Films in English for Friday 14 until Thursday 20 January

To check for further information click on the locations here. Ocimax, Rivoli, Festival Park and CineCiutat. Also showing in Minorca.

Scream (2022)

Showing on Tuesday at Festival Park... 20.50

Showing on Thursday at Festival Park... 19.15

Showing on Thursday at Ocimax Mahon... 19.30

Plot summary: We’re back in Woodsboro for Scream (2022), where local residents are once again being stalked by a cloaked figure whose identity is concealed by the haunting Ghostface mask. This time, sisters Sam (Melissa Barrera) and Tara Carpenter (Jenna Ortega) find themselves targeted by the killer for reasons unknown, faced with the terrifying thought that their assailant could be one of their closest friends. They turn to those most experienced with this macabre modus operandi for guidance on how to avoid a grisly fate. Without a doubt, this is the strongest ensemble that Scream has seen since the first film, consisting of characters that largely leave a lasting impression rather than feeling like mere cannon fodder. But while this is the first Scream cast to hold a candle to the original members, no doubt many movie-goers will be flocking to multiplexes solely to see Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox and David Arquette back in their iconic roles. While the characters of Sidney, Gale and Dewey are used somewhat sparingly, the payoff to their involvement is immensely satisfying. It would once seem unthinkable that Scream could exist without its legendary filmmaker Wes Craven, but directing duo Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett make a very good job of this opportunity to follow up a genre classic. In collaboration with the screenwriting team, they find exciting new ways to play with the rules this franchise first laid out a quarter-century ago, teasing the audience with visual trickery that goes far beyond a standard jump-scare. Above all, the film stays true to Craven and Williamson’s original vision - and so if you liked that, you will love this.

Starring: Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox and David Arquette

Directed: Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett

Duration: 1 hour and 54 minutes

Rated: R

See trailer above

Munich: The Edge of War (2021)

Now showing daily at Cine Ciutat...19.00...21.20

Plot summary: September 1938, following years of rising fascism in Europe, Adolf Hitler is intent on expanding Germany’s influence across Europe. In an effort to keep the peace, both sides strive to achieve a meeting between British Prime Minister, Neville Chamberlain, and Hitler himself. Diplomats soon discover how tenuous peace is and perhaps war is inevitable. Adapted from the Robert Harris best selling novel, Munich: The Edge of War focuses on two University friends Hugh Legat and Paul von Hartmann played by George MacKay and Jannis Niewöhner respectively. The two find themselves working for the German and British Governments as tensions escalate and the risk of war between Britain and Germany becomes close to a reality. The one outstanding selling point of this intelligent film is veteran actor, Jeremy Irons’ role as Neville Chamberlain which has proven to be inspired casting as he lights up the screen every time he appears showing a sense of world weariness and dry wit. The two other standouts in the cast are the two leads Mackay proving himself a bona fide leading man fresh off the huge success of the First World War epic 1917. Niewöhner is a revelation in one of his first English language films, having excellent chemistry with MacKay. The film really comes alive when the two characters interact and we get a real sense of the ups and downs of the friendship and the appreciation they have for each other. This is a brilliantly executed film and it looks and sounds both sumptuous and believable. Director Christian Schwochow has previously been involved in Netflix’s The Crown and so clearly understands how to make grand scale historical projects like this gripping film.

Starring: George MacKay, Jannis Niewöhner and Jeremy Irons

Directed: Christian Schwochow

Duration: 2 hours and 3 minutes

Rated: 16

Spider-man: No Way Home (2021)

Now showing daily at Ocimax....*12.05...16.00 *Saturday and Sunday only

On Sunday at Festival Park ... 12.15

On Tuesday at Festival Park ... 19.25

Plot summary: The best of “Spider-Man: No Way Home” reminded me why we all used to love comic books, especially the ones about a boy named Peter Parker. There was a playful unpredictability to them that has often felt was lacking from modern superhero movies in the way they feel so precisely calculated. Yes, of course, “No Way Home” is incredibly calculated, a way to make more headlines after killing off so many of its event characters in Phase 3, but it’s also a film that’s often bursting with creative joy. Director Jon Watts and his team have delivered a true event movie, a double-sized crossover issue of a comic book that the young me would have waited in line to read first, excitedly turning every page with breathless anticipation of the next twist and turn.

