By Simon Lewis
Why do we watch films on the big screen? To escape, to come alive, to see impossible things. That’s why your spine tingles when that 20th Century Fox drumroll starts (or whatever cues your happy cinema feelings). The moment crackles with possibility. You could go anywhere.
Our grandparents knew all this, in the days when a great escape was watching Julie Andrews crest an Alpine hillside, singing. That still is a great escape – but now, in the days of ultra-high definition 4K projection, Dolby sound and CGI, a trip to Vue can launch you to the other side of the universe.
It's hard to know what???s more moving ??? Aisholpan???s bond with the majestic bird, or the sheer scale of the landscape they hunt in.
Here are four big, beautiful movies that cry out to be viewed on the big screen this month, to expand your horizons and ignite your imagination. It’s time to treat yourself to a great escape.
Escape to: the crystal seas of Polynesia
MOANA (out now)
Kids know all about escapism. Adults sometimes get that enraptured look too, if a cartoon has enough magic. Moana comes from the directors of Aladdin and The Little Mermaid, who’ve since added high technology to their hand-drawn style: for this, they created a whole new way of animating water, since the ocean is a character in itself. It’s best friends with Moana, the sporty heroine who enlists a demigod to help her save their islands from a lava monster. If Frozen set the temperature of 2013, Moana promises to bring a warmer glow. You can feel the sun on your face in every frame.
Get times and tickets here.
Escape to: a galaxy far, far away
ROGUE ONE: A STAR WARS STORY (out now)
Why do people love Star Wars films so much? Because it’s a fully realised universe, with its own history and people. Some of us have been holidaying there since 1977. Rogue One takes place just before that first ever episode, as a ragged band of rebels led by Felicity Jones stage a daring raid to steal the plans for the Death Star. Much of the buzz is around the way it looks: as gritty and sweaty as a war film, but with star destroyers hovering overhead. Aren’t you itching to go back?Get times and tickets here.
It???s not the end of the world ??? but you can see it from there.
Escape to: the wild expanse of Mongolia
THE EAGLE HUNTRESS (out now)
A film doesn’t have to be fiction to offer escape. This award-winning documentary follows a 13 year-old Mongolian girl’s quest to be the first female eagle huntress in her family for three centuries. It's hard to know what’s more moving – Aisholpan’s bond with the majestic bird, or the sheer scale of the landscape they hunt in. As director Otto Bell says, “It’s not the end of the world – but you can see it from there.”Get times and tickets here.
No ballet is more escapist than The Nutcracker ??? the dreamy tale of a boy turned into a toy, the little girl who breaks the spell and their adventures in a Christmas world of sweets and snow.
Escape to: the space between worlds
Passengers (out 21st December)
Deep thinkers love the recent return of psychedelic sci-fi, from Avatar to Arrival. The latest stars Jennifer Lawrence and Chris Pratt, who are supposed to sleep for 120 years on the way to a new planet but instead wake up, alone. Then things get weird. If you love the idea of an interstellar cruise ship whose robot bartender has the face of Michael Sheen, or want to see what it looks like when the gravity gets turned off when J-Law is having a bath, this will be worth it for the mind-bending visuals alone. It also promises white-knuckle spacewalks and all manner of space mystery.
Get times and tickets here.
Escape to: the land of snow and the land of sweets
THE NUTCRACKER (live 8th December, encore 11th December)
Ballet is how people escaped from reality in the age of crinolines and steam trains, and no ballet is more escapist than The Nutcracker – the dreamy tale of a boy turned into a toy, the little girl who breaks the spell and their adventures in a Christmas world of sweets and snow. The Royal Ballet stages the world’s most beautiful version and this December anyone can watch it live, at their local Vue. It’s a world little girls love – but so does anyone with a sense of magic.Get times and tickets here.
