For all the celebration and lore around cinema’s great lead protagonists, there are names in video games that rival silver screen heroes’ status as beloved characters: Link, Leon Kennedy, John Marston, Samus and Lara Croft, just to name some. But what about the nonplayer characters, or NPCs? We get a deeper look into NPCs and their take on all the digital commotion in "Free Guys." Ryan Reynolds takes the lead as he discovers he is an NPC in a video game resembling "Grand Theft Auto V" where guns are a’blazing with reckless abandon. "Free Guy" opens at Camana Bay Cinema on 13 August.
On 27 August, Peter Jackson ("Lord of the Rings" and "The Hobbit" trilogies) is back with his latest project, "The Beatles: Get Back." When recording the song, "Let It Be," the Beatles had cameras on them during the recording sessions and this footage was used for the documentary film of the same name. This time, Peter Jackson revisits the hours and hours of film footage and remasters never before seen moments of the Fab Four entering their last days as a band.
KIDS CLUB
As gorgeous as it was heartwarming, "Finding Nemo" has stood the test of time as one of Pixar's finest films. When clownfish Marlin experiences an awful family tragedy, he only has his son Nemo left in his life. However, on Nemo’s first day of school, he is taken by humans and now Marlin must swim the sea until he can find his son. See "Finding Nemo" for one showing only as part of the Kids Club programming on 28 August.
CLASSICS @ THE CINEMA
There are good arguments for what the best mobster movie is. There are good arguments for what the best western is. And there are good arguments for what the best war movie is. But there are no good arguments for what the best superhero movie is, because it's "Batman: The Dark Knight" every day of the year.
In 2008, Christopher Nolan took the Batman name and turned it into a methodical crime film that questioned the morality of justice and showed how even the best of us can succumb to chaos. More than 10 years and scores of superhero films later, "Batman: The Dark Knight" still stands out at the top of the superhero food chain. See it on the big screen for one night only on 10 August.
This article originally appeared in the August 2021 print edition of Camana Bay Times.