PLANNING ON HEADING to the cinema this weekend?

There are a few new movies out, but which is a must-watch, and are there any you should avoid? We take a look.

Phantom Thread

What we know

Paul Thomas Anderson returns with what’s billed as Daniel Day-Lewis’s final film (sob!) about a talented and renowned dressmaker who finds a love affair disrupts his perfectly organised life.

What the critics say

• “Anderson initially seems to revel in this splendid isolation, matching Woodcock’s precision in fine details. This is cinema of refined self-containment, music and image merged in rhapsodic artifice.” – Games Radar
• “On first viewing, the captivating strangeness of the mood and the elegant threading of the plot are likely to hold your attention, but later you can go back to savor the lustrous colors, the fine-grained performances and the romantic mystery that holds the whole thing together.” – New York Times 

What’s it rated?

• RottenTomatoes: 8.4/10
• IMDB: 8.4/1

Den of Thieves

What we know

An American heist film, this stars Gerard Butler, O’Shea Jackson Jr, and even 50 Cent. Butler is a cop who heads up the Major Crimes unit, while Pablo Schreiber is the criminal who’s planning the heist.

What the critics say

• “The plot thickens … and thickens … and thickens. Gudegast is clearly an avid student of heist pictures, and he layers this one with a lot of spectacular complications even while he muddles the average viewer’s potential rooting interest.” – RogerEbert.com
• “The film does its best, pausing the machismo bullshit to show that Curtis ’50 Cent’ Jackson is actually a family man and his crew of bro-criminals scare the daylights out of a potential suitor for his child. All this does instead is remind us how poor it all is.” – Entertainment.ie

What’s it rated?

• RottenTomatoes: 5/10
• IMDB: 7.3/10

Journey’s End

What we know

Set during World War One, this is the film version of a play that was first staged in 1928. It’s about a British infantry company as they wait in the front line trenches (which are just 60 yards away), and what they go through while waiting.

What the critics say

• “Although nobody… is harbouring any illusions about what fate holds in store, the interplay among the soldiers is funny, heart-rending and shrewdly observed.” – The Arts Desk
• “In all, it’s a timely reminder of the cost of war, and one likely to leave you burning anew with indignation. Ninety years on, Sheriff’s source material doesn’t need jazzing up to still feel relevant and powerful.” – Games Radar

What’s it rated?

• RottenTomatoes: 7.1/10
• IMDB: 7.0/10

Which one would you go see first?

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