Inflight Magazine of Brussels Airlines

FILM & MUSIC

A round-up of the top films and tunes heading your way this month

Sherrybaby

Director Laurie Collyer Starring Maggie Gyllenhaal, Danny Trejo

Just when you thought summer cinema was doomed to drown in its own machismo, along comes this emotional family drama directed by – no! – a woman. But this isn’t your average feel-good chick flick.

Maggie Gyllenhaal is Sherry Swanson, an ex-con struggling to rebuild her relationship with Alexis, the daughter she hasn’t seen in three years. To win Alexis back, Sherry will have to confront some searching questions about her own childhood, and her ability to act like a real mother.

While first-time feature director Laurie Collyer makes the occasional misstep (Sherry’s ‘relationship’ with her father is straight out of Woman’s Weekly), the film is powered by Maggie Gyllenhaal’s brilliant performance.

Sherry is a rollercoaster of emotions, but through it all Gyllenhaal has a calming, concentrated power that clamps your eyes to the screen and keeps them there.

Best of all? No CGI in sight. Now there’s a summer treat.

The Bravery

The Sun and the Moon

Any band who go by the label “android punk robo-men from the planet Tequila Sex” are on the right track. But music-mag hype aside, The Bravery’s second album is a huge step towards cementing their reputation as 21st-century rock gods. The New York five-piece are a mouthy combination of tight trousers and tighter punk, but with Bruce Springsteen’s ex-producer on board, they’ve added muscularity to their soundscape. Witness Split Me Wide Open for evidence of arena-filling confidence.

The future is now.

The Broken Family Band

Hello Love

Cambridge isn’t the first place you’d look for an alt.country band singing about booze, break-ups and broken hearts. Unless, that is, you’re a fan of Cambridge-based foursome The Broken Family Band. And if you’re not, listen to Hello Love – you soon will be. The band make records with infectious tunes and belting lyrics guaranteed to transport you straight to a Nashville ho-down. Hello Love is yet another glorious example of what they’re capable of: a raucous gem of hillbilly hedonism from a family firing on all cylinders.

In the news

Think of the children…

It’s blockbuster season. so here’s a handy guide to what to see with the kids. At a trim 93 minutes, Shrek The Third should spare you from tearing your hair out. Mid-July is all about Harry Potter with the release of the fifth film in the franchise. Be warned: they get darker as Harry gets older. At the end of the month, The Simpsons offers more highbrow animated fun, while dads everywhere will be looking forward to Transformers.

…But save yourselves

Sick of the standard summer fare? July is also the month of so-called ‘counter-programming’: those releases designed to give you a break from banality. Check out Molière, a fresh and funny take on the French writer that will delight fans of Shakespeare in Love. British audiences are also treated to rereleases of Ingmar Bergman’s The Seventh Seal and Bertolucci’s sexually charged Last Tango in Paris to recharge the brain cells.

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