The films to see in York this week – 17-23 January 2019

Having taken up running again for the new year, I’ve been pondering which is the best film soundtrack to pound the streets to – and I believe I have the answer.

The rousing score from Indiana Jones, perhaps? Or the montage-tastic Rocky theme? Nope, I’m going for Mary Poppins.

Think about it: ease yourself in with a bit of Chim Chim Cher-ee, kick things up a notch with A Spoonful of Sugar – then when you hit your stride, it’s time to break out the big one: whack on Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious and make ’em eat your dust.

Finally, finish your victorious final lap to the jubilant strains of Let’s Go Fly a Kite – then head down to the cinema to enjoy a guilt-free large popcorn, while watching Will Smith and Martin Lawrence blow stuff up in Bad Boys For Life.

(NB – For best results, get your friends to run with you dressed as a bunch of hyperactive chimney sweeps.)

New releases

Bad Boys For Life

With Johnny-come-lately sequels to the likes of Top Gun (34 years) and the Bill and Ted films (29 years) scheduled for later this year, Will Smith and Martin Lawrence are getting in on the act early with this third outing for their bombastic buddy movie franchise.

Crashing into cinemas a comparatively brief 17 years since the last instalment, the plot sees the former youthful renegades dealing with the ravages of middle age, alongside the obligatory drug cartel.

Lowrey (Smith) and Burnett (Lawrence) feel their old-school approach is out of favour with the new generation of Miami law enforcement – but just as they contemplate retirement, the emergence of a mob boss with a score to settle sees the duo reunite for one more round of explosive action…

Just Mercy

Michael B. Jordan (Creed) stars in this real-life 1980s-set drama about a defence attorney who fights to save an innocent man from death row.

Fresh out of Harvard, Bryan Stevenson (Jordan) heads to Alabama, choosing to take on the cases of those who have been wrongly condemned – with one of his first cases being that of Walter McMillan (Jamie Foxx), a man sentenced to die in 1987 for the murder of an 18-year-old girl, despite plenty of proof of his innocence.

Based on Stevenson’s own memoir, reviews suggest it’s a solid, compelling courtroom drama powered by stellar performances from the two leads – plus a strong supporting turn from Brie Larson as local advocate Eva Ansley.

Bombshell

This timely drama tells the story of the female staff of the US Fox News channel who spoke out against the sexual harassment they suffered from the company’s CEO Roger Ailes.

Nicole Kidman stars as morning show co-host Gretchen Carlson, whose lawsuit against Ailes laid the foundations for others to come forward, including news anchor Megyn Kelly (Charlize Theron) – while Margot Robbie plays Kayla Pospisil, a fictional character representing the experience of the young women at the channel who were harassed by Ailes (played by a prosthetics-laden John Lithgow).

It’s a topical tale in more ways than one, with Kelly’s clashes with Donald Trump during the 2016 US elections also forming part of the story.

With a screenplay by The Big Short co-writer Charles Randolph, it’s no surprise that there’s an element of satirical humour on display: “Ask yourself what would scare my grandmother or piss off my grandfather,” Kayla is told in the trailer, “and that’s a Fox story.”

A Hidden Life

The latest film from legendary director Terrence Malick, this World War II-set drama shines a light on the little-known story of an Austrian farmer who refused to fight for the Nazis.

August Diehl (Inglourious Basterds) stars as Franz Jägerstätter, who lives a simple life tending his land together with his wife Fani (Valerie Pachner).

When Franz is called up to fight, his heroic act of defiance sees him ostracised by his community, imprisoned and eventually threatened with execution.

Malick’s films since 2011’s universally acclaimed The Tree of Life have tended to divide critics, but Variety are among several hailing his latest epic as a return to form.

The Man Who Killed Don Quixote + recorded Q&A

Director Terry Gilliam’s mission to bring Cervantes’ famous novel to the screen has become one of Hollywood’s most notorious cases of ‘development hell’, even spawning a documentary, 2002’s Lost in La Mancha, about his failed first attempt.

After 25 years, however, the ex-Python man has finally succeeded in his quest – and this preview screening is followed by a recorded Q&A with the director, who will doubtless have a hair-raising story or ten to tell about the project’s fraught road to completion.

Man of the moment Adam Driver stars as a cynical ad director who discovers that a version of Don Quixote that he made as a film student appears to have brought misery to the residents of the quaint Spanish village where he filmed it – including the old man who played the title role (Jonathan Pryce), and now believes he is Don Quixote himself…