Movie of the Week

• Gladiator II

Cinemas

• Christmas Eve in Miller’s Point
• Elton John: Never Too Late
• Memories of a Burning Body
• Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat
• Hyper: The Stevie Hyper D Story
• The Last Dance

Streaming/On-Demand

• Emilia Pérez
• Hot Frosty
• Skincare
• Magpie
• A Sudden Case of Christmas

CAST: Paul Mescal, Pedro Pascal, Connie Nielsen, Denzel Washington, Joseph Quinn, Fred Hechinger, Derek Jacobi, Tim McInnerny, Alexander Karim, Rory McCann, Alec Utgoff, May Calamawy, Lior Raz, Peter Mensah, Matt Lucas

CREW: Ridley Scott (director, producer), David Scarpa (writer), Lucy Fisher, David Franzoni, Michael Pruss and Douglas Wick (producers), Harry Gregson-Williams (composer), John Mathieson (cinematographer), Sam Restivo and Claire Simpson (editors)

PLOT: Twenty years after the events of the first film, Lucius Verus (Mescal), the former heir to the Roman Empire, lives a quiet family life in Numidia. However, after an attack by Roman general Marcus Acacius (Pascal), Lucius is taken prisoner and forced to fight in the arena as a gladiator, where he reluctantly forms an alliance with former slave Macrinus (Washington) who plots to become the new Emperor…

FIVE REASONS TO BE EXCITED:

• The long-awaited follow-up to Ridley Scott’s Oscar-winning historical epic continues the story in spectacular fashion
• Though Russell Crowe is nowhere to be seen (appropriate, given how the first film ended), Paul Mescal is more than a formidable replacement as the vengeful fighter going against the most powerful of Ancient Rome’s elite
• Among the striking ensemble cast, which includes new additions like future Fantastic Four members Pedro Pascal and Joseph Quinn as well as returning faces like Connie Nielsen, is a standout supporting turn by Denzel Washington who might just come away with the entire movie!
• Expect plenty of wild and violent action sequences that up the ante considerably from last time, and only further prove Scott’s firm grasp on epic filmmaking
• Like the first Gladiator, this is a roaring crowd-pleaser that features everything you could possibly want from a major blockbuster nowadays

Gladiator II is showing in cinemas from Friday 15 November 2024

CAST: Michael Cera, Matilda Fleming, Francesca Scorsese, Sawyer Spielberg, Elsie Fisher, Maria Dizzia, Ben Shenkman, Laura Robards, Leo Chan, Jordan Barringer, Chris Lazzaro, Gregg Turkington, Brittany Hughes, Delancey Shapiro, Steve Aleeva, Shane Fleming, Austin Lago, Courtney Warner

CREW: Tyler Thomas Taormina (director, writer, producer), Eric Berger (writer, producer), Kevin Anton (producer, editor), David Croley Broyles, Calogero Carucci, Michael Cera, Kim Dai, Michael Jeffrey Davis, David Entin, Joseph Lipsey III, Krista Minto, Michael J. Reistetter, Rob Rice, Duncan Sullivan and Oliver Toy (producers), Carson Lund (cinematographer)

PLOT: On Christmas Eve, a dysfunctional extended family gathers for one last celebration in their ancestral home, only for things to quickly become chaotic…

FIVE REASONS TO BE EXCITED:

• A future holiday classic is incoming as filmmaker Tyler Thomas Taormina presents a pleasant throwback to big bombastic family Christmas comedies
• The cast is stacked with familiar faces such as Michael Cera and Elsie Fisher, as well as the offspring of notable filmmakers like Steven Spielberg and Martin Scorsese
• Anyone can find something to relate to here, whether it’s the bombardment of various family members or the rebellious spirit of the youth
• You can find plenty of laughs and heartwarming drama walking hand in hand with one another as it recreates a plentiful Christmas experience
• It will no doubt inspire countless rewatches many festive seasons from now, along with all the other holiday classics that inspired it

Christmas Eve in Miller’s Point is showing in cinemas from Friday 15 November 2024

CAST: Elton John

CREW: R. J. Cutler and David Furnish (directors, producers), Trevor Smith (producer), Jenna Rosher (cinematographer), Poppy Das and Greg Finton (editors)

PLOT: As music icon Elton John prepares for his final live concert in North America at Dodger Stadium, he recalls some of the most vital events throughout his life…

FIVE REASONS TO BE EXCITED:

