Showcase Bristol Avonmeads

• 2017
• US
• 1h 51min
• 18

• Directed by: Michael Cuesta
• Cast: Dylan O'Brien, Michael Keaton, Taylor Kitsch, Shiva Negar

Mitch Rapp (O’Brien) is an orphan whose fiancée is murdered by terrorists; he’s then recruited as a CIA killer. The first in a planned franchise manages to make one of the freshest political thrillers in years, with inventive production design, strong set pieces and a great supporting cast (Keaton, Lathan, Suchet, Kitsch).

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• 2017
• US
• 1h 55min
• 15

• Directed by: Doug Liman
• Cast: Tom Cruise, Sarah Wright, Domhnall Gleeson, Lola Kirke

Barry Seal (Cruise) is a once hotshot pilot turned family man, bored of life in commercial air travel, but then a mysterious man (Gleeson) turns up with an offer of undercover CIA work. It’s a hoot with an edge, as Barry gets more embroiled with CIA-sponsored terrorism; good to see Cruise thriving outside his usual zone.

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• 2017
• 1h 49min
• 15

• Directed by: David F Sandberg
• Written by: Gary Dauberman
• Cast: Miranda Otto, Philippa Coulthard, Stephanie Sigman

When dollmaker Samuel (LaPaglia) and his wife Esther (Otto) open their creaking home to a group of orphans, little do they know that their late daughter’s bedroom contains a demonic doll. Routine horror with a flimsy narrative driven by Samuel and Esther’s increasingly poor decisions; this fourth film in the franchise is one too many.

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• 2017
• US
• 1h 29min
• PG

• Directed by: David Soren
• Cast: Kevin Hart, Thomas Middleditch, Ed Helms

Animated superhero comedy based on the bestselling book series by Dav Pilkey. This is a film that sides with the kids, right down to its sly jabs at uncaring, cash-starved school systems and loose message about the value of laughing at yourself; and, of course, at the mere existence of a planet called Uranus.

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• 2017
• US
• 1h 42min
• U

• Directed by: Brian Fee
• Cast: Armie Hammer, Nathan Fillion, Owen Wilson, Kerry Washington

Lightning (Wilson) is challenged by new car on the block, Jackson Storm (Hammer). The least interesting Pixar franchise rumbles on in a rudimentary cash-grab which is basically a training montage in search of a story, and Randy Newman’s score can’t save it from being a dull lunge for the finish line.

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• 2017
• US
• 1h 30min
• U

• Directed by: Pierre Coffin, Kyle Balda
• Cast: Steve Carell, Kristen Wiig, Trey Parker, Miranda Cosgrove, Dana Gaier, Nev Scharrel, Steve Coogan, Julie Andrews, Jenny Slate, Pierre Coffin

Gru (Carell) and new wife and fellow agent Lucy (Wiig) are ensconced with their adorable adopted daughters when supervillain Balthazar Bratt (Parker) decides to take revenge on Hollywood for neglecting him. It’s all a bit familiar but it skilfully balances kid and adult appeal with its madcap approach and embarrassment of mischievous energy.

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• 2017
• US
• 2h 23min
• 15

• Directed by: Kathryn Bigelow
• Cast: John Boyega, Anthony Mackie, Algee Smith, Will Poulter

In Detroit, 1967, during city-wide rioting, armed police descend on the Algiers Motel and subject innocent partygoers to a vicious all-night interrogation. Bald, confrontational, uncomfortable filmmaking which uses an impressive ensemble (Boyega, Poulter, Mitchell, Mackie) to bring home the force of state-sanctioned hatred and racism.

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• 2017
• 1h 46min
• 12A

• Directed by: Christopher Nolan
• Written by: Christopher Nolan
• Cast: Tom Hardy, Mark Rylance, Cillian Murphy, Harry Styles

Survival story set during the battle of Dunkirk in WWII. The younger cast members acquit themselves admirably, including pop star Harry Styles; and, in its uncomfortable depiction of frightened men looking to save their own skin, this is far from straightforwardly patriotic fare. As he delivers non-stop visual audacity, once again Nolan shows himself to be a master of pure cinema.

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• 2017
• US
• 1h 26min
• PG

• Directed by: Tony Leondis
• Cast: T. J. Miller, James Corden, Anna Faris, Maya Rudolph, Steven Wright, Jennifer Coolidge, Jake T. Austin, Christina Aguilera, Sofia Vergara, Patrick Stewart

Gene (Miller) is a ‘meh’ emoji living in Textopolis who can’t help displaying mixed emotions. Targeted for deletion, he goes on the run with perky Hi-5 (Corden) and hacker Jailbreak (Faris). A combination of product placement, ingratiating voice work and barrel-scraping studio desperation, it’s a witless and blandly generic journey of self-discovery.

