MIKE WARD’S SMALL SCREEN
New video releases
GIRLS TRIP (15) (Download now, DVD and Blu-ray from Monday)
PALS for as long as they can remember – but now living miles apart these days, wrapped up in their own lives – four women reunite and take a wild trip to New Orleans, with booze, brawling and debauchery along the way. Just like old times.
It’s the sort of movie idea that could too easily have descended into shabby, third-rate trash.
But this bunch, who call themselves the Flossy Posse – played by Regina Hall, Tiffany Haddish, Jada Pinkett Smith and Queen Latifah – are impossible not to warm to. The gags don’t always hit the mark, but their obvious bond makes Girls Trip more than just a bawdy comedy-by-numbers.
ENGLAND IS MINE (15) (Download now, DVD and Blu-ray from Monday)
HEAVEN knows he was miserable then. Morrissey, I mean, back in the late 70s and early 80s. Jack Lowden stars as the hyper-glum Mancunian loner who became the frontman for one of Britain’s greatest bands, The Smiths – but who struggled to find his way in his formative years. Lowden is powerful, although the film takes its dourness to challenging extremes. FOREMAN (PG)
(DVD) HEAVYWEIGHT boxing legend George Foreman went into a sharp decline after he lost his title to Muhammad Ali in 1974’s Rumble In The Jungle. But 20 years later, aged 45, he miraculously won back his crown. This documentary tells the story. THE EMOJI MOVIE (U)
(Download, DVD and Blu-ray) IN my top 10 of Movies Most Likely To Make Me Want To Chuck Myself Under A Bus, this one – the story of an emoji who malfunctions and puts himself in danger (yes, quite) – effortlessly trounces the competition.
It’s witless, charmless, pointless and horribly, sick-makingly cynical.
Other than that, I’m fine with it. TERMINATOR 2: JUDGMENT DAY (15)
JAMES Cameron’s spectacular science-fiction sequel from 1991, which was hugely successful winning four Oscars, gets fully restored and reissued.