• Elton John says farewell to his audience with a rousing and revealing documentary about his extraordinary life and career
• The singer opens up about his struggles with fame, his well-documented drug addiction, and how he overcame his darkest moments to become the renowned music superstar he is regarded as today
• His husband, David Furnish, co-directs the film with documentary filmmaker R.J. Cutler, and brings to the screen plenty of intimate never-before-seen footage of the singer
• There’s plenty of behind-the-scenes B-roll from Elton John’s monumental final gig at Dodger Stadium, where he famously sold-out the arena like no other musical act ever had before
• For longtime fans, it is a bittersweet conclusion to the career of a truly iconic musician whose music will no doubt live forever

Elton John: Never Too Late is showing in cinemas from Friday 15 November 2024 (and will be streaming exclusively on Disney+ from Friday 13 December 2024)

CAST: Sol Carballo, Paulina Bernini, Juliana Filloy, Liliana Biamonte, Juan Luis Araya, Gabriel Araya, Leonardo Perucci, Cecilia García

CREW: Antonella Sudasassi Furniss (director, writer, producer), Estephania Bonnett Alonso and Manrique Cortes (producers), Valeria Castro and Juano Damiani (composers), Andres Campos (cinematographer), Bernat Aragonés (editor)

PLOT: Three middle-aged women identified as Ana, Patricia and Mayela, who all grew up in an era where sexuality of any kind was considered taboo, recall via audio interviews their experiences during that patriarchal period, which are then enacted on-screen through a composite character known as “The Woman” (Carballo)…

FIVE REASONS TO BE EXCITED:

• Costa Rican filmmaker Antonella Sudasassi Furniss takes an unusual docufiction approach to conveying life within a repressive era
• Three women (never seen) are interviewed about their lives during that time, and their descriptions are then reenacted on the screen by actors
• A mixture of filmmaker creativity and audience imagination forms a unique audio-visual experience that encapsulates everything the interviewed subjects went through
• The experiment has been proven successful going by the positive reactions at numerous film festivals around the world
• Above all, it represents a burning passion for desire, especially from those who until fairly recently had not been allowed to experience it for themselves

Memories of a Burning Body is showing in cinemas from Friday 15 November 2024

CAST: Louis Armstrong, Dizzy Gillespie, Abbey Lincoln, Max Roach, Nina Simone, Miriam Makeba, John Coltrane, Duke Ellington, Melba Liston, Eric Dolphy, Charles Mingus, Ornette Coleman, Le Grand Kallé, Rock-a-Mambo, Dr. Nico, Marie Daulne “Zap Mama”, Patrice Lumumba, Eddy Wally, Willis Connover, René Magritte, Andrée Blouin, Nikita Khrushchev, In Koli Jean Bofane, Malcolm X, Conor Cruise O’Brien, Allen Dulles, John F. Dulles

CREW: Johan Grimonprez (director, writer), Rémi Grellety and Daan Milius (producers), Jonathan Wannyn (cinematographer), Rik Chaubet (editor)

PLOT: In 1961, shortly after the assassination of Congolese prime minister Patrice Lumumba, jazz musicians Abbey Lincoln and Max Roach crash the UN Security Council to protest their grievances. As it turns out, it would be just a single chapter in an extraordinary larger tale of Cold War-era decolonisation, and the jazz musicians who became unwitting pawns for the US government…

FIVE REASONS TO BE EXCITED:

• The power of the arts as a weapon of protest is investigated during this documentary about an event that both celebrated and exploited such a thing
• Filmmaker Johan Grimonprez dives deep into an extraordinarily complex study of a long-forgotten moment of the Cold War, which ended up having visceral long-term consequences for the wider world
• Among many other things, Grimonprez pays close attention to the numerous jazz musicians, among them Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington, who were roped into bringing tender social issues to the political stage
• The film plays like a tense political thriller, as numerous pieces of archival footage are edited together to form a compelling and at times shocking narrative
• Don’t become too consumed by the timeless music that’s constantly on display, for there is a much more concerning message at its centre that you can’t afford to get distracted from

Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat is showing in cinemas from Friday 15 November 2024

CAST: Stevie Hyper D, Andy C, Kenny Ken, Ray Keith, Aida Austin, Darrell Austin, Rebel Clash, Nicky Blackmarket, Anita Austin, Navigator, Evil B, Zeila Holborn, Harry Shotta

CREW: Jamie Ross-Hulme (director, producer), Tom Archer (producer, editor), Darrell Austin (producer), Roan Lenihan and Ben Marshall (cinematographers), Marc Hardman, William Higo, Roan Lenihan, Weronika Sikorska and Jed Thomas (editors)

PLOT: Darrell Austin, the nephew of influential 90s drum and bass MC Stevie Hyper D, explores his uncle’s legacy…

FIVE REASONS TO BE EXCITED:

