Tuesday and Friday. That’s all you get this week as far as new releases are concerned. Definitely slower than last week, the highest profile film to be released in the next seven days is Ted 2, though The Human Centipede does rear its ugly – is it a head? or an anus? Whatever it is I don’t like it. As well as those two, though, we have a new Dustin Hoffman film, and several really lovely looking smaller films, so read on…
We kick off with the return of Seth MacFarlane to cinema screens in the form of Ted 2. The sequel to the successful story of a Peter Griffin the teddy bear, by no means should you assume that Ted 2 is some kind of cash grab. It has definitely been made with love and care and based on a well thought out set of creative decisions. Still, Family Guy is funny, American Dad is funny, Ted was funny, there’s no reason that its sequel absolutely won’t be. The film follows the enduring friendship of a man and his sentient teddy, stars Seth MacFarlane and Mark Wahlberg (but not Mila Kunis anymore), and hits cinemas on Tuesday.
A comedy-drama (or dramedy, of drama-comedy, or one of those films that is funny and then serious, so, like, most films) following the lives of four black students at an Ivy-League college, Dear White People premiered at Sundance 2014, where writer and director Justin Semien received a Grand-Jury award for Breakthrough Talent. The film which offers a satirical look at racism in a post-racism America (read, not so post-racist), received serious critical acclaim on its release in the US, and is now being given a limited release in the UK. If you can see it, try to, it looks fantastic. The film is released on Friday.
The most well-known of the Friday releases this week is probably going to be The Human Centipede 3 (Final Sequence) – or as I like to call it, Fred West’s wet dream. If you thought that there was already enough ass-to-face cinema to go around, you were wrong, as the centipede gets even bigger in its third instalment. It is advised that if you don’t know what The Human Centipede is, you probably shouldn’t go see this film, but if you do know what it is, and you watched the first film (and, God forbid, the second) and thought, “You know what, I need more of this”, then by all means go watch it.
For people who don’t like torture-porn, but do like, say, film, Friday has more to offer you still – with a biopic of the Beach Boys’ Brian Wilson called Love & Mercy. The film focuses on Wilson (played by Paul Dano) during the height of the Beach Boys success, as he tries to record the album Pet Sounds while grappling with an ever loosening grip on reality and the voices in his head. At the same time, John Cusack plays a middle-aged Wilson, suffering from pharmaceutical and legal issues, who is under the control of his therapist. The film also stars Paul Giamatti and Elizabeth Banks, and has received largely positive critical reception.
A cute little animated film, Song of the Sea, is set to receive a limited UK release this week. The film, which follows a girl who can turn into a seal as she goes on an adventure with her brother to save the spirit world, was nominated for Best Animated Feature at the 87th Academy Awards and features Brendan Gleeson among its voice-cast. Yet another film to receive oodles of praise from critics, Song of the Sea may be hard to find at your local cinema when it is released on Friday, but if you can it will be more than worth the effort.
Wrapping up the week of film is Boychoir (although it may also be called The Choir, it’s all kind of unclear). The film stars Dustin Hoffman and Eddie Izzard (in a smaller role), and tells the story of a troubled young orphan who is sent to a boy choir school, where he battles against the Choir Master, who recognises his talent and tries to help him make him great – so like Whiplash but with singing instead of drums, and Dustin Hoffman instead of J.K. Simmonds. The film is released on Friday.
