THE MIDLANDS ESSENTIAL ENTERTAINMENT GUIDE

Released from Fri 21 June
Snitch CERT 12a (112mins)
Starring Dwayne Johnson, Barry Pepper,
Jon Bernthal, Benjamin Bratt, Susan
Sarandon
Directed by Ric Roman Waugh (USA)
When a young man is set up in a drug deal,
he ends up in prison. But then nobody had
reckoned on Dwayne Johnson being the
lad’s father. And that was their mistake…
Filmed in Louisiana.
Before Midnight CERT tbc
Starring Ethan Hawke, Julie Delpy Directed by
Richard Linklater (USA)
Before Sunset, released nine years ago, was
a sequel to Before Sunrise, released nine
years before that. So the director, Richard
Linklater, has got together with his cast
members and co-writers Ethan Hawke and
Julie Delpy to update the story of Jesse and
Celine’s vacillating liaison. Expect a lot more
talk.
Released from Fri 28 June
Snitch
This Is The End CERT 15 (107mins)
Starring James Franco, Jonah Hill, Seth
Rogen, Jay Baruchel, Danny McBride, Emma
Watson, Rihanna
Directed by Evan Goldberg and Seth Rogen
(USA))
If you haven’t already seen enough of James
Franco this year, then here’s a treat. It’s another
dystopian scenario in which a group of friends
attempts to find the meaning of life as the world
self-destructs around them. James Franco
plays himself. For laughs.
Despicable Me 2 CERT tbc
Featuring the voices of Steve Carell, Kristen
Wiig, Benjamin Bratt, Miranda Cosgrove,
Russell Brand, Steve Coogan
Directed by Pierre Coffin and Chris Renaud
(USA)
Gru, who, in the first film, relished the
prospect of being the world’s Greatest Villain
of All Time, is now recruited by the Anti-
Villain League. He’s wanted to help stop a
new thug, the menacing Mexican ‘Eduardo’,
voiced by Bratt. Up to the eleventh hour, Al
Pacino was to have played Eduardo but
departed after ‘creative differences’. In 3D.
The East CERT 15 (118mins)
Despicable Me 2
Starring Brit Marling, Ellen Page,
Alexander Skarsgård, Toby Kebbell
Directed by Zal Batmanglijd (USA)
Described as a ‘sophisticated’ take on paranoia-themed
films, The East finds former FBI
agent Sarah Moss working as an operative
for a private intelligence firm. Highly rated,
Sarah is tasked with the challenge of infiltrating
an anarchist group known as The East,
which has a reputation for executing attacks
upon major corporations.
But as she draws closer to
The East’s charismatic
leader, Sarah finds herself
questioning the morality
which is underpinning her
assignment...
Renoir CERT tbc
Starring Michel Bouquet, Christa Theret,
Vincent Rottiers Directed by Gilles Bourdos
(France/Italy)
Some films need be no more than a flavour.
This one is a snapshot - a sketch - of a summer
in 1915 when a young woman entered
the lives of the ageing painter Auguste Renoir
and his son, the future filmmaker Jean
Renoir. As the older man captures his idyllic
surroundings in oils, the Great War rages in
Europe and has already nearly cost the leg of
Jean. As the latter convalesces in the
orchards of Cagnes-sur-Mer, on the edge of
the Mediterranean, Andrée arrives to model
for Auguste and has a profound effect on
both men. A film of enormous beauty and
pathos, Gilles Bourdos’ Renoir is a worthy
celebration of the great painter’s art - and an
insightful glimpse into what was a transcendent
year.
Stand Up Guys CERT tbc
Starring Al Pacino, Christopher Walken, Alan
Arkin, Julianna Margulies, Mark Margolis,
Lucy Punch Directed by Fisher Stevens (USA)
Three Oscar-winning actors square up to
play ageing crooks in this crime comedy set
in Los Angeles. Just as Val (Pacino) is
released from prison, he finds that his best
friend Doc (Walken) has been contracted to
kill him. And if Doc doesn’t, he will be ‘iced’
himself… Funny, huh?
This Is The End Stand Up Guys
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