TL;DR This Week In Cinema: Here There Be Monsters, Dancers And Skiiers

Back to the matter at hand! An exciting sequel, a potentially distastrous return, dance, sports and another cheeky heist flick make up this week’s offerings. What’s your flavour?

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10 CLOVERFIELD LANE

Ok, so it’s not a literal sequel, but hey, it’s got Mary Elizabeth Winstead and John Goodman in it! It’s the feature debut for Portal: No Escape director Dan Trachtenberg, plus the prospect of any more Cloverfield goodness is delicious: the original was the best offering (at the time) to emerge from the found-footage movement.

A re-tool though it may be, it has J.J. Abrams‘ stamp of approval and that’s damn exciting news. It also paints itself as a strange kind of post-Room hostage scenario vaguely reminiscent of Dennis Kelly‘s play After The End, which promises that this film will include many tense board games.

Monsters within, monsters without. WHERE IS SAFE, I ASK YOU.

tl;dr Fear the monster inside John Goodman.

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GRIMSBY

Sacha Baron Cohen is back to piss off yet another group of people in this goofy take on action thrillers. 28 years after being separated from his younger brother at an orphanage, football hooligan Nobby (Cohen) manages to find and reunite with Sebastian (Mark Strong) and simultaneously botch the high-profile assassination Sebastian is attempting.

Though the trailer ends with a great gag, it’s hard not to feel as if Cohen’s brand of provocation has long since run its course. His last fiction effort, The Dictator, was not particularly well-received, but perhaps if he strikes at the right targets this time, he might just hit the bullseye.

Judging from the tired old “suck out the poison” gag, though, I’m guessing not.

tl;dr Hooligan? Cohen ain’t got shit on Vinnie Jones.

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SPEAR

If there’s anyone outside of Wim Wenders you can rely on to make a riveting dance film, it’s Bangarra Dance Theatre. The scintillating trailer, hinting at Hunter Page-Lochard‘s initiation into Aboriginality, adulthood and masculinity, promises a visceral encounter with indigenous Australia often sorely lacking in our cinemas.

Where dance shines on screen is in the use of space: how effectively motion is captured and the spatial context in which it is placed. Expect to see Australia’s arresting landscapes used to wondrous effect, enhancing Bangarra’s 16-year-old show and bringing it into new light.

tl;dr Unlikely we’ll see Bangarra rocking these moves anytime soon. #whatsthisthenslut

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THE WILL TO FLY

The perfect trailer to show on International Women’s Day. The Will To Fly follows Lydia Lassila‘s journey from frustrated athlete to an Olympic gold medalist in freestyle skiing.

Her inspirational story of overcoming adversity is sure to motivate you, at least long enough to plan an abortive 2017 New Year’s resolution to eat less cheesy snacks.

Nevertheless, it’s more important than ever to celebrate the achievements of women in all fields with the same ardour that we do men. Women: they’re tops!

tl;dr Don’t try this at home.

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VICTORIA

Darren Aronofsky said it “rocked his world” – more than enough recommendation for me. A two-and-a-half-hour single-take thriller marrying magical realism with a white-knuckle heist thriller, Victoria is said to be an overwhelming experience.

The one-take strategy is fast becoming overused, but if it continues to deliver quality like this, perhaps that’s not so bad. Any film that simultaneously draws comparisons to Run Lola Run and Birdman in the same breath is alright by me.

tl;dr That one-take from True Detective? Make it into a movie. And put some women in it, for chrissake, it’s International Women’s Day.

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And now for THE VERDICT – maybe you only get to see one of these flicks on the big screen, and you don’t wanna waste that night out. So, drum roll please…

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