Confession time...I haven't been to the cinema this week. I did breathe a sigh of relief though when Cineworld revealed a much smaller list of closures than Sky News had reported, although I obviously feel for the six teams who are affected by their announcement.
More could follow this summer. Even Hugh Grant has tweeted about his disappointed that his local picture house has closed after 94 years. Numbers have definitely not recovered since the pandemic, although there have been little rays of sunshine with the likes of Barbenheimer and Top Gun : Maverick's huge success.
Until I've watched Deadpool & Wolverine and Thelma, both of which I'll review next week, here are the five best films out of the sixty I've seen on the big screen this year.
The Beekeeper - if you haven't watched a movie in 4DX, it's a slightly bananas experience which I'd recommend if you're able to justify the upgrade cost. The seat moves about, you're sprayed in the face, and during fight scenes you even receive a complimentary back massage! Whilst this won't win any prizes for the plot, I thought Jason Statham was excellent on his revenge mission against con artists. Anyone who's had one of those fake parcel delivery texts will be cheering him on. Available on Sky Cinema.
The Holdovers - whilst clearly Oppenheimer was always destined to win Best Picture at the Oscars, I thought this would have been a worthy winner. A group of misfit students with nowhere to go for the Christmas holidays are left behind on campus, supervised by a cranky teacher and a grieving cook. A brilliant set of characters, and a rollercoaster of emotion. I loved it. Available on Amazon Prime Video.
Wicked Little Letters has just arrived on Netflix, and is based on a true story of poison pen letters, which was almost lost to history. Olivia Coleman plays Edith Swan, and whilst you will probably guess who's writing the letters quite early on, you'll laugh out loud at some of the lines, and Timothy Spall is superb as Swan's controlling father. A good Friday night comedy to enjoy with a tipple or two.
Late Night With The Devil reminded me of a cross between Ghostwatch and Blair Witch, as found footage shows a Hallowe'en chat show in 1977 when a live exorcism goes horribly wrong. An ailing host is desperate to boost his ratings, and seemingly will go to any lengths to do so, but things quickly go badly on set in front of the TV cameras. Doesn't rely on jump scares, and a genuinely original horror film. To be found on Apple TV and Amazon Prime Video.
And A Quiet Place : Day One made over 250 million dollars at the box office. It should be on streaming soon, but you can watch the previous film (actually called Part II) on Channel 4's streaming service for the next week or so. This one was a prequel, and the cat stole the show. I liked the story and it exceeded my expectations.
Alex B Cann weekly film column
