Hello, and welcome to the Geeky Brummie Film Roundup! Each week we take you through the biggest new cinema releases and why you should be excited for them. This week: brides, bombs and boys dressing up as geishas…
Usual disclaimer: unless otherwise stated, I haven’t seen these movies yet so all of my opinions are based on trailers, early reviews and other rumours and buzz.
The Drama
Robert Pattinson and Zendaya star in The Drama as bride- and groom-to-be Charlie and Emma. The wedding preparations are well underway and the couple are very much in love. But when their friends (Alana Haim and Mamoudou Athie) challenge them to reveal the worst thing they’ve ever done, Emma drops a bombshell that leads them to question how much they really know each other. Suddenly, with the big day looming, everything starts spiralling out of control.
Just what it is that Emma’s done is carefully not revealed in the trailer, but whatever it is must be so monumental that it drives the plot of the rest of the movie. That alone is intriguing enough to make me want to see this film, but add in the star power of Pattinson and Zendaya – both fantastic actors who’ve stood out in both big budget blockbusters and interesting indies – and this is likely to be a big hit. The schadenfreude of watching the derailment of such a perfect couple should be pretty entertaining too.
This has had some very positive reviews, currently sitting at 85% on Rotten Tomatoes, and the reviews I’ve read hint at further twists – try and avoid reading too much about the plot before going to see it.
- The Drama on IMDB
- The Drama on Rotten Tomatoes
Fuze
In 2014’s Godzilla, Aaron Taylor Johnson played a bomb defusal expert, but must have felt a little short-changed when his skills were overshadowed by a great big scene-stealing nuclear lizard. He’s now making up for that in Fuze – a bomb disposal / bank heist thriller in which he’s summoned to investigate an unexploded WW2 bomb found in a central London building site. But with the streets evacuated, nobody is around to witness a major bank robbery taking place up the road, led by Theo James’s Karalis.
There are plenty of films out there about defusing bombs, and many more about bank heists, but the combination of the two here should give each narrative thread some added tension – upping the stakes if the bomb goes off, and adding an element of danger for the subterranean robbers. It will be interesting to see how the two sides are knotted together and whether they are both part of a wider narrative. The cast also includes Gugu Mbatha Raw as a policewoman and Sam Worthington as an army officer who appears from the trailer to have some ties to the bank robbery, hinting that the threads will converge at some point.
I haven’t seen much marketing for this, which isn’t normally a great sign for a popcorn thriller, but at the time of writing it has a respectable 84% on Rotten Tomatoes so it must be doing something right.
- Fuze on IMDB
- Fuze on Rotten Tomatoes
Kokuho
Born to a family of gangsters in post-war Japan, Kikuo Tachibana is adopted by a kabuki actor and trained in the art of the theatre. Sometimes dressing as a geisha in his performances, he overcomes a number of challenges to become a talented performer.
This was Japan’s official entry for the Oscars and was nominated in the Makeup & Hairstyling category for its flawless depictions of traditional Japanese kabuki makeup. It looks stunning, with some fantastically colourful costumes and theatrical flair, but there’s substance here as well as style – expect to see some commentary on gender roles, familial legacy, and the transformative power of art.
With a runtime just shy of three hours, don’t expect this to be the fastest-paced film – but if you stick with it, it looks like a richly rewarding investment of your time. If you have any interest in Japanese art or theatre then this is a must-see.
- Kokuho on IMDB
- Kokuho on Rotten Tomatoes
If you only see one film this week…
…prepare for a bit of drama.
Still in cinemas and worth a watch
- Project Hail Mary
- The Magic Faraway Tree
- The Super Mario Galaxy Movie
Trailer of the Week
This week has seen the release of the first full-length trailers for two of the year’s biggest blockbusters that we’ve previously just had teasers for. The first is Masters of the Universe, which gives us a much better look at supporting characters like Idris Elba’s Man-At-Arms and Jared Leto’s Skeletor. But my pick for Trailer of the Week is the new one for Supergirl, which gives us a bit more of the plot. Because, after last year’s Superman film had us all fall in love with the goodest of good boys Krypto the Wonder Dog, it turns out that the main motivation for Millie Alcock’s Supergirl in the new film is saving his life after he’s been poisoned by new villain Krem of the Yellow Hills (Matthias Schoenaerts). Producer James Gunn has clearly learned from Guardians of the Galaxy 3 that if you want to make an audience really, really hate your villain, have them do something mean to a cute animal. We also get a bit more of Jason Momoa’s Goth Aquaman bounty hunter Lobo, clearly having a lot more fun in the new DCU now that he doesn’t have to look after any fish (Lobo is reportedly the DC character Momoa wanted to play from the beginning). We’ll find out if Krypto (and, I guess, Kara) is OK when Supergirl lands in cinemas on 26th of June.
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