At the cinema: Kingsman: The Secret Service
Directors who put a strong authorial stamp on their material often make films for niche audiences – think Wes Anderson (Grand Budapest Hotel) or Mike Leigh (Mr Turner). Matthew Vaughn is on that short list of filmmakers – alongside the likes of Quentin Tarantino and Christoper Nolan – who make very commercial, mainstream films that also manage to be highly distinctive. You can’t imagine anyone other than Vaughn coming up with something like Kick-Ass. And you can’t imagine anyone else making Kingsman: The Secret Service, his new film that’s every bit as funny, sexy, cool and twisted as we’ve come to expect from him. Taron Egerton (also on screens currently in Testament Of Youth) stars as young Eggsy, a fatherless lad who is going off the rails. But suave spy Colin Firth thinks he has what it takes to join posh intelligence agency Kingsman. Larks ensue, many involving insane tech mogul Samuel L Jackson. The film is pretty out-there – and on at least one occasion really rather nasty – and it’s a welcome alternative to the many prestige dramas competing for our attention during awards season. PS, Taron Egerton, yes please.
On DVD: The Boxtrolls
This year there are only two animated features nominated for both BAFTA and Oscar: Disney’s Big Hero 6, and The Boxtrolls. (Please note that both How To Train Your Dragon 2 and The Lego Movie failed to achieve this distinction.) The Boxtrolls is from the makers of Coraline and ParaNorman, and tells the story of a young orphaned boy raised by underground-dwelling trash scavengers (the boxtrolls of the title) who face nightly peril from an evil exterminator (voice of Ben Kingsley). Although ostensibly for kids, The Boxtrolls has definitely been made with an adult audience in mind, and Richard Ayoade is particularly delightful as the evil villain’s henchman suffering from an existential crisis. It’s also, on occasion, rather gleefully disgusting.
On TV: Ted (Saturday, Channel 4, 9pm)
Mark Wahlberg is in cinemas currently in flop not-quite-a-thriller The Gambler. Mila Kunis is coming soon in the Wachowskis’ Jupiter Ascending, which… Well, you’ll find out what we make of that one in Tuesday’s heat magazine. As for Seth Macfarlane, he directed and starred in last summer’s rather annoying western Once Upon A Time In The West. But never mind about all that. Let’s go back to happier times, specifically the summer of 2012, when Mark, Mila and Seth together gave us the giant hit comedy Ted, about a pot-smoking, daytime-drinking, skirt-chasing teddy bear. The reason this film really works: cruel zingers (“Back off, Susan Boyle,” quips Ted to a tubby youth) are so much funnier and more endearing when said by a giant teddy bear. Ted 2 is coming this summer, so consider this essential revision.