Movie of the week – Straight Time
Dustin Hoffman fans can rejoice this week – the movie that made him a star, The Graduate returns to both the Irish Film Institute and the Lighthouse this week in a new restoration. Meanwhile, the IFI continue their retrospective of the iconic actor’s career with screenings of the highly under-rated crime thriller Straight Time (Friday), comic drama Tootsie (Saturday), and Kramer Vs Kramer and Rain Man (Sunday).
Sabrina
Over at the Lighthouse, the Hepburn Forever season continues unabated. You can catch Katherine in the racially charged Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner? on Sunday and Wednesday, and Audrey in taut thriller Wait Until Dark (Friday) and classic rom-com Sabrina (Saturday and Tuesday).
The Book of Henry
It’s just as well so many classics are on offer, as this week’s batch of new releases is woeful. The worst film I’ve seen this year, perhaps this decade, is The Book of Henry, an incredibly misjudged thriller that adds comic elements to a story of child abuse. With a mother plotting to kill her neighbour based on a journal left behind by her dead son, this one really has to be seen to be believed.
Transformers: The Last Knight
Transformers: The Last Knight is the latest in a series that makes an insane amount of money with each installment, despite nobody confessing to enjoying the films. It’s as bad as you might expect, an overblown, over-long and over-plotted mess, but I have to admit it features arguably the best CG FX I’ve ever witnessed.
From the Land of the Moon
Marion Cotillard delivers an impressive performance, playing a woman young enough to be her daughter, in the French romantic drama From the Land of the Moon. She’s the one bright spot in an otherwise dull movie that features ludicrous plot developments, yet plays it all far too straight.
By Eric Hillis of themoviewaffler.com
