Culture -- 21 days ago
Words: Guy Aubrey Devito
For many getting to the cinema is a chore and comes with risks. After all, it’s terribly annoying if you go to the pictures and the film’s utter rubbish. Luckily there’s a raft of brilliant films currently out – here are five films to see at the cinema this week.
GONE GIRL
The novel was pitched at women in their 20’s and 30’s but make no mistake, David Fincher’s brooding thriller is about as far away from chick lit as you can get. Rosamund Pike, Ben Affleck and Neil Patrick Harris star in a mystery that is as chilling as it is watchable, with numerous twists and turns.
’71
’71 is being hailed as one of the year’s best British films and it’s easy to see why. Sean Harris, who terrified us all with his turn as a geologist-cum-mutant in Prometheus, plays a captain stationed in Northern Ireland during the height of the troubles. Also starring Jack O’Connell, who gained critical acclaim for his portrayal of a young offender in prison, ’71 is British cinema at its best.
THE JUDGE
Robert Downey Jr’s latest film has received mixed reviews from the UK press – detractors have questioned the ersatz portrayal of the American judiciary – but The Judge is a heartfelt, old fashioned courtroom drama. With a very strong cast that also includes Billy Bob Thornton, Vincent D’Onofrio, Vera Farmiga and Robert Duval, director David Dobkin has cultivated a powerful character-based film.
IDA
Although a few might roll their eyes when they see the trailer for Ida, so quintessentially ‘arthouse’ is it – it is an absorbing and touching piece of work. Agata Trzebuchowska plays the eponymous Ida who is in training to be a nun in 1960’s Poland. Before she takes her vows she discovers that she is in fact Jewish, leading her on a journey of self-discovery.
FURY
Fury is expected to storm the box office and with good reason too, David Ayer’s new film is a gritty, grizzly World War II film with a strong cast including Brad Pitt, Shia LeBeouf and Jason Isaacs. The film is unusual in that it chronicles a US tank unit, focusing upon an area of the war that has not often been explored in cinema.
