The summer blockbuster season is in full swing, and just like this time last year, cinema’s biggest draw rests on the unlikely coming together of two diametrically opposed icons.
Yes, if 2023 was all about Barbenheimer, then 2024 is the year of Deadverine. Or Wolverpool? Yes, let’s go with that – not least because it sounds like the product of a particularly febrile town planning meeting in the 1970s.
Whatever you want to call it, the teaming up of the razor-clawed grouch with the snark-spouting smartarse promises to showcase the most shocking display of senseless violence and offensive language on a Disney film set since Julie Andrews started on tequila slammers at the Mary Poppins wrap party. The MCU will never be the same again…
New releases
Deadpool & Wolverine
Expectations are high for this clash of the Marvel titans, which sees Ryan Reynolds’ motor-mouthed mercenary lock horns with Hugh Jackman’s mutton-chopped mutant.
The story sees Deadpool alerted by the Time Variance Authority to a potential world-ending threat for his particular strand of the multiverse – causing him to set out on a mission to track down the X-Men’s MVP in a bid to save it.
As the mismatched duo make the inevitable journey from bickering enmity to mutual admiration, we can expect plenty of quipping, fighting, fourth-wall breaking and in-joking along the way – not to mention a plethora of fan-pleasing cameos, and a starring role for Britain’s ugliest dog.
| Cert 15, 128 mins | |
| Cineworld, City Screen, Everyman, Vue | |
| From Thurs Jul 25 | |
| More details |
I Saw the TV Glow
This atmospheric, horror-inflected tale ought to strike a chord with anyone who had countless Thursday evenings in the early 2000s ruined when they eagerly tuned into BBC2, only to find they’d yet again replaced Buffy the Vampire Slayer with the bloody snooker.
Set in the late 1990s, the story centres on two misfit teens who bond over a shared love of Buffy-esque TV show The Pink Opaque, which provides a weekly respite from their troubled home lives – but over time, reality and fantasy start to become blurred.
Inspired by director Jane Schoenbrun’s own intense relationship with the cult TV shows of their youth, the film has picked up rave reviews since its premiere at this year’s Sundance Festival, with Empire hailing it as ‘awe-inspiringly original’.
| Cert 15, 100 mins | |
| City Screen | |
| From Fri Jul 26 |
Other screenings
Summer holiday round-up
With Inside Out 2 still doing the business at the box office, Cineworld’s Movies For Juniors strand is taking us back to an as-yet-un-sequelled early Pixar hit in the form of 1998’s A Bug’s Life, showing daily until Weds 30th (tickets £2.50), while Vue are screening sequel-without-equal Toy Story 2 on Sat 27th and Sun 28th (£6.99 – £9.99).
Cineworld also have daily screenings of A Quiet Place director John Krasinski’s recent move into more heartwarming fare, comic fantasy IF, about a girl who discovers she can see other people’s imaginary friends (£2.50).
You can catch an Autism-Friendly screening of IF at Vue on Sun 28th (£2.49), and they’re also showing animated murder mystery Inspector Sun and the Curse of the Black Widow daily in their Mighty Mornings slot (£2.49), in which the titular ‘tec takes the form of a Poirot-esque spider.
Vue’s Big Shorts strand is, as ever, keeping younger viewers happy with a daily Julia Donaldson double bill, this week courtesy of The Gruffalo’s Child & Zog and the Flying Doctors (£3.99).
Over at City Screen, there’s a welcome return to the big screen for an 80s classic as Who Framed Roger Rabbit screens in their Kids’ Club strand on Sat 27th (tickets £3.30).
Everyman’s Toddler Club selection is the latest attempt to make a watchable Garfield movie in the form of, well, The Garfield Movie (Fri 26th, Sat 27th, £6.25 child/£8.75 adult plus toddler) – and they’re also continuing their Apple TV + Children’s Hour series, showcasing episodes of some of the streamer’s family-friendly offerings completely free of charge, and with juice boxes and popcorn thrown in to boot.
This week’s selections ought to appeal to kids and nostalgic parents alike, with screenings of Apple’s new takes on Terry Gilliam’s fantasy Time Bandits (Fri 26th), comic strip favourite Camp Snoopy (Mon 29th) and amphibian best buds Frog and Toad (Tues 30th).
A cyborg cop, a beastly boss and some super-smart sharks: old favourites back on the big screen
Shoulder pads at the ready as City Screen take us back in time with the 1980s Movie Mix, a season of some of the decade’s finest running throughout the summer.
It’s a pleasing blend of some of the era’s biggest blockbusters and cult classics, with Paul Verhoeven’s satirical sci-fi tale Robocop leading the charge this week on Fri 26th, followed by the supremely quotable fantasy adventure The Princess Bride on Sat 27th, while Richard Gere smoulders his way through American Gigolo on Sun 28th.
Zipping forward a decade, the ongoing celebration of the films of 1999 continues with twist-tastic chiller The Sixth Sense showing at Cineworld on Mon 29th, while over at Vue, a team of scientists have genetically engineered a breed of hyper-intelligent sharks in Deep Blue Sea on Fri 26th and Weds 31st. Excellent news! (Note to any and all movie scientists: I know you think you have had a good idea, but trust me, you have not thought it through. Abandon all your research now and go off and join a travelling mariachi band, or retire to the Sussex coast to make ships in bottles or something. Humanity will thank you in the long run.)
With Godzilla Minus One having wowed audiences at the end of last year, there’s a chance to see another highly acclaimed Japanese take on the lumbering lizard at City Screen this week in the form of 2016’s Shin Godzilla, showing on Fri 26th, Sat 27th, Sun 28th and Weds 31st.
And finally, City Screen’s Dementia-Friendly screening this month is another 80s favourite, as Dolly Parton, Lily Tomlin and Jane Fonda take their revenge on sexist boss Dabney Coleman in 9 to 5, showing on Mon 29th – which is all the excuse I need to close proceedings with Ms. Parton’s evergreen earworm. Feminism has never been quite so toe-tapping…