The Brutalist
Out in cinemas 20 February (Available at Shaw Theatres)
Stars: Adrien Brody, Felicity Jones, Guy Pearce
Laszlo (Brody) is an accomplished architect whose life is ripped apart in the aftermath of the Second World War. A Hungarian Holocaust survivor, Laszlo emigrates to the United States, where he finds refuge at his cousin’s. A series of fateful events leads him to be discovered by a wealthy businessman, Harrison (Pearce), who is fascinated by Laszlo and commissions him to build a community centre dedicated to his late mother. Harrison helps reunite Laszlo with his long-lost wife (Jones) and niece, before his relationship with the architect sours drastically.
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Adrien Brody: A talent for torment
An Oscar winner for The Pianist, in which he lost a significant amount of weight to portray a frail Holocaust survivor, the actor is the hot favourite to win his second Best Actor award this year.
If ever you needed an actor to portray misery, with deep, soulful eyes, just call Adrien Brody.
The 51-year-old New Yorker, who won the Academy Award in 2003 for playing the title role of The Pianist, as a survivor of the German occupation of Warsaw in World War II, is expected to be nominated for his second Oscar this year.
Before he became the youngest actor to ever win the Best Actor Oscar, aged 29 at the time, Brody was an up-and-coming performer who had first taken acting lessons as a child.
In his 20s, he worked with the enigmatic director Terrence Malick for The Thin Red Line in 1998, and with another notable director, Spike Lee, for the 1999 thriller, Summer of Sam.
Following the success of The Pianist, Brody would go on to star in M Night Shyamalan’s The Village (2004), Peter Jackson’s King Kong (2005), Rian Johnson’s The Brothers Bloom (2008), Woody Allen’s Midnight in Paris (2011), and the 2015 Jackie Chan historical action flick, Dragon Blade, opposite John Cusack.
He has also been a frequent collaborator of Wes Anderson’s, appearing in five of the whimsical director’s memorable films, including The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014), The French Despatch (2021), and the most recent, Asteroid City (2023).
On television, Brody has appeared in the hit series Peaky Blinders, Succession, and Winning Time, as well as in Poker Face.
While a deft hand at comedy, and someone who’s also not afraid to dip into action movies, Brody will be known to a wider audience for his dramatic work.
His latest film, The Brutalist, sees him play a woebegone Holocaust survivor from Hungary, who seeks a new life in America after the war, and goes on to meet a rich man who would change his fate.
Bridget Jones: Mad About The Boy
Out in cinemas 13 February (Available at Shaw Theatres)
Stars: Renée Zellweger, Leo Woodall, Hugh Grant
The indomitable Bridget Jones (Zellweger) is back. When we last saw her, she was happily marrying the love of her life – well, one of them – Mark Darcy. In this sequel, we find out that Mark has died and that Bridget is now a 50-something widowed mother of two. Her best friends, of course, believe that she should start dating again. Life must go on, but not with her ex Daniel Cleaver (Grant), who has re-emerged like a persistent stain. Instead, Bridget finds herself falling for a much-younger man (Woodall) and flirting with her children’s teacher, Mr Wallaker.
Dark Nuns
Out in cinemas 13 February (Available at Shaw Theatres)
Stars: Song Hye-kyo, Jeon Yeo-been, Moon Woo-jin
When a young boy is found ailing, a psychiatrist tries to cure the child through medical means. However, others feel the boy is in need of spiritual intervention. Sister Giunia (Song) firmly believes that the child has been possessed by an evil spirit that threatens his life. When an ordained priest is unable to arrive in time to perform an exorcism, she takes matters into her own hands, breaking sacred rules in an attempt to cast the powerful spirit out. Soon, the nun engages the help of Sister Michaela (Jeon), as they discover a dark secret in their convent.
Last Breath
Out in cinemas 27 February (Available at Shaw Theatres)
Stars: Woody Harrelson, Cliff Curtis, Simu Liu
A pull, a snap and deep-sea diver Chris Lemons is left utterly alone in the submarine darkness. While conducting a routine repair operation under the sea, Chris and his dive colleague David (Liu) get a sudden, urgent call to abandon their post. A serious system failure aboard their ship at the surface, along with rough seas, meant that the vessel would be drifting imminently instead of staying in place above them. As David is dragged away by the ship, Chris is left trapped, his lifeline snapped, and with only minutes of breathable gas in his emergency tank.
Bob Dylan: A Complete Unknown
Out in cinemas 27 February (Available at Shaw Theatres)
Stars: Timothée Chalamet, Elle Fanning, Monica Barbaro
Robert Allen Zimmerman, better known as the legendary musician Bob Dylan (Chalamet), moves to New York City in 1961 as a 20-year-old seeking his way in the world. There, he meets the people who would go on to influence his music and shape his career. They include the folk singers Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger and Joan Baez (Barbaro). Dylan also meets and falls for a young woman named Sylvie (Fanning), whom he would move in with. As his career takes off, Dylan finds himself drawn to Baez and tries a controversial experiment with his music.
Nosferatu
Out in cinemas 27 February (Available at Shaw Theatres)
Stars: Lily-Rose Depp, Nicholas Hoult, Bill Skarsgård
The year is 1838 and Ellen (Depp) and Thomas (Hoult) are a happily married young couple living in the German town of Wisburg. As Thomas pursues his career in real estate, Ellen is increasingly troubled by visions of death and a demonic figure who plagues her dreams. Thomas then unwittingly meets a client, the reclusive Count Orlok (Skarsgard), who turns out to be an ancient evil – a vampire which brings pestilence and bloodlust wherever it goes. The Count, it seems, has a connection with Ellen, who harbours a dark childhood secret.
[Trailer: https://youtu.be/ZnSWpdAyH5k?si=8x9XblM-6Ux3ofwU]
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