12A – 126mins – 2017 – 3D
THE MAN FROM C.A.M.E.L.O.T.
The sword in the stone, the Lady in the Lake, the Knights of the Round Table… You think you know the legend, but certainly not told like this. Lock Stock and Snatch director Guy Ritchie brings his own, erm, ineffable and idiosyncratic style to the oft-told story of the medieval British leader whose historical biography has long been entwined with mythical embellishments, magic and Merlin.
15 – 85mins – 2016
RIGGS AND MORTAR
The adulation and admiration accumulated by Hacksaw Ridge both upon its theatrical release and during awards season cemented Mel Gibson’s credentials as a bona fide director de force – in spite of a ten-year gap since Apocalytpo. But however brave and bold he feels in pushing his creative boundaries behind the camera, I can’t help but feel like “Mad Mel” is playing it safe in front of the lens…
12A – 118mins – 2017 – 3D
FURRYTALE KINGDOM
While a recent preparatory re-watch revealed that some of the more ambitious CG wizardry has not aged as well as the titular giant primate himself, I still get swept up in the rollicking sense of old school adventure Peter Jackson imbues his King Kong adaptation with. This character-introducing reboot – the second entry after Gareth Edwards’ 2014 opener in Legendary’s MonsterVerse – shares none of the same cast or crew with the Lord of the Rings helmer’s 2005 bum-number, but I was still excited to return to Skull Island – a lost world where monsters reign supreme.
U – 104mins – 2017 – 3D
BUILDING UP THE BRAND
Phil Lord and Christopher Miller constructed franchise brick-starting gold in 2014 with the riotously hilarious Lego Movie, ably balancing razor-sharp humour, resonating heart, zippy action and a rainbow colour palette to make one of the funniest and most heat-warming cinema experiences I have had in a long time.
12 – 106mins – 2016
JUST LIVE
A former artistic director of the stage, Thea Sharrock makes her feature film debut (following a TV gig on the BBC’s Shakespeare project The Hollow Crown) with this bold and poignant adaptation of Jojo Moyes’ bestselling romantic tearjerker, which the author also penned the screenplay for.
12A – 78mins – 2016
HOLY ANIMATED ANNIVERSARY REUNION, BATMAN!
Half a century before Bat-fleck, before Bale, before Clooney, before Kilmer and even two decades before Keaton, Adam West donned the iconic pointy-eared cowl for three seasons of light-hearted 1960s crime fighting japery which revelled in the comic potential of this comic book adaptation.
PG – 108mins – 2016
GOOD WILL COUNTING
“Change, gentlemen, it’s a wonderful thing. Embrace it.”
Slumdog Millionaire’s Dev Patel headlines this austere adaptation of Robert Kangiel’s 1991 biography of mathematical prodigy Srinivasa Ramanujan, whose pioneering self taught prime number theories see him admitted into Cambridge University’s Trinity College after growing up underprivileged in Madras, India.
The CR@Bpendium 