Movies to watch this week at the cinema: Legend, Irrational Man, more...
Out on Friday 11 September
Tom Hardy co-stars with Tom Hardy as the Krays. Joaquin is Woody Allens irrational stand-in. Abel Ferrara brings Pasolini back to life sort of. Yes, heres this weeks new releases. Click on for our reviews of Legend, Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials, The Visit, Irrational Man, Pasolini, Containment, In Cold Blood, The World Of Astley Baker Davies, How To Change The World, Rubble King, La Famile Belier, Eric Clapton: Live At The Royal Albert Hall, Brahmin Bulls and Misery Loves Comedy. For the best movie reviews, subscribe to Total Film.
LEGEND
Frankenstein Meets The Wolf Man. King Kong Vs. Godzilla. Alien Vs. Predator. Filmmakers have always been excited by the clashing of titans, and now more than ever: Marvel regularly pits superheroes against nemeses boasting identikit powers; skyscraper robots tussle cliff-face monsters in Pacific Rim; and the tentpole movie of 2016, Batman V Superman: Dawn Of Justice, promises an epic smackdown. But it really doesnt get any bigger, or scarier, than Tom Hardy vs Tom Hardy. This is the enticing prospect offered by Brian Helgelands ogle at the Kray twins rule of Londons East End in the 1960s, with Hardy essaying both Reggie and Ronnie in an award-baiting performance. And dont think the twins just appear at separate times or occupy different halves of the same screen or that one always happens to have his back to the camera; via the magic of digital pokery (to use technical industry jargon), this is a physically integrated, symbiotic relationship. In one bone-crunching scene, the brothers thump, stamp and headbutt each other with astonishing gusto. By way of comparison, Young Arnie fighting Old Arnie in Terminator Genisys is so much scrap metal. Based on John Pearsons exceptional 1972 crime biography The Profession Of Violence: The Rise And Fall Of The Kray Twins, Legend tracks the twins from backstreet scallywags punching above their weight at the local boxing club to rulers of gangland London with police and politicians in their pockets. Always immaculately suited and booted, the Krays, owners of first a billiard hall and then a West End nightclub, hobnob with the rich and famous and become celebs in their own right. In the shadows behind the spotlight, however, they cement their status by heading up The Firm, a fearsome gang that deals in robbery, murder, arson, torture and protection rackets. Looking for a way in and perhaps to offer an antidote to all the snarling, beating and killing, writer-director Helgeland, whose best work remains by some distance his script for Curtis Hansons LA Confidential, focuses on Reggies courtship with local lass Frances Shea (Emily Browning). Reggie plucks her, aged 16, from under the wing of her domineering mother, and as youd expect of The Gangster Prince of the East End noodles her noggin with flash motors, bespoke threads a penchant of waltzing to the best tables at the finest restaurants (even if he does have to sneak into back rooms to sort out business with his bare knuckles). If that all sounds very GoodFellas, it is, the camera swirling, the champagne popping and the jukebox booming as an intoxicating world unfurls; the gleam and glimmer of Tom Conroys faultless period production only adds to the lustre. Do you like being a gangster? asks Frances, both enticed and repulsed. I like the money and the respect, replies Reggie, echoing Henry Hills patter as he tells of how the neighbourhood kids clamoured to carry his mothers groceries all the way home: You know why? Out of respect. And if Legend inevitably feels like the low-rent version of Scorseses classic, thats only right the Swinging 60s hadnt quite made it from Carnaby Street to Bethnal Green, and the waft of naffness provides a distinctly British flavour. But this is Hardys gaff and the actor, as Reggie, gives a career-best performance. To borrow another line from GoodFellas, gangsters are movie stars with muscle, which also serves as a neat description of the actor himself and thus allows for a relaxed, charismatic turn free of tricks and tics, shuffles and snuffles. With his swept-back hair, shining eyes and full, sensual lips, Hardy as Reggie is silk and steel, dazzling to behold. Inevitably, all of the aforementioned tricks, tics, shuffles and snuffles are poured into Ron, larger than life with his ursine gait, gummy grin and tendency to hose spittle whilst roaring rage. Still, it at least means that viewers can tell the twins apart without Rons heavy-rimmed glasses, and it fits with the younger brothers schizophrenia. Hes off his rocker! intones one character, somewhat comically. Its for this reason, rather than an admirably courageous decision to come out, that Ronnie responds to the promise of an American gangster (Chazz Palminteri) to get him a Philadelphian girl with, I prefer boys. Italians. Sometimes Greek. Im