Cineplex Cinemas reopen in Nova Scotia… one more time!

…and hopefully this time they’ll stay open.

We’ve seen the closing and the opening once or twice in the recent past, but my fingers are crossed the vaccines will mean cinemas and their big-screen delights will remain available to us right through the summer and beyond.

Opening this week are a cornucopia of summer-styled sequels and blockbusters. I’ll start by mentioning the fresh releases I’m interested in seeing, before going on to the films that opened on streaming, where I watched them, and are now available in cinemas and deserve to be seen there.

First up is A Quiet Place: Part II. I liked the first one — maybe not as much as a lot of critics, but it was a confident first feature from John Krasinski starring his creative and romantic partner, Emily Blunt. Word is this sequel is at least as good.

Also on my radar is The Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard, a sequel to a movie that looked so dumb it barely seemed worth any interest, but then I found myself on a plane and actually watched the thing and found it to be a not bad time — largely coasting on the charm of its cast: Ryan Reynolds, Samuel L Jackson, and Salma Hayek.

They’re all back in the sequel.

Finally, opening on Thursday, I plan to see F9: The Fast Saga. The naming conventions for the Fast & Furious movies get more bonkers all the time, but what the hell. By now, after nine movies that have taken the franchise from a cheap Point Break rip-off to a massive, multi-ethnic action monolith, you know what you’re getting when you put down your good money.

Also open now is Cruella, which is a surprising amount of fun, mostly due to the Emmas, Stone and Thompson, and the incredible costumes.

 

How it connects as a prequel to the animated 101 Dalmatians, or the live action version(s) with Glenn Close, I’m not really bothered with one way or another — and I think Disney is only half interested. Enjoy it as a stand-alone or don’t waste your time.

And if you enjoy musicals, In The Heights is the joyful Lin-Manuel Miranda creation, a cinematic adaptation of the stage show he made before Hamilton. Even with some recent criticism of the film’s colourism, and its unreasonably extended running time, it’s a wonderfully summery escape with a lot of great music.

There’s more opening in cinemas, including another Conjuring sequel. You can see the full listings here.

And don’t forget that also taking place this weekend is HIFF, the Halifax Independent Filmmakers Festival — more on that soon.

About the author

flawintheiris

Carsten Knox is a massive, cheese-eating nerd. In the day he works as a journalist in Halifax, Nova Scotia. At night he stares out at the rain-slick streets, watches movies, and writes about what he's seeing.

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