fascinating

WEAPONS

(18) 128mins

★★★★☆

THINGS that go bump in the night have long been a horror-story theme. But what about things that disappear in the night?

That is the opening of this fascinating thriller when 17 kids run out of their houses at 2.17am in a US town.

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No one knows why, or where they have gone. They ran down the street, arms spread like aeroplanes, and then vanished.

They are all in the same primary school class, taught by Justine (Julia Garner). Only one little boy remains, Alex (Cary Christopher).

We meet the pair a month after the disappearances, where tensions in the small town are running high.

The devastated parents think Justine and Alex must know more than they are telling police and become crazed with frustration.

The eerie feeling of the quiet suburban streets — and an entire town after one teacher — builds the feeling that more very bad things will happen soon.

And boy, they really do.

There’s an ensemble cast and the film is divided into several chapters.

Justine is the stressed teacher who is relying heavily on vodka, and Archer Graff (Josh Brolin) is the broken father who watches the CCTV of his son running out of the house on loop and will do anything for answers.

There’s also a troubled police officer, thieving junkie and the school’s head teacher who have their own different journeys around the horror of the town.

Oh, and Alex — the boy who was left behind — played superbly by young Christopher. His flat answers to questions and slow blinks have your palms a bit clammy.

The few horror tropes that are used — dream sequences and jumps — are done with class and control.

Written and directed by Zach Cregger, following on from his breakout and brilliant Barbarian, this often funny and ferocious film is intriguing until the end.

While most of the film gives you little to no clue of what is behind the children’s sudden disappearance, Cregger truly lets loose in the final half hour.

The foot is slammed on to the horror pedal and I found myself watching much of it through my fingers.

It’s both weird and wild — and certainly does not attempt to wrap an explanation up in a nice little bow for the audience.

You’ll leave with a slightly furrowed brow and a palpitating heart.

FREAKIER FRIDAY

(PG) 111mins

★★★☆☆

IN 2003’s Freaky Friday, therapist Tess Coleman (Jamie Lee Curtis) and her guitar-playing daughter Anna (Lindsay Lohan) temporarily inhabit each other’s bodies and lives.

In this sequel two decades later, Anna is a music producer and single mother to teen Harper (Julia Butters), while Tess records podcasts and plays pickleball.

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Anna’s forthcoming marriage to Eric, who has daughter Lily, will create a blended family – but it’s a union only the bride and groom are happy about.

Then fortune-teller fun – which sees Anna switch bodies with Harper, while Tess and Lily swap – allows them to see things through each other’s eyes.

Comical silliness and heart-warming schmaltz ensues, with typical Boomer, Millennial and Gen X characteristics teased for decent laughs.

The teens are forced to use Facebook and listen to Coldplay while the adults relish regaining their youthful metabolism.

It’s best when the elders play younger personas, and Jamie Lee Curtis is a treat throughout, flexing her funny bones.

A comfortable and entertaining Lohan is her perfect feel-good foil.

THE KINGDOM

(15) 112mins

★★★★☆

ORGANISED crime on the French island of Corsica makes for both a bloodthirsty and beautiful backdrop for Julien Colonna’s gripping Mob drama set in the 1990s.

Mafia racketeering in Sicily has often been portrayed on screen, but this location, along with some standout performances, feels like a fresh take on the much-told gang wars narrative.

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And Colonna knows his stuff – he comes from a Corsican family with Mob connections.

Teenager Leisa (a brilliant Ghjuvanna Benedetti) is the daughter of widowed faction boss Pierre-Paul.

She is enjoying carefree days at her aunt’s house, playing on the beach with her cousins and flirting with boys.

But without warning she is taken off to spend time with her father, who is planning revenge after a failed attempt on his life.

Leisa bonds with him by fishing, shooting boar, practising her rifle aim and sharpening her awareness of underworld politics.

The pace may be slow at times, but the captivating performances, along with a plot of murders, family dynamics and revenge, will hold your attention to the end.

Laura Stott

The picturesque city of Canterbury in Kent is home to a series of stunning waterways, offering visitors the chance to explore its famous landmarks from a unique perspective

Picture yourself drifting through the historic streets of Canterbury, effortlessly cruising on the pristine waters in a classic punt, basking in the warm glow of the sun. In this charming corner of Kent, visitors are treated to the tranquil pleasure of a guided canal tour along the idyllic River Stour.

As you nestle into your seat, a well-versed guide will enchant you with stories of the city’s storied past, highlighting notable sights such as time-worn bridges, picturesque weaver’s cottages, theatres, ancient monasteries and peaceful orchards. The journey also reveals some of Canterbury’s more sombre tales, including the grim beheading of an unfortunate priest and the harrowing tale of a mill engulfed by flames.

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The roughly 45-minute excursion provides a distinctive vantage point of Canterbury’s lesser-known treasures, with one visitor lauding the experience for its “crystal clear waters, beautiful buildings, plants and a really unique view passing under bridges and streets.”

