Aubrey Malone
Scarlett Johanssen plays Natasha Romanoff in Black Widow. The silly season is upon us. That means that we have to suffer nonsense like Fast and Furious 9, which even by its own (lack of) standards is pretty crazy, featuring an outer space element as well as a mad car chase through Edinburgh. But Vin Diesel (whose very name seemed destined to land him in a motor franchise) continues to laugh his way to the bank.
Here are some of the other attractions on offer:
Free Guy
Science fiction comedy about a bank teller (Ryan Reynolds) who realises he’s living inside a video game so he decides to become an action hero – as you would. (Advisory content for parents: violence and crudity).
The Sparks Brothers
A documentary chronicling five decades in the lives of the siblings behind the rock/pop group, Sparks.
Jungle Cruise
Starring Dwayne Johnson – arguably the richest man in movies – and the ever-busy Emily Blunt, this is a fantasy taking us into the Amazon jungle where various dangerous animals reside – and a tree with miraculous healing powers.
Summer of Soul
Documentary about the 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival featuring the crème de la crème of African American music: Stevie Wonder, Nina Simone, Mahalia Jackson, B.B. King and many, many more. An apt backdrop to the Black Lives Matter movement.
Still Water
Dalkey’s favourite resident Matt Damon plays the father of an estranged daughter who travels from Oklahoma to Marseille to try and free her from a prison where she’s incarcerated for a crime she didn’t commit.
The Green Knight
Fantasy re-telling of the Arthurian legend starring Dev Patel as Sir Gawain, the reckless nephew of King Arthur. Alicia Vikander and Joel Edgerton also warm their hands at the medieval fire.
The Last Letter from Your Lover
This has two interlocking stories from the past and present dealing with the attempt of a journalist (Felicity Jones) to unlock the mystery of a forbidden love through a stash of letters.
The Courier
Not to be confused with the Veronica Guerin biopic, this is a kind of wry throwback to Enigma, that other Benedict Cumberbatch Cold War offering. Wearing a moustache that makes him look faintly ridiculous, he plays a businessman employed by MI5 to act as a go-between to a Russian dissident (Merab Ninidze). He’s been sending top secret information to Britain and the US, something hardly likely to make the KGB dance with delight.
Black Widow
Scarlett Johanssen has already played the assassin Natasha Romanoff in previous Black Widow outings. This is a prequel so she hasn’t quite reincarnated herself. Expect lots of computer-generated special effects from the Marvel Comics extravaganza.
Spirit Untamed
This animated film deals with a young girl whose life is changed dramatically after she moves from her city home to a frontier town where she befriends a wild mustang.
Space Jam: A New Legacy
Another animated film, this centres around the kidnapping of a basketball player and features Bugs Bunny, Yogi Bear and Fred Flintstone. Yabba dabba do!