not prejudiced. With other key characters played by such cream-of-British thesps as David Thewlis, Paul Bettany (a nod to Gangster No. 1?), Taron Egerton, Paul Anderson and, as Nipper Read, the detective tasked with taking the Krays down, Christopher Eccleston, this is a heavyweight biopic. Its flawed, yes Frances is frustratingly underwritten, her psychological fault lines spoken of but never shown but its also swaggeringly cinematic. And it has Tom Hardy vs Tom Hardy... THE VERDICT: The starrier of this years Reggie n Ron movies (The Rise Of The Krays is the other) deserves your respect. Hardy excels in the dual role, especially as Reggie. Director: Brian Helgeland Starring: Tom Hardy, Emily Browning, Christopher Eccleston, Taron Egerton, Paul Bettany Theatrical release: 11 September 2015 Jamie Graham
MAZE RUNNER: THE SCORCH TRIALS
The Maze is one thing, slurs Aidan Gillen's Janson, the actor's Irish accent crackling through the American, but you kids wouldn't last a day out in the Scoooorch. He's not totally wrong: the huge, monstrous labyrinth of last year's The Maze Runner where a group of boys (and girl) found themselves trapped with no memory is indeed gone. And in its place is... well, everything. Unlike fellow young adult franchise The Hunger Games, sequel The Scorch Trials abandons its USP altogether boldly opening up, for better and for worse, into something entirely different. Out of the maze and into the fire, it picks up right where we left off: with Thomas (Dylan O'Brien), Teresa (Kaya Scodelario) and the other 'Gladers' on the run from shady organisation WCKD (World Catastrophe Killzone Department). Having escaped their lab, and sinister, Littlefinger-esque enforcer Janson, they venture out into a post-apocalyptic world ravaged by solar flares: where cities are now ruins in the desert, and a disease has rendered most of the population berserk, screaming zombies. This is the sprawling Scorch, and it looks beautiful. Free of the Maze's claustrophobic self-containment, returning director Wes Ball runs wild; there's barely a sequence here lacking style or imagination. One stand-out shot, for instance, has the group walking in silhouette over a sand dune, only to halt from a distant gunshot (an infected friend preventing the inevitable). The action scenes, too, are urgent and masterfully paced; especially one involving a zombie attack in a mall, which builds ever-so-slowly to a grisly reveal likely inspired by cinematic videogame The Last of Us (the zombies even sound like its Clickers). In fact, compared to other young adult efforts, this is, overall, far more grim and gory. Even so, such momentum works hard to mask a flimsy and unfocused script (adapted from book two in James Dashner's YA trilogy). Action is one thing, but the film also needs a better-developed sense of mystery as well as a deeper exploration of character relationships and a wit that goes beyond tired lines like, well, that doesn't sound good. Not necessarily deal breakers, and the Empire Strikes Back-esque ending does up the dramatic ante. Yet when the dust settles The Scorch Trials is, as we're repeatedly told of WCKD, good just not as good as you want it to be. THE VERDICT: Rather than Maze Runner 2: We're Gonna Need A Bigger Maze, Scorch Trials ambitiously opens up its world with mixed results: gripping action, so-so script. Director: Wes Ball Starring: Dylan O'Brien, Kaya Scodelario, Thomas Brodie-Sangster, Giancarlo Esposito, Aiden GillenTheatrical release: 10 September 2015 Stephen Kelly
THE VISIT
Endeavouring to re-find his mojo by turning in a low-budget found-footage movie for Blumhouse Pictures (the studio behind the Paranormal Activity, Sinister and Insidious franchises) M. Night Shyamalan has made his best film for years. OK, that's not so hard when Lady In The Water, The Last Iarbender and After Earth are the movies being outstripped, but The Visit is a genuinely creepy and chucklesome horror-comedy with a touching (if somewhat over-sentimentalised) core. Visiting their estranged grandparents while their mum (Kathryn Hayn) goes on week-long holiday, teen Rebecca (Olivia DeJonge) and younger brother Tyler (Ed Oxenbould) initially take to Nana (Deanna Dunagan) and Pop-Pop (Peter McRobbie) and their big, isolated house in snow-swept fields. But why are the oldies so insistent on a 9.30 bedtime? And what does Pop-Pop get up to in his shed? And is a bad case of mould really the reason why the basement is off limits? One thing's for sure: wannabe filmmaker Rebecca will document events as they unfurl, keeping hold of the camera at all times or at least dropping it in such a manner that it still captures a cool shot. Get past the usual niggles of the found-footage sub-genre plus Rebecca spouting about mise-en-scene and Tyler's penchant for rapping and The Visit serves up some chilling set-pieces, with Shyamalan assuredly framing his scares as he plugs into the uncomfortable, often unspoken