1 Little Men (PG)
(Ira Sachs, 2016, US/Gre) 83 mins.
This modest drama doesn’t really appear to be about anything at first, but ends up touching on big life issues: family ties, cultural capital, gentrification – all the primary concerns of the modern New Yorker. It centres on a friendship between two artistic Brooklyn boys, whose socio-economic disparity becomes apparent when their parents enter into a property feud.
2 De Palma (15)
(Noah Baumbach, Jake Paltrow, 2015, US) 110 mins.
You could see this doc as an attempt to rehabilitate an oft-maligned auteur’s reputation – and it works splendidly. De Palma has plenty of stories to tell, from the New Hollywood days onwards, but the real pleasure is hearing him explain his work (which includes Scarface, Carrie, Blow Out). It’s a revelation and an education.
3 Hunt For The Wilderpeople (12A)
(Taika Waititi, 2016, NZ) 101 mins.
Self-effacing Kiwi comedy in a Flight Of The Conchords/What We Do In The Shadows vein, as a plump city orphan (Julian Dennison) and his gruff foster dad (Sam Neill) are thrown together on an outlaw wilderness adventure, with incompetent officials in pursuit. It’s inconsequential, perhaps, but charming with it.
4 Imperium (15)
(Daniel Ragussis, 2016, US) 106 mins.
Daniel Radcliffe has had to go to some extremes to shake off the legacy of Hogwarts (wait until you see Swiss Army Man). Here, he shaves his head, inks his skin and infiltrates America’s white supremacists in a tense thriller that hits familiar undercover-cop beats but also feels true to life and timely in its exploration of counterterrorism’s muddy waters.
5 Kubo And The Two Strings (PG)
(Travis Knight, 2016, US) 102 mins.
A family movie that doesn’t feel like a marketing tie-in, Laika’s latest combines intricately crafted animation with an affecting Japanese-inflected story of loss, death, family and origami. Centred on a boy with magical musical powers, it’s an adventure brimming with imagination.
