Ghosting, blocking, unfriending, unfollowing…If a friendship has run its course, modern technology offers any number of ways to quietly euthanase it from a safe distance.
In rural Ireland in the early 20th century, however, your options ran a narrow gamut from ‘Telling them to go away’ to ‘Threatening self-mutilation with a pair of shears’.
At least, that’s according to Three Billboards director Martin McDonagh’s eagerly-awaited black comedy The Banshees of Inisherin, out this week.
See it with a (good) friend…Elsewhere, cinema surfs the hallyu with enigmatic murder mystery Decision to Leave, and the DCEU is about to smell what the Rock is cooking in Black Adam.
New releases
The Banshees of Inisherin
Director Martin McDonagh reunites with his In Bruges stars Brendan Gleeson and Colin Farrell for this highly acclaimed black comedy about the end of a friendship.
It’s an end that comes suddenly and without warning for Padraic (Farrell), who finds himself shunned one day by Colm (Gleeson), his longtime drinking buddy on the remote Irish island of Inisherin, for the simple and brutal reason that “I just don’t like you no more.”
Upset and confused, Padraic refuses to take no for an answer and events start escalating violently, to the shock of their friends and family (including rising star Barry Keoghan and Better Call Saul’s Kerry Condon).
Cert 15, 114 mins | |
Cineworld, City Screen, Everyman, Vue | |
From Fri Oct 21 | |
More details |
Decision to Leave
Oldboy director Park Chan-wook channels Alfred Hitchcock’s Vertigo for this suspenseful romantic thriller, in which a detective becomes obsessed with the beautiful suspect in a murder case.
The plot sees young police inspector Hae-joon (Park Hae-il, Memories of Murder) investigating the death of a wealthy man who has been found dead at the foot of a steep mountain.
Suspicion falls on his widow, care worker Seo-rae (Tang Wei, Lust, Caution), particularly as she doesn’t seem very upset by the loss of her husband – but as Hae-joon digs deeper, he develops an infatuation with Seo-rae which threatens his judgement.
If that sounds like a familiar set-up, glowing reviews – and a Best Director gong at this year’s Cannes Festival – suggest that Park succeeds in putting his own distinctive stamp on it, with Variety hailing it as next in line to Parasite as “your new, sublimely accomplished Korean thriller obsession”.
Cert 15, 139 mins | |
City Screen | |
From Fri Oct 21 | |
More details |
Black Adam
Fresh from voicing Superman’s Labrador in DC League of Super-Pets, Dwayne Johnson now makes his live-action debut in the DC Extended Universe as the titular antihero.
Tooled up with divinely granted powers and let loose on the modern world after 5000 years of imprisonment (which is, coincidentally, the amount of time now needed to catch up with the ever-expanding catalogue of superhero films and TV shows), it’s not surprising that he’s on the warpath.
His trail of havoc soon brings him to the attention of the Justice Society of America, a superhero collective headed by flying archaeologist Hawkman (Aldis Hodge, Straight Outta Compton) – but they’re forced to put aside their differences to deal with a new and terrifying threat in the shape of the Trussonomix (OK, I might have made that name up – apologies if it’s prompted you to picture a spandex-clad Jeremy Hunt).
Cert 12A, 125 mins | |
Cineworld, Everyman, Vue | |
From Fri Oct 21 | |
More details |
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Half-term holiday round-up
It is, slightly incredibly, half-term once more, and as ever, cinemas are upping their quotient of family-friendly viewing options accordingly this week.
Out on Friday and showing daily at Cineworld and Vue, Mia and Me: The Hero of Centopia is a big screen spin-off from the hit TV show, and sees its young heroine fighting to free her magical realm from villainous toad Toxor.
If the pinkish-purple hues of Centopia aren’t quite to your or your child’s taste, there’s an ideal alternative in the form of Coraline, the much-loved animated tale of a girl who discovers a mysterious parallel universe which hides a sinister secret.
Adapted by fantasy supremo Neil Gaiman from his own novella, the 2009 film heralded the arrival of a major new stop-motion talent in the form of Laika Studios, who’ve gone on to make a host of family favourites from ParaNorman to The Boxtrolls.
You can catch Coraline daily at Cineworld this week, with an evening screening also showing at City Screen on Mon 24th; more Laika favourites are set to follow in the coming weeks.
More family-friendly spookiness is on offer in Hocus Pocus, showing daily at Vue and on Weds 26th and Thurs 27th at Everyman.
Younger children are catered for by Pip and Posy: Cinema Show Special, a big screen compendium of seven episodes of the popular TV show promising interactive games and a singalong to boot – it’s showing at City Screen (Mon 24th, Tues 25th, Thurs 27th, tickets £5.00) and Vue (daily, tickets £6.99 – £9.99).
Both Cineworld and Vue are extending their budget family-friendly strands across the week, with DC League of Super-Pets showing daily – tickets are £2.50 at Cineworld and £2.49 at Vue.
And finally, the big grump’s journey concludes at City Screen on Sat 22nd in Shrek Forever After (tickets £3.00), which sees its careworn hero make a deal with Rumpelstiltskin to take him back to his carefree swamp-dwelling days. It’s not easy being green…
Other screenings
“They’re here…again.”
As Halloween looms ever closer, it’s a surprisingly quiet week on the horror front, but if you’re in search of retro shocks and scares, look no further than the original Poltergeist, back on the big screen for its 40th anniversary.
Scripted by Steven Spielberg and directed by Texas Chainsaw Massacre’s Tobe Hooper, the 1982 classic sees a family experience extreme buyer’s remorse after moving into a house built on the site of a former burial ground – you can catch it at Cineworld (Sat 22nd, Mon 24th), City Screen (Sun 23rd) and Vue (Mon 24th).
Meanwhile, City Screen also have a couple of screenings of documentary The Cordillera of Dreams on Tues 25th and Weds 26th.
The latest work from Chilean director Patricio Guzmán (Nostalgia for the Light), the film uses the eponymous mountain range (which runs the length of the country) as a starting point for a meditation on the 1973 coup d’état which caused him to leave his home country for France.
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Community cinema
Film at the Folk Hall are celebrating Black History Month with an Oscar-winning tale of an inter-racial friendship in the Deep South.
Winner of three Academy Awards in 2019 (Best Picture, Best Original Screenplay and Best Supporting Actor for Mahershala Ali) and based on a true story, Green Book follows the growing bond between world-class African-American pianist Don Shirley (Ali) and Italian-American bouncer Tony Lip (Viggo Mortensen).
The two are thrown together when Lip is hired as both driver and protection for Shirley on a tour of the southern states – the film’s title refers to the annual guide book which listed safe and friendly places for African-American travellers in the era of segregation.
As an added bonus, you can enjoy an authentic southern-style burger along with the film (a vegetarian option is also available) – and thanks to funding from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation and Housing Trust, tickets for this one are available at a reduced price (all proceeds are donated to the York Racial Equality Network).
The screening takes place at the Folk Hall, New Earswick on Fri 21st – doors are at 6:30pm followed by an introduction at 7:15 before the film starts rolling at 7:30pm.
Tickets can be reserved via Eventbrite, or you can secure them in person at the Folk Hall reception or by calling 01904 752211 – the price is £5.00 for the film plus food, or £3.00 for the film only, and there are also a small number of free film-only tickets available for those who need them.