The esteemed Canterbury Punting Company, honoured with the Tripadvisor Travellers’ Choice Award 2024, is celebrated for its traditional handcrafted wooden boats and engaging guides who are not only local historians but also possess a natural flair for storytelling, as reported by KentLive.

Their enthralling narratives and adept punting ensure a memorable adventure for everyone embarking on this relaxed voyage, reports Kent Live.

This top-rated company proudly holds an impressive 4.8 out of 5 stars, based on a staggering 1,388 reviews on Tripadvisor. Just this month, a customer raved: “What a fantastic experience and led by a very knowledgeable and entertaining guide/punter – not sure what correct terminology is – by the name of Freddy.

“He kept us thoroughly entertained with his tales of yonder whilst on the history boat ride. It was a lovely experience and so relaxing and informative.

“Can’t wait to try the nature tour next. I highly recommend it to anyone wanting to do something a bit different and to see Canterbury from the River Stour.”

Sharing the enthusiasm, another visitor from May wrote: “Sebastian was a very talented storyteller and informed us of the magical world that is Canterbury.

“The tour was relaxing and enjoyable, and my family thoroughly enjoyed it. I highly recommend this to any family who wants a day out relaxing on the river.”

Life, death, crime, kitsch, nostalgia, immigrant aspirations and witty design — all of these elements converge in the world of motels, which didn’t exist before 1925.

Here are five facts and phenomena from the century of history.

The motel turns 100. Explore the state’s best roadside havens — and the coolest stops along the way.

Where Magic Fingers are found

From the late 1950s into the ’80s, thousands of motels proudly advertised their Magic Fingers — a little collection of vibrating electric nodes under your mattress that would give you a 15-minute “massage” for 25 cents, inspiring creators from Kurt Vonnegut to Frank Zappa. Alas, their moment passed. But not everywhere. Morro Bay’s Sundown Inn, which gets two diamonds from the Auto Club and charges about $70 and up per night, is one of the last motels in the West that still features working Magic Fingers, offered (at the original price) in most of its 17 rooms. “We’ve owned the hotel for 41 years, and the Magic Fingers was here when we started. We just kept them,” said co-owner Ann Lin. Ann’s mother- and father-in-law immigrated from Taiwan and bought the property in 1983.

Motels, hotels and Patels

Many motels and small hotels are longtime family operations. Sometimes it’s the original owner’s family, and quite often it’s a family named Patel with roots in India’s Gujarat state. A recent study by the Asian American Hotel Owners Assn. found that 60% of U.S. hotels — and 61% of those in California — are owned by Asian Americans. By one estimate, people named Patel own 80% to 90% of the motels in small-town America. The beginnings of this trend aren’t certain, but many believe that one of the first Indians to acquire a hotel in the U.S. was Kanjibhai Desai, buyer of the Goldfield Hotel in downtown San Francisco in the early 1940s.

Motels, media and murders

There’s no escaping the motel in American pop culture. Humbert Humbert, the deeply creepy narrator of Vladimir Nabokov’s 1955 novel “Lolita,” road-tripped from motel to motel with his under-age victim. Edward Hopper gave us the disquieting 1957 oil painting “Western Motel.” In the film “Psycho” (1960), Alfred Hitchcock brought to life the murderous motel manager Norman Bates. When Frank Zappa made a movie about the squalid misadventures of a rock band on tour, he called it “200 Motels” (1971). When the writers of TV’s “Schitt’s Creek” (2015-2020) wanted to disrupt a rich, cosmopolitan family, they came up with the Rosebud Motel and its blue brick interior walls. And when executives at A&E went looking for a true-crime series in 2024, they came up with “Murder at the Motel,” which covered a killing at a different motel in every episode.

The Lorraine Motel, before and after

The 1968 assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. made the Lorraine Motel in Memphis globally notorious. But before and after that day, the Lorraine played a very different role. Built as a small hotel in 1925 and segregated in its early years, the property sold to Black businessman Walter Bailey in 1945. He expanded it to become a motel, attracting many prominent African American guests. In the 1950s and ’60s, the Lorraine was known for housing guests such as Count Basie, Cab Calloway, Roy Campanella, Ray Charles, Nat King Cole, Aretha Franklin, Lionel Hampton, Wilson Pickett, Otis Redding and the Staples Singers. After King’s assassination, the motel struggled, closed, then reemerged in 1991 as the National Civil Rights Museum, now widely praised. Guests follow civil rights history through the building, ending at Room 306 and its balcony where King was standing when he was shot.

The man upstairs in the Manor House

In 1980, a Colorado motel owner named Gerald Foos confided to journalist Gay Talese that he had installed fake ceiling vents in the Manor House Motel in Aurora, Colo., and for years had been peeping from the attic at guests in bed. The man had started this in the 1960s and continued into the ’90s. Finally, in 2016, Talese spun the story into a New Yorker article and a book, “The Voyeur’s Motel,” sparking many charges that he had violated journalistic ethics.