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Shadows reviews
Trailers and other previews... | ||
C O M I N G S O O N to the UK & US... | O N T H E H O R I Z O N cant hardly wait... |
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London, 13-24.Mar 22 Mar: LATE NIGHT WITH THE DEVIL IMMACULATE FEMME DOGMAN (Fr) THE DELINQUENTS (It) LUCA ROBOT DREAMS (Sp) THE TEACHERS' LOUNGE (Ger) YOU'LL NEVER FIND ME 29 Mar: DISCO BOY (Fr) THE LISTENER SILVER HAZE WICKED LITTLE LETTERS 5 Apr: EVIL DOES NOT EXIST (Jpn) IO CAPITANO (It) LUCA RESTORE POINT THE TROUBLE WITH JESSICA* 12 Apr: BLEEDING LOVE OPPONENT* (Swe) THE TEACHERS' LOUNGE (Ger) 26 Apr: BOY KILLS WORLD* ORDINARY ANGELS THAT THEY MAY FACE THE RISING SUN 3 May: BLACKBIRD BLACKBIRD BLACKBERRY (Geo) TIGER STRIPES (Mys) 10 May: HOARD* 17 May: CHASING CHASING AMY 31 May: ROBOT DREAMS (Sp) 21 Jun: THE BIKERIDERS GREEN BORDER (Pol) 19 Jul: SHAYDA* 13 Sep: LEE RELEASE DATE TBC . . .
BIG BOYS C O M I N G U P . . .
GHOSTBUSTERS: FROZEN EMPIRE. THE BEAUTIFUL GAME.
LIUBEN. CLUB ZERO. GODZILLA X KONG: THE NEW EMPIRE.
LIMBO. IN THE LAND OF SAINTS AND SINNERS. THE ORIGIN OF EVIL.
CARNAL SINS. CLOSE YOUR EYES. HARD MILES.
SOMEONE LIKE YOU. SWEDE CAROLINE. INFESTED. ELAHA.
WHAT A FEELING. ALIGNED. I DON'T KNOW WHO YOU ARE. TOLL.
ORLANDO, MY POLITICAL BIOGRAPHY. THE QUEEN OF MY DREAMS. LADY LIKE.
UNRELEASED FESTIVAL FILMS . . . • Flare: BACKSPOT. CALLS FROM MOSCOW. CROSSING. CLOSE TO YOU. DESIRE LINES. LAYLA. MERCHANT IVORY. RILEY. WE FORGOT TO BREAK UP. • FrightFest: FAILURE. HOME SWEET HOME: WHERE EVIL LIVES. MINORE. THE MOOR. NEW LIFE. PANDEMONIUM. THAT'S A WRAP. TRANSMISSION. THE WEIRD KIDZ. WHAT YOU WISH FOR. • Bifan: BAD EDUCATION. DISORDER. EGOIST. THE EIGHTH SENSE. HAPPYMERRYENDING. LIFE OF MARIKO IN KABUKICHO. PRIVACY. SANA. WHALE BONES. SHADOWS FILM FEST |
DAMSEL dir Juan Carlos Fresnadillo; with Millie Bobby Brown, Robin Wright, Nick Robinson, Angela Bassett, Shohreh Aghdashloo, Ray Winstone, Brooke Carter, Ulli Ackermann 23/USrelease US/UK 8.Mar.24 This fantasy thriller looks like a lot of fun, giving Millie Bobby Brown another action lead as a princess who is double-crossed and doesn't have a prince to come to her rescue, so she has to take matters into her own hands. Add a fire-breathing dragon and a stellar supporting cast that includes Wright, Bassett, Aghdashloo and Winstone, plus a director like Fresnadillo who knows how to subvert expectations. BACK TO BLACK dir Sam Taylor-Johnson; with Marisa Abela, Jack O'Connell, Lesley Manville, Eddie Marsan, Ansu Kabia, Bronson Webb, Juliet Cowan, Harley Birdrelease UK 12.Apr.24, US 10.May.24 It's hard to imagine any film ever telling us more about Amy Winehouse than Asaf Kapadia's astonishing documentary Amy, but of course this dramatised biopic will have a much wider audience. Director Taylor-Johnson and writer Matt Greenhalgh are both very good at this kind of project, and the casting of Abela in the lead role is a promising move. As is the terrific cast around her. So let's hope for something that gets under the skin and doesn't rely to heavily on the myths. GODZILLA x KONG: THE NEW EMPIRE dir Adam Wingard; with Dan Stevens, Rebecca Hall, Brian Tyree Henry, Rachel House, Alex Ferns, Kaylee Hottle, Mercy Cornwall, Fala Chen 24/USrelease US/UK 12.Apr.24 Absurd title notwithstanding, this movie continues the saga after 2021's Godzilla vs Kong, once again recharging the cast with a bunch of new faces. It's bound to be spectacular, with high-end effects work and the usual determination to take things ever bigger and further. The one problem might be that December's Godzilla Minus One showed that you can make a genuinely involving, thrilling movie like this for a fraction of the cost of a bloated Hollywood blockbuster. So let's hope Wingard remembers to anchor everything in character and story. LOVE LIES BLEEDING dir Rose Glass; with Kristen Stewart, Katy O'Brian, Ed Harris, Dave Franco, Jena Malone, Anna Baryshnikov, Eldon Jones, Orion Carrington, Matthew Blood-Smyth 24/USrelease US 8.Mar.24, UK 19.Apr.24 Rose Glass made such as splash with her outrageously inventive Saint Maud that it's impossible not to be curious about whatever she