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Features Live Action Movies

Wuthering Heights
(2026)

Director – Emerald Fennell – 2026 – UK – Cert. 15 – 136m

***1/2

NSFW

Emily Brontë’s beloved fantasy romance gets a modern makeover with lashings of sex including some S&M – out in UK cinemas on Friday, February 13th

The late eighteenth century. A man is publicly hanged in a town square, with crowds in attendance. Among the onlookers, in a scene unlike anything else that follows it in terms of its scale (a cast of hundreds of if not thousands) is young urchin Cathy Earnshaw (Charlotte Mellington), relishing the spectacle alongside the other kids present.

Cathy lives with her father (Martin Clunes) and servants including young servant / companion Nelly (Vy Nguyen) in the family home Wuthering Heights on the Yorkshire Moors exposed to its treacherous weather of near constant rain, fog or snow. One night, father returns from the pub with a young boy he has rescued from being thrown out on the street by another customer. With the boy hiding in one of the upstairs bedrooms, Cathy goes to look for him only to be unexpectedly dragged under the bed in a moment invoking any number of horror movies. Under the bed, in the dark, she meets the boy (Owen Cooper).… Read the rest

Categories
Features Live Action Movies

Jeanne du Barry
(Jeanne du Barry)

Director – Maïwenn – 2023 – France – Cert. 15 – 117m

***1/2

A commoner works her way into the King of France’s affections and becomes a member of the aristocracy – out in UK cinemas on Friday, April 19th

Born of the illicit union between a monk and a cook, the latter (Marianne Basler) taken in along with her daughter by the kindly M. Dumousseaux (Robin Renuchi) who ensures the child gets a decent education, Jeanne (Maïwenn) quickly realises her only viable career options are cooking, which she has no intention of pursuing, and harlotry. Before long, favoured client Compte Jean du Barry suggests to her that she should meet the King. To achieve this, she would need to become part of the King’s court for which a title is required, so she marries Jean in order to become the Countess du Barry and be presented to the King, Louis XV (Johnny Depp) .

Catching his majesty’s eye and favour, she is invited to his apartment, like many other women before or after her (although one suspects there were more before than after). Before meeting him alone, she is schooled in royal etiquette by the King’s trusted, right-hand man La Borde (Benjamin Lavernhe).… Read the rest

Categories
Animation Features Movies Shorts

Memories
(Memorizu,
メモリーズ)

1/ Magnetic Rose (Kanojo no Omoide, 彼女の想いで)

2/ Stink Bomb (Saishu Heiki, 最臭兵器)

3/ Cannon Fodder (Taiho no Machi, 大砲の街)

Directors

– 1/ Koji Morimoto, 2/ Tensai Okamura, 3/ Katsuhiro Otomo

– 1995 – Japan – Cert. 12 – 113m

*****

Executive producer Katsuhiro Otomo’s anime anthology adapts three of his dystopian-themed manga stories into animation – out on Blu-ray from All The Anime, Monday, 12th September, details below review

The film that made Otomo’s name and the one with which he’s most frequently associated is Akira (1988). It wasn’t his first film, though. Previously, he was one of nine directors who collaborated on the uneven portmanteau Robot Carnival (1987), a compendium of different animated stories based around robots of various types. One of the other directors was Koji Morimoto.

Memories is loosely similar – it only has three stories (and three directors), allowing each of the segments a bit more room. Its three episodes are very different yet perfectly complement each other. Otomo directed the third section Cannon Fodder.

Parts of the roughly two hour Akira drag, while Otomo’s later Steamboy (2004) gets lost within a massive set piece after a near perfect opening first reel or so.… Read the rest