Film Fans, and movie maniacs you need to head to your local cinema this weekend to see the hottest films around. If you’re after Tom Hiddleston as a blood thirsty vampire, or Shia laBeouf wearing far less than a paper bag, well its all here in one bite size package just for you and courtesy of our friends at The Reel Deal.
So watch our resident film critic take you through whats hot on the big screen this week. Its a corker!
If you’re not catching the #LFF London Film Festival next month then fear not, only a few short weeks later will be the 17th annual UK Jewish Film Festival. This years festival will feature screenings of over 70 films and other special events across five cities – London, Glasgow, Leeds, Liverpool and Manchester – over the course of 19 days from 31st October 2013.
From gala premieres to documentaries about the Jewish culture, here’s a few of our highlights which look like ones not to miss!
Joe Papp in Five Acts
A riveting portrait of a transformative figure in the New York theatre scene, Joe Papp – a poor, tough, Jewish kid from Brooklyn – who created Central Park’s free Shakespeare In The Park Festival, which launched the careers of everyone from Meryl Streep to Kevin Kline, all of whom feature here.
This radical and tumultuous personality introduced colour-blind casting, nurtured emerging playwrights, fostered countercultural plays like Hair, and revolutionized commercial theatre with the Broadway smash hit A Chorus Line, as well as founding the Public Theatre.
Packed with testimonials from Christopher Walken, Martin Sheen, James Earl Jones and Meryl Streep – and framed by Kevin Kline’s exquisite monologues.
Hava Nagila (The Movie)
Featuring interviews with Harry Belafonte, Leonard Nimoy, Connie Francis, Glen Campbell, Regina Spektor and more. Hava Nagila (The Movie) is a documentary romp through the history, mystery and meaning of the great Jewish standard.
The film follows the ubiquitous party song on its fascinating journey from Ukraine and Israel to the Catskils, Hollywood and the world, using the song as a springboard to explore Jewish history and identity and to spotlight the cross-cultural connections that can only be achieved through music.
High on fun and entertainment, Hava Nagila (The Movie) is also surprisingly profound, tapping into universal themes about the importance of joy, the power of music and the resilient spirit of a people.
Blumenthal
Funny, clever and abrasive New York comedy from a young director tipped as the next Woody Allen, starring the inimitable Brian Cox CBE.
Blumenthal is a comedy about a family in motion. The severely constipated Saul Blumenthal desperately wants to go. His brother Harold the famous playwright (whom Saul believes plagiarised his life), has just gone. Saul’s wife Cheryl fears she’s a has-been and considers cosmetic surgery whilst Ethan, the main protagonist, is on a duel-pronged journey to find a soulmate and Harold’s lifetime achievement award, as a form of recompense for his father…
Welcome to the world of American Modern Day ‘Jewrosis’!
You can book your tickets via the Film Festival website but don’t leave it too late or you’ll miss out on all of these fantastic films.
A gripping thrill rollercoaster of a ride, The Call is an interesting insight into the world of the Los Angeles 911 emergency services.
Starring Oscar winner Halle Berry as Jordan Turner a veteran 911 operator, we watch her journey as she takes a life altering call from a teenage girl played by Little Miss Sunshine herself Abigail Breslin. Not only does this call mean Jordan has to try and guide this girl to safety, she also has to confront a killer from her past and overcome her fears. 
Cut back and forth between the abduction and ‘The Hive’ (the department for 911 emergency assistants who work away like busy bees) the audience are taken on a tense ride and education as to what it really means to be a 911 operator. Making judgments between protocol and human instinct is a fine line in lifesaving situations, as we see through this film. Halle Berry is back to her finest in the majority of this film, as she showcases a mix of emotions that make the audience empathise with the difficult job she is faced with. Just like her character we understand the stress of the job and the natural (probably female) instincts that she has when faced with a child being abducted, and the consequences that lie ahead should Jordan as the operator put a foot wrong.
We also see a fantastic performance from Abigail Breslin as the victim. We follow her day as a normal girl shopping in a mall with her friend, and then once left alone, gets drugged, abducted and thrown in the trunk of a car by her kidnapper. The most tense and exciting part of the film is the interaction between the victim and Jordan. From the trunk she manages to make a 911 call which initially goes through to a rookie who finds herself way out of her depth and then gets passed on to Jordan. From this point on, you as the audience find out some really clever tricks to try and get yourself rescued from a kidnapping, using everything you can find to discover where you are travelling to, what the car looks like and most importantly anything you can do to pop open that trunk and jump out.
Breslin shows here that she has matured from a child to young adult actor seamlessly. Matching Halle Berry’s ranges of emotions, you watch her go from despair to sheer determination to get herself out of this situation alive. It’s this that makes the first three quarters of this film so engaging to watch…
…And then, sadly, in the last fifteen minutes or so, the film takes a tumble, so prepare yourself for this. After an hour and fifteen minutes of an intense, edge of your seat adrenalin filled thrill ride of a film, The Call sadly falls into the depths of B-Movie status and takes a route so completely left field of the original plot its not only difficult to watch, its also totally disappointing. It’s a shame that the film leaves you with such a sour taste at the end, it had so much promise, but there is still the opportunity to remember the immense film you had watched just before this semi-car crash.
Regardless of it’s ending, The Call is still very much worth a watch. For the majority, it’s an intelligent, intense and exciting film with great performances.
The Call hits cinemas on the 20th September 2013.
3 Stars.
Snoochie Boochies 