Russell Crowe in “The Water Diviner”.
“Night at the Museum 3” (PG)
VALE Mickey Rooney, whose career began in 1926 and will end posthumously in 2015 playing Mr Louis in “Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde”. In this comedy set in a museum where the exhibits come alive after closing time, Rooney appears for the third time as Gus. Vale, Robin Williams, playing Teddy Roosevelt for the third time in his penultimate appearance (still to come in “Absolutely Anything”). Jinx? Hoodoo? Will there be a version 4? Who cares?
At Dendy, Capitol 6 and Palace
“The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies” (unclassified)
DECEMBER’S blockbuster has Sir Peter Jackson setting the familiar cast to baulking Smaug’s ambition to rule over Middle Earth, from which the chief export is money to Sir Peter. Which enabled him to buy my sister-in-law’s garden from Ngaranui and transplant it to his place.
At Dendy, Palace and Capitol 6 (3D)
“Big Hero 6” (G)
BAYMAX is a big inflatable animation hero whose whiz-kid best pal Hiro transforms his friends into a band of high-tech heroes called “Big Hero 6″ to save San Fransokyo from devastation.
At Dendy, Palace and Capitol 6
“The Penguins of Madagascar” (G)
THOSE brave, talented flightless birds join forces with undercover organisation The North Wind to stop the villainous Dr Octavius Brine from destroying the world.
At Dendy and Capitol 6
“The Water Diviner” (M)
IN his directorial debut, Russell Crowe also plays a father who goes to Gallipoli in 1919 to locate his three sons who fought there.
At Dendy, Palace and Capitol, 6
“St Vincent” (M)
I EXCORIATED Melissa McCarthy for “Tammy”, the out-of-control ego trip that she wrote, produced, directed and played the lead in. In “St Vincent” she plays Maggie, mother of young Oliver who needs a minder. Playing her neighbour, Vietnam vet Vincent, Bill Murray needs no further acclamation. The film gives McCarthy and Murray great scope for interaction. “St Vincent” shows that her unique style can deliver if there’s a director on hand to keep her under control.
At Dendy, Palace and Capitol, 6
“Suffragette” (unclassified)
CAREY Mulligan plays a working-class woman who had seen peaceful protest achieve nothing against an increasingly brutal government’s opposition to women’s equality. Meryl Streep plays Emmeline Pankhurst and Helena Bonham Carter plays an upper-class woman. Writer Abi Morgan’s track record (“Shame”, “The Iron Lady”) doesn’t shy away from contentious themes.
At Palace
“Mr Turner” (M)
SUCH was the audience response during the recent British Film Festival to Mike Leigh’s affectionate, no-holds-barred memoir of England’s greatest Romantic painter that Palace Electric ran it again, to full houses. Timothy Spall’s full-blown portrayal of Turner is breathtaking, perhaps at times exaggerated for fully-justified dramatic effect. And the paintings are a delight.
At Capitol 6 and Palace
OPENING JANUARY 1
“The Imitation Game” (M)
THE story of the Enigma cipher machine and how mathematician Alan Turing invented a machine with which the British decoded Nazi military and naval signals during World War II was top secret until relatively recently. Turing’s awkward personality and homosexuality makes Norwegian Morten Tyldum’s film more poignant. Benedict Cumberbatch’s portrayal of Turing is great.
At Palace and Capitol, 6
“Into the Woods” (PG)
A BAKER and his wife cope with a curse laid on them by a witch (Meryl Streep). Rob Marshall’s film combines James Ledine’s Broadway screenplay with Stephen Sondheim’s musical adaptations of Brothers Grimm fairy tales Cinderella, Little Red Riding Hood, Jack and the Beanstalk, and Rapunzel.
At Dendy and Palace
Information correct at time of writing, but opening dates may vary. Some titles were still awaiting classification.
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