3 Things To Watch This Week

Whether you’re heading to the cinema or want to stay in and stream an unmissable documentary, here are three things on our release radar this week:

The First Monday In May

Vogue Editor-in-Chief Anna Wintour takes centre stage in the most anticipated fashion documentary since The September Issue as the viewer is given full access to the planning and preparation at the creation of the 2015 fashion exhibition?China: Through the Looking Glass and its opening gala. Alas, we have no Grace Coddington, but in her place is exhibition curator Andrew Bolton and his quiet yet warm demeanour is a worthy foil to Wintour’s Ice Queen vibes.?Acclaimed documentarist Andrew Rossi followed the pair around for eight months leading up to the event deemed the ‘super bowl of fashion? – China: Through the Looking Glass became the most attended fashion exhibition in the history of The Costume Institute at The Metropolitan Museum of Art – and caught everything on camera; from the seating plan stress to that Rihanna gown to Wintour’s warning of a particular celebrity: ?tell him he’s not allowed be on his phone the entire night.? We hope he heeded her words. (Out Sunday, October 2nd; tickets: lighthousecinema.ie)

Miss Peregrine’s Home For Peculiar Children

Tim Burton fans won’t be disappointed with this YA adaptation of the beloved book of the same name; one would think it was written exactly for the eccentric artist who in the past conjured’such beautifully bizarre imagery that there were none quite like him. It’s been a few years since he delivered on a film both critics and fans have truly enjoyed (this writer feels his vision was compromised and lost in favour of studio-heavy CGI), yet he has returned to form. Hailed as Burton’s best (non-musical) live-action movie for 20 years, Miss Peregrine’s Home For Peculiar Children is like Burton?of old – dark and whimsical but set for our modern times. The film follows the story of teenage boy Jake (played by?Asa Butterfield), who travels to an island to investigate his beloved late grandfather’s past at the titular home for children. But naturally, these are no ordinary children. Hidden within the dose of wonderment and silliness is a poignant coming-of-age tale that even features our own Chris O’Dowd. Oh, and Samual L. Jackson fiendishly eats a giant bowl of children’s eyeballs – he belongs in a Tim Burton universe forevermore. (Out Friday, September 30th; nationwide)

Amanda Knox

Was she a cold-blooded psychopath who brutally murdered her roommate or a naive student abroad trapped in an endless nightmare? In what is sure to be another gripping Netflix Original Documentary?Amanda Knox, explores the notorious case that made headlines around the world.?In March 2015, seven and a half years after their arrest, 27-year-old Amanda Knox and her former boyfriend?Raffaele Sollecito were definitively acquitted of the murder of her roommate Meredith Kercher after being charged with her murder years before. The case still causes debate, and the documentary takes an in-depth look at Knox and the events before and after the killing. The US media branded her an innocent victim caught in the web of the flawed Italian justice system whereas the European media said otherwise; the fact that she changed her version of events multiple times, accused an innocent man of the killing, and even details of her odd courtroom behaviour painted another twist to the events and a second side to the story. Knox appears chillingly distant at times, but the filmmakers do the best to portray?an even take on the events that lead to the tragic death of an innocent girl. (Out Friday, September 30th; Netflix)