The Queen biopic Bohemian Rhapsody finally hits cinemas and Amandla Stenberg excels in The Hate U Give. Plus all this week's other new releases - here's what might pop your corn this week
Bohemian Rhapsody ***
With music as good as this, Bryan Singer’s beleaguered Queen biopic was never going to be a complete disaster, was it? Well, yes and no.
It cruises along in a mix of sheer spectacle and tragic comic storytelling with a soundtrack of pomp rock classics, tongue in cheek decadence, and cartoon machismo for sure but even before the film’s release, there has been much premature criticism of how Mercury’s notoriously tangled personal life has been portrayed.
The film wears its 12A cert rather sheepishly and maybe Brian May and Roger Taylor credits as co-producers has a lot to do with that . . . Read Alan Corr's full review
Halloween ****
2018's Halloween is the perfect companion piece to John Carpenter's 1978 classic, with a boundary-pushing script offering fans something truly cutting.
From the recognisable opening title, to subtle scene-setting nostalgia, it is clear director David Gordon Green, as well as his co-writers Danny McBride and Jeff Fradley, appreciate what made the original a masterpiece.
Set 40 years after the Oct. 31 murder spree, this follow-up makes a shrewd call to press delete on the string of post-1978 sequels . . . Read Laura Delaney's full review
The Hate U Give ****
Here we go again: another vital slice of cinema that's worth a couple of hours of anyone's time. This is a teen movie that packs an exceptional punch as it deals with a major issue in the USA, the killing of young black men by police officers.
It's a situation that's created the Black Lives Matter movement and caused ructions amongst NFL types as players take the knee in protest when the American national anthem is played pre-game. The situation has also of course given a platform to racist morons who are offended by African-Americans standing up for themselves.
It's a right mess . . . Read John Byrne's full review
Utøya: July 22 *****
Fearful and moving, Utøya: July 22 is based on the massacre of 69 Norwegian Labour Youth League members by the 32-year old right-wing extremist Anders Behring Breivik , on the Norwegian island of the title, on July 22, 2011.
33 of the victims were under the age of 18. 99 young people were seriously injured in the shooting, and 300 of the holiday-makers were psychologically damaged by what they experienced. Breivik had set a bomb to explode earlier that day in Oslo’s government quarter, which killed eight people . . . Read Paddy Kehoe's full review
Don't Worry, He Won't Get Far on Foot ***
Because of its relentlessly arch attitude, Gus Van Zant's off-beat exercise about paralysis and alcoholism may leave you unmoved when you feel you should be moved. Perhaps that was the intention anyway and the Good Will Hunting director - he also did the excellent Elephant - didn't want to do a pure A-Z Hollywood, triumph over adversary etc.
You never quite know what to make of Joaquin Phoenix's powerfully ambivalent rendering of the life of the late cartoonist John Callahan. Are you supposed to laugh or cry or just remain unmoved. Up to you, dear viewer . . . Read Paddy Kehoe's full review
