Thursday 20 June 2013

The Purge


Tonight I have been to see The Purge.

One family faces terror on a night when all crime is legal in this white knuckle ride of a sci-fi thriller. In the New America of the future, crime is at an all-time low. But this achievement has come at a price. Each year, citizens are permitted to let off steam for one night only in a cathartic orgy of criminality called The Purge. Anything goes - even murder! - as all emergency services are suspended for 12 hours. In their luxury gated community, the Sandin family prepare for the annual lockdown. Dad James (Ethan Hawke) assures his wife Mary (Lena Headey) and kids that everything will be OK. But then a stranger finds his way into their home, hotly pursued by a sinister masked mob. From the people who gave us 'Assault on Precinct 13' and the 'Paranormal Activity' films, this is a thrill-packed vision of a horrifying future.

Thursday 13 June 2013

The Audience


Tonight I have been to see The Audience.

Helen Mirren reprises her Oscar-winning role as Queen Elizabeth II in this eagerly awaited National Theatre production Following its sold-out West End run, Stephen Daldry's The Audience is broadcast live in Cineworld. The acclaimed production is now the proud winner of 2 Olivier Awards - Helen Mirren for Best Actress and Richard McCabe for Best Supporting Actor. Written by Peter Morgan, screenwriter of The Queen, and broadcast as part of National Theatre Live, The Audience takes us behind the doors of Buckingham Palace - into a series of meetings like no other in British society. During her sixty-year reign, Elizabeth II has granted a special weekly audience to each of her twelve Prime Ministers. Both parties have agreed never to repeat what is said. Now, this fascinating blend of fact and fiction imagines the meetings that have taken place between the various Downing Street incumbents and the Queen. A uniquely intimate speculation about the dialogue that occurs between our heads of state, this is an unmissable opportunity to see the regal Helen Mirren return to the role that secured her the Academy Award.

Tuesday 11 June 2013

The Great Gatsby


Last Tuesday I went to see The Great Gatsby.

"The Great Gatsby" follows would-be writer Nick Carraway as he leaves the Midwest and comes to New York City in the spring of 1922, an era of loosening morals, glittering jazz, bootleg kings, and sky-rocketing stocks. Chasing his own American Dream, Nick lands next door to a mysterious, party-giving millionaire, Jay Gatsby, and across the bay from his cousin, Daisy, and her philandering, blue-blooded husband, Tom Buchanan. It is thus that Nick is drawn into the captivating world of the super rich, their illusions, loves and deceits. As Nick bears witness, within and without of the world he inhabits, he pens a tale of impossible love, incorruptible dreams and high-octane tragedy, and holds a mirror to our own modern times and struggles.