanian director Naji Abu Nowar's film is refreshingly unpredictable, too, managing to totally wrong-foot me twice.

Desert storm: Theeb makes its debut on Sky Cinema 

Thursday 14th: Francine Stock presents 'Ghostbusters Revisited' in this week's The Film Programme (16:00, BBC Radio 4), in which the Comedians Cinema Club offer their "unique take" on the beloved '80s comedy, the reboot of which is in cinemas now. There's more Melissa McCarthy on Film4 tonight and The Heat (21:00) is probably my favourite of her collaborations with director Paul Feig. McCarthy plays a foul-mouthed and monumentally scuzzy Boston police detective who has to team up with Sandra Bullock's prissy FBI agent to bring down a gang of ruthless drug smugglers. Whilst it's true to say these 'buddy cop' movies all have very similar structures and tropes, The Heat is elevated greatly by the chemistry of its two stars and a whip-smart script. Subscription streaming service MUBI adds cracking 1950s western Shane to its catalogue today. Alan Ladd is the reformed gunslinger forced to come out of retirement when a ruthless cattle baron and his hired goon (Jack Palance) start menacing locals.

History Of Violence: Ladd's a retired gunslinger in Shane

Friday 15th: It's an unusually low-key Friday in cinemas (too many blockbusters all out at the same time?) but I shall certainly be checking out The Hard Stop. George Amponsah's documentary focuses on the aftermath of the 2011 killing of Marc Duggan by police and the riots and lawlessness in Tottenham it provoked. Amponsah visits Duggan's neighbourhood and talks to his friends, Marcus and Curtis, who are still coming to terms with his death while trying to make a life for themselves. The Hard Stop seems like an honest attempt to humanise young men often vilified and deliberately misrepresented in the media and for that it should be applauded. With The Neon Demon still in cinemas and dividing audiences, MUBI has a Nicholas Winding Refn season in full swing. His startling low-budget debut Pusher was added last week and Drive joins it from today. The Danish auteur's masterful LA noir stars Ryan Gosling as a mysterious, taciturn car mechanic/stuntman who moonlights as a getaway driver. Gosling - his character doesn't have a name - runs bumper-first into trouble when he agrees to help out his struggling neighbour Carey Mulligan. It's stylish, stunning and one of my favourite films of the last decade. Kermode And Mayo's Film Review isn't even on the radio today, the golf has relegated it to the Five Live website (14:00). However, the show will be aired on the station on Saturday evening at 19:00. As I've said before, you'd be much better off just listening to the podcast. Chris Pine is this week's guest, talking about Star Trek Beyond. The excellent Nina Hoss stars as the titular Barbara (00:30, BBC2) in Christian Petzold's tale of life under the Stasi in 1980s East Germany. It's powerful, gripping stuff, every bit as good as last year's Phoenix which marked the pair's sixth collaboration. 

The riot club: The Hard Stop returns to Tottenham

Saturday 16th: Martin Freeman and Ian McKellen star in The Desolation Of Smaug (19:45, ITV), probably the best of Peter Jackson's much-maligned Hobbit films. Smaug himself - a skyscraper-sized dragon voiced with wicked relish by Benedict Cumberbatch - makes the interminable running time and less interesting subplots worth enduring. Martin Scorsese's Shutter Island (21:30, Channel 4) is a psychological thriller starring Leonardo DiCaprio as a traumatised US marshal investigating the disappearance from an insane asylum of a woman (Emily Mortimer) who killed her three children. Not one of the director's best films but tension drips from every frame. 

Sunday 17th: I have a confession to make. I've never seen The Lion King (18:15, Channel 4) - nope, not even when my kids were little. The words 'Songs by Elton John and Tim Rice' were enough to put me off for life, I'm afraid. Thor (20:00, Channel 4) isn't in the same class as Marvel's best films (Iron Man, The Guardians Of The Galaxy) but a strong cast - including Tom Hiddleston as the titular character's treacherous half-brother Loki - keeps things interesting. Daniel Craig made his debut as James Bond in Casino Royale (21:00, ITV) and immediately gave the 007 franchise a much-needed shot in the arm. He's helped enormously by Mads Mikkelsen as bad-guy Le Chiffre, a corrupt banker who finances terrorists. 

