CALL ME BY YOUR NAME (Cert 15, 92 mins, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, Romance/Drama, available from February 19 exclusively on iTunes then from February 26 on other download and streaming services, available from March 5 on DVD £19.99/Blu-ray £24.99) Starring: Timothee Chalamet, Armie Hammer, Michael Stuhlbarg, Amira Casar, Esther Garrel.
Precocious 17-year-old Elio Perlman (Timothee Chalamet) spends the summer in an Italian villa, nurturing a half-hearted flirtation with local girl Marzia (Esther Garrel) while his scholarly father (Michael Stuhlbarg) furthers studies in Greco-Roman culture.
Mr Perlman's handsome American intern Oliver (Armie Hammer) arrives and Elio begrudgingly surrenders his bedroom to the visitor. Initially, Elio observes the newcomer's effect on local women with voyeuristic, cool detachment. Gradually, flickering embers of attraction between Elio and Oliver ignite a raging inferno of sexual desire that scorches every inch of the teenager's body and soul.
If the precipitous act of falling giddily in love could be distilled, the resulting nectar would surely taste as bittersweet and intoxicating as Call Me By Your Name. Adapted from Andre Aciman's novel, director Luca Guadagnino's sensual, rhapsodic and gorgeously restrained romance is a film to reinvigorate your belief in the power of cinema to perfectly reflect the vagaries of the human condition.
Rating: *****
THOR: RAGNAROK (Cert 12, 130 mins, Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment, Fantasy/Action/Adventure, available from February 19 on Amazon Video/BT TV Store/iTunes/Sky Store/TalkTalk TV Store and other download and streaming services, available from February 26 on DVD £17.99/Blu-ray £21.99/3D Blu-ray £25.99/4K Ultra HD Blu-ray £36.99). Starring: Chris Hemsworth, Cate Blanchett, Tom Hiddleston, Tessa Thompson, Sir Anthony Hopkins, Jeff Goldblum, Idris Elba, Mark Ruffalo.
Loki (Tom Hiddleston) sits undeservedly on Asgard's throne, fashioning the kingdom in his narcissistic image, oblivious to storm clouds gathering.
Noble sentry Heimdall (Idris Elba) no longer stands guard on the Bifrost Bridge while Loki's father Odin (Sir Anthony Hopkins) has been ushered into early retirement, which inadvertently releases Hela (Cate Blanchett) from a prison where she has languished for millennia.
An initial showdown between Thor (Chris Hemsworth) and Hela culminates in victory to the goddess. The fallen champion is cast out to Planet Sakaar, where he is captured by a mysterious merchant (Tessa Thompson) and pitted against a smashing ally (Mark Ruffalo) in gladiatorial battle.
From its droll opening scene Thor: Ragnarok rocks, and rolls with the punches. The hammer-wielding Norse god finally gets into an otherworldly groove in this third solo outing directed to the comic hilt by Taika Waititi.
The New Zealand film-maker and a trio of screenwriters adhere to a classic three-act structure for their heady brew of rip-roaring action adventure, bone-dry humour and dazzling spectacle.
Rating: ****
THE DEATH OF STALIN (Cert 15, 106 mins, Entertainment One, Comedy/Drama, available from February 19 on Amazon Video/BT TV Store/iTunes/Sky Store/TalkTalk TV Store and other download and streaming services, available from February 26 on DVD £19.99/Blu-ray £27.99). Starring: Simon Russell Beale, Jeffrey Tambor, Steve Buscemi, Dermot Crowley, Paul Chahidi, Paul Whitehouse, Olga Kurylenko, Adrian McLoughlin, Rupert Friend, Andrea Riseborough.
Fifties Moscow is a city under the yoke of the tyrannical Stalin (Adrian McLoughlin), who executes dissenters. When he meddles in a live radio recording, soloist Maria Yudina (Olga Kurylenko) voices her displeasure in a letter. Stalin reads her swingeing missive, collapses and dies.
The following morning, chief of security Lavrentiy Beria (Simon Russell Beale) is first on the scene and gathers classified documents that could prove valuable in the coming days. Close adviser Nikita Khrushchev (Steve Buscemi) arrives: "Our General Secretary is lying in a puddle of indignity!" he rages.
Members of Stalin's inner circle forge alliances to fill the power vacuum and worm their way into the affections of the dead leader's distraught son (Rupert Friend) and daughter (Andrea Riseborough).
The Death Of Stalin is a delicious, razor-sharp satire that deftly melds historical fact and bile-drenched fiction. Writer-director Armando Iannucci continues to make hay from the grubby business of politics, relishing parallels to modern-day diplomatic wrangling as over-inflated male egos collide.
His beautiful nightmare is a dizzying dance macabre.
Rating: ****