comes up with next. And this one looks like it won't disappoint. Premiering at Sundance and Berlin, the film is earning big buzz for the way it reinvents the nature of an action thriller. Which of course is something long overdue. It looks like an energetic, relentlessly twisting, in-your-face romp with unusually emotional undercurrents. Clearly the year's early must-see. CHALLENGERS dir Luca Guadagnino; with Zendaya, Josh O'Connor, Mike Faist, Jake Jensen, AJ Lister, Shane Harris, Andre Gadbois, Heidi Garza 24/USrelease US/UK 26.Apr.24 Completed in the summer but delayed until next spring by the actors strike, Luca Guadagnino's latest film seems designed to provoke conversation as it centres on three tennis pros who have been friends since they were teens and are now back in a cycle of rivalry on-court and in the bedroom. The powerhouse trio of Zendaya, Timothee Chalamet and Mike Faist makes this unmissable, especially as it seems like it might be a rare movie that pushes boundaries. CIVIL WAR dir-scr Alex Garland; with Jesse Plemons, Cailee Spaeny, Kirsten Dunst, Nick Offerman, Wagner Moura, Sonoya Mizuno, Stephen McKinley Henderson, Karl Glusman 24/USrelease US/UK 26.Apr.24 Alex Garland is a filmmaker who always surprises us with his clever twists on big thematic stories. This one looks far more epic than usual for him, and not only because of its 3-hour-15-minute running time. What makes this one especially intriguing is that it is set in the present day as war spreads quickly across the United States. The eclectic cast adds additional interest, especially seeing Nick Offerman as a steely US President willing to unleash military might on his people. Clearly a very big screen is required. FURIOSA dir George Miller; with Anya Taylor-Joy, Chris Hemsworth, Charlee Fraser, Tom Burke, Angus Sampson, Nathan Jones, Daniel Webber, Alyla Browne 24/Ausrelease US/UK 24.May.24 Never underestimate George Miller, who took the world by surprise with Mad Max: Fury Road almost a decade ago in 2015 and picked up a series of awards (including Best Film from the London Critics' Circle). This one's a prequel, with Anya Taylor-Joy as a younger version of the title role, so this is the origin story of Charlize Theron's character in Fury Road. There is a lot that we can expect here regarding both action and character detail, and we also know Miller will have several surprises in store. IF dir-scr John Krasinski; with Ryan Reynolds, John Krasinski, Cailey Fleming, Steve Carell, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Louis Gossett Jr, Emily Blunt, Matt Damon, Maya Rudolph, Sam Rockwell, Awkwafina 24/USrelease US 17.May.24, UK 24.May.24 John Krasinzki is back with yet another twist on the horror genre, this time a much more comical, Monsters Inc-style romp involving imaginary friends and monsters. The trailer cleverly suggests a lot without supplying too many details, but the film looks both visually colourful and narratively inventive, with a terrific approach to effects as well. The stacked voice cast promises that none of the punchlines will have any trouble landing, so the main question is whether the story will grab our hearts too. Also on my want-to-see list... Winter: ORION AND THE DARK Spring: THE GENTLEMEN GHOSTBUSTERS: FROZEN EMPIRE IMMACULATE ROAD HOUSE SLEEPING DOGS INFESTED KINGDOM OF THE PLANET OF THE APES Summer: THE COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO INSIDE OUT 2 A QUIET PLACE: DAY ONE THELMA THE WATCHED DEADPOOL & WOLVERINE TWISTERS KRAVEN THE HUNTER Autumn: THE WILD ROBOT | |
Release dates: British film release schedules are much more fluid than American ones, so please be patient as I try to keep up with UK distributors. I'm working to keep this list up-to-date as they keep trying to outfox me. I'm sure it's personal. Embargoes: Britain's Film Distributors Association asks us to hold reviews until the week of release, and some distributors are even more restrictive. Normally, once the film is shown to a paying audience, either on release or at a festival, the full review can appear on the site. © 2024 by Rich Cline, Shadows on the Wall HOME | REVIEWS | NEWS | FESTIVAL | AWARDS | Q&A | ABOUT | TALKBACK |