Matt Damon stars as a stranded astronaut in The Martian
TV, DVD, Blu-ray, VOD and cinema picks for the next seven days...
MONDAY 8th: Ridley Scott's The Martian (Blu-ray, DVD and VOD) is easily the biggest home entertainment release of the week and stars Matt Damon as an astronaut stranded on Mars when a manned mission to the red planet goes tits up. It's MacGyver in space, it's Cast Away meets Apollo 13, and although the final 20 minutes strain credulity and Damon's smarty-pants botanist never seems bothered enough by his predicament, it's hugely enjoyable. The Lobster (DVD, Blu-ray and VOD) is a very different kettle of shellfish. Yorgos Lanthimos's first English language film is a frequently hilarious, blisteringly original satire on romance and dating. In the Greek director's bizarre future world, single people have 45 days to find a mate or they are transformed into an animal of their choosing. The first half is perfect and although the film runs out of steam towards the end, its superb cast (Colin Farrell has never been better), wealth of ideas and sheer chutzpah make it more than worthy of your time. Also out this week are action-packed Pam Grier blaxploitation flick Sheba, Baby (Dual Format) and Michael Mann's debut feature Thief (DVD), starring the great James Caan as an expert safecracker who gets tangled up with the mafia. On the 40th anniversary of its cinema release, online subscription service Mubi have today added Martin Scorsese's Taxi Driver to their catalogue..
Colin Farrell, John C Reilly and Ben Whishaw are looking for love in The Lobster (trailer)
TUESDAY 9th: Jim Carrey is the unknowing prisoner of reality TV in Peter Weir's prescient and pretty much perfect The Truman Show (Sky Greats, 20:00). Elsewhere today, there's Wes Craven's clever horror satire Scream (TCM,21:00) and, although I've never really warmed to it, I know a lot of people love Gareth Edwards' Monsters (Film4, 23:10). Granted, it's an ingenious low-budget spin on the monster movie, but I prefer my creature features populated by cannon-fodder characters I really couldn't give a toss about (see Cloverfield below).
Gareth Edwards' ingenious Monsters (trailer)
WEDNESDAY 10th: Clint Eastwood's supernatural revenge western High Plains Drifter hits Netflix today. Elsewhere, former Radio 1 movie critic Rhianna Dhillon joins Claudia Winkleman and Danny Leigh for a look at the week's new releases on Film 2016 (BBC1, 23:15), including Zoolander 2, Deadpool, and Pride And Prejudice And Zombies.
Ryan Reynolds kicks arse in Deadpool (Red Band trailer)
THURSDAY 11th: Jessica Chastain plays hide and seek with Osama Bin Laden in Zero Dark Thirty (Film4, 21:00); a ruddy great monster chomps his way through a bunch of New York yuppies in found-footage flick Cloverfield (Sky Greats, 22:10), and Martin Sheen and Marlon Brando square off in Francis Ford Coppola's Vietnam epic, Apocalypse Now (ITV4, 23:40).
The hunt is on for Osama Bin Laden in
Kathryn Bigelow's Zero Dark Thirty (trailer)
FRIDAY 12th: Lots of new films in cinemas from today. I've mentioned a few of them already (see Wednesday) but also out are Will Smith NFL drama Concussion, Eli Roth's Cannibal HolocaustThe Green Inferno, and The Survivalist, a haunting British post-apocalyptic tale that's available on Curzon Home Cinema as well as in theatres. Away from the multiplex, Michel Gondry's eccentric French road movie Microbe & Gasoline debuts on Amazon Prime Video, while Electric Boogaloo: The Wild, Untold Story Of Cannon Films (Film4, 23:00) is an entertaining documentary about the rise and fall of the movie studio responsible for such '80s 'classics' as Masters Of The Universe, Lifeforce and Chuck Norris's Missing In Action.
The Survivalist, aka Mad Max in the British countryside, is up for a BAFTA (trailer)
SATURDAY 13th: If you only watch one film this week, make it There Will Be Blood (BBC2, 23:15). Daniel Day-Lewis is on truly spectacular form in Paul Thomas Anderson's epic tale of oil, madness, family and religion. Set at the turn of the last century, it's the story of an ambitious oilman (Day-Lewis) and a preacher (Paul Dano, also electrifying) who share a long-gestating mutual loathing. Probably Anderson's best film and definitely Day-Lewis's.
