At Cinemas: Moving with stealth, this week’s pick is ‘The Assassin’

Cowabunga dudes. You might not have been feeling the Michael Bay-produced Ninja Turtles movie from a couple of years back – certainly very few people outside Hasbro toy manufacturers were. Th is week there’s a slice of sequel pizza in the oven: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2: Out of The Shadows. Can the heroes in a half-shell right the wrongs of their previous outing? Anyone care?

Also out this week is the weepy Me Before You starring Khaleesi herself (Emilia Clarke) – albeit without her dragons. The film has still been drawing some fire, however, for its alleged contrivances in depicting the disabled lead character. Those eager for a sniffle should note the film has earned only lukewarm reviews thus far. Worth mentioning, if you happen to read Danish subtitles, is Hsiao-Hsien Hou’s The Assassin. The film has had critics fawning over its photography, its martial arts choreography and slow-burn political drama since its screening in Cannes last year. It’s showing in Denmark at selected cinemas including Grand Teatret and Empire Bio.

This week’s final release is Jodi Foster’s fourth feature as director, Money Monster, which is reviewed this issue.

Over at Cinemateket, there’s a retrospective for the Polish master Krzystof Kieslowski that will run over the next couple of months and kicks off tonight (2nd) at 21:45 with the morally complex, multi award-winning indictment of capital punishment, A Short Film About Killing. That’s followed on Sunday at 19:15 by the brilliant Blind Chance – which was less successfully remade as Sliding Doors.

There’s also a fascinating series on Iran 1960-90, which attempts to reveal this period of the country’s unknown cultural history through a program of rare fi lms throughout June. Mostly presented with English subs, things kick off on Saturday with two fi lms by celebrated director Abbas Kiarostami: Where is the Friend’s Home? at 14:15 and The Journey at 21:00 (dfi . dk/Filmhuset).

Alternatively, if you prefer crass over class, you can head over to Huset (huset-kbh.dk) on Saturday at 19:30 and enjoy ‘70s schlockfest Squirm – in which millions of man-eating worms take over rural America.




  • Diplomatic tensions between US and Denmark after spying rumors

    Diplomatic tensions between US and Denmark after spying rumors

    A Wall Street Journal article describes that the US will now begin spying in Greenland. This worries the Danish foreign minister, who wants an explanation from the US’s leading diplomat. Greenlandic politicians think that Trump’s actions increase the sense of insecurity

  • Diplomacy meets Westeros: a dinner with the King, Queen – and Jaime Lannister

    Diplomacy meets Westeros: a dinner with the King, Queen – and Jaime Lannister

    What do King Frederik X, Queen Mary, UN Secretary-General António Guterres, and Jaime Lannister have in common? No, this isn’t the start of a very specific Shakespeare-meets-HBO fanfiction — it was just Wednesday night in Denmark

  • Huge boost to halt dropouts from vocational education

    Huge boost to halt dropouts from vocational education

    For many years, most young people in Denmark have preferred upper secondary school (Gymnasium). Approximately 20 percent of a year group chooses a vocational education. Four out of 10 young people drop out of a vocational education. A bunch of millions aims to change that

  • Beloved culture house saved from closure

    Beloved culture house saved from closure

    At the beginning of April, it was reported that Kapelvej 44, a popular community house situated in Nørrebro, was at risk of closing due to a loss of municipality funding

  • Mette Frederiksen: “If you harm the country that is hosting you, you shouldn’t be here at all”

    Mette Frederiksen: “If you harm the country that is hosting you, you shouldn’t be here at all”

    With reforms to tighten the rules for foreigners in Denmark without legal residency, and the approval of a reception package for internationals working in the care sector, internationals have been under the spotlight this week. Mette Frederiksen spoke about both reforms yesterday.

  • Tolerated, but barely: inside Denmark’s departure centers

    Tolerated, but barely: inside Denmark’s departure centers

    Currently, around 170 people live on “tolerated stay” in Denmark, a status for people who cannot be deported but are denied residency and basic rights. As SOS Racisme draws a concerning picture of their living conditions in departure centers, such as Kærshovedgård, they also suggest it might be time for Denmark to reinvent its policies on deportation

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