The Screen Critic: with Jim Schembri
Lovers of Emily Brontë’s timeless tale of romance on the windswept Yorkshire moors might want to brace themselves, for the latest version of Wuthering Heights is rather confronting – but in a good way.
Far from presenting a prestigious affair, this racy adaptation by writer/director Emerald Fennell (Saltburn; Promising Young Woman) sensationally reimagines the story as a tumultuous tussle about lust, infidelity and sexual revenge.
As Cathy we have the ever-luminous Margot Robbie playing our heroine as a headstrong middle-aged woman, some 20 years older than the flighty 19 year-old lass from the 1847 novel (and subsequent adaptations). She’s terrific.
Opposite her is Jacob Elordi as the ruggedly handsome Heathcliff, the salt-of-the-earth guy who Cathy’s father (Martin Clunes from Doc Martin) kindly took in off the streets, raising him as his own son.
As everyone knows by now, the story swirls around how Cathy and Heathcliff are deeply in love but are kept apart by an unfortunate series of circumstances, leading Cathy to marry her wimpy neighbour Edgar (Shazad Latif).
The look of the film is stunning, with beautiful sets and striking costumes themed with the colour red, the traditional hue denoting romantic passion and, alas, financial debt, a key part in the proceedings.
Designed for a broad audience rather than purists, Wuthering Heights is grand stuff, perfect for those looking for a saucy, satisfying date-night treat for Valentine’s Day.
It’s hard to imagine any fan of The King who won’t be totally enthralled by EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert. As for those who say they don’t dig Elvis, well, they’re bound to love it, too – the liars.
Following his award-winning 2022 biopic Elvis, director Baz Luhrmann and his crew have assembled a dazzling portrait of Presley from 68 crates of film discovered – undisturbed and unseen – deep in the Warner Bros vaults located, would you believe, in the salt mines of Kansas. (Apparently it’s a great place to avoid corrosive moisture.)
Combining his self-narrated backstory with footage of Elvis in rehearsal and in full flight on stage, the film reveals how his love of live performance redoubled after a decade stuck making assembly-line movies.
We also learn what a funny, fun-loving, self-deprecating guy Elvis was, even with the world at his feet.
Using the latest technology, old footage has been remastered to look brilliant and sharp on the big screen. EPiC opens 12 February. See it in Imax if you can. Please.
In the absorbing, tense crime-thriller Crime 101 Chris Hemsworth plays a high-class LA thief who likes relieving rich people with dubious reputations of their precious jewellery.
When a frustrated insurance company executive (Halle Berry) comes into his orbit, he cooks up a plan for one last big retirement heist. Sounds good, but for the wily detective (Mark Ruffalo) on his tail, who hopes to make a big score himself by catching the thief in the act.
Tense and serious with exceptionally well-drawn characters, Crime 101 is sure to please crime movie buffs who like their screen crooks classy and strongly motivated.
Now, here’s something we’ve never seen before – a killer robot movie!
OK, War Machine might not be all that original – after all, we’ve had 20 years of Transformer movies – but it is very well done, delivering all the over-the-top action you’d expect as a squad of elite US Rangers on a training mission encounter a giant battle robot from -where else? – outer space.
An enjoyable, and very loud, time killer, the jaunt stars Alan Ritchson from Reacher, a terrific series you can catch on Prime.
Also on Prime is the re-release of The War, the exceptional 2007 14-hour World War II documentary miniseries from director Ken Burns (The Civil War).
Meticulously curated from dozens of interviews with veterans, letters, news reports and troves of archival photos and footage, the film recounts the war as experienced by the inhabitants of four small American towns. Not a single historian or expert is interviewed.
Though the show drew some controversy for its limited perspective – can you reasonably incorporate all viewpoints in one show? – The War remains a remarkable achievement, the power of its storytelling undiminished.
If perchance you’ve never seen it, put it on your must-see list.
For more visit jimschembri.com with updates on X at @jimschembri
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