This is the last weekend of Ramadan and big Eid releases are just around the corner, but Godzilla is not playing by anyone’s rules, and neither do Octavia Spencer or Dame Judi Dench, so let’s see if you should skip the cinema this weekend or not.
Godzilla: King of the Monsters
Directed by: Michael Dougherty
With: Kyle Chandler, Vera Farmiga, Millie Bobby Brown, and Ken Watanabe
What is it about: The crypto-zoological agency Monarch faces off against a battery of god-sized monsters, including the mighty Godzilla, who collides with Mothra, Rodan, and his ultimate nemesis, the three-headed King Ghidorah.
Heads Up: Director Michael Dougherty isn’t a stranger to the horror genera, as he wrote and directed the fun horror anthology Trick r’ Treat and the family horror comedy Krampus, and now he is tackling the monster horror sub-genre. Godzilla: King of Monster is the third film in the MonsterVerse franchise which kicked-off with 2014’s Godzilla, followed by Kong: Skull Island, with Godzilla vs. Kong slated for a 2020 release. I personally liked the two previous films of this franchise, and I was intrigued by this film’s trailer, so even though the reviews for this one are not as good as the previous two films in the franchise, I’m still interested in seeing it.
Ma
Directed by: Tate Taylor
With: Octavia Spencer, Diana Silvers, and Juliette Lewis
What is it about: A lonely woman befriends a group of teenagers and decides to let them party at her house. Just when the kids think their luck couldn’t get any better, things start happening that make them question the intention of their host.
Heads Up: Director Tate Taylor featured Octavia Spencer in all of his film (except for The Girl on The Train), and she won her Oscar for The Help, a film he directed. Ma shows a different more sinister side of her, one we have never seen till now, and this intrigues me. First I was worried because the reviews did not come out earlier (usually a bad sign), but now they are coming out, they are actually better than I expected. I’d say go keep this one in mind if you feel like going to the cinema this weekend.
Red Joan
Directed by: Trevor Nunn
With: Judi Dench, Sophie Cookson, and Stephen Campbell Moore
What is it about: The story of Joan Stanley, who was exposed as the KGB’s longest-serving British spy.
Heads Up: Based on true events, this spy drama was panned by critics, with the consensus that it’s “a fascinating real-life story dramatized in perplexingly dull fashion, Red Joan wastes its tale’s incredible intrigue — as well as the formidable talents of Judi Dench“. I say don’t bother.
