The Definitive Guide to Living in the Capital , Cairo , Egypt

Film

In Cairo Cinemas: What to Expect From This Week’s New Film Releases

In Cairo Cinemas: What to Expect From This Week’s New Film Releases
written by
Cairo 360

A mere few weeks have passed since the 89th Academy Awards, but the Oscar race for next year has already begun. With the exception of the late-arriving Jackie (which was nominated in three different categories) whether the rest of this week’s film will be in the running next year, but there’s a little bit of everything for everyone. Here’s what to expect from this week’s new releases.

Jackie

What’s it About? This one’s pretty straightforward. The film tells of the aftermath of John F Kennedy’s murder through the eyes of First Lady, Jacqueline Kennedy, as she comes to terms with both the death of her husband and one of the darkest moments in American history.

Why it Might Be Good: As mentioned Jackie landed itself three Oscar nominations; it didn’t win any, but Natalie Portman was nominated for what has been lauded as a performance of a lifetime. On her day, Portman can be a powerhouse (see Black Swan). The subject matter, too, is potentially engrossing, with the plot taking a very personal approach to the JFK’s assassination.

Why it Might Be Bad: Criticisms leveled at the film have focused on the nature of the scripts portrayal of its heroine; some have said that it sheds no new light on Jackie Kennedy’s perceived public image and that it doesn’t do enough to humanize her, instead presenting her through a fictional interview as someone getting to grips with her place in history – but not in any real thoughtful way.

Kong: Skull Island

What’s it About? Towards the end of the Vietnam War, a rag-tag team of explorers and soldiers head to uncharted island in the Pacific, because, well, why not? Little do they know that beyond its shores and deep into its jungle, a land of monsters awaits, the most lethal of which is history’s most famous big monkey.

Why Might it Be Good: First off, the cast is rather enticing – Tom Hiddleston, Samuel L. Jackson, Brie Larson, John Goodman and John C. Reilly all star. While we’ve been told this about previous Kong films, this one seems heavily-influenced by that very Japanese aesthetic and the design of the island and its inhabitants looks spectacular.

Why it Might Be Bad: Do we need another reinvention of Kong? The 2005 remake was a critical and commercial success, but it seems that the only motivation behind this one is to get the Monsterverse on its legs following 2014’s Godzilla – which seems a like pretty  unnecessary   fictional movie universe, too, if we’re all being honest.

Before I Fall

What’s it About? Based on a young adult novel of the same name, think of Before I Fall as a much more serious and moral-teaching version of Groundhog Day. The story tells of a high-school senior who comes to realise that she is reliving the last day of her life over and over again, before realising that she’s being given every chance to get her last day on earth ‘right’.

Why Might it Be Good: Up-and-coming actress, Zoey Deutch, has impressed critics and has been earmarked as one to look out for this year, while any freshness in what is hackneyed time-loop gimmick, is owed to the young adult perspective that is still putting bums in cinema seats.

Why it Might Be Bad: The set-up reeks of over-sentimentality and emotional manipulation; the ending of the film is said to take the most melodramatic of approaches and for anyone who isn’t a young adult who reads young adult novels, then this is shaping up to be gratingly bad.  

Rock Dog

What’s it About? How this film came to be is a bit of an odd story; Rock Dog  is an American animation, based on a comic strip by a Chinese musician and financed by a Chinese production company. It’s all pretty simple, otherwise; a radio falls from the sky into the lap of a dog, who realizes and subsequently follows his dream of becoming a musician – a rock dog..

Why it Might Be Good: Take this for what it is – a dog who wants to become a musician is as promising a concept as any animated anthropomorphism and promises to be an easy, pleasant watch.

Why it Might Be Bad: The animations looks sub-standard and the film is lacking badly in star power. While JK Simmons is always a hoot, Luke Wilson, Eddie Izzard, Matt Dillon and Kenan Thompson – of Kenan & Kel fame – aren’t big box office draws or particularly acclaimed actors.

Stay tuned for all the info you need for this week’s new films with the Cairo 360 Cinema Guide – showing times, cinema locations, reviews and more.

recommended