It’s a bit of a light week new release wise, with the highlight being the latest installment in the Fifty Shades of Grey saga. But what these offerings lack in quantity, they more than make up for in quality, with films ranging from a quirky Simon Pegg comedy to a stunningly naturalistic drama that offers up food for thought on the human condition. Here’s what is now available!
Based on the second book in E.L. James’ enormously popular trilogy, this steamy sequel finds Ana Steele (Dakota Johnson) cautiously resuming her relationship with Christian Grey (Jamie Dornan). While the couple attempts a more conventional approach to romance and sex, their union is threatened by two women (Bella Heathcote and Kim Basinger) from Christian’s past, one of whom may be more dangerous than she appears. Eric Johnson, Eloise Mumford, Marcia Gay Harden co-star.
Veteran philosophy professor Nathalie Chazeaux (Isabelle Huppert) unsurprisingly believed she had a very good handle on her ordered existence. However, confronted with pressure from her publisher to get with the times, problems with her deteriorating mother (Edith Scob), and the bombshell from her husband (André Marcon) that he’s moving on, the agonized academic finds herself with much to rethink. Mia Hansen-Løve ‘s contemplative drama also stars Roman Kolinka, Sarah Le Picard, Guy-Patrick Sainderichin.
A Fantastic Fear of Everything
Exhaustive research on Victorian-era serial killers has rendered crime novelist Jack (Simon Pegg) so paranoid he can barely function in normal society. When he learns a Hollywood producer is interested in his work, Jack musters up the courage to leave his dingy apartment for a meeting–only to have his worst fear come true as he finds himself coming face to face with a maniacal murderer called the Hanoi Handshake Killer (Alan Drake). Clare Higgins, Amara Karan, and Paul Freeman co-star in this quirky comedy.
A decade’s struggles with homelessness and heroin addiction had left London street busker James Bowen (Luke Treadaway) wondering about the point of it all. After he comes upon an injured ginger tabby stray in his hallway, he nurses him back to health…and discovers that he has a boon companion in performance and life, as well as new purpose. Inspirational adaptation of Bowen’s popular memoir co-stars Ruta Gedmintas, Joanne Froggatt, Anthony Head, and the real Bob the Cat as himself.