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.

Animals

What we know

Based on the book by Emma Jane Unsworth, this is about two women in their early 30s who are trying to figure out what the hell to do with their lives… and if they really have to stop partying. Holliday Grainger and Alia Shawkat play the friends, and Dublin is the setting.

What the critics say

• “It’s an unexpectedly subdued film about the mortality of friendships and relationships, and there is also, as with so many other semi-autobiographical fictions, a subsidiary pleasure in wondering which elements are based on truth.”- The Guardian
• “When Grainger and Shawkat are onscreen together, it’s like watching an electrical storm brew before our eyes. When they’re apart, they’re less confident in their gestures.” – Independent.co.uk

What’s it rated?

• RottenTomatoes: 80%
• IMDB: 6.6/10

Gaza

What we know

This Irish-backed documentary looks at the everyday lives of people living in the Gaza Strip – how do you live a normal life amongst such conflict?

What the critics say

• “It’s intolerable and unforgiveable and so very sad: everything you might expect from the Gaza of the headlines. But in Gaza the film, the story belongs to the people who live there. And that in itself is a step forward.” - Screen Daily 
• “There are so many stories that are angled so as to dehumanise the people of Gaza that these Irish filmmakers are actually being quite radical by portraying their everyday activity as normal.” – Cineuropa

What’s it rated?

• IMDB: 7.3/10
• RottenTomatoes: 100%

Blinded By The Light

What we know

Based on the real-life story of Springsteen obsessive living in 80s Britain, trying to deal with his identity and family. 

What the critics say

• “It exudes the earnestness of a Bollywood musical, embraces the familiar immigrant tropes of a less diasporic world, and electrifies its paper-thin but profoundly lovable characters with an optimism that’s as rare in Thatcher’s England as it is in Trump’s America.” - IndieWire
• “Not every music fan travels and screams and stomps and spends every last penny they have, and not every one makes headlines. But with a filmmaker as big-hearted and patient as Chadha, the story of Javed (a thinly veiled Sarfraz Manzoor, the journalist who penned his memories depicted here) takes centre stage with as much power as the Boss’s career-making concerts.” – Culture Whisper

What’s it rated?

• IMDB: 6.1/10
• RottenTomatoes: 91%

Which one would you go see first?

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