SEVEN FILMS TO SEE THIS WEEK
Black Panther Sunday 9, OSN Box Office 2, On Demand
It’s often claimed that Black Panther was the first black superhero to hit screens, however that honour goes to 1998’s Blade. But in Ryan Coogler’s 2018 movie, he is the first to put issues of racial equality and civil rights front and centre as he deals with assorted bad guys with his lethal vibranium claws. The character is the cartoon embodiment of the Black Panther movement which, perhaps not coincidentally, was formed just three months after the Black Panther comic was launched in 1966. The film is being tipped as an outsider for a Best Picture Oscar, though with the newly announced “Best Achievement in Popular Cinema” category postponed for next year’s awards over the weekend, the Panther may yet leave the ceremony empty-clawed.
Cairo Drive Monday 10, Sundance Channel, 2.35pm
Sherief Elkatsha’s award-winning documentary was shot over three years from 2009-2012. It was initially planned to look at Cairo’s gridlocked traffic and how residents cope with the chaos through a series of light-hearted behind-the-wheel interviews with drivers. The doc idea was unique enough to begin with, but halfway through shooting, the Arab Spring broke out, and the film suddenly switched from light-hearted social commentary to in-depth socio-political reportage. The film picked up the Best Film from the Arab World award at 2013’s Abu Dhabi Film Festival.
Elstree 1976 Tuesday 11, Sundance Channel, 8am and 7.15pm
Jon Spira’s documentary about the making of the original 1977 Star
Wars movie is a true labour of love. The film was funded by a Kickstarter campaign, with most of the donations presumably coming from fans who shared Spira’s obsession, and the director put the whole thing together almost single-handedly. He doesn’t make any pretence of being definitive, or gathering exclusive footage of the stars, but rather assembles a selection of the extras who appeared in the movie. Dave Prowse (Darth Vader) and Jeremy Bulloch (Boba Fett) are among the “biggest” names to appear, and the whole thing offers a fascinating insight into both the making of a historic movie, and the nature of obsession.
West Beirut Wednesday 12, Sundance Channel, 4.10am
Ziad Doueiri’s 1998 debut is set at the outbreak of Lebanon’s civil war in 1975, and is a coming of age story set in extraordinary circumstances. The city of Beirut has been divided into a Christian East and Muslim West, with makeshift barricades separating the two. Tarek is a young Muslim living in the West. His mother wants to leave the country, but for the student, it’s all fun – school is closed and skipping from West to East and back is a great game he enjoys with his school friend Omar and May, an orphaned Christian living in his building. As Tarek and his friends grow older, the true horror of the war becomes apparent.
Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets Thursday 13, OSN Movies First HD, 5.40pm
Luc Besson’s “most expensive indie ever made” has received its fair share of flack, and despite its US$225 million (Dh826.3m) global box office gross, it was considered a flop due to its US$200m production costs. Some of the criticism was fair – the film’s plot is all over the place, the casting questionable, with a distinct lack of chemistry between leads Dane DeHaan (space adventurer Valerian) and his sidekick Laureline (Cara DeLevingne). The film is a visual treat, however, and if, rather than a poor plot, you see it all as the vivid rantings of an inane genius, the film takes on a whole new look.
Girl Asleep Friday 14, Sundance Channel, 4.15pm
This 2015 Australian coming-of-age film is set in the late 1970s, and follows Greta Driscoll (Bethany Whitmore), a shy and awkward teenager, who is propelled into a weird parallel universe during her 15th birthday party, where she is challenged to find herself. It has been described as an extroverted fantasy dreamscape of an introverted teenage girl.
The Fisher King Saturday 15, Star Movies, 9pm
Terry Gilliam directs Jeff Bridges as a shock jock who becomes depressed after a listener he has taunted on air commits a mass shooting. Gilliam’s pet themes crop up – including myth and legend and the fine line between imagination and insanity, although it’s almost sedate by the Monty Python star’s standards considering no time travel is involved. Bridges as Jack achieves redemption of sorts when he takes a homeless man, whose wife died in the earlier mass shooting, under his wing, although it’s not entirely straightforward, and there’s a holy grail to be found.