12A – 140mins – 2018 – 3D
V.R. TROOPERS
Cineworld were in full alert last night with bouncers at the doors of their latest Unlimited Preview Screening to physically watch you switch off your mobile phones before you entered for an exclusive viewing of young adult sci-fi action adventure adaptation Ready Player One. This didn’t, however, stop the projectionists from messing up and starting the film too early, so we got to watch the opening five minutes twice in the space of a quarter of an hour.
PG – 89mins – 2018
KICKS AND STONES
Premier League heavyweights Tom Thor: Ragnarok Hiddleston, Eddie Fantastic Beasts Redmayne and Maisie Gold Williams headline a stadium-sized voice cast of homegrown funny-men and women, including Timothy Spall, Mirium Margoyles, Richard Ayoade, Mark Williams, Rob Brydon, Johnny Vegas, Gina Yashere and Simon Greenall (what do you know, there’s enough of them to make a football team!!) in this stop-motion Claymation feature from Wallace & Gromit and Shaun the Sheep creator Nick Park.
12A – 142mins – 2018
SHANKS AND BIG WALLS
Back up and, err, running again (if you’ll pardon the wordplay) after a hefty-but-unavoidable production delay following lead actor Dylan O’Brien’s on-set accident, The Death Cure is a scintillating and welcome conclusion to returning director Wes Ball’s trilogy of dystopian sci-fi action-adventures based on author James Dashner’s hit series of Maze Runner novels.
15 – 92mins – 2014
SON OF THE DRAGON
In my post-cinema analysis of last summer’s Tom Cruise-headlined reboot of The Mummy (read my review HERE), I openly acknowledged my enjoyment of the film in spite of its skew away from horror and more towards a supernatural action-adventure. However, it seems audiences (or a lack thereof) were more critical; just one entry in and Universal’s newly-rebranded Dark Universe is already in trouble. But The Mummy wasn’t always to be the opening chapter of this Monster Movie Expanded Universe…
12A – 119mins – 2017 – 3D
… WE’VE GOT FUN AND BOARD GAMES
Based upon a children’s picture book from the 80s by Chris Van Allsburg, 1995’s Joe Johnston-directed adventure-fantasy film is fondly remembered by people of a certain age as being a much-watched childhood favourite. It also starred the late, great Robin Williams, which is perhaps one reason why a return to Jumanji was initially greeted with scepticism from the masses. However, Welcome to the Jungle is NOT a modern day reboot which tries to erase the charm of the first film, but a sequel which respectfully nods to and continues the story, expanding upon the world of the mysterious magical game.
Dave – 9:40pm – Thursday 16th November 2017
Available to stream NOW on UKTV Play
Created and written by: Dan Gaster, Will Ing and Paul Powell
Directed by: Dave Lambert
GET HOME OR DIE TRYING
“Who wants to spend the rest of their life in Munty?!”
The date of the super-solstice is drawing near and Brian Weaver (James Buckley) is finally going to get the opportunity to be magicked back to 21st century Britain – and a change of clothes – provided liquor-loving conjuror Howell (Paul Kaye) can stay off the Rhubarb Seizures long enough to recant the spell! With Barbara’s (Sharon Rooney) new date (Ciaran Dowd) guaranteeing the gang easy access to the Henge, it seems like nothing will stand in the way of Brian’s return journey – except maybe for the two bounty hunters who are hot on the heels of the traveller from another world…
PG – 103mins – 2017
PADDINGTON DOES PORRIDGE
With so many childhood favourites from yesteryear being made (and remade in the case of The BFG and Pete’s Dragon) for the big screen, it is easy to look on these twenty-first century interpretations with caution. Be they originally books, films or TV shows, to fans of the beloved originals, a glitzy, modern angle could be deemed… improper. However, 2014’s Paddington – which saw Michael Bond’s marmalade-loving bear cub move from the jungles of Peru into the Brown family’s London residence – proved that new doesn’t always equal inferior.
VIKINGS VIA ITALY
My third review for entertainment podcast website 60 Minutes With went live yesterday, so this is just a heads up and polite nudge to follow THIS DIRECT LINK to read my take on Arrow Video‘s new 2K restoration – and sumptuous double-disc, dual-format release – of Mario Bava’s 1961 swashbuckler Erik the Conqueror.
15 – 85mins – 1986
FURRY FANGED FOOTBALLS
The Brown family’s rural Kansas farmhouse is about to become the chomping ground of a horde of hungry, malevolent alien vermin in this quintessentially 80s sci-fi/horror comedy, which plays out like Gremlins meets Ghoulies – with a multitude of iconic pop culture references thrown in for good measure!
Dave – 9:40pm – Thursday 2nd November 2017
Available to stream NOW on UKTV Play
Created and written by: Dan Gaster, Will Ing and Paul Powell
Directed by: Dave Lambert
PEARS BE WITH YOU
“May your pear juice be sweet.”
When two pear watch guards (Simon Day and Javone “Empty Orchestra” Prince) are inexplicably fired the day before Munty’s highly anticipated Pear Fair, a baffled Brian (James Buckley) jumps at the opportunity to apply for the job of guarding the sacred albino pears in the walled orchard. With his wages, he plans to journey to the City of a Thousand Towers in time for the Super Solstice, hoping to take advantage of the thin wall between worlds and return to his rightful dimension.
The CR@Bpendium 