FEBRUARYFILM RELEASES
01 FebruaryFlight It really is Washington Vs Lincoln this month, as Denzel turns in this Oscar-nominated performance as an airline pilot who saves his passengers from disaster, but then finds his reputation starting to crumble under scrutiny.
01 FebruaryBullet to the HeadStallone, Christian Slater and Jason Momoa star in this action thriller based on the cult graphic novel. If you like your films fast, witty and chock-full of people beating the shit out of other people, watch this.
08 February HitchcockAnthony Hopkins stars as the titular, rotund scare- monger in this tale of love and psycho killing.Hopkins is great, as are Scarlett Johansson as a young Janet Leigh and Helen Mirren as the lady behind the silhouette.
08 February Warm BodiesRomance is literally dead, in this teenage rom-com about a boy who just wants to eat out a girl. No – it’s not ANOTHER American Pie movie, it’s Warm Bodies - a modern day Romeo and Juliet. With zombies. Smiley
DVDOF THE MONTH BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD
God, I love the Oscars! In the midst of a recession it’s heart-
warming to see millionaires dressed in annual salaries giving each other gold statues. Also, sometimes the Oscars place on your radar a film that may otherwise have escaped your notice, that is far from the usual sentimental guff Hollywood likes to back-slap itself for producing. I probably wouldn’t have seen BOTSW had its four nominations not made it part of my pre-Oscars prep, but I’m cock-a-hoop they did. It’s a breathtakingly brutal, tear-pissingly moving and savagely beautiful odyssey of a young girl’s struggle for survival in a water-logged, near-future dystopia based loosely on the Bayou area in the aftermath of hurricane Katrina. Sold yet? I thought not. “But,
Jay, how can such awful subject matter imbue a film which, according to you, is lovely, and that?” I hear you ask. BOTSW is rich in symbolism, metaphor and allegory, subtly blended into a kind of magic reality, that’s how. We feel like we’re seeing through the eyes of young Hushpuppy, rendering the magic all the more beautiful, and the reality - profoundly bleak. Naturally, it all hangs off the performance of Quvenzhané Wallis who, at just nine years old, is the youngest ever nominee for a best actress Oscar. It’s a prodigious, heart- breaking turn, directed with skill. I’ll have one last go: Tis unique masterpiece is honestly one of the best films I’ve seen in years. Still not convinced? Ten why even bother reading this column, you nob. Jay Freeman
FEBRUARYDVD RELEASES
04 FebruaryGirls - Season 1Series creator, director, writer and star Lena Dunham went from awkward outsider to awards-season darling entirely on the many strengths of this one sharp, insightful and hilarious series. Tink Sex and the City but not shit.
11 FebruaryRoom 237Fascinating fan-boy documentary examining the many interpretations of hidden symbolism in Kubrick’s masterpiece Te Shining, ranging from plausible (it’s a potted history of America) to bat-shit crazy (it’s Kubrick confessing that he faked the moon-landings).
18 FebruarySkyfall James Bourne (oops, sorry, I meant Jason Bond) does battle with an international homosexual conspiracy led by anabsolutely fer-laming Javier Bardem. Dame Judi Dench is scene-stealing as Bond’s ageing lesbian sidekick Fisty Slotcrammer.
25 FebruaryFrankenweenieTe observant among you may remember that this was recommended in last month’s column. A rescheduled release, maybe to capitalise on its nomination for best-animated film in this month’s Oscars, means it gets to feature here twice. Classic Burton, and still as brilliant as it was in January.
Jay Freeman
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