Molly’s Game
Released on 26th December
Aaron Sorkin’s highly enjoyable debut as a director is based on a true story. Molly Bloom (Jessica Chastain, above) is a skier who ran high-end poker games until the Feds caught up with her. Sorkin’s screenplay starts with another gamble—Molly’s battle with the courts, aided by a sceptical defence lawyer (Idris Elba). Chastain adds another smart steel butterfly to her filmography and as the backstory unfolds there are barely concealed portraits of film stars, moguls and mobsters. Expect plenty of smart talk, almost as many words as Ulysses, about which—this being a Sorkin script—there’s at least one joke.
The Disaster Artist
Released on 1st December
The Room, the 2003 film written and directed by Polish-American Tommy Wiseau who also played the lead, was a drama of love and loss so ill thought-out and badly executed (script, acting, continuity, direction) it became a cult classic. At special sell-out showings, the audience, dressed in character, shout dialogue and throw plastic cutlery at the screen. James Franco has now directed a film about the making of this turkey. Zac Efron, Bryan Cranston, Alison Brie, Seth Rogen and Sharon Stone are among the stars, while Franco plays Wiseau.
The Prince of Nothingwood
Released on 15th December
Salim Shaheen is Afghanistan’s most prolific filmmaker—writer, producer, star, promoter. Inspired by Bollywood, he gives it large with action, singing, dancing and comedy on little or no finance. French journalist Sonia Kronlund followed him as he pulled together his 111th feature, picking a path through practical, political and religious obstacles, to film on locations from mountain wilderness to the alcoves at Bamiyan where the Buddhas once stood. Irresistible even to members of the Taliban (the ones who feel they can actually watch films, as one witness points out) his charm powers this documentary too.
