#OnTheBigScreen: Rocketman, The Sun Is Also a Star, X-Men: Dark Phoenix

Rocketman

An epic musical odyssey that blurs the lines of fantasy and reality, fuses the worlds of music, fame and fashion, and stamps a glittery platform heel down on the cinematic rulebook.

It takes audiences on an uncensored journey through the life of an icon, with Elton’s most beloved songs – reimagined and updated in breakthrough musical and dramatic performances by the young cast – propelling and shaping the story.

This inspirational story – set to Elton John’s most beloved songs and performed by star Taron Egerton – tells the universally relatable story of how a small-town boy became one of the most iconic figures in pop culture.

Taron Egerton, delivering an astonishing performance that has seen him record new versions of some of John’s most famous songs. As the film follows Elton from his English hometown of Pinner and along the yellow brick road of fame, addiction and heartbreak, we will also meet the mother he had a troubled relationship with (Bryce Dallas Howard), his manager and onetime lover, John Reid (Richard Madden), and his legendary lyricist Bernie Taupin (Jamie Bell), the best friend and creative partner of over 50 years without whom John might not have survived.

Directed by Dexter Fletcher (Bohemian Rhapsody) and written by Lee Hall (Billy Elliot)

Read more here.

The Sun Is Also a Star

Opposites attract against the backdrop of one of the busiest and most vibrant cities in the world: New York.  And in a city of more than eight million people, what are the odds that anyone will find the one…or that their paths will even cross?

College-bound romantic Daniel Bae and Jamaica-born pragmatist Natasha Kingsley meet—and fall for each other—over one magical day amidst the fervor and flurry of New York City.  Sparks immediately fly between these two strangers, who might never have met had fate not given them a little push.  But will fate be enough to take these teens from star-crossed to lucky in love? With just hours left on the clock in what looks to be her last day in the U.S., Natasha is fighting against her family’s deportation as fiercely as she’s fighting her budding feelings for Daniel, who is working just as hard to convince her they are destined to be together.

A modern-day story about finding love against all odds, The Sun Is Also a Star explores whether our lives are determined by fate or the random events of the universe.

Directed by Ry Russo-Young (Before I Fall) from a screenplay adaptation by Tracy Oliver (Girls Trip).

Read more here.

X-Men: Dark Phoenix

From writer-director Simon Kinberg comes the most radical X-Men film ever made: X-Men: Dark Phoenix, the culmination of a superhero saga nearly two decades in the making, that is part science-fiction thriller, part character-driven drama, posing intriguing questions about identity and destiny.

It follows the iconic story of Jean Grey’s (Sophie Turner) transformation from gifted mutant into the most powerful force in the universe. During a life-threatening mission to outer space, Jean Grey is nearly killed when she absorbs a cosmic entity that leaves her with powers far beyond anything she or any other mutant has ever possessed. Once she returns home to Earth, she struggles with these near-godlike abilities, but the force inside her is too overwhelming to contain. Spiraling out of control, Jean hurts the ones she loves most. Her actions tear the X-Men apart, and the heroes find themselves deeply compromised at a time when they must face their most dangerous enemy yet—one of their own.

The women in the X-Men films—played by powerhouse actresses from Famke Janssen to Halle Berry—were complicated, dynamic, and always had agency, but their stories never quite came to the fore. After nearly 20 years, X-Men: Dark Phoenix is squarely focused on the journey of Jean Grey and the women who surround her—including Jennifer Lawrence’s Raven and Jessica Chastain’s Smith, a villainous new presence who encourages Jean to abandon her humanity and give in to her darkest urges.

Read more here.

Backtrace 

After suffering a brain injury from a bank heist gone wrong, MacDonald develops amnesia and is put into a prison psychiatric ward. Following his seventh year of incarceration, he is coerced by an inmate and a ward doctor to break out of prison, and he’s injected with a serum that forces him to relive the life he’s forgotten. MacDonald must now elude a local detective, a toughened FBI agent, and the drug’s dangerous side effects to recover the stolen money.

Directed by Brian A. Miller. Starring Ryan Guzman, Matthew Modine, Sylvester Stallone.

Dialogues des Carmélites

Opera lovers can delight in the Metropolitan Opera’s Live in HD screening of French composer Francis  Poulenc’s opera about an order of nuns whose faith is tested during the height of the French Revolution, features Isabel Leonard and Adrianne Pieczonka sing the leading roles of Blanche de la Force and the new Prioress, Madame Lidoine. Karita Mattila, making her role debut, portrays the ailing first prioress, Madame de Croissy.

Showing from 8 June for limited screenings at Rosebank Nouveau, Gateway Commercial, Brooklyn Nouveau and V&A Waterfront Nouveau, as well as Somerset and Blue Route Mall in Cape Town, Bedford Square in Johannesburg and Garden Route Mall in George.

Read more about the latest and upcoming films: writingstudio.co.za/lets-go-to-the-movies