Movie of the week – Robocop
Paul Verhoeven’s satiritical sci-fi thriller Robocop turned 30 this year, and to celebrate, it’s screening at the Lighthouse late Friday night. Verhoeven brought a very European take to a very American genre, commenting on that country’s obsession with commercialism, gun culture and the growing power of the media. Its political message doesn’t get in the way of a damn good action movie though, with the film boasting some of the ’80s most memorable set-pieces. I’ll buy that for a dollar!
Almost Famous
The Lighthouse kicks off a new season devoted to screen portrayals of journalism on Saturday with an evening screening of Almost Famous. Based on writer-director Cameron Crowe’s own experiences writing for Rolling Stone as a teenager, it’s a charming love letter to a lost time. Themed cocktails will be served and the film will be followed by a karaoke party.
The Limehouse Golem
The main new release this week is Victorian thriller The Limehouse Golem. With London terrorised by an enigmatic killer, this borrows heavily from the Jack the Ripper mythos. While it raises some interesting notions about how we memorialise killers while forgetting their victims, the film suffers from stilted storytelling and would be more at home on ITV on a Sunday evening.
By Eric Hillis of themoviewaffler.com
