Welcome to the BRAG’s weekly rundown of what’s hot in the coming seven days of cinematic releases. There aren’t many major Western films hitting the screen this week… but then again, you’d have to be crazy to open against this.
So, to keep things interesting, I’ve thrown in a couple of the international releases making waves at your nearest Dendy/Event/Palace/etc.
THE HUNGER GAMES: MOCKINGJAY (PART 2)
This is it – the finale to the saga that outsold Harry Potter in the bookstores. The film series that made Jennifer Lawrence into a household name and stacked the odds ever in her favour. The story that gave hope to a generation whose only fiction to obsess over was Twilight. And the last appearance of the wonderful Philip Seymour Hoffman as the ridiculously named Plutarch Heavensbee.
With the Hunger Games out and the civil war in, President Snow (Donald Sutherland) has booby-trapped the entire Capitol in preparation for the coming rebels. Who will be standing when the dust has settled?
Read our full Hunger Games review here
tl;dr My bet’s on Katniss – she’s beaten greater adversaries before.
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99 HOMES
“America doesn’t bail out losers,” intones Michael Shannon, ostensibly playing the Walter White of the property market as he convinces a desperate Andrew Garfield to join him in foreclosing people’s homes.
If the expertly cut trailer is to be trusted, this looks to be a white-knuckle ride into America’s Ayn Rand complex and how it utterly fucks the innocent.
tl;dr Andrew Garfield’s worst Monday yet
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ABSOLUTELY ANYTHING
If getting Pegged last week wasn’t enjoyable enough for you, here’s another dose, this time in a comedy directed by former Monty Python member Terry Jones. In fact, all the surviving Pythons Monty are here, together for the first time on camera since The Meaning Of Life in 1983.
A group of aliens gives one randomly selected man (Simon Pegg) the ability to do absolutely anything as an experiment – so, of course, he teaches his dog to talk. Sadly, the voice of Dennis the Dog would be the legendary Robin Williams’ last role.
Hopefully it’s hilarious, because now I’m sad all over again.
tl;dr
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THE CROW’S EGG
It’s earned comparisons to Slumdog Millionaire, but forget all that – The Crow’s Egg is no Danny Boyle slice of brutality, but a family-friendly heartwarmer about two brothers in the slums who just want to taste their first slice of pizza.
It also comes from India’s own M. Manikandan, which gives it significantly more cultural cred than the Oscar winner. AND it looks adorable to boot.
tl;dr Maybe this frees Dev Patel up for another Last Airbender film. *smirk*
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OUR TIMES
Here’s a point of cultural comparison – why not check out Our Times, which for all intents and purposes looks like a super gooey romance flick, and see how it fares against our own Western super gooey romance flicks?
This is Taiwanese TV director Frankie Chen’s first feature, and the trailer promises Mandarin bubblegum pop, high school fawning and buckets of nostalgia. At least, for anyone with a vaguely Taiwanese upbringing.
Also it has a slow-motion fight scene?! Hell yeah, Taiwanese romance flicks!
tl;dr SLO MO FIGHTING FOR LOOOOOVE
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And now for THE VERDICT – maybe you only get the chance to see one of these flicks on the big screen, and you don’t wanna waste that night out. So, drum roll please…
You’d be mad to miss the end to the brutal saga of The Hunger Games – this is a cultural landmark and bound to be a point of conversation with anyone younger than dead.
Until next week!