fact that old people, to young people, can be both scary and foul. Just as Cronenberg's Videodrome celebrated the new flesh, this cringes at the wrinkled and powdery, with the rejuvenated writer-director finding something of myths and fairy tales in these terrifying ogres. Is there a twist? Of course there is, but it's more simple and effective than many of Shyamalan's elaborate rug pulls, and perfectly fits in with the campfire-tale tone. By playing it small, this is a big step forward in the right direction. THE VERDICT: None too original but effective. Scares, laughs and some authentic heartache as Shyamalan once more examines the wounds of a fractured family. Director: M. Night Shyamalan Starring: Kathryn Hahn, Deanna Dunagan, Peter McRobbie, Ed Oxenbould, Olivia DeJonge Theatrical release: 11 September 2015 Jamie Graham
IRRATIONAL MAN
Woody Allens latest sees him head to campus for a university-set tale that brings him squarely back into the terrain of Match Point and Crimes And Misdemeanours. Revisiting notions of killing and the perfect crime, Allen seasons these age-old Hitchcockian concerns with a philosophical slant, meditating on the morality of murder. The setup sees the arrival of philosophy professor Abe Lucas (Joaquin Phoenix) to a leafy Rhode Island college. Boozy, pot-bellied and depressive, hes got issues, but attracting the ladies is not one of them and hes soon engaged in a lusty affair with a married chemistry professor (Parker Posey) while developing a friendship with pretty student Jill (Emma Stone). Then he and Jill overhear a random diner conversation, concerning a corrupt judges rulings. On a whim, Abe secretly decides to kill the judge, and is revitalised from taking direct action after a life spent theorising. Inevitably, though, suspicions arise not least in the inquisitive Jill. A vast improvement on Allens last, the whimsical Magic In The Moonlight, Irrational Man still doesnt come close to Woody at his best. Neither especially comedic nor dramatic, its a shaggy-dog story that, while building to a slippery finale, lacks real depth. Scored by a repeated use of The In Crowd by the Ramsey Lewis Trio, Irrational Man does conjure some memorable images of scenic Rhode Island with the help of acclaimed DoP Darius Khondji. But dogged by rather laboured execution, its not enough to really lift Allens 46th feature above the ordinary THE VERDICT: Falling somewhere between recent highs like Blue Jasmine and stinkers like To Rome With Love, Allens latest is solid rather than spectacular. In academic terms, its a C+. Director: Brian Helgeland Starring: Tom Hardy, Emily Browning, Christopher Eccleston, Taron Egerton, Paul Bettany Theatrical release: 11 September 2015 James Mottram
PASOLINI
Following his lurid cause clbre Welcome To New York, Abel Ferrara delivers this altogether more elegant piece, as he delves into the last days of Italian poet, polemicist and director Pier Paolo Pasolini. With the Sal director played uncannily by Ferrara regular Willem Dafoe, its part political discourse, part whodunnit, as Ferrara plays out events leading up to Pasolinis grim and unsolved murder seemingly attacked by a homophobic gang. It doesnt entirely gel, with some passages sagging. But Dafoe synchs into character while Ferrara nails the life of a true artist. Director: Abel Ferrara Starring: Willem Dafoe, Riccardo Scamarcio, Ninetto Davoli Theatrical release: 11 September 2015 James Mottram
CONTAINMENT
A man finds himself trapped in his dilapidated council estate flat and teams up with his neighbours to escape, all while mysterious men in hazmat suits roam outside. It makes for an intriguing and crucially cheap thriller, though first-time director Neil Mcenery-West covers most of the budget cracks by wielding his camera with the flair of a seasoned auteur. OK, Containment dips halfway through, when the steadily demystified plot gives way to more familiar virus genre tropes, but theres enough here including some genuine white-knuckle tension to act as a calling card for all involved. Director: Neil Mcenery-West Starring: Louise Brealey, Lee Ross, Sheila Reid, Andrew Leung Theatrical release: 11 September 2015 Matt Looker
IN COLD BLOOD
In bringing Truman Capote s fact-based bestseller about a multiple homicide to the screen, director Richard Brooks commitment to authenticity extended to shooting in the real victims Kansas house and casting seven of the jurors from their killers trial. (He might also have cast an actual murderer, if Robert Blake chillingly apathetic as perpetrator Perry Smith did indeed kill his wife a quarter-century later.) Scott Wilson has spent many of his autumn years being stalked by zombies on The Walking Dead karma, perhaps, for the sleazy charm he brings to Smiths cohort in this gripping chronicle. Director: Richard Brooks Starring: Robert Blake, Scott Wilson, John Forsythe Theatrical release: 11 September 2015 Neil Smith
THE WORLD OF ASTLEY BAKER DAVIES