Plastered: DiCaprio is traumatised in Shutter Island

UK box office top 10
1. The Secret Life Of Pets
2. Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie
3. Central Intelligence 
4. Independence Day: Resurgence 
5. The Conjuring 2: The Enfield Case
6. Me Before You 
7. The Nice Guys R
8. Alice Through The Looking Glass 
9. The Jungle Book R
10. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out Of The Shadows 

R = Recommended

All information correct at time of publication

Carol v Krampus: Dawn Of Justice (Your Week In Film March 21-27)

Superman, Wonder Woman and Batman team up in Dawn Of Justice

TV, Radio, DVD, Blu-ray, VOD and cinema picks for the next seven days...

Monday 21st: Carol (DVD, Blu-ray and VOD) is so classy and graceful it makes Breakfast At Tiffany's look like The Toxic Avenger. Todd Haynes' adaptation of Patricia Highsmith's novel The Price Of Salt is set in 1950s New York and tells the story of a forbidden love affair between unhappy socialite Cate Blanchett (the titular Carol) and Rooney Mara's Therese, a department-store clerk with dreams of being a photographer. The plot is minimal and Haynes takes his time exploring his main characters' lives, the evolution of their feelings for each other and how that impacts upon their other relationships (Carol is married to Kyle Chandler's boorish drunk Harge). Blanchett is even more magnetic than usual and Sarah Paulson excels in a supporting role, while Haynes once again proves himself a consummate storyteller and an absolute demon when it comes to period detail. Also out today and deserving of your attention is riotous transgender comedy Tangerine (DVD, VOD), Jean-Luc Godard's influential crime flick Bande à Part (BR), and Nic Roeg's unsung masterpiece Eureka (dual format). The latter pair are high-definition transfers packed with extras.

Cate Blanchett is magnetic in Todd Haynes' Carol

Tuesday 22nd: Krampus (Netflix) is an enjoyable Christmas horror/comedy about a demonic Santa Claus, starring Adam Scott and Toni Collette. I'm not sure it's exactly what you'd call a perfect fit for the early days of spring though. Rather more serious is twisty romantic thriller The Two Faces Of January (23:35, Film4) which boasts a strong cast in Viggo Mortensen, Kirsten Dunst and Oscar Isaac.  

Krampus: Probably best to stay off his naughty list

Wednesday 23rd: Catch Me Daddy (23:15, Film4) is an oppressive and brutal British 'honour killing' drama about a young couple on the run on the Yorkshire Moors from the girl's vengeful father. First-time director Matthew Wolfe blends elements of social realism, thriller and the western (The Searchers has been mentioned as an influence) to great effect while newcomer Sameena Jabeen Ahmed is a revelation as Laila. The great Woody Allen still pops up with the occasional humdinger (Blue Jasmine) but, sad to say, Midnight In Paris (Amazon Prime Video) isn't one of them. This tale of a frustrated writer (Owen Wilson) swept back in time to hang out with his literary heroes (including Ernest Hemingway and F Scott Fitzgerald) is amiable, romantic and steeped in nostalgia but never really sharp enough. MUBI’s John Cassavetes retrospective continues with crime thriller Gloria, starring Gena Rowlands as a showgirl who becomes the reluctant guardian of a young boy after his family are killed by the mob. 

Catch Me Daddy is oppressive, brutal and British

Thursday 24th: Antonia Quirke talks to Ben Affleck on The Film Programme (16:00, BBC Radio Four) about stepping into the Dark Knight's cape and cowl for Batman v Superman: Dawn Of Justice, which opens on Friday. After the charmless festival of shonky CGI that was Zack Snyder's Man Of Steel, I don't have particularly high hopes, to be honest.

Dawn Of Justice: Don't fuck it up this time, Snyder!