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• 2017
• 2h 2min
• 15

• Directed by: Malcolm D Lee
• Cast: Regina Hall, Queen Latifah, Jada Pinkett Smith

Four lifelong friends travel to New Orleans for the annual Essence Festival and rediscover their wild sides. The fact that peeing on a crowd of partygoers is depicted as a show of female solidarity and mega dance-offs are the way to recover from hallucinogenic absinthe freak-outs makes this an indecently refreshing tonic of a film.

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• 2017
• US
• 1h 58min
• 15

• Directed by: Patrick Hughes
• Written by: Tom O'Connor
• Cast: Ryan Reynolds, Samuel L Jackson, Elodie Yung, Salma Hayek

Michael Bryce (Reynolds) is an elite bodyguard tasked with transporting imprisoned assassin Darius Kincaid (Jackson) to the Hague, to testify against a Russian warlord. Hilarious mismatched buddy hi-jinks disappointingly fail to ensue. Hayek has a nice role as Kincaid’s very sweary wife, though.

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• 2017
• US
• 2h 15min
• 15

• Directed by: Andrés Muschietti
• Cast: Jaeden Lieberher, Bill Skarsgård, Jeremy Ray Taylor, Sophia Lillis, Finn Wolfhard, Wyatt Oleff, Chosen Jacobs, Jack Dylan Grazer

A group of kids discovers that their town is haunted by an evil shape-shifting clown (Skarsgård). Well-crafted and properly creepy, with a sinister turn from Skarsgård as the dribbling Pennywise and Lillis superb as the gang’s only female member, it lays down solid groundwork for the planned second instalment.

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• 2017
• France
• 1h 37min
• U

• Directed by: David Alaux
• Cast: Paul Borne, Philippe Bozo, Pascal Casanova

Maurice (Bozo) is a penguin who’s been raised by Natacha, a tigress (Darah). He leads his own team of crime-fighting creatures against evil koala Igor (Darbois) and his baboons. Lush animation and a brisk, unpretentious story make for a cheap but cheerful rumble in the jungle for pre-teens.

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• 2017
• UK

• Directed by: Matthew Vaughn
• Written by: Jane Goldman, Matthew Vaughn
• Cast: Taron Egerton, Colin Firth, Mark Strong

After the Kingsman headquarters are destroyed and the world is held hostage, they embark on a journey and discover an allied spy organisation in the US. The two secret organisations join together to defeat the enemy.

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• 2015/2017

A screening of Kingsman: The Secret Service followed by Kingsman: The Golden Circle.

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• 2017
• US
• 1h 59min
• 12A

• Directed by: Steven Soderbergh
• Cast: Channing Tatum, Adam Driver, Seth MacFarlane, Riley Keough, Katie Holmes, Daniel Craig

Jimmy (Tatum), his brother Clyde (Driver) and sister Mellie (Keough) enlist the help of redneck jailbird and explosives expert Joe Bang (Craig) to rob the Charlotte Motor Speedway. Soderbergh’s latest comedy heist movie is perhaps his best, with a great cast, a satisfying plot and witty dialogue.

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• 2017
• US
• 1h 55min
• 18

• Directed by: Darren Aronofsky
• Cast: Jennifer Lawrence, Javier Bardem, Ed Harris

The wife (Lawrence) of a poet (Bardem) live in a vast house in the middle of nowhere, until their life is interrupted by a surgeon (Harris), his wife (Pfeiffer) and their violent sons. Lawrence is astonishing, but other than that it’s an infuriating exercise in noisy style over substance.

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• 2017
• US
• 2h 20min
• 12A

• Directed by: Matt Reeves
• Written by: Mark Bomback, Matt Reeves
• Cast: Andy Serkis, Woody Harrelson, Steve Zahn, Amiah Miller, Karin Konoval, Judy Greer, Terry Notary

After the apes suffer massive losses, ape leader Caesar begins his own mythic quest to avenge his kind. Though war is waged in exhilarating style, it is the strength of the emotions the characters go through that will leave you well and truly shaken.

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• 2017
• UK/US
• 1h 51min
• PG

• Directed by: Stephen Frears
• Cast: Judi Dench, Ali Fazal, Eddie Izzard, Adeel Akhtar, Michael Gambon

When Queen Victoria (Dench) is introduced to a young man from India, Abdul Karim (Fazal), she is charmed when he prostrates himself and kisses her foot: unlikely cross-cultural friendship and Urdu lessons duly ensue. Fazal and Dench are excellent and there’s a surprisingly effective political subtext.

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