THE HATEFUL EIGHT
18 (Entertainment in Video)
The 8th film by Quentin Tarantino. This claustrophobic epic tells the story of bounty hunters taking shelter from a blizzard in Minnie’s Haberdashery. We soon discover this melting pot of post-Civil War figures really shouldn’t be in a room together, and someone might not be who they seem. Ennio Morricone’s masterful Oscar winning score creates the perfect atmosphere for this bloody snowy romp. DM
ROOM
15 (StudioCanal)
If Jacob Tremblay got the nomination he deserved, Leo might have lost this year’s Academy Award for Best Actor race to an 8-year-old, but at least his on screen mother, Brie Larson, won Best Actress. Room is a tale of two sides, detailing the haunting life of a kidnapped mother and son growing up in the confinement of room, before attempting to make a break for the larger world outside. DM
SPOTLIGHT
15 (Entertainment One)
Winner of this year’s Best Picture at the Oscars, Spotlight tells the gritty true life story of The Boston Globe’s investigation into allegations of child sex abuse by the Catholic Church. Michael Keaton (starring in back to back Best Picture winners) heads the Spotlight team along with Mark Ruffalo, Rachel McAdams and Liev Schreiber as they expose a truth darker than any of them imagined. DM
THE BIG SHORT
15 (Paramount)
Who would have thought a film about the burst of the American housing bubble would work… well Adam McKay gave it a go. The fantastic ensemble cast (Bale, Carell, Gosling & Pitt) manage to pull off some laughs in this intricate financial drama, but the film doesn’t try to dumb down its economic jargon, so at times you can be left scratching your head. DM
CHRONIC
15 (Curzon Artificial Eye)
Tim Roth stars as David Wilson, a hospice nurse for patients with terminal illnesses. Lonely and troubled, David forms intimate relationships with those who are often overlooked by society. The film tackles the taboos surrounding death well, dealing with polemical issues like euthanasia and whether it’s better to know when we will die or not. LOB
RAN
12 (Studiocanal)
The legendary Japanese director Akira Kurosawa (Seven Samurai) directed Ran in 1985, and is seen as his final masterpiece. The film is a retelling of Shakespeare’s King Lear set in Japan’s Sengoku period. An ageing warlord plans to divide his kingdom between his three sons, and the three battle for absolute power in this beautifully shot truly epic tale. LOB
DADDY’S HOME
12 (Universal)
Will Ferrell stars as a gentle stepfather trying to get his wife’s children to like him when all of a sudden their real father, played by Mark Wahlberg, enters the scene to try and win his family back. This is a tale of classic one-upmanship with some funny moments, but it doesn’t quite live up to its potential and lacks the truly ridiculous nature of films like The Other Guys that the duo did well. LOB
MOJAVE
15 (Signature Entertainment)
Thomas (Garrett Hedlund), a violent privileged artist, and Jack (Oscar Isaac), a mysterious drifter, face off against each other in this run-of-the-mill thriller. Jack follows Thomas back to his home and attempts to infiltrate his cosy life, threatening his family and forcing Thomas to confront his past. While there’s little innovation, if any to this film, it’s still a mildly entertaining story. LOB