Hello and welcome to the Geeky Brummie Film Roundup! Each week we run you through the biggest new cinema releases and some of the reasons you should be excited for them. This week is dominated by some lanky blue cat people, but as this will likely be the last Roundup of the year I’ll also do a quick run-through of what else to look forward to in the next couple of weeks…
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.
Avatar: Fire and Ash
The first Avatar film pushed the boundaries of CGI and 3D effects, and famously had people getting clinically depressed from the knowledge that they will never live on the beautiful planet of Pandora. After a long, long wait we then got the second film, which took us to Pandora’s oceans and introduced us to whole new tribes of Na’vi. Fortunately there has been much less of a wait for this third film, which picks up where the second left off and expands the world even further.
This one sees Jake (Sam Worthington), Neytiri (Zoe Saldaña) and their family (including Sigourney Weaver’s Kiri) grieving for the loss of their son Neteyam after he died at the end of the last film. But they quickly find themselves fighting an overwhelming number of enemies, as Quaritch (Stephen Lang) teams up with Varang (Oona Chaplin), the leader of a dangerous new Na’vi tribe that has turned away from Eywa. Meanwhile, the discovery that Spider (Jack Champion) – a human – is able to breathe the air in Pandora has huge implications for the safety of the planet.
The big draw for the Avatar films has always been the spectacle, and this appears to be no different. The visual effects look as stunning as ever, from the photorealistic alien faces, to the crystal blue oceans and their alien denizens, to the incredible battle scenes in the land, sea and sky. More than anything else you’ll have seen this year, this is the sort of film that has to be experienced on a big screen – preferably in IMAX and 3D as director James Cameron intended. Wait for it to come out on streaming or blu-ray and you will lose a lot of the effect. The main criticism of the series has been the lack of originality in the plot, and unfortunately again it looks like Fire & Ash continues that trend too if the reviews are anything to go by. But you don’t come to this sort of blockbuster expecting a complex story, and the reviewers have universally praised the look of the effects and the ambition of the world-building.
There are several other new and returning cast members worth mentioning. Jemaine Clement’s marine biologist is back from The Way Of Water, as are Kate Winslet and Cliff Curtis as the leaders of the water tribe. Giovanni Ribisi also returns as selfish administrator Selfridge from the first film, along with Joel David Moore’s scientist Norm. Joining Oona Chaplin among the new cast is David Thewlis as Peylak, the leader of another new clan which rides the gigantic living hot air balloons glimpsed in the trailer. There are a lot of great actors here to keep you entertained throughout the almost three-and-a-half hour runtime.
If you’re a fan of big, sci-fi blockbusters then this is a must-see. There is simply nothing else out there that, without any source material to work from, is crafting such a spectacular cinematic experience.
- Avatar: Fire and Ash on IMDB
- Avatar: Fire and Ash on Rotten Tomatoes
Christmas releases
That is literally it for this week, as nothing wants to compete with the big blue box office behemoth that is the Avatar franchise, but there are a lot of films coming out on Boxing Day and a couple on New Year’s Day that I will run through very quickly here.
Marty Supreme stars Timothée Chalamet as Marty Mauser, a confident table tennis prodigy looking to find fame and fortune from his talents despite the lack of funding or attention that the sport receives in America. Directed with his usual intensity by Josh Safdie (one half of the Safdie Brothers, behind the likes of Uncut Gems and Good Time), this has been getting some seriously good reviews and should be in a lot of conversations come awards season.
The Housemaid sees Sydney Sweeney’s Millie employed as a housemaid by a wealthy couple played by Amanda Seyfried and Brandon Sklenar. As she starts to ingratiate herself into their lives, paranoia sets in among both women as they start to suspect the other is out to take advantage of them. This looks like a tense thriller with two strong leads in Sweeney and Seyfried.
The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants sees everyone’s favourite cartoon sponge (it’s a short list) and his best friend Patrick captured by the Flying Dutchman (Mark Hamill) in an attempt to break his curse, leaving it up to Squidward, Sandy and Mr Krabs to save them. This looks as zany and childish as you would expect from a SpongeBob movie but with plenty for adults to enjoy too – best demonstrated at the end of the trailer when SpongeBob and Patrick start merrily playing with their own intestines, or by the running joke about SpongeBob’s lucky brick.
Anaconda is a meta-remake of the cult classic monster movie, which sees Jack Black and Paul Rudd attempt to remake Anaconda on a shoestring budget only to find themselves at the mercy of a genuine giant snake. The original Anaconda is famously dreadful but generally remembered with a fair bit of nostalgia, and it looks like everyone involved in this one had a lot of love for it. Anaconda is seeking to do for monster movies what Galaxy Quest did for sci-fi and Tropic Thunder did for action movies – a respectful mick-take of a genre that becomes a great example of that genre.
Directed by Joachim Trier, Sentimental Value follows an estranged father and daughter played by Stellan Skarsgård and Renata Reinsve, as they seek to rekindle their familial bonds through a film that Skarsgård’s character is working on (alongside a starlet played by Elle Fanning). This has had a raft of Golden Globe nominations and seems a safe bet to get a few nods in the Oscars.
Documentary film Bowie: The Final Act charts the final decade in the career of the late great legend, culminating in the release of his final album, Blackstar. Incredibly, it’s almost been a decade since Bowie passed away in 2016 (a particularly tragic year for celebrity deaths), so this celebration of his life and work serves as a welcome reminder of why he was such an icon.
Song Sung Blue is based on a true story, following husband-and-wife Neil Diamond tribute act Lightning and Thunder (Hugh Jackman and Kate Hudson) as they find each other and turn their lives around through the power of music. This looks like a heartfelt feel-good movie that is bound to put a smile on your face and Sweet Caroline in your head. BAH! BAH! BAAH
Finally, Peter Hujar’s Day adapts a real conversation between photographer Peter Hujar (played here by Ben Whishaw) and writer Linda Rosenkrantz (Rebecca Hall) in 1974. It offers an insight into the art world of ’70s New York and more specifically into the mind of one of America’s great artists. This has had a lot of award nominations on the festival circuit and looks like an interesting watch.
If you only see one film this week…
Nothing competes with Avatar. Literally – it is the only option this week. But I’m sure I’d be picking it even if it weren’t…
Still in cinemas and worth a watch
- Zootropolis 2
- Wicked: For Good
- Five Nights at Freddy’s 2
Trailer of the Week
Any new Steven Spielberg film will always be something to celebrate, but this one looks particularly intriguing. Disclosure Day is about… something mysterious. Maybe aliens? Maybe something else entirely? The trailer asks the question “Are we alone?”, answers with what would appear to be an emphatic “No”, but doesn’t give anything away about who else might be out there (besides some voyeuristic deer and a friendly cardinal). What we do know is that the film stars Josh O’Connor, Eve Hewson, Colin Firth, Colman Domingo, Wyatt Russell, and Emily Blunt with a very alarming stutter. If this is an alien film, it joins the ranks of some of Spielberg’s best work (Close Encounters, E.T.). It also boasts a script from Jurassic Park’s David Koepp, which is another promising sign. Whatever is out there, it comes into our cinemas in June…
Leave a Reply