• An icon of the underground drum and bass music scene is celebrated in a deeply personal documentary
• Darrell Austin, whose uncle was the pioneering MC of the title, conducts several interviews with friends, family and fellow artists to paint a larger picture of the central figure
• Throughout, you get to hear many of Stevie Hyper D’s influential tracks which helped shape the direction of electronic music in the 90s
• Pieces of the musician’s life are also taken into account as a means of expanding who he ultimately was as a person
• For anyone with fond memories of that period of dance music, this movie will definitely bring back waves of memories

Hyper: The Stevie Hyper D Story is showing in cinemas from Friday 15 November 2024

CAST: Dayo Wong, Michael Hui, Catherine Chau, Pak Hon Chu, Paul Chun, Chung Suet-Ying, Elaine Jin, Vincent Kok, Rachel Leung, Edward Ma, Michael Ning, Sham Ka-Ki, Rosa Maria Velasco, Michelle Wai

CREW: Anselm Chan (director, writer, producer), Calvin Choi (producer), Wan Pin Chu (composer), Anthony Pun (cinematographer), William Chang and Curran Pang (editor)

PLOT: In post-pandemic Hong Kong, debt-ridden wedding planner Dominic (Wong) suddenly gets a chance to turn his career around when he is given the role of a funeral planner. However, in order to carry out his newfound work, he must earn the approval of respected but traditional Taoist priest Master Man (Hui)…

FIVE REASONS TO BE EXCITED:

• Hong Kong filmmaker Anselm Chan presents his most sophisticated, and most dramatically satisfying, work to date
• It’s a considerable tonal shift for the director, whose previous films were successful romantic-comedies
• The film explores the cutthroat nature of post-pandemic business, as well as the stubborn traditionalism of powerful figures within the Taoist religion
• You’ll be rooting for this wedding-turned-funeral planner to achieve his goals, even if it means cosying up to the least likely people in this scenario
• It carries enough charm and goodwill to become an unexpected audience favourite

The Last Dance is showing in cinemas from Friday 15 November 2024

CAST: Zoe Saldaña, Karla Sofía Gascón, Selena Gomez, Adriana Paz, Mark Ivanir, Édgar Ramírez, James Gerard, Shiraz Tzarfati, Eduardo Aladro, Yohan Levy, Daniel Velasco-Acosta

CREW: Jacques Audiard (director, writer, producer), Pascal Caucheteux, Valérie Schermann and Anthony Vaccarello (producers), Camille and Clément Ducol (composers), Paul Guilhaume (cinematographer), Juliette Welfling (editor)

PLOT: In Mexico City, underappreciated lawyer Rita (Saldaña) is suddenly recruited by a feared drug cartel leader (Gascón) to help fake their death so that they can receive gender reassignment surgery and live as their authentic self. Years later, Rita is approached by the cartel leader – now living as Emilia Pérez – to assist her on a redemptive path, one that involves her former wife Jessi (Gomez) who believes her husband to be dead…

FIVE REASONS TO BE EXCITED:

• Jacques Audiard’s one-of-a-kind musical combines high-stakes crime drama with a compelling story of pursuing happiness
• Karla Sofía Gascón, herself a trans actor, fantastically holds her own opposite the equally impressive Zoe Saldaña and Selena Gomez
• French singer Camille provides a hearty number of songs that are magnetically performed and choreographed by the film’s cast
• It has become an Oscar contender to watch out for, especially after nabbing accolades and strong acclaim at festivals like Toronto and Cannes (where it won both the Jury Prize and the Best Actress prize, collectively given to the four leads including Adriana Paz)
• Its genre-bending storytelling may divide some, but it is a fascinating film that admirably does not compromise its wild and singular vision

Emilia Pérez is streaming exclusively on Netflix from Wednesday 13 November 2024

CAST: Lacey Chabert, Dustin Milligan, Katy Mixon, Lauren Holly, Joe Lo Truglio, Craig Robinson, Chrishell Stause

CREW: Jerry Ciccoritti (director), Russell Hainline (writer), Michael Barbuto and Joel S. Rice (producers), Ari Posner (composer), Eric Cayla (cinematographer), Julia Blua (editor)

PLOT: After the widowed Cathy (Chabert) magically brings to life a snowman (Milligan), she learns to find love and joy once again with him, before he begins to melt…

FIVE REASONS TO BE EXCITED:

• Your heart will be far from cold as you witness this delightful new festive rom-com
• Mean Girls star Lacey Chabert cosies on up to Schitt’s Creek star Dustin Milligan as human and snowman form some heartwarming chemistry
• The supporting cast is filled with some unexpected comedic talents, such as Brooklyn Nine-Nine veterans Joe Lo Truglio and Craig Robinson
• Expect enough Christmas imagery to inspire your own festive decoration scheme for the upcoming holidays
• It’s a film that embraces its magical and romantic premise without compromising its entertainment value

