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ollowing the bloodbath that concluded season two,

W

ill Graham and Jack Crawford are nursing their

w

ounds while Lecter has fled to Florence in the

c

ompany of Dr. Bedelia Du Maurier. Given this is the

f

inal season of Hannibal, there's a lot of ground still left

t

o cover in the world created by Thomas Harris. The first

h

alf gets off to a surreal start, incorporating elements

f

rom Lecter's early years (

Hannibal Rising

) before

c

overing the events chronicled in

Hannibal

(the book and

f

ilm) – namely Inspector Pazzi's attempts to apprehend

Lecter in Italy, and faceless former victim Mason Verger's plan to feed

him to pigs. The second half delivers a gripping retelling of

Red Dragon

,

culminating in the final showdown between Will and his nemesis. A

fitting swan song for this stylish and nightmarish series.

SH

Last meal for Lecter and co

HANNIBAL:

SEASON 3

Unleashing the living dead on

Regency England and Jane

Austen’s beloved characters is a

joke that should be frightfully witty.

And it is. But writer-director Burr

Steers’ decision to play it straight

actually results in a surprisingly

good adaptation of Austen’s novel

rather than an out-and-out zom-

com. Set in an alternate England

in the grip of a zombie apocalypse,

the Bennet sisters are martial arts

maidens packing daggers beneath

their corsets, but still in the mood

for marriage. The casting is dead-

on: Lily James and Sam Riley

make a fine Elizabeth and Darcy,

while former Doctor Who Matt

Smith hams it up as the bumbling

Parson Collins.

SH

Pride & Prejudice

& Zombies

R

elease Date:

0

8/06/16

F

ormat:

Mary Shelley’s classic horror tale

comes back to life through the

eyes of Harry Potter, who we

first encounter as a nameless,

hunchbacked circus clown.

However, Victor Frankenstein

(James McAvoy) sees genius in

this apparently hopeless human

being and liberates him from

his miserable life. It isn’t long

before Frankenstein and his newly

christened assistant Igor (Daniel

Radcliffe) are re-assembling the

body parts of various creatures

into re-animated abominations –

including that infamous monster. A

mixture of action, sci-fi and a touch

of romance, essentially this does

for Shelley’s tale what Guy Ritchie

did for Sherlock Holmes.

AF

VICTOR

FRANKENSTEIN

Release Date:

01/06/16

Format:

Release Date:

01/06/16

Format:

T

he long awaited return of

The X-Files

kicks off in

tr

aditional style with a convoluted twist on the show's

o

verriding mythology involving alien abductions and

g

overnment conspiracies. Fortunately the mythos

a

rc merely bookends the six episodes that comprise

th

is "Event Series" (or more appropriately, Season X),

a

llowing for some nostalgia-laden standalone stories like

th

e brilliant

Mulder & Scully Meet the Were-Monster

,

a

s well as mutant children and a creepy creation known

a

s 'Trashman'. Creator Chris Carter is back at the helm

along with many of the original writers and directors, while David

Duchovny and Gillian Anderson slip back into their signature roles as

though they've never been away. It may be too short a season, but a

cliffhanger finale suggests the truth is still out there. More please!

SH

The truth is still out there

THE X FILES:

The event series

Best known here

for the Mafia

drama

Gomorroah

, the first English

language feature from Italian

director Matteo Garrone couldn’t be

more different. A dark compendium

of interwoven fairytales, this

sumptuously surreal feast is

definitely not for kids: in one story

a king (Toby Jones) falls in love

with a flea, another has a queen

(Salma Hayek) going to incredible

lengths to conceive, while the third

tale features a debauched ruler

(Vincent Cassel) who is tricked into

sleeping with an old crone. Fans

of Tim Burton and Terry Gilliam will

find much to like here, although

it’s closer in spirit to the disturbing

fantasies of cult director Walerian

Borowczyk.

John Ferguson

TALE OF TALES

Release Date:

09/06/16

Format:

Winner of this year’s Oscar for

Best Foreign Film, this Hungarian

Holocaust drama is the closest

you'll get – and ever want to get

– to the horrors inside the Nazi

death factory. It's also the closest

thing to a found-footage Holocaust

film, with the camera following

protagonist Saul (Géza Röhrig)

throughout, as he attempts to

find a rabbi who can conduct a

proper burial for a young boy. With

a soundscape to match the tight

visuals, it's a sensory experience,

an intimate, over-the-shoulder

descent into hell. However, Saul's

resolve in his mission and the

risks involved bring a humane

perspective to an inhumane world.

Highly recommended

.

SH

SON OF SAUL

Release Date:

09/06/16

Format:

Release Date:

16/06/16

Format:

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JUNE

2016

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