MIKE WARD’S SMALL SCREEN
BLACK PANTHER (12) (Download, DVD, Blu-ray) OK, so it’s yet another Marvel film.
But it’s one that overturns convention in so many ways.
Chadwick Boseman is T’Challa, a young African prince who’s returning to his homeland of Wakanda following the death of his father, ready to succeed him as king.
This country, however, isn’t quite as it appears to the outside world.
Seemingly dirt-poor, it’s actually a super-slick hi-tech nation, powered by a priceless energy source called vibranium, an element that also powers T’Challa’s impregnable bodysuit whenever he morphs into his Black Panther alter-ego.
And that’s something he’ll have to do rather a lot, not least when faced with Michael B. Jordan’s evil Killmonger, a guy with an altogther different agenda who plans to overthrow him.
Packed with action, Black Panther is a movie with an unmistakable political message.
But first and foremost it’s cracking entertainment.
PHANTOM THREAD (15)
(Download, DVD and Blu-ray from Monday) DANIEL Day-Lewis got himself nominated for yet another Oscar (although sadly he didn’t add to the three that already adorn his mantelpiece) for his excellent performance here as Reynolds Woodcock, a fastidious fashion designer working in London in the mid-50s.
Woodcock dresses some of the most glamorous society figures, but none of the women who’ve come into his life have had the impact of Alma (Vicky Krieps) a waitress he meets at a restaurant.
Alma becomes his lover, but proves a whole lot more strong-willed than he’s bargained for.
LOVELESS (15) (Download, DVD, Blu-ray) IT may be in Russian with subtitles, but that does nothing to dilute the impact of this superbly haunting, award-winning film.
Boris and Zhenya are a pair going through a particularly nasty divorce – and their 12-year-old son is the one who gets caught in the crossfire, with deeply alarming consequences.
XTRO (15)
(Blu-ray from Monday)
On Blu-ray for the first time, this early-80s horror sparked outrage on release.
Philip Sayer is Sam, Phillips, dumped back on Earth three years after aliens took him from outside his farm and did their worst.