A list of movies you need to go and see at the cinema this month!
La La Land
Red-hot Hollywood stars Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone lay on the charm in this infectious, beautiful and bittersweet musical comedy-drama.
In contemporary Los Angeles, coffee shop worker Mia (Emma Stone) aspires to escape her humdrum reality and become a celebrated playwright. Meanwhile across town, musician Sebastian (Ryan Gosling) refuses to give up on his dream of owning his own jazz club. When these two opposites meet, magic is made and a sweet relationship develops – but the course of true love refuses to run smooth. Can they make it last?
In a complete turnaround from his savagely gripping Whiplash, director Damien Chazelle here unleashes a heartfelt symphony of emotion in which tender romance mixes with dazzlingly choreographed song and dance numbers. With winning performances from its two leads, the movie is already being positioned as a 2017 Oscar favourite. You can read our review of La La Land here.
Live By Night
Ben Affleck returns to the director’s chair with this stylish and violent period thriller.
It’s Prohibition-era America. Joe Coughlin (Ben Affleck) is a family man, World War I veteran and son of the Boston Police deputy superintendent. He’s also a gangster, albeit one with a strict moral code. Nevertheless when he expands his operation from the frigid climes of Boston to the sultry Florida heat of Tampa, Joe is soon forced into extreme measures into order to ensure his own survival and that of his loved ones.
New Batman Ben Affleck is set to deliver another knockout directorial effort following his acclaimed trio of Gone Baby Gone, The Town and Argo. Working from the gritty novel by Dennis Lehane, it promises to blast away the winter cobwebs with a good-looking blend of historical authenticity and a starry cast also including Brendan Gleeson (Calvary), Zoe Saldana (Guardians of the Galaxy) and Elle Fanning (The Neon Demon).
Jackie
A searing and intimate portrait of one of the most important and tragic moments in American history, seen through the eyes of the iconic First Lady, then Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy. JACKIE places us in her world during the days immediately following her husband’s assassination. Known for her extraordinary dignity and poise, here we see a psychological portrait of the First Lady as she struggles to maintain her husband’s legacy and the world of “Camelot” that they created and loved so well.
Split
James McAvoy excels as a crazed kidnapper with multiple personalities is this nerve-shredding horror-thriller
Schoolgirls Claire (Haley Lu Richardson), Marcia (Jessica Sula) and Casey (Anya Taylor-Joy) are kidnapped by a stalker named Kevin (James McAvoy). They awake to find themselves locked in an underground cell at the mercy of their sinister captor. During visits to his shrink (Betty Buckley), it becomes clear that Kevin is no ordinary sociopath but suffers from dissociative identity disorder. This manifests itself in the form of 23 distinct personalities, from a mischievous nine-year-old boy to a flamboyant fashion designer. But there’s also a 24th personality battling for control. Ominously, he refers to this as ‘the beast’! Hailed by critics as his best film since the legendary ‘The Sixth Sense’, M Night Shyamalan’s edge-of-seat psychological horror delivers plenty of those trademark jaw-dropping twists. James McAvoy is also on magnificently terrifying form as he shifts between personalities.
xXx: Return of Xander Cage
Vin Diesel’s extreme sportsman and reluctant spy explodes back onto the screen for his most spectacular mission.
Xander ‘xXx’ Cage (Vin Diesel) has been living in self-exposed exile ever since he was blackmailed into taking on an anti-terrorism role for the NSA. But now his handler, Agent Augustus Eugene Gibbons (Samuel L. Jackson), has tracked him down to counter a new threat to global security. Deadly alpha warrior Xiang (Donnie Yen) and his henchmen have seized a device that controls every military satellite in the world. Reluctant Cage agrees to take them on – but only if he can recruit his own thrill-seeking crew.
Vin Diesel returns to the action role he made his own back in 2002 for this relentless action adventure, packed with breathtaking stunts. His danger-loving team includes Ruby Rose of ‘Orange is the New Black’ fame, while ‘IP Man’ star and highly skilled martial artist Donnie Yen makes a truly formidable foe.