Daniel Day-Lewis and Paul Dano are electrifying
in There Will Be Blood (trailer)
SUNDAY 14th: It's Valentine's Day and nothing says love and romance better than, erm, The Mist (Horror Channel, 21:00), Frank Darabont's adaptation of Stephen King's novella about a small town besieged by terrifying creatures from another dimension. If you are looking for something a little more smoochy, there's While You Were Sleeping (BBC1, 23:30), a Sandra Bullock rom-com in which she saves Bill Pullman's life then pretends to be his girlfriend while he's in a coma. Yes, it sounds rubbish but Bullock makes it watchable as she does every mediocre film she's in.
Thomas Jane stars in creepy horror The Mist (trailer).
UK box office top 10
1. The Revenant R
2. Dirty Grandpa 3. Star Wars: The Force Awakens 4. Ride Along 2 5. Spotlight R 6. The Big Short R 7. Capture The Flag 8. Daddy's Home 9. Creed R 10. Room R
A dozen short reviews of films I've seen in the last couple of weeks - ranked from best to worst (although there isn't a single stinker among them). I've seen 116 of the many hundreds of movies released in UK cinemas in 2015 and am hoping to reach 150 by the end of the year...
Love & Mercy
(director: Bill Pohlad)
Bravura biopic of Beach Boy Brian Wilson, concentrating on two crucial periods of his life. Paul Dano plays the songwriter as a young man at the height of his musical powers (Pet Sounds, Good Vibrations) but teetering on the brink of mental illness, while John Cusack is the older Wilson, under the perfidious spell of Eugene Landy (Paul Giamatti), a quack psychologist who took his money and cut him off from his family. Love & Mercy boasts superb performances (Dano has to get an Oscar nod), smart storytelling (the two strands are beautifully weaved together) while the music is, of course, simply gorgeous.
Rating: WWWW
Released on DVD and Blu-ray on November 16
A Syrian Love Story
(director: Sean Armitage)
Bruising but timely documentary from British filmmaker Armitage chronicling the lives of a Syrian family - Amer, Ragdha and their three sons - as they flee to France after suffering under the oppressive Assad regime. The film is both uplifting and heartbreaking, as elation at Ragdha's release from prison (she had written a book critical of the regime) soon gives way to pain and disillusion as her marriage to Amer starts to unravel. Refusing to offer any easy answers to Syria's myriad problems, Armitage's film shows how oppression seeps into every single area of a person's life - even a seemingly rock-solid marriage isn't safe from it.
Rating: WWWW
In cinemas and on BFI player now
Catch Me Daddy
(director: Matthew Wolfe)
Atmospheric 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 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. Be warned, though, this is anything but an easy watch.
Rating: WWWW
Available now on DVD, Blu-ray and VOD
The Martian
(director: Ridley Scott)
Sci-fi blockbuster starring Matt Damon as an astronaut stranded on Mars when a manned mission to the planet goes tits up. It's MacGyver in space, it's Cast Away meets Apollo 13, and although the final 20 minutes strain credulity and Damon's character never seems bothered enough by his predicament, I enjoyed it a lot more than other recent SF blockbusters such as Gravity or Interstellar.
Rating: WWW
In cinemas now
The Goob
(director: Guy Myhill)
Gloomy coming-of-age drama set in the Norfolk Fens and focused on the titular Goob (Liam Walpole), a teenage boy struggling to come to terms with not only impending adulthood but also the behaviour of his step-dad, a deeply unpleasant bully played to evil-eyed perfection by Sean Harris. Writer/director Myhill conjures a potent but dispiriting vision of what it is to be young and trapped by poverty and circumstance.
Rating: WWW
Available now on DVD, Blu-ray and VOD
The Reunion
(director: Anna Odell)
Clever film-within-a-film from provocative Swedish artist Odell. In real life, the director (who also writes and stars) wasn't invited to her high school reunion so the first half is a fictionalised account of what might have happened if she had attended (short answer: nothing good). In the second half, she recreates interviews she conducted with former class-mates - many of whom had tormented her - after showing them the film and recording their reactions. Beneath the art-project posturing, there's a powerful film with plenty to say about bullying, betrayal and the horrors of high school.
