ON OUR RADAR
MONKEY MAN
DEV PATEL co-wrote, directed and stars in this wall-to-wall action movie about an underground Mumbai fighter – dubbed Monkey Man for the gorilla mask he wears when he’s fighting – who wages a campaign of vengeance against the city’s corrupt elites who are responsible for the murder of his mother.
It was District 9 director Neill Blomkamp who suggested Dev direct the movie himself.
After it was completed, the movie was in limbo for a while until Get Out filmmaker Jordan Peele got to see it and insisted Universal buy the rights to release the film. BACK TO BLACK
This biopic is of the late English singer Amy Winehouse, who rocketed to fame in 2006 with the release of her second album, Back to Black. She died in 2011, having struggled with addiction for most of her music career. The film, directed by Sam Taylor-Johnson, stars MARISA ABELA as Amy, Jack O’Connell as her boyfriend, Blake Fielder-Civil; and Eddie Marsan as her father, Mitch.
Performance coach Anne-Marie Speed described Marisa’s portrayal of Amy, saying: “People really underestimate how physical voice production can be.”
CIVIL WAR
Writer-director Alex Garland’s latest offering imagines a near-future American dystopia torn apart by the authoritarian rule of a three-term president (Parks and Rec’s NICK OFFERMAN).
The story follows a journalist (KIRSTEN DUNST) as she crosses the divided states of America.
Alex, who also directed 28 Days Later, Men and Ex Machina, says Civil War is more grounded than those films.
“Journalists are vilified, often, by all sorts of different people. By politicians, by the public,” Alex said.
“And the truth is that if you want a government with checks and balances, you need journalists.”
GHOSTBUSTERS: FROZEN EMPIRE After an enjoyable sequel to the beloved 1980s comedy, the original cast and the newcomers are reunited, this time in New York, where the OG Ghostbusters are working out of a secret laboratory. They must team up to stop an ancient evil force.
Notably absent are original cast members Sigourney Weaver and Rick Moranis, but director Gil Kenan has hinted that even if you don’t see them this time, they might be back.
THE FIRST OMEN After a so-so remake in 2006 and a failed TV spinoff in 2016, here comes a prequel to the classic 1976 chiller, which told the story of the US ambassador to Rome and his wife unwittingly adopting the son of Satan, Damien.
In this movie a young woman, played by Servant’s NELL TIGER FREE, finds herself questioning her faith when she uncovers a deep-rooted conspiracy to bring about the birth of evil incarnate in Rome.