At The Flix: A Dog's Way Home, Green Book & Met Opera Live: Carmen

A Dog's Way Home (PG)

Starring: Kimi Alexander, Farrah Aviva, Chris Bauer

Director: Charles Martin Smith

Genre: Adventure, Family

Release Date: 25 Jan

As a puppy, Bella finds her way into the arms of Lucas, a young man who gives her a good home. When Bella becomes separated from Lucas, she soon finds herself on an epic 400-mile journey to reunite with her beloved owner. Along the way, the lost but spirited dog touches the lives of an orphaned mountain lion, a down-on-his-luck veteran and some friendly strangers who happen to cross her path.

Green Book (12A)

Starring:  Viggo Mortensen, Mahershala Ali, Linda Cardellini

Director: Peter Farrelly

Genre: Biography, Comedy, Drama

Release Date: 1 Feb (Previews Wed 30 Jan)

Dr Don Shirley is a world-class African-American pianist, who is about to embark on a concert tour in the Deep South in 1962. In need of a driver and protection, Shirley recruits Tony Lip, a New York City tough-talking bouncer searching for new employment after the nightclub he works at is closed for renovations. Despite their differences, the two men soon develop an unexpected bond while confronting racism and danger in an era of segregation.

Met Opera Live: Carmen

Starring: Louis Langrée (conductor), Aleksandra Kurzak, Clémentine Margaine

Producer: Sir Richard Eyre

Genre: Event Cinemas

Release Date: Live 2 Feb

Mezzo-soprano Clémentine Margaine reprises her remarkable portrayal of opera’s ultimate seductress, a triumph in her 2017 debut performances, with impassioned tenors Yonghoon Lee and Roberto Alagna as her lover, Don José. Omer Meir Wellber and Louis Langrée share conducting duties for Sir Richard Eyre’s powerful production, a Met favorite since its 2009 premiere. Bizet’s masterpiece of the gypsy seductress who lives by her own rules has had an impact far beyond the opera house. The opera’s melodic sweep is as irresistible as the title character herself, a force of nature who has become a defining female cultural figure. Carmen was a scandal at its premiere but soon after became a triumphal success and has remained one of the most frequently staged operas in the world. The opera takes place in and around Seville, a city that, by the time Carmen was written, had already served many operatic composers as an exotic setting conducive to erotic intrigues and turmoil (Rossini’s Il Barbiere di Siviglia and Verdi’s La Forza del Destino, among others). The hometown of Don Juan, the city also inspired Mozart with Don Giovanni, and Beethoven used Seville as the setting for a study of marital fidelity in Fidelio.