Rating: WWW
Available now on DVD, Blu-ray and VOD
Pasolini
(director: Abel Ferrara)
Ferrara (Driller Killer) dials back the histrionics after last year's gloriously over-the-top Welcome To New York with this sober, elegaic sort-of-biopic of late Italian filmmaker, writer and intellectual, Pier Paolo Pasolini (Willem Dafoe). It focuses on the last day of the Salo director's life (it isn't a spoiler to say he was murdered in 1975) as he writes, eats with friends and family, is interviewed for a newspaper article, discusses a new film project and, ultimately, is led to his doom after picking up a rentboy. Ferrara also visualises scenes from both Pasolini's novel in progress and what would have been his next movie in a film that sidesteps hagiography to reveal a complicated man full of contradictions but with a huge cultural contribution still to make. Dafoe - despite his American accent - is terrific.
Rating: WWW
In cinemas and on VOD now, and released on DVD and Blu-ray on October 26
Macbeth
(director: Justin Kurzel)
The last 20 minutes are probably the most visually stunning of any film I've seen all year as Birnam Wood does indeed come to Dunsinane and Michael Fassbender's Macbeth (pictured at the top of the page) faces off against his nemesis Macduff. Elsewhere, Snowtown director Kurzel's adaptation of Shakespeare's 'Scottish play' is a broodingly gothic, brutal and nightmarish affair, buoyed by suitably intense performances from Fassbender and Marion Cotillard as Lady Macbeth. Kurzel has an interesting take on the central character - he isn't just an ambitious monster spurred on by a pushy wife - but a battle-weary warrior unhinged by the death of his young son. It's a nice twist but one that fails to humanise the character as much as the director would clearly like it to.
Rating: WWW
In cinemas now
The Emperor's New Clothes
(director: Michael Winterbottom)
Comedian-turned-activist Russell Brand shines a light on the 2008 financial crisis and asks, not unreasonably, why the bankers who caused the crash got away with it scot-free. It's enjoyable, rabble-rousing stuff for the most part, and Brand is an articulate, passionate narrator who clearly loves people, but I couldn't shake the feeling Michael Moore and Mark Thomas not only did this stuff first but did it rather better.
Rating: WWW
Available on DVD and Amazon Prime Video
Samba
(director: Olivier Nakache)
Likeable drama chronicling the travails of the titular Senegalese immigrant (Omar Sy) as he battles to stay in France while slowly but surely falling for Alice (Charlotte Gainsbourg), the charity worker helping him with his case. Some of the plotting is a bit clunky and at two hours Samba goes on a bit, but the film nevertheless boasts some fine moments, especially when shining a light on the hand-to-mouth experience of immigrants in France. Both leads (Gainsbourg is a criminally underrated actress), as well as the film's supporting cast, are excellent. Rating: WWW
Available now on DVD and VOD
Results
(director: Andrew Bujalski)
Off-beat and deceptively clever romantic comedy starring Guy Pearce (The Rover) and Cobie Smulders (Avengers: Age Of Ultron) as Trevor and Kat, personal trainers and former 'fuck buddies' whose relationship is put back under the spotlight with the arrival of wealthy depressive Danny (Kevin Corrigan). In truth, Corrigan - a perfect storm of self-loathing and emasculated manhood - steals the show while the two leads - for all their skills as actors and comic performers - never quite convince as a couple. It's a shame because writer/director Bujalski's film is, for the most part, charming and funny while offering an interesting spin on a tired genre.
Rating: WW
Available now on DVD and VOD
Mia Madre
(director: Nanni Morretti)
Nanni Moretti might be one of Italy's most celebrated directors but this semi-autobiographical drama about a filmmaker emotionally unraveling as her mother's health deteriorates is a bit of a slog. Mia Madre (My Mother) has some perceptive things to say about grief and mortality, and John Turturro works overtime to lighten the mood, but overall this is a ponderous piece of work that is easy to admire but difficult to like.
It's an extremely frustrating week because many of the films most worth seeing are only getting a limited release. Worse still, the likes of Life and 99 Homes don't seem to be showing up on VOD and DVD/Blu-ray any time soon either. Still, there's always The Martian (pictured above) - Ridley Scott's much-hyped return to sci-fi - to look forward to...
