Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire
While viewers in India might still be sore because no one thought to release the 2023 Japanese film Godzilla Minus One here, the American franchise with the great lizard and his monster buddies marches on. The latest offering has Godzilla and Kong team up to face a new threat: a simian Titan called Scar King. This is the fifth feature in the MonsterVerse franchise, which includes Godzilla, Kong: Skull Island, Godzilla: King Of The Monsters and Godzilla vs. Kong. Directed by Adam Wingard, it costars Rebecca Hall, Brian Tyree Henry, Kaylee Hottle and Dan Stevens. (In theatres)
Tabu, Kareena Kapoor Khan and Kriti Sanon play cabin crew on a commercial airline in a new Hindi release that seems, from the trailer at least, to be inspired by Elmore Leonard’s Rum Punch (or its film adaptation, Quentin Tarantino’s Jackie Brown). Directed by Rajesh Krishnan; co-stars Diljit Dosanjh. (In theatres)
A Chilean film built around the genocide of the Selk’nam people of Tierra del Fuego. In 1901, three horsemen—Chilean, British and American—are hired by a Chilean rancher to mark out the perimeter of his land. The mission soon turns into something more sinister. (MUBI)
One of the lushest films of the 1990s, The English Patient was adapted from Michael Ondaatje’s celebrated 1992 novel about a group of disparate characters in World War II. There’s class in every corner of the film: cinematography by John Seale, edited by Walter Murch, score by Gabriel Yared and directed by the late Anthony Minghella. The cast is extraordinary—Ralph Fiennes, Juliette Binoche, Willem Dafoe, Kristin Scott Thomas, Colin Firth, Naveen Andrews, Jürgen Prochnow. (Netflix)
A divorced couple that cannot stand the sight of each other are forced to reunite for their daughter’s college graduation. A by-the-numbers frothy romantic comedy about a dysfunctional family, Ticket To Paradise is kept afloat by the crackling chemistry of its lead stars, Julia Roberts and George Clooney. This is their fifth film together. Directed by Ol Parker. (Netflix)
An underseen and underrated Hollywood comedy from 2022. Greg Mottola’s Confess, Fletch is based on a 1976 novel about a nosy investigative reporter by Gregory Mcdonald. Jon Hamm plays Fletch as coolly rumpled, quick-witted and occasionally brilliant. It’s a delightful comic performance, and there’s terrific support from Mayden Ayeri, Lorenza Izzo, Marcia Gay Harden, Kyle MacLachlan, Roy Wood Jr. and Hamm’s Mad Men castmate John Slattery. (Netflix)
