Summer’s here with a mix of blockbuster, school holiday fare, the off-kilter and more.
Stars at Noon
Claire Denis’ Nicaragua-set thriller stars Margaret Qualley and Joe Alwyn in a steamy tale of danger and deception. Tumbling into each other’s arms and beds as they also fall afoul of the country’s autocratic regime, the pair find themselves running out of luck and options… Katie Parker’s Flicks review praises the film’s “stunning, sensual photography, a heady, claustrophobic, strangely sour atmosphere and raw, uninhibited performances,” but reckons there could have been a bit more action outside the bedroom…
Violent Night
As if Santa Claus didn’t have enough to do each December… This black comedy action pic from Tommy Wirkola (Dead Snow) sees Father Christmas turn action hero when a group of mercenaries attack a wealthy family’s home on Christmas Eve. Stranger Things‘ David Harbour gets into the red and white costume (and behind the beard), as he goes up against bad guy Mr Scrooge (John Leguizamo) and his henchmen. “Now I have a machine gun, ho-ho-ho” indeed…
Mister Organ
A box office record-breaker in its native New Zealand, the latest documentary from Tickled‘s David Farrier sees him follow an odd spate of car clamping to a much, much stranger destination—uncovering a mysterious individual’s sinister past and the many broken people left in his wake (a “hurricane of emotional damage” as Tim Batt describes it in his impressed review for Flicks). Elsewhere on Flicks, you can also read our interview with Farrier, where he tells Steve Newall about the film—and why he never wants to think about it ever again.
Avatar: The Way of Water
December sees the return of one of the greatest directors of all time—mid-month we’ll find out if James Cameron do it all over again, with this sequel to 2009’s smash. The first of four planned sequels, as the title (and the underwater filming) suggests, Avatar: The Way of Water explores the oceans of Pandora. Zoe Saldaña, Sam Worthington, Stephen Lang and Sigourney Weaver all return, joined by Kate Winslet, Cliff Curtis and Jemaine Clement.
Triangle of Sadness
Ruben Östlund’s Palme d’Or winner, a typical evisceration of class and capitalism, isn’t as squirmingly subtle as his acclaimed recent films (“This satire of societal transaction hits like a relentless projectile of bodily fluids,” wrote Sarah Thomson in her Flicks mini-review). Instead, this gleeful takedown of the uber-wealthy and shrewd assessment of transactional power dynamics leaves little to the audience’s imagination as it traverses the modelling world, luxury yacht life, and a lonely beach. Marxist captain Woody Harrelson is great, as is Harris Dickinson and Charlbi Dean (RIP). And trust me—you’ll never hear New Noise by Refused again without some strikingly specific imagery…
Puss in Boots: The Last Wish
Eleven years after the unexpectedly watchable Shrek spinoff Puss in Boots comes a sequel that looks good in all senses of the word—with a pleasing painterly animation style bringing an interesting visual element to the welcome return of voices Antonio Banderas and Salma Hayek. Down to the last of his nine lives, Puss sets off on a quest to reset the count, crossing paths with storybook characters like Goldilocks (Florence Pugh) and the three bears (Olivia Colman, Ray Winstone, Samson Kayo).
The Banshees of Inisherin
In Bruges trio Colin Farrell, Brendan Gleeson, and filmmaker Martin McDonagh reunite almost 15 years later for this dark anti-buddy comedy. The leading pair play lifelong pals, but when one (Gleeson) suddenly wants the other (Farrell) out of his life with no explanation, it sends the scorned friend on an obsessive (and potentially dangerous) mission to find out why. “Feels like a return to In Bruges with its quiet philosophising amongst loud banter, as well as using the same two stars,” says Rory Doherty’s Flicks review.
I Wanna Dance With Somebody
Naomi Ackie (The End of the F***ing World) plays the one and only Whitney Houston in this career-spanning biopic of the R&B pop legend. Stanley Tucci plays record mogul Clive Davis, The Wire‘s Clarke Peters is Whitney’s father, and Moonlight‘s Ashton Sanders is Bobby Brown. From Kasi Lemmons, director of Oscar-nominated biopic Harriet and BAFTA-winning Kiwi Anthony McCarten, writer of Bohemian Rhapsody (and a two-time Oscar nominee for The Theory of Everything and The Two Popes).
The Lost King
Director Stephen Frears reunites with Steve Coogan and Jeff Pope, writers of the Oscar-nominated Philomena, for another true story—this time, the search for Richard III’s remains under a Leicester carpark. Sally Hawkins (The Shape of Water) stars as Richard III obsessive Philippa Langley, determined to solve the mystery of what happened to the former king’s body after being slain in Henry Tudor’s rebellion. Steve Coogan co-stars as Philippa’s ex-husband.