1. 99 Homes
What is it? Andrew Garfield (Spider-Man) and Michael Shannon (General Zod in Man Of Steel) step away from their roles in superhero movies to take on an altogether more weighty subject: America's subprime mortgage crisis, which saw thousands of people lose their homes in the late 00s. When Floridian construction worker Dennis Nash (Garfield) has his family home repossessed, he ends up working for Rick Carver (Shannon), the greedy and ruthless real estate broker responsible for taking his house in the first place. Nash makes serious money but in so doing loses his soul and breaks the law. Where can I see it in the UK? Just key cities, more's the pity. This is clearly a film that should be getting a far bigger release. Critical consensus? An impressive89 per cent on Rotten Tomatoes. My take: Garfield, Laura Dern (who plays his mum), and Shannon are terrific actors one and all - better yet, the latter seems to be channeling Gordon Gekko in the trailer. In fact, the film has a kind of Wall Street/Glengarry Glen Ross evils-of-capitalism vibe about it which means we could in for a real treat.
2. The Martian (from Wednesday) What is it? Ridley Scott's highly-anticipated adaptation of the Andy Weir novel about an astronaut left behind on Mars after a manned mission to the red planet goes tits up. It boasts an all-star cast including Matt Damon, Jessica Chastain, Sean Bean, Kate Mara, Chiwetel Ejiofor and Kristen Wiig. Where can I see it in the UK? Like a Martian invasion of Earth, it's everywhere. (There are lots of previews before the film's official release on Wednesday too). Critical consensus? An out-of-this-world 93 per cent on Rotten Tomatoes. My take: Ridley Scott has done some terrible old guff in recent years (Robin Hood, Exodus: Gods And Kings) but he's still the man who made Alien and Blade Runner. Come Wednesday morning, I shall be first in line for a ticket.
3. Life
What is it? Director Anton Corbijn tells the story behind LIFE magazine's famous James Dean photo shoot from 1955, including the iconic shot of the actor in Times Square. The film follows the friendship between photographer Dennis Stock (Robert Pattinson) and Dean (Dane DeHaan), then a rising Hollywood star just about to film East Of Eden, as they travel between Los Angeles, New York and Indiana.
Where can I see it in the UK? Key cities only. Critical consensus? A barely fresh 63 per cent on Rotten Tomatoes. My take: Having been a world-renowned music photographer with a host of iconic album covers to his name, Corbijn knows a thing or two about Life's subject matter. On the strength of that and his last film - the underrated A Most Violent Year - I'm very much looking forward to this. 4. Orion: The Man Who Would Be King What is it? Documentary chronicling the career of Orion, the mysterious masked singer who was a dead ringer for Elvis Presley. The Heartbreak Hotel superstar died just prior to Orion making his stage debut and it led many to wonder if he was really The King back from the dead. He wasn't; in reality, Orion was just an impersonator named Jimmy Ellis and part of a weird scheme to convince people of Presley's resurrection. Bonkers. Where can I see it in the UK? It's getting a very limited release in key cities only. Critical consensus? Only three reviews up on Rotten Tomatoes, but two of them liked it a lot. My take: Not really a case of truth being stranger than fiction (a fat chancer in a mask could never compete with a genuinely undead Elvis) but that shouldn't put you off Jeanie Finlay's fascinatingly odd film.
5. Just Jim
What is it? Craig Roberts - who you may remember as an actor in Submarine and the TV show Being Human - writes, directs and stars in this story about a nerdy Welsh teenager whose life is transformed by the arrival of Dean (Emile Hirsch), a cool and enigmatic American with more than a passing resemblance to the subject of this week's #3 movie (see above).
Where can I see it in the UK? It's only getting a very limited release but is available now on the BFI Player. Critical consensus? An encouraging 67 per cent on Rotten Tomatoes. My take: I've enjoyed Roberts in everything I've seen him in and am keen to see how he works out as a writer and director. This has a sort of Play It Again, Sam vibe but I suspect it might be somewhat darker than Herbert Ross's 1972 film starring Woody Allen, and Jerry Lacy as Humphrey Bogart.
Also on release this week... Arcade Fire: The Reflektor Tapes Captive Jawani Phir Nahi Ani Kis Kisko Pyaar Karoon Kaun Kare Insaaf Lessons In Love Lost In Hong Kong McFarland, USA Mia Madre Miss You Already Narcopolis Older Than IrelandPalio Premature Solace Whitey Bulger
UK box office top 10 1. Everest 2. Legend 3. Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials 4. The Visit 5. Inside Out 6. Straight Outta Compton 7. Empire Strikes Back (Secret Cinema) 8. A Walk in the Woods 9. Battle of Britain at 75 10. Bill
US box office top 10 1. Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials 2. Black Mass 3. The Visit 4. The Perfect Guy 5. Everest 6. War Room 7. A Walk in the Woods 8. Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation 9. Straight Outta Compton 10. Grandma
