At The Flix with @Timmy666
Greetings one and all and welcome to this week’s At The Flix.
There’s only a small number of new releases out this week. Nonetheless, let’s go ape and see what’s out.
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (12A)
Let’s get on the side of the Apes one more time, and I’m glad to get back on side.
I thought the reboot of the Apes franchise from 2011 was such an effective reboot, cemented through excellent characterisation, a statement on the human condition, plenty of action, and a memorable central performance from Andy Serkis as Caesar.
The name Caesar is no coincidence. Since Lithgow called him Caesar in the previous film (because he himself was reading Julius Caesar), the allegory to Shakespeare is allegedly abound in the politics of the Apes in the follow up.
At its heart, this is an action film but with a real richness of characterisation and a power in the dynamics between human and ape. This should easily elevate it beyond nearly everything else mainstream and action at the cinema this Summer.
If you hadn’t already clocked it, there’s big anticipation for this!
Note: the editor has more than soft spot for anything ape or monkey related. (Indeed – don’t bother reading about the rest of the films. Just go and see this three times – Ed)
This film is another hint that the summer holidays are coming, and yet if I was a kid aged about 6 upwards, I would feel short changed and demand to go this instead of the Apes film, irrespective of its 12A rating.
Responsible parents can decide for themselves.
Anyhow, I was aware of Pudsey bear and the town of Pudsey, so little did I know that Pudsey is actually also a dog, and he has a movie. Allegedly he won Britain’s Got Talent or something.
The story, for what it’s worth, follows a cheeky London stray dog called Pudsey, a lone ranger who meets a family who move to the sleepy village of Chuffington, to the dismay of their landlord, Mr. Thorne. and his cat Faustus. Pudsey stumbles across Thorne’s evil plan and he is determined to save them and the whole village. Are you still on board?
With a rating (at the time of writing) of 3.5/10 on imdb, is there a hint that this has been released alongside the Apes as a means of keeping Pudsey’s activities under wrap? Well given the number of ads on buses and hoardings, it seems the distributors are pretty serious about it! What do I know!
The Golden Dream (15)
The Golden Dream tells the story of Juan, Sara, and Samuel, three teenagers from the slums of Guatemala who travel to the United States in search of a better life. On their journey through Mexico, they meet Chauk, an Indian from Chiapas who doesn’t speak Spanish. Travelling together in freight trains and walking on railroad tracks, they soon have to face a harsh reality.
Interestingly, La Jaulo de Oro, translates to English not as The Golden Dream, but as The Golden Cage, a more cynical, yet perhaps more apt, title. It’s also the title of a popular Mexican song that inspired a 1987 film of the same name, but this isn’t a remake of the earlier film.
This looks like a powerful portrayal of Latin American immigration, what young people are willing to do to put themselves through in order to achieve their dream.
That’s it from me. As always, I’m very keen to know what you think of this week’s releases. Drop me a tweet @timmy666 on twitter.
