Cinema: Brussels’ leading film critic James Drew looks ahead to films that will adorn the cinema screens in Belgium.
Official Secrets: How badly we got things wrong with Iraq is back in the news and, it would appear, at the flicks – this is the allegedly true story, from director Gavin Hood (Tsotsi (2005)), of appropriately named GCHQ employee Katharine Gun. She leaked a secret memo exposing an illegal spying operation by the United States of America, looking for information with which to gauge sentiment of and potentially blackmail United Nations diplomats tasked to vote on a resolution regarding the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Big cast – Keira Knightley as Gun, with Matt Smith, Matthew Goode, Adam Bakri, Indira Varma and Ralph Fiennes. 112 mins.
Adam: Controversial (because gender deception is a major plot element of the story) teen comedy, with awkward teen Adam (Nicholas Alexander) spending his last high school summer with his big sister, who throws herself into NYC’s lesbian and trans-activist scene. Love, friendship and hard truths abound – it is director Rhys Ernst’s debut feature. 95 mins.
Fantasy Island: Fairly creepy sounding horror flick based on a familiar genre trope – enigmatic Mr. Roarke (Michael Peña) makes the secret dreams of his lucky guests come true at a luxurious but remote tropical resort. But when the fantasies turn into nightmares, the guests have to solve the island’s mystery in order to escape with their lives. Jeff Wadlow (Truth or Dare (2018)) directs. 156 mins.
The Gentlemen: Britain’s most overrated director, Guy Ritchie, is back with, to be fair, an ensemble cast – American businessman Mickey Pearson (Matthew McConaughey) has created a highly profitable marijuana empire in London, and he is looking to cash out his business. When word gets out, it triggers plots, schemes, bribery and blackmail in an attempt to steal his domain out from under him. Could be great, or it could be Snatch (2000) – we will see. 113 mins.