Seth Rogen’s latest film, The Interview, which was shrouded
in controversy before its release date, will finally arrive at IMC Cinema in
Tullamore this weekend. The other new arrivals to the Offaly screens this week are silent
family comedy Shaun the Sheep and expensive Sci-Fi blockbuster Jupiter
Ascending.
The Interview
The Interview centres around two journalists played by Rogen
and his co-star James France as they travel to North Korea, ordered to assassinate
leader Kim Jung-un. The film is a satirical comedy, but is a form of comedy
that led North Korea to threaten “merciless action” against the United States
if Columbia Pictures went ahead with the release of the movie last year.
In November last year, Sony's
computer system was hacked by a group the FBI believe has ties to North Korea,
and the hackers threatened terrorist attacks against cinemas that screened the film.
The group called The Interview “a movie of terrorism,” but over Christmas the
movie received a limited cinema release, garnering just over $6 million at the
box office as a result. It has racked up $40 million in digital rentals, making
it Sony’s most successful digital release to date.
Some critics called the film hilarious, while others like
Scott Foundas said it “was about as funny as a communist food shortage.” The
New York Times wrote: “After seeing The Interview and the ruckus its mere
existence has caused, the only sensible reaction is amazement at the huge
disconnect between the innocuousness of the film and the viciousness of the
response.”
Beginning at 21:10pm on Friday, February 6, The Interview
will screen in the same time slot for the continuation of its run at Tullamore.
Shaun’s day off leads the unusually clever sheep into the ‘Big
City’ where he gets more action than he bargained for. A mix-up with the
farmer, a very steep hill, and a caravan means that it is left to Shaun to plot
the plucky animals’ return to the safety of the farmyard.
Shaun the Sheep has been receiving rave reviews, with The
Telegraph saying that “Shaun isn’t a piece of long-form storytelling, but a
runaway steam-train of moments, each one self-contained but coupled to the
rest, and barrelling forwards on collective crackpot momentum.”
Shaun the Sheep is a family-friendly flick to the core,
tickling the toddlers as much as some childlike parents with its universal
slapstick comedic style. It has to be slapstick and physical; there is no
spoken language in Shaun the Sheep. The odd mumble or bleat is added to
accentuate the hair-raising silent adventures of Shaun and his pals.
Shaun the Sheep opens at 19:05pm on Friday evening, and will
continue its run in that slot. However, over the weekend, Shaun the Sheep will
screen four times (12:50pm, 14:55pm, 17:00pm, and 19:05pm) on both Saturday and
Sunday.
Sci-Fi action flick Jupiter Ascending brings the biggest
names to Tullamore this weekend with a cast including Channing Tatum, Mila
Kunis, Eddie Redmayne and Sean Bean, but the film has been receiving mixed
reviews from critics.
In a complicated plot, Mila Kunis is a humble janitor targeted
for assassination by the ‘Queen of the Universe’ who has seeded the Earth and
all other planets in order to harvest the intelligence of humans, with the hope
of eventually producing a serum that will allow her to live forever. It turns
out that Kunis is an heir to the Queen’s throne, and a genetically engineered
warrior, Tatum, comes to Earth to inform her of her royal blood. Tatum must then
protect her from the power-hungry alien Queen who would rather kill Kunis than
lose control of the Earth.
Jupiter Ascending was given an exclusive preview screening
at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival, but the media were not invited. It was
reported that the theatre was almost empty during the preview, and some viewers
even walked out during the showing. The reaction was said to be unanimously
negative. However, some reviewers have praised the film visually, for its
authentic stunts and smooth special effects, although the muddled plot has been
slammed across the board.
Geoffrey Macnab for The Independent reviewed the film as
follows: “Jupiter Ascending, the kitsch new sci-fi blockbuster from Lana and
Andy Waschowski, blends astonishing special effects work with plotting that
would barely pass muster in a bad Saturday morning episode of Flash Gordon or
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers.”
Jupiter Ascending runs at 18:05pm and 20:55pm in Tullamore,
starting on Friday, while an extra daytime showing has been added at 15:15pm
for Saturday and Sunday.
