At The Flix with @Timmy666
So, as I enter in to take stock of what mainstream and underground releases are out this week, it must be noted that this is the first week for ages where there haven’t been any pre-Friday releases!
…. Or at least that’s my perception, and it feels refreshing that Orange Wednesday customers aren’t getting first dabs at the new releases for once.
Actually, it’s very clever to release films on Wednesdays because cinemas do pack out as a result of the two-for-one offer and you get an immediate sense of a film’s success as well as greater takings.
Being antisocial though, I like spaces around me when I watch a film (preferably even a quiet cinema) and I like to be there first to see a film – so I don’t like going on Wednesdays!
So what do we have this week? Here’s a selection.
White House Down (12A)
Haven’t we seen this film already this year ….??? I mean how many White House based action thrillers do we need in one year? Doesn’t this sound familiar? Many of us were unfortunate enough to see Olympus Has Fallen and having not recovered from that travesty, and having seen the trailer to this, there are no suggestions this is going to be Aaron Sorkin meets Jack Bauer.
Seriously, did one script go to so many producers that two movies with a similar set up ended up being made? Well, this White House hijack action flick comes courtesy of the subtle approach of Roland Emmerich, yes, the man behind Independence Day, 2012, Godzilla, The Day After Tomorrow … all that schnizzle and a rate of diminishing returns in terms of his output over the years.
Substitute Gerard Butler for Chaning Tatum and Aaron Eckhart for Jamie Foxx and off we go!
What to expect? Well, I expect Hollywood will pander to the action audiences and do it with graceless abandon and heightened levels of ridiculousness! This is Emmerich after all. Things will get blown up, there will be guns and muscly blokes in vests and military gear shooting at each other! Expect in-jokes, references to 9/11 and other sensitive events in recent American history (no doubt done for kicks!), with lots of American flags and faux patriotism, maybe some long monologue speeches (even if nothing quite beats Pullman’s in Independence Day right!), and people in positions of power getting shot dead!
Will Morgan Freeman do a cameo? Not this time.
Rush (15)
Ron Howard’s biopic of the Canadian Prog Rock legends …. err …. portrayal of the infamous 1976 F1 season staring Australian Chris Hemsworth as the British F1 legend James Hunt and the usually excellent and German Daniel Bruhl as the Austrian F1 legend Niki Lauda. I must admit as an F1 fan and a fan of both Howard and Peter Morgan (scriptwriter), this will be the ‘mainstream’ film of the week to watch.
Howard’s got to be a prog rock fan too though, right?
Justin and the Knights of Valour (2D + 3D) (PG)
According to the Facebook page, we are invited to join Justin’s quest as he becomes a man!! With a largely British cast of voices – or rather a very large British cast of acting heavyweights with the exception of Antonio Banderas (this time not as an animated Pussy Cat), this is a Spanish 3D adventure … so let’s hope the animation and storyline isn’t lost in translation.
I would pay more attention if this was Almodovar doing an animated feature … could you imagine? Unlikely he’d do anything quite like this though!
Other things….
Away from the mainstream, head over to the mac to check out Call Girl (18) (13-17 Sept) a darker film set in 70s Sweden about prostitution and how people from Sweden’s elite were among the customers.
Also, if you missed it first time around, the documentary Springsteen and I (PG) is showing at Cineworld early on Saturday evening – a portrait of Springsteen fans and their relationship with him and vice versa.
And remember next week …. for fans of 80s hair rock and one-armed drumming gods – Def Leppard: VIVA Hysteria is on at Cineworld on the 19th September. Get your perms and tight jeans ready for that one. Let’s get rocked.
Signing out ’till next week, cinema goers!
By Tim Wilson. Creative Action Man, Head Boffin at IndieLove, Drummer and Coffee Drinker. Follow at @timmy666
