Cinemas & Home Entertainment this week…
GRIM PICKINGS this week includes key dates to dismember with this year’s answer to TRAIN TO BUSAN opening in cinemas while all crime is legal once again on home entertainment!
IN CINEMAS
Thursday November 1st
RAMPANT
From the South Korean studio that brought you 2016’s breakout hit TRAIN TO BUSAN, comes a period-set zombie actioner that will have you prying your jaw from the floor once the closing credits roll! Neither dead nor alive, demons are rampant in Joseon. With his home country on the verge of collapse, Prince Ganglim (HYUN Bin) returns to Joseon, only to be greeted with peasants who seem to be infected with a mysterious virus. He is forced to kill his own people alongside Baron Park (JO Woo-jin) and his men, and he unwillingly joins their crusade to eliminate all the demons before they reach the royal palace. Meanwhile, Minister of War Kim Ja-joon (JANG Dong-gun) has his eyes set on the throne and uses his authority and influence to gather enough support to dethrone the king and uses the virus to create chaos in the palace.
HUNTER KILLER
Gerard Butler returns in another b-movie blockbuster courtesy of Millennium Films, the studio responsible for LONDON HAS FALLEN and MECHANIC RESURRECTION. Deep under the Arctic Ocean, American submarine Captain Joe Glass (Butler) is on the hunt for a U.S. sub in distress when he discovers a secret Russian coup is in the offing, threatening to dismantle the world order. Captain Glass must now assemble an elite group of Navy SEALs to rescue the kidnapped Russian president and sneak through enemy waters to stop WWIII.
HOME ENTERTAINMENT
Wednesday October 31st
THE FIRST PURGE
With three films down and a television series currently airing, THE PURGE franchise finds a new story to spin with this origin tale that lacks the tension of its predecessors but more than makes up for it with actions set pieces. After the rise of a third political party, the New Founding Fathers of America, an experiment is conducted, no laws for 12 hours on Staten Island. No one must stay during the experiment yet there is $5,000 for anyone who does.
SKYSCRAPER
Off the back of recent box office hits, RAMPAGE and JUMANJI: WELCOME TO THE JUNGLE, Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson returns with a slightly limp cross between DIE HARD and THE TOWERING INFERNO, that sees him spend more time on foot in Hong Kong than in the title’s actual namesake. FBI Hostage Rescue Team leader and U.S. war veteran Will Sawyer (Johnson) now assesses security for skyscrapers. On assignment in Hong Kong he finds the tallest, safest building in the world suddenly ablaze, and he’s been framed for it. A wanted man on the run, Will must find those responsible, clear his name and somehow rescue his family who are trapped inside the building…above the fire line.
THE BREAKER-UPPERERS
From producer (and neighbouring Kiwi) Taika Waititi, THE BREAKER UPPERERS looks set to deliver on his signature style of surrealist gut-busting humour. Starring, directed and written by up-and-coming comedian’s Jackie van Beek and Madeleine Sami, their comedic chemistry and commitment to delivering audiences a good time is already receiving sizeable praise on the international circuit – a clear sign this deserves the support of the Aussie cinema-going public! Fifteen years ago, Mel (Sami) and Jen (Beek) discovered they were being two-timed by the same man. Bitter and cynical they became fast friends and formed THE BREAKER UPPERERS, a small-time business breaking up couples for cash. Now they’re in their late-thirties and business is booming. They’re a platonic, codependent couple who keep their cynicism alive by not getting emotionally involved with anybody else. But when they run into an old victim, Mel develops a conscience and their friendship is truly put to the test.
Grim Pickings is written weekly by Jarret Gahan.
