Cinema Roundup March 18th

Movie of the week - They Live

Movie of the week – They Live

John Carpenter’s cult ’80s satire They Live plays Saturday night at the Lighthouse. The late wrestler/actor Roddy Piper gives an iconic performance as John Nada, a homeless construction worker who uncovers a David Icke style alien conspiracy. The movie is famous for featuring arguably cinema’s greatest ever fight scene, and it’s packed with great dialogue and searing satire on ’80s consumerism that holds up today. A must see.

10 Cloverfield Lane

It’s an impressive week for new releases, led by the controversially titled 10 Cloverfield Lane. I won’t reveal whether or not it connects to the 2008 monster movie, but it’s a taut and tense adult genre thriller that unfortunately probably wouldn’t receive a cinema release under its original title, ‘The Cellar’. John Goodman is great as a human monster here, with Mary Elizabeth Winstead giving a career best performance as the young woman trapped in his bunker while the world may or may not be ending outside.

Risen

Risen is a twist on the biblical epic genre focused on the investigation undertaken by a Roman soldier into the disappearance of Jesus’s corpse following the crucifixion. It’s being marketed heavily towards Christians, but that shouldn’t deter anyone else from checking out a highly engaging pseudo-historical drama.

Sing Street

Sing Street is an ’80s set Irish comedy drama about a teenage boy who forms a band, initially in order to impress an older girl, only to discover it’s actually his true calling. The period recreation is uncanny, and if you attended a Christian Brothers school during that period you’ll be particularly won over.

High-Rise

Several filmmakers have failed to get a screen adaptation of JG Ballard’s ’70s dystopian sci-fi novel High-Rise off the ground, but now Ben Wheatley has managed the previously impossible. Unfortunately the film is a major disappointment; it lacks focus and depth, and its themes now feel derivative four decades after the publication of the novel.

By Eric Hillis of themoviewaffler.com