New Movies

In eyes of Guillermo del Toro, ‘monster’ is a relative term. So when Richard Jenkins’ Giles, our nominal narrator, tells us that The Shape of Water is a story “of love & loss, and the monster who tried to destroy it all,” it would be unwise to assume that the antagonist he refers to is the piscine humanoid at the heart of this otherworldly fable. The latest offering from del Toro’s beloved cabinet of curiosities, The Shape of Water is...

“Just because something works, doesn’t mean it cannot be improved,” we’re told early on in Ryan Coogler’s courageous new entry into the Marvel canon. Loyal fans who have stuck with the series since the first Iron Man will no doubt be relieved to hear that this exhilarating blockbuster yarn doesn’t deviate too far from the studio’s winning formula, but it is those whose voices are callously sidelined so often in such big-budget fare, and crucially given such definition here, who...

Ryan Gosling, Harrison Ford, Sylvia Hoeks and Ana de Armas all in attendance at the Corinthia Hotel, London as the much anticipated Blade Runner 2049 is about to be released. Ryan Gosling at the photo call for Blade Runner 2049. Court Room, Corinthia Hotel, Whitehall Place, Westminster, London 21 September 2017 Harrison Ford and Ryan Gosling at the photo call for Blade Runner 2049. Court Room, Corinthia Hotel, Whitehall Place, Westminster, London 21 September 2017 Harrison Ford at the photo...

By Jim Mackney Hotel Salvation (Mukti Bhawan) is an allegorical film that deals with life, death, shame, and friendship. It is the first film by director, Shubhashish Bhutiani and despite the film’s small budget the piece uses this to its advantage by creating a film with a slow ambient rhythm, allowing the films bigger questions to be explored at their own pace. The film follows septuagenarian Daya (Lalit Behl) and his family, creating a sense of intimacy that is far...

On the surface American Made could look like Tom Cruise having a midlife crisis on screen. The flashy action sequences, topless shots showing off hours spent at the gym, and the kind of fast planes that made him famous could all be interpreted as an attempt to recapture the spirit of his early films. Described as a sort-of-true story, American Made follows Barry Seal (Tom Cruise), a commercial pilot recruited by the CIA and tasked with taking pictures of communist...

Set in 1967, Detroit opens with a police raid on an unlicensed club where the return of black veterans from Vietnam is being celebrated. Suspects are brought out onto the street and a mob forms around them. As the suspects are arrested the mob starts to through rocks at the officers and before long this escalates and the city is overrun by looting and fires. Army paratroopers and the National Guard are sent to aid the Detroit police. When a...

By Michael McNulty Cary Murnion and Jonathan Milott deliver a dud in action thriller Bushwick. Lucy, Pitch Perfect’s Brittany Snow, emerges from a New York subway in Bushwick, with her boyfriend, off to visit Grandma. When a burning man runs through the ticket hall, the two realize something is amiss. Upon investigation, Lucy’s boyfriend is swiftly blown up, his body reduced to a smouldering mess of charred flesh. Bushwick is under siege by mysterious militants sporting black riot gear and...

By Michael McNulty Although Quest is not an overtly political film, it is moored in the choppy waters of America’s racial, social and political tensions. Jonathan Olshefski never takes a stand or pushes an agenda, instead he provides an intimate portrait of a struggling family trying to survive. Centring on an African American family living in North Central Philadelphia, Olshefski’s documentary chronicles the lives of Christopher “Quest” Rainey and Christine’A “Ma Quest” Rainey over the course of 10 years as...

Wyndham Hacket Pain @WyndhamHP Tom of Finland beings in the Second World War, where Touko Laaksonen (Pekka Strang) is serving as an anti-aircraft officer and is exploring his sexuality. After the war ends Laaksonen returns to the house he shares with his sister Kaija (Jessica Grabowsky) and begins to draw erotic images. Due to laws that saw his pictures as pornographic and illegal it was hard for them to be sold but slowly they start to make their way across...