Neville Astley, Mark Baker and Phil Davies might not be household names, but their creation Peppa Pig almost certainly has control of your five-year-olds mind, and your parental wallet. Heres a showcase of their other shorts, including grisly goings-on at a farm, a darkly satirical tale of injustice plus, of course, a Peppasode. The most delightful thing here is Ben And Hollys Little Kingdom, a tale of fairies and elves; The Big Knights (featuring Sir Morris not the finest swordsman in the world, but the most enthusiastic) is also worth a gander. Directors: Neville Astley, Mark Baker Theatrical release: 11 September 2015 Ali Catterall
HOW TO CHANGE THE WORLD
British director Jerry Rothwells latest documentary tells the story of the band of pioneering 1970s rainbow warriors, led by former journalist Bob Hunter, who created direct-action environmental campaign group Greenpeace. In examining the tensions and personal conflicts amongst these protestors, which have continued in some cases to the present day, How To Change The World attempts to cover too much ground. But it also benefits from a stack of compelling 16mm footage (shot by the media-savvy Greenpeace campaigners themselves) of their intrepid protests. Director: Jerry Rothwell Theatrical release: 9 September 2015 Tom Dawson
RUBBLE KINGS
With its hundreds of street gangs and deadly turf wars, the New York of the early 70s might call to mind a certain cult classic from Walter Hill. Yet as this documentary points out, the real story makes The Warriors look tame. Here, ex-gang members-turned activists and DJs, including members of the Ghetto Brothers and legend Afrika Bambaataa, describe how the murder of a would-be peacemaker led to a vital peace agreement, which helped usher in hip-hop culture, where battles would instead be fought with turntables and mics. Jaw-dropping and inspirational by turn. Director: Shan Nicholson Theatrical release: 11 September 2015 Ali Catterall
LA FAMILLE BELIER
Three quarters of the Bliet brood mum Gigi (Karin Viard), dad Rodolphe (Franois Damiens) and son Quentin (Luca Gelberg) are deaf. The exception is teenage daughter Paula (Louane Emera), the de facto family interpreter with a newly-revealed talent for singing. What follows might be utterly predictable but is enlivened by its sheer amiability. Eric Lartigau avoids disability- pic solemnity by making the parents a rambunctious, sex-mad duo. Yet despite the title, its clearly Paulas story and singer-turned-actress Emera aces her audition with an outstanding, Csar- winning performance. Director: Eric Lartigau Starring: Karin Viard, Louane Emera, Eric Elmosnino, Francois Damiens, Luca Gelberg, Roxane Duran Theatrical release: 11 September 2015 Kate Stables
BRAHMIN BULLS
American individualism and Indian family expectations lock horns in this delicately played but slow-paced drama. Heroes star Sendhil Ramamurthy is Sid, a self-destructive LA architect attempting to reconcile with his well-meaning professor pop (Roshan Seth). First-time writer/director Pailoor is unafraid to point up Sids dickish qualities or his dads hypocrisies. But desperate to avoid male melodrama, the films relentless restraint looks sometimes like inertia. Ramamurthy, best known for square-jawed TV work, shows here that he can do beast as well as beauty. Director: Mahesh Pailoor Starring: Sendhil Ramamurthy, Roshan Seth, Mary Steenburgen Theatrical release: 11 September 2015 Kate Stables
ERIC CLAPTON: LIVE AT THE ROYAL ALBERT HALL
The guitar legends 70th was the occasion for his recent Albert hall residence, but you wouldnt know it: the gig and accompanying film are fuss free affairs, without much in the way of frills or fun. Claptons gigs are devotees only love-ins, as cosy and faded as the Persian rug he pads about on. Standing ovations routinely accompany this two- hour set of country-blues jams, covers, acoustic stool-rock and solos, but its hard to share the passion for Claptons disengaged tilts at I Shot The sheriff and Layla. Cocaine lifts the torpor: the rest is quite the buzz kill. Director: Eric Lartigau Starring: Karin Viard, Louane Emera, Eric Elmosnino, Francois Damiens, Luca Gelberg, Roxane Duran Theatrical release: 11 September 2015 Kate Stables
MISERY LOVES COMPANY
Kevin Pollak (The Usual Suspects) investigates the serious side of mirthmaking, assembling an impressive line-up (Judd Apatow, Amy Schumer, Kevin Smith, Steve Coogan and about 50 more besides) to answer the question, Do you have to be miserable to be funny? Analysis doesnt kill the joke Christopher Guest and Stephen Merchant share hilarious anecdotes but it inevitably feels a bit airless and static, with few clips to break up the format. And with each contributor getting such minimal screentime, it might have worked better given more room to breathe on TV. Director: Kevin Pollak Theatrical release: 11 September 2015 Matt Maytum
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