Doctor Strange
Marvel Studios’ Doctor Strange follows the story of a world-famous neurosurgeon Dr. Stephen Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch), who, in his quest for healing after a horrific car incident, discovers powerful magic in a mysterious place known as Kamar-Taj. Luckily, the comic-book brand had no interest in making the same film again, so Doctor Strange isn’t like any other superhero movie you ever saw. Still, it’s a powerful fantasy blockbuster that is visually breathtaking and full of thrilling action scenes. A must-watch movie of the season.
Where to watch?Original (English) audio, Hungarian subtitles at Allee, Aréna, WestEnd, MOM Park, and Campona.
For screening times, go to Cinema City or Port.Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them draws on the rich mythology of Harry Potter to deliver a spinoff that dazzles with franchise-building magic all its own. You can finally witness the adventures of Newt Scamander (Eddie Redmayne), the future author of Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them 70 years before Newt’s book became required reading at Hogwarts, as he travels to a land that even wizards find bizarre: America. Things quickly go wrong when the magical creatures he’s brought with him escape, forcing him to race across New York in the hope of recovering them. Take another journey to J.K. Rowling’s magical world – now with some 1920s steampunk feel added to it.
Where to watch?Original (English) audio, Hungarian subtitles at Allee, Aréna, WestEnd, MOM Park, and Campona.
For screening times, go to Cinema City or Port.
Arrival
Denis Villeneuve’s sci-fi contact drama will leave you speechless: it’s introspective, philosophical, and existentially inclined – yet it unfolds in an unwavering tenor of chest-tightening excitement. It is centered around an expert linguist, Louise Banks (Amy Adams), who has to investigate a mysterious spacecraft. The government needs somebody who can ask the aliens why they’re here, and secondly, can understand the answer. Louise decides to take all her chances, which could threaten not just her life, but humanity’s future too... The widescreen adaptation of Ted Chiang’s short novel, Story Of Your Life, is one of the most breathtaking films of the year, starring one of the best actresses Hollywood has, and it was scored by Jóhann Jóhannsson, who also provided the soundtrack for Villeneuve’s drug-cartel thriller Sicario. Do we need to say more?
Where to watch?Original (English) audio, Hungarian subtitles at Allee, Aréna, WestEnd, MOM Park, and Campona. For screening times, go to Cinema City or Port.
Blood Father
Mel Gibson returns to the big screen in this edge-of-your-seat action thriller, based on the novel by Peter Craig (screenwriter of The Town). Shot in New Mexico, Blood Father follows John Link (Gibson), a grizzled ex-con on parole, working as a tattoo artist in a beat-up trailer. His life takes a sudden turn when his teenaged daughter Lydia (Erin Moriarty) resurfaces two years after running away from home, chased by angry drug dealers trying to kill her. Blood Father brings grit and a healthy dose of black comedy to the daughter-in-distress genre popularised by Liam Neeson’s Taken films. This time, however, the street-smart daughter is no angel. As comfortable with a custom motorcycle and sawed-off shotgun as when Mad Max roamed the wasteland, Gibson gives a charismatic and self-aware performance in this suspenseful thriller.
Where to watch?Original (English) audio, Hungarian subtitles at Allee, Aréna, WestEnd, MOM Park, and Campona. For screening times, go to Cinema City or Port.
Nikita
Nikita is a turning point in the world of Luc Besson, and perhaps also indicates other shifts as well. For example, the fading of the deification of style in film, along with less focus on wandering and unquenchable passions. The more adventurously spirited believe that Nikita is a prelude to Léon. And there are some who think that Léon was the beginning of a new – perhaps more commercially reliable – era. There’s no doubt that Nikita unfolds with much more discipline, with its dramaturgy precisely worked out, while still preserving the stylishness – for example, in the depiction of Nikita’s transformation. The action scenes and having Nikita step out as an action hero entailed a new trend. But the world still moves on...
Where to watch?Original (French) audio, Hungarian subtitles on December 5th at 7pm at MüPa – Palace Of Arts.
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
From Lucasfilm comes the first of the Star Wars standalone films, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, an all-new epic adventure. In a time of conflict, a group of unlikely heroes band together on a mission to steal the plans to the Death Star, the Empire’s ultimate weapon of destruction. This key event in the Star Wars timeline brings together ordinary people who choose to do extraordinary things, and in doing so, become part of something greater than themselves. Directed by Gareth Edwards and starring Felicity Jones, Mads Mikkelsen, Ben Mendelsohn, and some of the well-known figures in the Star Wars universe, making it the perfect family film for December and Christmas.
Where to watch?Original (English) audio, Hungarian subtitles at Allee, Aréna, WestEnd, MOM Park, and Campona. For screening times, go to Cinema City or Port. Premieres on December 15. Batman & Batman Returns
Two films for the price of one! On December 17th, Bem Cinema will screen Tim Burton’s Batman movies for some dark Christmastime entertainment. Both films star Michael Keaton as the caped crusader, and echoes the visual style of the original Bob Kane comics while managing to conjure up a nightmarish world of their own. In the first feature, which premiered in 1989, Batman has to face the Joker (Jack Nicholson), who emerged from a horrible accident as a maniac criminal. This dark, neurotic, highly stylized, and highly claustrophobic superproduction will be followed by Batman Returns, in which Bruce Wayne has to protect Gotham from the Penguin (Danny DeVito) and Catwoman (Michelle Pfeiffer). And with it, Tim Burton once again manages to embrace the weirdness the saga without a hint of hesitation. “An elaborately melancholy ode to alienation,” as one critic put it.
Where to watch?Original (English) audio, Hungarian subtitles on December 17th at 6pm at Bem Cinema.
