By Ashley Clark
Sad French folk, flashy ‘40s gunfights, and tragedy in Ireland are amongst the filmic flavours competing for your attention at south London’s best cinema this week.
The big new MOTION PICTURE out this week is Tom Hooper’s version of Victor Hugo’s novel (and later long-running musical) Les Misérables, which stars Hugh Jackman, Anne Hathaway, Russell Crowe, Eddie Redmayne and others as the downbeat Gallic folk of the title. The first bona fide blockbuster of the new year, Les Mis is sure to sell fast; so if you want to see Mr. Crowe belting it out like there’s no tomorrow (perhaps you were a fan of his band, 30 Odd Foot of Grunts?), book well in advance. In the interests of full disclosure, in line with my personal tastes I’ve avoided this one like the plague, so am in no position to offer my critical judgement. But enjoy anyway!
Months after its release was delayed following the tragic massacre at a cinema in Aurora, Colorado, Ruben Fleischer’s old-school thriller Gangster Squad is finally upon us. It’s based on the LAPD’s real-life efforts to stop the East Coast Mafia (headed here by a prosthetically-nosed Sean Penn as Mickey Cohen) from moving into Los Angeles in the ‘40s. Sadly, despite a terrific cast (Penn, Nick Nolte, Josh Brolin, Ryan Gosling) and some slick visuals, Gangster Squad fails to catch fire, and is staid and static in all the ways that, say, Curtis Hanson’s L.A. Confidential felt vibrant and authentic.
Far more engrossing is Irish filmmaker Lenny Abrahamson’s disquieting drama What Richard Did. The director’s follow-up to 2007’s Garage focuses upon the eponymous Richard (Jack Reynor), a lively and well-liked teen whose life takes an unforeseen turn for the worse after a disastrous drunken incident. It’s a beautifully composed, well-acted drama which will appeal to anyone who likes their cinema of a rich psychological hue.
Films continuing their runs include Dustin Hoffman’s wry, enjoyable directorial debut Quartet, about a group of elderly opera singers; J.A. Bayona’s tsunami disasterpiece The Impossible; Peter Jackson’s ultra long-winded The Hobbit (in 2D and 3D – check the website for times); Ang Lee’s visually spectacular novel adaptation Life of Pi; and, still, Martin McDonagh’s painfully self-involved postmodern thriller Seven Psychopaths.
It’s a particularly rich week in terms of repertory cinema at the Ritzy. Marking the upcoming release of his Django Unchained, the We Heart Tarantino season continues with a late Saturday screening of 1997’s Jackie Brown; a classy adaptation of Elmore Leonard’s novel which many cinephiles tip as the director’s best and most mature work to date.
Speaking of cinephiles, few filmmakers get that particular subsection of our community hotter under the collar than Stanley Kubrick, whose newly restored debut – the stark, forbidding 1953 drama Fear and Desire – is screened on Monday evening. If Kubrick isn’t arthouse enough for you, you may want to instead have a crack at Russian legend Andrei Tarkovsky’s haunting World War II film Ivan’s Childhood. On another tack entirely, Richard Linklater’s trippy rotoscope animation A Scanner Darkly has a couple of late-night showings at the weekend. In it, Keanu Reeves plays a cop called Bob Arctor. For some inexplicable reason, that name has always made me giggle.
Finally, the Picturehouse’s Discover Tuesdays strand continues with Jiro Dreams of Sushi, a gently compelling documentary about 85 year-old Ono Jiro, considered by many to be the world’s best sushi chef. He is the owner of Sukiyabashi Jiro, a sushi-only restaurant which seats a maximum of 10 customers at any given time, and is located in a Tokyo subway station. You’ll definitely be in the mood for some sushi when it’s finished.
