Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it’s a…Labrador?
It’s Superman’s best friend to the rescue in DC League of Super-Pets, while Olivia Colman is a mum on the run in Joyride, and documentary Fire of Love follows the exploits of two daredevil volcanologists.
Plus, there’s great news for York film fans as City Screen introduce their Summer Sizzler Sale – you can catch all their films at a reduced price of £7.99 (or £4.99 for members) from now until 2nd September!
New releases
DC League of Super-Pets
You’d have thought that between meeting his Daily Planet deadlines and saving Metropolis every other week, Clark Kent might not have much time for a pet – but this animated adventure proves otherwise, as Superman’s Labrador comes to his beloved owner’s rescue.
The plot sees super-powered pooch Krypto (voiced, naturally, by Dwayne Johnson) set out to save the Man of Steel when he and his Justice League compadres are kidnapped by Lex Luthor and an evil guinea pig named Lulu (voiced, even more naturally, by Kate McKinnon).
He’s aided in his quest by a mis-matched bunch of shelter animals who have suddenly acquired their own super-powers – including a Boxer with super-strength (Kevin Hart), a rather large potbellied pig (Vanessa Bayer), and an unusually speedy turtle (Russian Doll‘s Natasha Lyonne).
Cert PG, 106 mins | |
Cineworld, City Screen, Everyman, Vue | |
From Fri Jul 29 | |
More details |
Joyride
Olivia Colman stars alongside newcomer Charlie Reid in this feelgood Irish comedy-drama about a mismatched pair on an impromptu road trip.
Twelve-year-old Mully (Reid) absconds from a charity fundraiser for his recently departed mother, taking the money with him to prevent his no-good father from stealing it – but when he tries to use a taxi as a getaway car, he’s shocked when the hungover Joy (Colman) suddenly wakes up in the backseat, with a baby in tow.
An unhappy new mum, the cantankerous Joy co-opts Mully as her driver and the two try and outrun their problems on the open road, encountering unexpected obstacles and colourful characters along the way.
Cert 15, 94 mins | |
City Screen | |
From Fri Jul 29 | |
More details |
Fire of Love
Extreme nature documentaries have proved a hit with cinema audiences in recent years, with films such as Free Solo providing both stunning vistas and a compelling human interest story in the form of their daredevil subjects.
Fire of Love is the latest, highly acclaimed example of this popular subgenre, being part natural history doc and part love story, as it pieces together the incredible life of volcano explorers Maurice and Katia Krafft.
Director Sara Dosa’s film celebrates the spirit of adventure shared by this intrepid French couple, who spent 25 years travelling to active volcanoes across the world and collecting spectacular footage as they did so.
Cert PG, 93 mins | |
City Screen | |
From Fri Jul 29 | |
More details |
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New Aesthetica season at City Screen
The good folk of the Aesthetica Short Film Fest are following up their recent season of shorts at the Theatre Royal with a new series of selections at City Screen, running on Thursdays for the next five weeks and starting on Thurs 4th with Comedy Club: Join us for a Laugh.
Showcasing one of the festival’s most popular genres, this collection is subtitled Drifting Out to Sea: Tales from a Lonely Island and features several short films themed around the ever-fertile topic of social etiquette.
Tickets are at the reduced ‘Summer Sizzler Sale’ price of £7.99 or £4.99 for members, and can be booked from City Screen’s website.
Cert TBC, 66 mins | |
City Screen | |
Thurs Aug 4, 7pm | |
More details |
Summer holiday round-up
As ever, frazzled parents can seek cinematic succour from an increased range of family-friendly screenings over the summer hols, with some cinemas offering budget-priced viewing options throughout the week.
Cineworld’s Movies For Juniors choice this week is The Boss Baby 2 (tickets £2.50) – the plot summary for which still makes me feel like I have mild concussion – while Vue’s Mini Mornings slot is screening animal heist caper The Bad Guys (£2.49), both showing daily.
Vue also have an Autism-Friendly screening of The Bad Guys on Sun 31st (£2.49), as well as daily screenings of Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit (tickets normal price).
Meanwhile, City Screen’s budget offering is another Aardman favourite in the form of Shaun the Sheep: Farmageddon (£3.00), showing in their regular Kids’ Club slot on Sat 30th.
Other screenings
Olivia Colman isn’t the only one hitting the road this week, as City Screen’s new Wim Wenders season – celebrating the German director of such varied classics as Wings of Desire and Buena Vista Social Club – continues with 1974’s Alice in the Cities (Sun 31st).
A spiritual forebear of last year’s excellent Joaquin Phoenix drama C’mon C’mon, the film sees a writer’s-blocked German journalist unexpectedly left to care for a nine-year-old girl, with whom he sets out on a European road trip on a quest to find her grandmother.
It’s hard to imagine a cinema season more up my street than Kids in America, a celebration of the 90s teen movie running at City Screen on Monday nights over the next few weeks.
They got off to a fine start last week with 10 Things I Hate About You, and this Monday (1st) it’s the turn of 1996 supernatural horror The Craft, which sees a gang of high school misfits dabbling in dark magic for personal gain, only for it all to go a bit Buffy season six.
It’s followed on Tues 2nd by a much more recent teen movie hit in the form of Call Me By Your Name, the sun-kissed gay romance which bequeathed Timothée Chalamet to the world.
Over at Everyman, they’re whetting your appetite for Amazon’s upcoming Lord of the Rings prequel series by bringing Peter Jackson’s beloved take on the trilogy back to the big screen – this week you can catch The Fellowship of the Ring on Sat 30th, followed by The Two Towers on Weds 3rd.
And finally, two very different action heroes are shooting ‘em up at Cineworld and Vue this week, as RoboCop goes on the rampage in a 4K director’s cut at Cineworld on Tues 2nd, while Timothy Dalton’s short-lived stint in 007’s tux comes to an end with 1989’s Licence to Kill at Vue on Sat 30th.
Licence revoked I’m afraid, Dalters. Please pass the exploding toothpaste to Mr. Brosnan on your way out…