Audrey From famine to fame
The Witches is rebooted, George Clooney returns to the limelight, and Liverpool FC and Audrey Hepburn get the doco treatment. James Croot casts his eye over the latest releases.
Acinematic year like no other is finally coming to a close. Movie watching this year has been dominated by the streaming services, rather than movie theatres, as the world has come to terms with a global pandemic. Even though we’ve been luckier than most countries, the past nine months have been virtually blockbuster-free.
However, that’s also meant smaller films, which might not have had a release in the past, have been enjoying their moment in the spotlight.
Among the titles heading for cinema near you this month are documentaries on Oliver Sacks and D B Cooper (both on now), a biopic of Roald Amundsen (December 10), Melissa McCarthy comedy
Superintelligence (December 17), British street cat follow-up
A Christmas Gift From Bob (on now), animated sequel The Croods: A New Age (Boxing Day), a re-cut version of the much-maligned The Godfather Part III (on now), teen drama
Words on Bathroom Walls (December 10), World War II tale
A Call to Spy (Boxing Day), and the latest local flick from the creators of Take Home Pay and
Three Wise Cousins – the Christmas-themed Mama’s
Music Box (December 10).
Meanwhile, some interesting-looking gems can be found on the streaming services.
Apple TV+’s lineup includes the critically acclaimed Irish animated tale Wolfwalkers (December 11), Disney+ has the Isla Fisher-headlining fantasy
Godmothered (starts today) and American football drama
Safety (December 11), and Amazon Prime Video boasts Riz Ahmed in Sound of Metal (starts today) and Tessa Thompson’s 1950s-set tale
Sylvie’s Love (December 23).
As for Netflix, among the new movies are Polish comedy Fierce (on now), award-winning Indian animation Bombay Rose (starts today), Australian horror Sweet River (starts tomorrow), Turkish black comedy Leyla Everlasting (starts today), and the John Legend and Viola Davisproduced documentary Giving Voice
(December 11).
Here is Stuff’s lineup of 12 films we believe are well worth checking out.
Audrey (December 16, Neon)
Winning her first Academy Award at the age of 24, Audrey Hepburn went on to become one of the world’s greatest cultural icons.
This documentary aims to reveal the full story of the legendary star of Hollywood’s Golden Age, who grew up malnourished under Nazi occupation in the Netherlands, and initially dreamed of becoming a ballet dancer. ‘‘As a style icon, she left an immortal, luminous, if brittle legacy. Her deeper calling, Audrey argues, was as a regal champion of the dispossessed,’’ wrote The Telegraph’s Tim Robey.
Blithe Spirit (Boxing Day, Cinemas)
Isla Fisher, Dan Stevens, Leslie Mann, and Dame Judi Dench team up for this latest adaptation of Noel Coward’s famous 1940s play about a medium who holds a seance for a writer suffering from