Nice to see Moonlight get another week at the Oxford, to give it a chance to be more widely seen. It and Arrival are the probably the two best films in cinemas right now, but they’re being joined by another challenger, Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them. A return to the Harry Potter universe, it’s a period film set in 1920s New York, and is something of a delight. My review is here.
Two films this week are opening only in Bayers Lake. The first is Bleed For This, a boxing drama starring Miles Teller based on the true story of a promising young pugilist who suffered a serious injury in a car accident, but nonetheless makes a triumphant return to the ring to put himself in a whole bunch more mortal danger. Last year’s Creed aside, it’s a little surprising that boxing films are still getting made, given the diminishing audience for the sport.
The second BLIP opening on Friday is Ang Lee’s new film, Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk. This picture had some award-season heat when it first was announced but is now arriving with the hype reduced to tepid due to some mediocre reviews of its tale of a soldier post-Iraq experiencing frequent flashbacks to the war. The film’s getting more attention for Lee’s having shot it at 120 frames per second in 3D, the first time this has been done in a feature film. It should make for a very clear, immersive visual experience, though only a few cinemas in North America have the projection tech to bring the full visuals to bear. Still, might be worth a look if you’re into these “advances”, or for Kristen Stewart, who is said to give another sterling performance in a recent series of them.
The Edge of Seventeen is a teen dramedy starring Hailee Steinfeld. The reviews have been glowing, and based on this trailer alone, it looks like it might be a lot of laughs. It’s at the BLIP and Dartmouth Crossing.
Then we have a romantic drama with a pretty terrible title, The History of Love, opening at Park Lane. Despite that title, Elliot Gould, Gemma Arterton, and Derek Jacobi are all totally watchable performers.
At Carbon Arc on Friday night is the Cannes Lions selection of the year’s best commercials. It starts at 7pm. For more info, go here.
This week’s John Hughes picture returning to the big screen is Pretty In Pink.
Oh, and though it’s not in cinemas, it is worth mentioning: The Halifax Public Library is going to start offering films from The Video Difference Legacy collection to borrow at their Central and Woodside locations. They’re also going to be curating a series of screenings of certain films. At the Paul O’Regan Hall on Friday night at 8pm they’ll be showing King Of The Hill, a lesser seen Steven Soderbergh picture from early in his career. For more info, check out their Facebook page.
And speaking of the library, all month they’ve been screening Martin Scorcese films (for free) on Tuesday evenings (Happy 74th Birthday, Marty!). Next week it’s Taxi Driver, introduced by Chris Campbell, and the following week is The Color Of Money, introduced by Yours Truly.
Finally, running until Sunday in Halifax is the Atlantic Jewish Film Festival. For more information on the schedule of screenings, please visit the festival site.