Friday 25th: Zootropolis was previewed in cinemas last week but officially opens today. Disney's animated tale of a rabbit cop (Ginnifer Goodwin) and her sly fox of a partner (Jason Bateman) is a breathless romp packed with gags, thrills and some surprisingly heavy themes (prejudice and intolerance). Me and my kids loved it. Also hitting your local multiplex today is Welcome To Me (Kristen Wiig as a mentally ill woman who wins $23million on the lottery), Disorder (Matthias Schoenaerts as a soldier-tuned-bodyguard with PTSD), and Speed Sisters (documentary about an all-woman street-car racing team in Palestine). Meanwhile, Curzon Home Cinema continues its fine tradition of showing new films at the same time as they are released in theatres with Iona. Ruth Negga - soon to be seen in HBO's adaptation of the Preacher comic-book - stars as a young woman fleeing Glasgow with her son after a brutal crime. Elsewhere, Ian McKellen is quite superb as an ageing Sherlock in Mr. Holmes (Amazon Prime Video).

Zootropolis: Great gags and surprisingly adult themes

 

Saturday 26th: The Heat (21:00, Channel 4) is a foul-mouthed cop comedy starring Melissa McCarthy and Sandra Bullock as mismatched law enforcement officers stepping on each other's toes as they try to bring down a Boston drug lord. In some hands it would be a disaster but Katie Dippold's sharp script and director Paul Feig (Bridesmaids, Spy) bring the best out of McCarthy and Bullock, who have genuine chemistry. Oscar-winning Pixar animation Inside Out hits Sky Movies Premiere today (16:30 and 20:00), while psychic super-beings go to war in David Cronenberg's Scanners (00:45, Horror Channel). Still head-explodingly great. 

Bullock and McCarthy tear it up in The Heat

Sunday 27th: Nothing says Easter quite like Quentin Tarantino's riotous WWII action-adventure Inglourious Basterds (23:00, Channel 4). The director's career was certainly in need of resurrection after the disappointing grindhouse dead-end of Death Proof. Here, Brad Pitt is the leader of the titular Basterds, a crack team of Nazi hunters out to destroy Hitler and his high command. Funny, violent and a bit too long - typical of recent Tarantino in other words.

Hitler's high command is the target in Inglourious Basterds

The last 5 films I saw (from great to... actually, they're all pretty great this week)
1. The Witch (2015): Writer/director Robert Eggers' masterful exercise in slow-burn horror sees a 17th century Puritan family battling demons within and without. Utterly unsettling and filled to the brim with palpable dread, it's probably my favourite film of the year so far.
2. Divorce Iranian Style (1998): Eye-opening documentary about a Tehran divorce court focusing on several real-life cases. The British film crew are afforded extensive access to proceedings, some of which will make your jaw drop.
3. Down Terrace (2009): Ben Wheatley's debut feature is a bitterly comic subversion of the crime family drama. These cut-price Corleones are based in Brighton and, in between smoking endless weed and bickering, spend their time steeped in blood-thirsty paranoia.
4. Run Lola Run (1998): Time-warping thriller featuring Franka Potente as the titular Lola, desperately trying to get her hands on 100,000 German marks to save the life of her boyfriend. Three different scenarios play out at a frantic pace as director Tom Tykwer merges animation and live action to winning effect.
5. Anomalisa (2015): Ennui-filled but fascinating adult stop-motion puppet animation from co-directors Charlie Kaufman (Synecdoche, New York) and Duke Johnson. David Thewlis (Macbeth) and Jennifer Jason Leigh (The Hateful Eight) provide the voices. 

Run Lola Run: Let's do the time warp again

UK box office top 10 

1. Kung Fu Panda 3
2. The Divergent Series: Allegiant
3. London Has Fallen
4. Deadpool R
5. Hail, Caesar! R
6. Grimsby R
7. The Witch R
8. How To Be Single
9. Alvin And The Chipmunks: The Road Chip
10. Anomalisa R

R = Recommended