Once more COVID has locked me out of cinemas.
This time it’s the Omicron variant running rampant, and while an official lockdown isn’t in effect in Sydney, or anywhere in Australia for that matter, most people are choosing to stay home and avoid public places of any kind.
This aversion to cinematic exposure stems personally from a friend getting infected with COVID at the movies and so, while movies roll out on release with the usual frenzy associated with summer holidays, I am staying away and waiting for films like Ghostbusters: Afterlife, Spider-Man: Far From Home, The French Dispatch and Dune to come to streaming a little later on.
Am I disappointed? Sure – I love summer movie frenzies but the reality is I have a choice to either seem them on the big screen and likely get COVID, or to protect myself, and I am choosing to stay healthy.
In the meantime, I have trailers to tantalise me … and you, of course …
Tytöt Tytöt Tytöt (Girl Picture)
SNAPSHOT
Best friends Mimmi and Rönkkö work after school at a food court smoothie kiosk, frankly swapping stories of their frustrations and expectations regarding love and sex. Volatile misfit Mimmi, unexpectedly swept up in the thrill of a new romance with Emma (a driven skater training for the European championships), struggles to adjust to the trust & compromise required by a lasting relationship. Meanwhile, the offbeat, indefatigable Rönkkö hits the teen party scene, stumbling through a series of awkward encounters with members of the opposite sex while hoping to find her own version of satisfaction.” Girl Picture, originally known as Tytöt Tytöt Tytöt (Girls Girls Girls) in Finnish, is directed by Finnish filmmaker Alli Haapasalo, director of the films Love and Fury and Force of Habit previously. The screenplay is written by Ilona Ahti and Daniela Hakulinen. (synopsis courtesy First Showing via Sundance Film Festival)
Tytöt Tytöt Tytöt (Girl Picture) premieres at 2022 Sundance Film Festival; no mainstream release dates yet available.
SNAPSHOT
In Moonfall, a mysterious force knocks the Moon from its orbit around Earth and sends it hurtling on a collision course with life as we know it. With mere weeks before impact and the world on the brink of annihilation, NASA executive and former astronaut Jo Fowler is convinced she has the key to saving us all – but only one astronaut from her past, Brian Harper and a conspiracy theorist K.C. Houseman believe her. These unlikely heroes will mount an impossible last-ditch mission into space, leaving behind everyone they love, only to find out that our Moon is not what we think it is. Moonfall is directed by prolific German filmmaker Roland Emmerich, of the movies The Noah’s Ark Principle, Making Contact, Ghost Chase, Moon 44, Universal Soldier, Stargate, Independence Day, Godzilla, The Patriot, The Day After Tomorrow, 10000 BC, 2012, Anonymous, White House Down, Stonewall, ID: Resurgence, and Midway previously. The screenplay is written by Spenser Cohen, Roland Emmerich, and Harald Kloser. (synopsis courtesy First Showing)
Moonfall premieres Australia on 3 February and US and UK on 4 February.
SNAPSHOT
A power couple within the Danish gourmet scene run the popular restaurant Malus in Copenhagen. The couple is willing to sacrifice everything to achieve their dream — getting the coveted Michelin star. A Taste of Hunger, originally known as Smagen af Sult in Danish, is directed by acclaimed Danish writer / director Christoffer Boe, director of the films Reconstruction, Allegro, Offscreen, Everything Will Be Fine, Beast, Sex Drugs & Taxation, and Journal 64 previously. The screenplay is written by Christoffer Boe and Tobias Lindholm. It’s produced by Louise Vesth. (synopsis courtesy First Showing)
A Taste of Hunger premieres on premieres on 28 January in US in select cinemas and via VOD after premiering at Two Riversides Film & Art Festival in Poland.