The Cinema Corner – June 24th

Movie of the week - Suburra

Movie of the week – Suburra

The must see release this week is Italian crime epic Suburra, in which the death of an underage prostitute in a politician’s hotel room sparks a war between Rome’s Mafia tribes. The various subplots are interwoven skilfully, and while it’s densely plotted, it’s never confusing; masterful storytelling. This one is a real gift for fans of the sort of sophisticated crime dramas English language cinema no longer seems interested in creating.

Remainder

Another new gem is British head-trip Remainder, the story of a young man who awakens from a coma following a freak accident on a London street. Suffering from amnesia, he sets about pumping his £8.5 million compensation reward into elaborately piecing together his past. This one keeps you guessing, and you’ll want to skip back to the start once it climaxes to see which clues you missed.

Ma Ma

Penelope Cruz is cinema’s least convincing cancer patient in superficial Spanish drama Ma Ma. This is the worst sort of awards pandering fluff, and its shallow examination of the world’s most lethal affliction leaves a nasty taste in the mouth.

Independence Day: Resurgence

Hollywood’s lazy obsession with sequels continues with the two decades late follow up Independence Day: Resurgence. In a summer that’s given us a host of cynical blockbuster cash-grabs, this is one of the worst, boasting two hours of Dad jokes and derivative set-pieces.

The Thing

If you fancy a reminder of how great science fiction really can be, head along to the Lighthouse tonight where you can catch a late screening of John Carpenter’s paranoid 1982 masterpiece The Thing; it doesn’t get much better than this one!

By Eric Hillis of themoviewaffler.com