Film / News
Films for Valentine’s Day
Feeling romantic yet? The film industry aims to get you in the mood on Valentine’s Day with saturation screenings of Fifty Shades of Grey. But lovers who’d rather be beaten severely about the bottom than sit through that do have some alternative options. You could, for example, go retro. Over at the Bristol Cineworld, they’ve got a one-off screening of the singalong version of Grease – the ’50s-set musical that dominated 1978, with Olivia Newton-John and John Travolta frugging fruitily. If the thought of being stuck in the middle of an audience caterwauling the likes of You’re the One That I Want holds no appeal, then how about a mediocre wedding comedy to get you all lovey-dovey? Yup, all the local multiplexes have preview screenings of Kevin Hart’s The Wedding Ringer, which opens on March 20 and appears to have been stitched together from off-cuts of every nuptially-themed comedy you’ve ever seen, with a garnish of black guy/white guy bromance. But – hey – better not pre-judge it, eh?
Alternative as ever, the Watershed has two choices. Ira Sachs’ acclaimed gay marriage drama Love Is Strange, stars John Lithgow and Alfred Molina. This is not to be confused with Love Is All, which could well prove to be the pick of the bunch. Kim Longinotto’s documentary romp through a century of love on screen is compiled from dozens of entertaining and illuminating archive film clips. What could be more swooningly romantic than monochrome couples exchanging smouldering looks through the fug of their gaspers?
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