COMING SOON As Christmas is almost upon us, you might be looking for gifts at the bottom of the bargain bin in some desperate attempt to placate that tricky family member. Remember, film is subjective, so as long as they haven’t seen it, you have a 50/50 chance of getting it right. Worsecase scenario, they roll their eyes and say ‘thanks’ in that tone that makes you want to pistol whip them. I have news for you: if it’s a first time offence, you will get away with no more than two quick strikes to the face, go for it. The ungrateful need a few love taps to the face once in a while.
Words: MILES EDGINTON
A Million Ways to Die in the WesT Synopsis: Seth MacFarlane convinces a cast of comedy geniuses and acting heavyweights to enjoy the same success of Ted. Possibly.
INTO THE STORM Synopsis: Mother nature delivers her usual performance of death and destruction. Nature attacks. Think of it as a modern day Twister. Same group of insane storm chasers, this time with an abundance of self-shooting cameras. That’s right, it’s another film that has used the ‘found footage’ principal. I wouldn’t say it’s a format that I embrace, but it doesn’t do too badly in this epic storm chaser. Buy this for that someone who was born post-Twister and will have no idea what pistol whipping is.
Let’s get one thing straight: Family Guy is a monolithic success and a hilarious show. It takes ‘the line’ and fires it out of a cannon, into the sun. Ted was Seth MacFarlane’s first outing into features and was arguably a great concept. What would happen if your childhood teddy came to life, and then lived with you into adult life? A Million Ways to Die in the West however, doesn’t have the same well-formed effect. A western, after all, is a hard thing to crack, especially a comedy version. It will only appeal to certain audiences. Buy this for the person in your life that will use the pistol on themselves.
Automata Synopsis: AI. Enough said. Antonio Banderas – as an insurance agent. I can imagine his face in his agent’s office. “Why not a gun toting cop?” “Well, Antonio, that part is going to Dylan McDermot”. This role sees a more sombre and conflicted Banderas take on ‘the man’ in favour of a new race of autonomous robots. Cue Isaac Asimov’s three rules and we are on our way to robot hell in a hand basket. Banderas is called in to investigate a robot violating its operating system and self-repairing, only to find a very deep rabbit hole. Download and gift this to the person in your life that wants to be pistol whipped by a phaser gun.