Hot Frosty is streaming exclusively on Netflix from Wednesday 13 November 2024

CAST: Elizabeth Banks, Lewis Pullman, Luis Gerardo Méndez, Michaela Jaé Rodriguez, Nathan Fillion, Erik Palladino, John Billingsley, Jason Manuel Olazabal, Ella Balinska, Julie Chang, Medalion Rahimi, Wendie Malick

CREW: Austin Peters (director, writer), Sam Freilich and Deering Regan (writers), Logan Lerman and Jonathan Schwartz (producers), Fatima Al Qadiri (composer), Christopher Ripley (cinematographer), Laura Zempel (editor)

PLOT: Hope Goldman (Banks), a celebrity aesthetician with a successful skincare studio in Los Angeles, begins to suspect that rival beautician Angel Vergara (Méndez), who has opened his own studio right opposite hers, is sabotaging her business and reputation. With the help of life coach Jordan Weaver (Pullman), she sets out to uncover the identity of her tormentor…

FIVE REASONS TO BE EXCITED:

• This darkly funny satire sees the cracks in cosmetic beauty beginning to show all the ugliness underneath
• Elizabeth Banks puts in an amusingly vapid lead turn as the beauty guru caught in the middle of a blackmailing scheme
• It is a fictional retelling of the very true story concerning an actual beautician who was involved in a nefarious murder-for-hire scheme against a rival business owner
• The film juggles numerous tones, ranging from chirpy to menacing, and handles them all with surprising dexterity
• After all the uncomfortable laughing you’ll be doing throughout, you may well be tempted to visit your own (slightly less sinister) local skincare facility for a much-needed tune-up.

Skincare is available to rent/buy on digital platforms from Monday 11 November 2024

CAST: Daisy Ridley, Shazad Latif, Matilda Lutz, Hiba Ahmed, Cherrelle Skeete, Pippa Bennett-Warner, Alistair Petrie

CREW: Sam Yates (director), Tom Bateman (writer, producer), Camilla Bray, Daisy Ridley and Kate Solomon (producers), Isobel Waller-Bridge (composer), Laura Bellingham (cinematographer), Christopher Watson (editor)

PLOT: Anette (Ridley) is left home with her newborn baby while her husband Ben (Latif) chaperones their young daughter Matilda (Ahmed) to a film set, where she is co-starring alongside famous actor Alicia (Lutz). As Ben becomes increasingly attracted to Alicia, Anette spirals deeper into paranoia and madness…

FIVE REASONS TO BE EXCITED:

• Daisy Ridley compels in an unnerving psychological thriller with modernised film noir elements
• The Star Wars actor also produces alongside husband Tom Bateman, who also wrote the script for theatre director Ben Yates to bring to life
• She has plenty of solid reason to be initially suspicious, particularly when her supposed competition for the affections of co-star Shazad Latif is the compelling Revenge star Matilda Lutz
• As the character’s psyche starts to dip, the filmmaking transforms into an unsettling atmosphere that reflects her growingly unnerved nature
• It’s a compelling thriller that brings out some of Ridley’s finest on-screen work to date

Magpie is available to rent/buy on digital platforms from Monday 11 November 2024

CAST: Danny DeVito, Andie MacDowell, Wilmer Valderrama, Lucy DeVito, Antonella Rose, José Zúñiga, Adrian Dunbar, Valeria Cavalli, Mario de la Rosa, Francesco Salvi, Denis Conway, Kate Muda, Matteo Miraglia

CREW: Peter Chelsom (director, writer), Tinker Lindsay (writer), Stefano Bethlen, Nik Bower and Guglielmo Marchetti (producers), Andrea Farri (composer), Christophe Lanzenberg (cinematographer), Chiara Griziotti (editor)

PLOT: Whilst on a summer trip to visit her grandfather Lawrance (D. DeVito) in Italy, young Claire (Rose) learns that her parents Jacob (Valderrama) and Abbie (L. DeVito) are separating. In a bid to keep the family together, Lawrance decides to take an unusual approach by organising a Christmas celebration in the middle of August…

FIVE REASONS TO BE EXCITED:

• This wacky festive comedy sets out to prove that Christmas doesn’t necessarily have to be limited to one particular time of year
• Danny DeVito is in full lovable mode as the cantankerous hero who defies tradition by decking the halls in the middle of summer
• Look out for supporting turns by the likes of Andie MacDowell and That ‘70s Show star Wilmer Valderrama, as well as a bright turn by young Terrifier 3 breakout Antonella Rose
• The summer heat mixed with decorations and carols aplenty make for some humorous and unexpectedly heartfelt imagery
• It ultimately shows that the good feelings you normally get around Christmas can absolutely be made to last all year round

A Sudden Case of Christmas is available to rent/buy on digital platforms from Monday 11 November 2024