Starring: Zendaya, Benedict Cumberbatch and Tom Holland

Director: Jon Watts

Duration: 2 hours and 30 minutes

Rated: 7

The Matrix Resurrections (2021)

Now showing daily at Augusta Cinema....17.15

Plot summary: For a good while, The Matrix Resurrections is fabulously batty. It’s cheeky and sly, comprising endless onion-layers, it’s funny and weird and witty and mad and even, at points, quite moving. Certainly we’ve never seen anything like it, not on this scale, not in a Hollywood blockbuster, not like this. The action scenes are fine — occasionally inspired, sometimes familiar; if you’re hoping for Resurrections to change the genre game again, you might want to temper your expectations. Some of the overtly CG stuff, feel like video-game cut-scenes. And, alas, some of the pomposity of those earlier limp sequels is resurrected too. Which is a shame, when it’s front-loaded with so much delightful good fun - It is also romantic and sentimental and sometimes touching. As they say nowadays, there is joy here, and a couple of gobsmacking ideas (one of them outstandingly morbid). So In all, ‘Resurrection’ is the best of the ‘follow-ons’ and well worth a visit.

Starring: Keanu Reeves, Carrie-Anne Moss and Yahya Abdul-Mateen II

Director: Lana Wachowski

Duration: 2 hours and 28 minutes

Rated: 16

Silent Night (2021)

Now showing on Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday, Wednesday and Thursday at CineCiutat... 21.45

Plot summary: Everyone in Silent Night is slightly off-key, though always to different degrees and with different effects – and the film revels in that fact, at first. In the opening scene, we all get to watch them suffer as they’re forced to listen to Michael Bublé’s The Christmas Sweater. The closest we get to a kind of empathetic protagonist is Lily-Rose Depp’s Sophie, the American girlfriend of James, the nominal outsider. But these humorous dynamics can only last so long. There’s an early mention of a “pact” that strikes as quite odd. Someone says something about the Queen being in a place and it really doesn’t seem like she should be. With Sophie choking back tears, the truth is eventually spat out, sentence by sentence. And it’s an ambitious premise to kick off with, as the film slips from comedy into absolute fear. The film moves from sunny to grim. And grim in ways that are only accentuated by how innocently the whole thing seems to begin. This film literally creeps up on you - be prepared to be alarmed.

Starring: Keira Knightley, Matthew Goode and Roman Griffin Davis

Director: Camille Griffin

Duration: 1 hour and 32 minutes

Rated: 16

West Side Story (2021)

Now showing daily at Rivoli...17.00

On Tuesday at Festival Park... 21.30

On Friday, Sunday, Monday, Wednesday and Thursday at CineCiutat...16.45

Plot summary: Director Steven Spielberg’s much awaited re-make of West Side Story is quite brilliant. Most remakes aren’t usually up to the standard of the original - but this is a revelation. Like its 1961 former self, it is set in a derelict part of New York City with the teen gangs - the Jets and the Sharks up against each other. This being said, West Side Story was, and always has been, a love story - full stop. Spielberg catches the exuberance of the original and adds a little local reality to the storyline. In fact, this cinematic version of Romeo & Juliet reflects William Shakespeare’s pen in its romantic drive that often has audience members fiddling with hankies at certain times as the ‘star-crossed’ lovers’ embark on their doomed relationship. If the music is sing-along great, the dancing is bold and colourful with high colour intensity and swooping cameras making the best out some sensational choreography. It’s possibly wrong to pick out one star performance amongst many - but, Rachel Zeglar as the lovelorn Maria, does have a lovely voice to go with her latino beauty. Enjoy!

Starring: Ansel Elgort, Rachel Zegler and Ariana DeBose

Director: Steven Spielberg

Duration: 2 hours and 36 minutes

Rated: 12