Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/441179
VI This Week maltatoday, Sunday, 4 January 2015 IN CINEMAS TODAY St James Cavalier Valletta Tel. 21 223200 NT Live presents JOHN (18) 21:00 Embassy Cinemas Valletta Tel. 21 227436, 21 245818 Paddington (U) 10:00, 12:10, 16:00, 18:30 The Imitation Game (12A) 20:55 The Hobbit: Battle of the Five Armies (12A) 10:30, 14:00, 18:00, 21:00 Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb (PG) 10:00, 12:15, 14:30, 16:45, 19:00, 21:15 Exodus: Gods and Kings 3D (PG) 14:15, 17:30, 20:50 Annie (U) 10:10, 13:15, 15:55, 18:25, 20:55 Dumb and Dumber To (15) 10:30, 13:45, 16:10, 18:35, 21:00 Eden Cinemas St Julian's Tel. 23 710400 The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies 3D (12A) 11:10, 13:25 (2D), 14:30, 16:30 (2D), 18:00, 20:00 (2D), 21:15, 23:15 (2D) Penguins of Madagascar (U) 11:40, 14:05, 16:15 (3D), 18:30, 20:45 (3D), 23:00 The Imitation Game (12A) 11:30, 14:00, 16:20, 18:40, 21:05, 23:35 Paddington (U) 11:30, 14:20, 16:30, 18:40, 20:50, 23:05 Horrible Bosses 2 (15) 20:55, 23:25 Tinkerbell: Legend of the Never- Beast (U) 11:40, 14:15, 16:20, 18:30 Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb (PG) 11:30, 14:10, 16:25, 18:45, 21:00, 23:20 Annie (U) 11:00, 14:00, 16:25, 18:50, 21:15, 23:40 Jimi: All is by my side (15) 11:25, 14:00, 16:25, 18:50, 21:15, 23:40 Exodus: Gods and Kings 3D (PG) 11:15, 14:30, 17:40, 20:45, 23:50 Dumb and Dumber to (15) 11:35, 14:05, 16:30, 18:50, 21:10, 23:35 The Rewrite (12A) 11:35, 14:00, 16:15, 18:30, 20:50, 23:15 Unbroken (15) 11:15, 14:30, 18:15, 21:05, 23:50 Empire Cinemas Bugibba Tel. 21 581787, 21 581909 Dumb and Dumber To (15) 10:30, 13:00, 15:20, 17:45, 20:50 Exodus: Gods and Kings 3D (PG) 10:35, 13:30, 17:50, 20:40 Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb (PG) 10:35, 12:40, 14:50, 17:00, 19:00, 21:05 Penguins of Madagascar (U) 10:25, 12:30, 14:30, 18:45 The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies 3D (12A) 10:55, 14:00, 18:45 Paddington (U) 16:30, 20:45 Tinkerbell: Legend of the Never- Beast (U) 10:25, 12:05, 13:50 Annie (U) 10:30, 13:00, 15:20, 17:45, 20:50 Unbroken (15) 15:35, 18:20, 21:05 Reviving dinosaurs for It's hardly a surprise that the Hol- lywood crop of 2015 films will largely consist of sequels and adaptations of established properties – that much has been the case since the dawning of the 21st century. But 2015 looks to be an even more bloated turn towards this unfortu- nately risk-free approach to storytell- ing, as a clutch of usual suspects will hold down the fort while more original fare attempts to elbow its way through the noise. As if to emphasise the corporate takeover of mainstream cinema by a central entity, parent company Disney will be delivering a double- whammy of their big guns, with the Marvel Studios superhero crossover sequel Avengers: Age of Ultron heading to cinemas in May, with their recently purchased property Star Wars: The Force Awakens bookending the blockbuster year in December. Both films will be predictable box office smashes, and enjoy a healthily purring buzz to this day, ever since their respective trailers were released to much gushing fanfare earlier in 2014, despite Marvel's trailer being pre-empted by an early online leak. Though the execs over at Mar- vel have – somewhat ominously – mapped out roughly a decade's worth of movies in their interlocking cinematic universe, there have been clear signs of fatigue from some of its contractually-bound stars, with actors Robert Downey Jr, Chris Evans and Idris Elba all letting slip that the rigorous schedules and uniform sto- rylines have started to grate on their creative impulses… the elephant in the room being that this malaise may easily transfer to audiences soon enough. One reason why 2014's runa- way success Guardians of the Galaxy was considered a welcome rough diamond in the Marvel stable was be- cause it injected a dose of irreverent humour absent from the otherwise polished but uniform blockbusters. Unfortunately for Marvel, it has to wait another year for a 'Guardians' sequel to – hopefully – inject some spice into the proceedings. With au- teur director Edgar Wright (Shaun of the Dead, Scott Pilgrim and the End of the World) dropping out of that other Marvel project of the year, Ant Man, the money-raking enterprise may be looking at an otherwise bland year of rote blockbusters. This will, of course, only affect audiences – who run the risk of sleeping through films they've already eagerly forked out cash for while Marvel laughs its way (back) to the bank. There are scant details on the plot of JJ Abrams's much-hyped Star Wars revamp, though there's some goodwill for the project owing to the fact that the franchise's creator, George Lucas, is now out of the picture – he made a dog's breakfast out of the prequel trilogy – and that the reliable Abrams has stepped in to give a spit-polish to the generation- hopping space opera. True to super-secretive Abrams form, the trailer leaves us none the wiser on how exactly the Force will be awakening come Christmastime 2015, but it certainly hits the Star Wars geek g-spots with gusto: I chal- lenge any fan to resist gasping when the Millennium Falcon whooshes into view in the final few frames of the preview we've been given. Also stoking the flames of nostalgia will be Jurassic World, featuring Guardians of the Galaxy alumnus Chris Pratt as a staff member of the titular high-concept theme park off of Central America's Pacific coast. The park decides to engineer a super- dinosaur to boost attendance and… well, you can guess where it goes from there. Resurrecting the corpse of a long-dormant sequel to Jurassic Park III – apparently just for the sake of it – doesn't lend this project much credence, so we'll have to see if there's all that much bite to this beast come June. It also remains to be seen whether Mad Max: Fury Road will be noth- ing more than a retread of yet older ground, gorgeously atmospheric trailers and top-notch cast (led by Tom Hardy and Charlize Theron) notwithstanding. Unlike Lucas, this George (Miller) will be returning to the post-apocalyptic franchise he kick-started back in the 80s. It'll be interesting to see whether the veteran director finds Hardy an apt replacement for Mel Gibson. Quality dramas will struggle to elbow their way through a glut of ready-made blockbusters and reboots this year, in what is becoming a depressingly predictable story for Hollywood Avengers: Age of Ultron Inherent Vice Birdman