Would anyone like to hear my romcom theory?
As you’ve read to this second line, I’ll take that as a yes, so here it is: the amount of nose-wrinkling and pooh-poohing noises someone makes regarding romcoms is in direct proportion to how much they secretly love them.
Because honestly, how could anyone not enjoy a genre which exists solely to make you laugh, cry and believe that everything will be alright in the end? (And if it isn’t alright, as Messrs. Kermode and Mayo would say, it isn’t the end.)
Look, fine, if you really must keep up this pretence, you don’t have to watch Ticket to Paradise this week – perhaps you’d prefer Finnish spine-tingler Hatching or slacker sequel Clerks III.
But we both know you’re just waiting for it to come out on streaming…
New releases
Ticket to Paradise
Romcom veterans and Ocean’s Eleven co-stars Julia Roberts and George Clooney reunite for this tale of a divorced couple plotting to sabotage their daughter’s forthcoming nuptials (did Roberts learn nothing from My Best Friend’s Wedding?).
Georgia (Roberts) and David (Clooney) head out to Bali for the wedding of their daughter Lily (Kaitlyn Dever, Booksmart) to a local she has only just met – with the bickering exes determined to stop Lily from making the same mistake they made.
The two leads aren’t the only ones with form in the genre – director Ol Parker previously marshalled the sun-kissed shenanigans of Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again.
Cert 12A, 104 mins | |
Cineworld, City Screen, Everyman, Vue | |
From Tues Sep 20 | |
More details |
Hatching
This creepy Finnish tale looks set to continue the recent female-led horror boom exemplified by the likes of Raw, Saint Maud and Censor.
The debut feature of director Hanna Bergholm, the film follows the macabre sequence of events set in motion when a wounded bird flies into the Instagram-perfect house of 12-year-old gymnast Tinja (Siiri Solalinna) and her family.
Unbeknownst to her domineering, image-obsessed mother (Sophia Heikkilä), Tinja keeps and nurtures the bird’s mysterious-looking egg in her bedroom – but when the creature inside hatches, the strange bond between the pair wreaks havoc on the family’s seemingly idyllic life…
Cert 15, 91 mins | |
City Screen | |
From Fri Sep 16 | |
More details |
Clerks III
Director Kevin Smith goes back to where it all began with this third big screen outing for the staff of New Jersey’s most famous convenience store.
The story sees super-slacker Randal (Jeff Anderson) and his old friend Dante (Brian O’Halloran) decide to make a film about their lives after Randal suffers a heart attack.
In typically self-referential style, that black-and-white shot film just happens to resemble a certain cult 1994 indie hit – complete with appearances from a host of familiar faces including, of course, Jay and Silent Bob.
Cert 15, 100 mins | |
City Screen | |
From Fri Sep 16 |
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The Queen’s Funeral
York cinemas will either be closed or running a reduced programme on Monday 19th, the day of the Queen’s funeral.
Cineworld and City Screen are closing for the day, and Everyman is showing films in the evening only.
Vue will not be showing any films, but will be screening the funeral free of charge from 10am – you can book tickets on their website.
Other screenings
David Bowie fans can freak out in a Moonage Daydream as the highly acclaimed new documentary on the rock legend screens in IMAX at Cineworld throughout the week, prior to going on general release next Friday – reviews suggest we can expect a more immersive, psychedelic experience than the standard rock doc, which is surely just as it should be.
Cineworld also have a preview of the Harry Styles-starring, Stepford Wives-esque psychological thriller Don’t Worry Darling on Tues 21st, while on the same night City Screen are previewing Silent Land, a slow-burn Polish drama which, like current release The Forgiven, sees an entitled couple’s holiday (and relationship) derailed by a tragic event.
Everyman have another screening of Terminator 2: Judgment Day in their Throwback strand on Sun 18th, as well as a few more screenings of the new 3D version of Jaws on Fri 16th, Sat 17th, Tues 20th and Weds 21st.
Meanwhile, as Tolkien fans continue to debate the merits of The Rings of Power, Vue are taking us back (or forward, chronologically speaking) to the beginning with screenings of the Lord of the Rings trilogy, starting this week with The Fellowship of the Ring, showing in an even-more-epic extended edition on Fri 16th and Sat 17th.
Vue’s James Bond season continues on Sat 17th with Daniel Craig’s excellent third outing Skyfall, a film which is alarmingly now 10 years old.
City Screen’s Kids’ Club is showing anime Lu over the Wall on Sat 17th – it’s the Ponyo-esque tale of a band whose music causes a young mermaid’s fins to turn into feet – while on Sun 18th they have an Autism-Friendly screening of The Lego Movie (tickets £3.00 for both).
Vue’s budget family-friendly offering this week is The Railway Children Return (Sat 17th, Sun 18th, £2.49), while their Pixar season opens the door on Monsters, Inc. (Sat 17th, Sun 18th, Tues 20th, £6.99 – £9.99).
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And finally, when it comes to reissues this week, there’s only one name in town – and that name is Jackie Brown.
Back on the big screen for its 25th anniversary, Quentin Tarantino’s stone-cold classic sees blaxploitation icon Pam Grier run rings around the cops and the gangsters alike, including Samuel L. Jackson’s menacing gun runner – though frankly, having seen how she dealt with the bad guys in Foxy Brown last week, I think he got off lightly. I’ll never look at a jar of pickles in the same way again…
You can raise a glass of rum punch to Jackie at Cineworld (Thurs 22nd), City Screen (Sun 18th), Everyman (Weds 21st) and Vue (Fri 16th, Sun 18th, Tues 20th, Thurs 22nd).