At the Flix with @Timmy666
Welcome to this week’s slab of cinematic action at screens around Brum!
Terminator: Genisys (12A)
So here we go again. The franchise gets a reboot, or rather, retread, and Arnie is back in the iconic role that made his legendary status over 30 years ago!
The first two Terminator films were responsible for defining many of the sci-fi, action and horror tropes that proceeded them, both five star examples of their genre and never beaten. Even James Cameron himself has thrown his ‘endorsement’ behind this film, and yet there is very little that has excited me in the publicity or the plot.
I’m of a generation that has grown up on the originals, and this feels too much like an imitation. The trailer makes that very clear! Second, the 12A card has been waved. Part of the point of The Terminator is that he is not human (well, certainly the case in the first one) – he is a robot with a job to do and he does it ruthlessly and often bloodily. You sanitise that with a lower rating.
All I can hope is that the film excels in the entertainment and that it encourages a new generation of cinema goers to watch the first two. It could also have fun with its sense self-awareness but all I am feeling is a bit sad to see this film exists at all!
Magic Mike XXL (15)
Picking up three years after the original, Mike and his gang as still bulging and flexing in all the right places. Mike, of course, has quit – but he finds out the remaining Kings of Tampa want to throw in the towel too … not until they want one more blow out performance.
Director Gregory Jacobs is Soderburgh’s (original director) longtime producer and assistant director and clearly there’s a lot of love for capturing sweaty muscly bodies – and maybe that’s a little less than one would hope to expect.
The original was certainly more than that – it had plot, story line and sweaty muscly bodies. Critical reaction is split on how much more there is here!
Amy (15)
It’s now four years since Amy Winehouse joined the 27 club – two albums and iconic status achieved, her music made her a star, her celebrity status and lifestyle garnered her notoriety.
This is an honest look at Amy, her addiction, her celebrity and her music. The film has received praise from nearly all critics, engrossed, moved and reconnected with the clear tension between the allure of live performances and the discomfort at the knowledge that all was not good off the stage.
Director Asif Kapadia who did the magnificent Senna, knows how to craft a hard hitting and thrilling documentary. The film is a statement in itself to say that we shouldn’t be needing to see someone like Winehouse portrayed for anything but her music.
Black Coal Thin Ice (15)
Showing at the mac Birmingham from Monday through Thursday, don’t miss the opportunity to see the Winner of the Golden Bear for Best Film at the 2014 Berlinale, Yi’nan Diao’s majestic neo-noir about a detective, who when linked to a series of murders to a mysterious woman, only finding himself drawn to her helplessly. He soon realises a murder case from five years ago was not solved after all.
That’s it from me for this week. Until next week, hasta la vista baby!
