Our top 10 Movies to see in Newcastle in August
Article by Sie Francis
We’ve reached the final month of the summer blockbuster season and 2016 certainly hasn’t disappointed, delivering an abundance of spectacular blockbusters to feast upon, such as; Captain America: Civil War, X-Men: Apocalypse, Warcraft and Star Trek: Beyond. This year has also been responsible for producing some controversial reboots, including; Paul Feig’s all-female reimagining of Ghostbusters starring Melissa McCarthy and Kristen Wiig, Matt Damon returned to his most popular franchise with original director Paul Greengrass in Jason Bourne and Steven Spielberg created a live action version of the classic children’s favourite, The BFG.
Although, it’s not only the box office blockbusters that have shined, we’ve been treated to some particularly stunning movies from the likes of Nicholas Winding Refn’s The Neon Demon and Shane Black’s hilarious, mystery comedy, The Nice Guys, starring an unlikely duo of Ryan Gosling and Russell Crowe.
However, before the autumn equinox brings a close to an awesome season of big budget movies, the summer still has a few gems to get excited about. We present our top picks of new releases in August and where to see them.
Suicide Squad
5th August / Empire Cinema / 12A
Director David Ayer (End of Watch, Fury) delivers the third instalment into the DC Universe following Man of Steel and Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice with the most anticipated anti-hero movie of the decade. Based on the graphic novel by John Ostrander, Suicide Squad pitches a task force of super-villains serving a stretch at Arkham Asylum who are asked to partake in a suicide mission in exchange for a shorter sentence.
Aside from the movie being pretty unique, the hook is the very impressive cast, including; Will Smith, Margot Robbie, Joel Kinnaman and Viola Davis - to name a few. However, the main focus tends to be around how Oscar winner Jared Leto’s flamboyant incarnation of The Joker measures up to Heath Ledger’s, arguably, definitive portrayal in The Dark Knight.
What we can expect, though, is a special cameo from Ben Affleck reprising his role as Batman and Ezra Miller has only recently just been listed in the cast line-up to play Barry Allen, a.k.a. The Flash. I wonder how many other DC stars they’re not telling us about.
Pete’s Dragon
12th August / Empire Cinema / PG
It appears that Disney are attempting to remake their entire back catalogue with live action renditions, or having a pretty good go at it at least. And why not, they certainly have the budget for it and, as painful as it is to say, the classic just aren’t cutting it with the kids these days. Not that we’re complaining, just this year we’ve been given The Jungle Book and Steven Spielberg’s The BFG, not to mention the live action remake of Beauty and the Beast currently in production and set for release early next year, starring Emma Watson as Belle.
Step up director David Lowery and his version of Pete’s Dragon. Those old enough to remember the original 1977 movie will be familiar with the theme tune from Peter, Paul and Mary, ‘Puff the Magic Dragon’ which in the 70’s caused all sorts of speculation. We’ll not go there but by the look of the remake we’re in for some good ol’, wholesome, family fun.
The Shallows
12th August / Empire Cinema / 15A
Blake Lively is Nancy, a surfer who finds herself trapped on a reef 200 yards from shore after being attacked by a Great White Shark on a secluded beach off the coast of Mexico. All alone and injured, Nancy’s survival is dependent on her intuition, resourcefulness and her sheer will to stay alive.
From director Jaume Collet-Serra (Non-Stop, Run All Night), who is a patron for building intensity, The Shallows is an all-out action, shark attack movie that will keep you on the edge of your seat.
Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates
12th August / Empire Cinema / 15A
Zack Efron is not everyone’s cup of tea but he’s managed to get himself into some decent comedy roles lately such as his turn as ultimate jock, Teddy, in Bad Neighbours and Bad Neighbours: Sorority Rising and alongside Robert De Niro in Bad Grandpa. Here he teams up with Workaholics favourite, Adam Devine as two reckless brothers who are forced to find respectable dates for their sister's wedding. In walk Aubrey Plaza (Parks and Recreation) and Anna Kendrick who turn out to be a lot more of a handful than the brothers bargained for.
Written by Bad Neighbours scribes, Andrew Jay Cohen and Brendan O’Brian, and helmed by Saturday Night Live director, Jake Szymanski, we can expect a whole lot of silly humour and a few dirty jokes in the mix.
The Childhood of a Leader
19th August / Tyneside Cinema / 12A
Brady Corbet’s feature length debut has been hailed as a revelation and a deeply ominous account of the childhood of a future dictator. Corbet’s experiences and influences are clearly apparent, yet, he creates his own style which is complimented by a powerful score from Scott Walker.
Robert Pattinson leads an exceptional cast, including; Game of Thrones star Liam Cunningham, Bérénice Bejo (The Artist) and Stacy Martin (High Rise).
Lights Out
19th August / Empire Cinema / 12A
David S. Sandberg releases his debut, feature length film; a mystery horror surrounding a ghastly looking spook that only appears when the lights go out.
Written by Eric Heisserer (Nightmare on Elm Street, The Thing) and starring Maria Bello, Teresa Palmer and Gabriel Bateman, Lights Out has potential to be the horror movie of the year, just on the creep factor alone.
Julieta
21st August / Tyneside Cinema / 15A
Oscar winning writer/director Pedro Almodóvar delivers a life-affirming tale about a broken-hearted woman who is desperately seeking her long lost daughter. The film is based on three short stories from the book Runaway by Alice Munro and stars Emma Suárez and Adriana Ugarte as older and younger versions of the film's title character.
Julieta has become a welcomed addition to Almodóvar’s work, a return to the female-centric film which gave him his accolade, noted as ‘beautiful and intense’.
Hell or High Water
26th August / Empire Cinema / 15A
Chris Pine takes a break from playing Captain Kirk to star in this dusty drama with Ben Foster who play two desperate outlaws trying to save their family farm. Jeff Bridges is the bolshie Texas Ranger, Marcus, in hot pursuit of the brotherly bank robbers in this modern American Western from the director of Starred Up (2013), David McKenzie.
Penned by Taylor Sheridan, who wrote Sicario, Hell or High Water has been compared with the likes of No Country for Old Men and True Grit with some great performances, plenty of violence and the odd bit of humour. Not only that, the music for the movie is written and performed by the legendary Nick Cave and Warren Ellis who have created some of the best soundtracks in the industry.
War Dogs
26th August / Empire Cinema / 15A
Jonah Hill and Miles Teller co-star in this comedy drama about a couple of young guys who won a $300 million dollar contract from the Pentagon to provide arms to America’s allies in Afghanistan which, believe it or not, is based on a true story.
Written and directed by Todd Phillips, who brought you The Hangover trilogy, War Dogs is a hilarious thrill ride that has been compared with the likes of The Wolf of Wall Street and also stars Bradley Cooper.
The Purge: Election Year
26th August / Empire Cinema / 15A
Frank Grillo reprises his role from The Purge: Anarchy to star in the final chapter of the trilogy, written and directed by James DeMonaco. The Purge: Election Year follows Sergeant Barnes now the head of security for Senator Charlie Roan (Elizabeth Michelle), a Presidential candidate who plans to abolish the annual Purge law, making her a target for death.
This movie was intended to be a prequel and would tell the story of the first ever annual Purge but that idea was scrapped when Frank Grillo agreed to return; which means we can expect more of the same from the second movie; guns and gore.
Our thanks to Sie for this, read more of his work at http://www.whatsiesays-online.com/
