Blithe Spirit & Judas and The Black Messiah: 4 new UAE films opening Feb 18

What's on at the cinema?

Blithe Spirit. The rule of thumb tends to be: if the movie’s title is even approaching a pun, avoid it. However, we’re going to have to hang the golden regulation this week as Blithe Spirit looks like our choice picture. As a result of the stellar cast and the fact it is based on a Noel Coward play, how could we possibly settle on anything else? 1930s writer Charles Condomine (Dan Stevens) is having a tough time converting his award-winning novel into a screenplay. He hires spiritualist medium Madame Arcati (Judi Dench) to conduct a private séance at a party in order to get the creative juices flowing. Presumed to be a fraud, Arcati inadvertently conjures up the ghost of Condomine’s first wife Elvira (Leslie Mann) who, much to the consternation of his current spouse (Isla Fisher), decides to stick around and cause havoc. Does true love really never die? IMDb gives it 5.3

Judas and The Black Messiah. However, if you fancy something a little more realistic and historically important, you have to see this powerful work. Starring the always-excellent Daniel Kaluuya, Oscar-winner in the making LaKeith Stanfield and incredible screen presence Jesse Plemons, you just know the story will be captivating. Sly FBI agent Roy Mitchell (Plemons) offers William O’Neal (Stanfield) a plea deal. He’ll drop all misdemeanor charges if the young man infiltrates the Black Panther Party and gathers intelligence on its Chairman Fred Hampton (Kaluuya). The cat and mouse game begins! Rotten Tomatoes gives it a whopping 96%