Before The Devil Knows Your Dead
01 October 2009
Director: Sidney Lumet
with Philip Seymour Hoffman, Ethan
Hawke, Marisa Tomei, Albert Finney, Rosemary Harris.
USA 2007 2h03mins
This scabious, provocative work
of film noir comes from one of cinema's more intriguing masters, Sidney Lumet. Essentially a botched-heist thriller, it
has one chilling, essential twist: the perpetrators are two brothers, and their parents own the surburban jewellery store
they want to rob. The performances are outstanding. Etah Hawke and Philip Seymour Hoffman play the brothers, one an out and
out loser, the other a thieving drug addict whose career is about to crumble. There are marital problems too...!
Il Y A Longtemps Que Je T'Aime
I've loved you so long
08 October 2009
Director: Philippe Claudel
With
Kristin Scott Thomas, Else Zylberstein, Serge Hazanavicius
France 2008 1h48mins
An absorbing family drama,
it is the first feature from director Philippe Claudel. Returning to her home town of Nancy after a long, mysterious absence,
Juliette (Kristin Scott Thomas), is taken in by her younger sister Lèa (Elsa Zylberstein), who lives with her husband
and two adopted daughters and her father-in-law. As details of her years away emerge, a gradual reconciliation occurs between
Juliette and those around her. The plot keeps us on the edge of our seats in this striking performance by Kritin Scott
Thomas. Miss Pettigrew Lives For The Day
22 October 2009
Director: Bharat Nallun
With Frances McDormand, Amy Adams, Lee Pace, Ciarán Hinds, Shirley Henderson, Mark Strong,
Tom Payne
UK 2008 1h45mins
Frances McDormand dazzles as a mousy maid who enters a dizzy world of glamour. Set just prior to
the Blitz, this touching confection skilfully steals the champagne-bubble humour and crisp visual elegance of a 30's screwball
classic. Channelling Carole Lombard is the wonderful Amy Adams (Enchanted), as a rising screen siren with some romantic
choices to make. On hand to help is Frances McDormand's domestic drudge turned spiritual advisor, whose whole life is
set to change in the starlet's sparkling wake.
CousCous
La Graine et le Mulet
29
October 2009
Director: Abdel Kechiche
With Habib Boufares, Hafsia Herzi
Germany/France 2007 2h34mins
Abdel Kechiche's third feature is an ensemble film about food, family, failure and friction within France's
community of North African émigrés. Take the grain away from fish couscous and you are left with nothing to
absorb the acidity of the mullet or the spiciness of the sauce. A similar principle is at work in Kechiche's film. All
the ingredients seem to be in place for a predictable ensemble recipe where everything will come together harmoniously in
the end. The director, however, makes us hungry for wishful fantasy, while serving up something surprising.
Kirschblüten
Cherry Blossoms
05 November 2009
Director: Doris Dörrie
With Elmar Wepper, Hannelore Elsner, Ayra Inzuki
Germany 2008
2h07mins
Inspired by Ozu's masterpiece
Tokyo Story, Doris Dörrie's profoundly touching tale is so perfectly told and delicately understated that it appears
effortless. When trudi (Hannelore Elsner) learns that her husband Rudi (Elmar Wepper) has a fatal illness she persuades him
to visit their son in Japan and undertakes a pilgrimage to her beloved Mount Fuji. The journey contains unexpected developments
and tradgedy along the way in a film that revels in the small pleasures of life.
Man On Wire
12 November 2009
Director: James Marsh
Documentary with English and French subtitles
UK 2008 1h30mins
A truly awe-ispiring and entertaining documentary which takes a poignant look back at ' the artistic
crime of the centurt'. In 1974, after six years of obsessive planning, a young Frenchman, Philippe Petit, sneaked into
the World Trade Centre with a group of conspirators. They planned a daredevil tightrope walk across a cable strung 450 metres
above ground between the Twin Towers. Director Marsh (The King) draws on archival footage, clever dramatisations
and candid interviews to create this funny and uplifting film. El Baño del Papa
The Pope's Toilet
19 November 2009
Directors: Enrique Fernádez,
César Charlone
with César Troncoso, Virginia Mendez, Mario Silva
Uruguay 2007 1h37mins
In 1988 the small Uruguayan border town of Meio was gripped by Papal fever. The local media suggest that 50,000
Brazilians will descend on the town for a glimpse of Pope John Paul II. The impoverished residents believe that this is a God-given
chance to improve their lot and so the race is on to feed, water and profit from the tourists. Beto (César Troncoso)
decides to build a public washroom and his heroic endeavours form the basis of a film with all the charm and telling humour
of a vintage Ealing comedy. This moving story blends both sacred and profane..
Indigènes
Days of Glory
26
November 2009
Director: Rachid Bouchareb
with Jamel Debbouze, Samy Nacen, Roschdy Zem,
Sami Bouapla, Bernard Blancan
France 2007 2h04mins
Pulled from their lives in Algeria to defend a homeland they had
never seen, and led by officers that saw them as little better than animals, the four soldiers we follow in this story slowly
find their feet as they sweep north from the Mediterranean to the foothills of the Vosges and the German border. A liberation
parade through a French town by African forces warmly shows the mutual fascination between cultures, a concept personified
by the sweet ensuing romance between one of the soldiers and a local lady. A powerful theme. Comfort and Joy
03 December 2009
Director: Bill Forsyth
with
Bill Peterson, Eleanor David, Claire Grogan, Alex Norton
UK / Scotland
1984 1h33mins
When
Alan 'Dicky' Bird's girlfriend unexpectedly dumps him, his best friend urges him to see this as an opportunity
to begin a new life. It's not easy at first but he begins by glancing at other women who take his fancy, then moves on
to following them in his car. One day a beautiful young woman in a 'Mr Bunny' ice cream van vatches his eye. He follows
her into the suburbs before buying an ice from her. As he is about to leave he sees two men vandalize the van and challenges
them. This leads not only into romance but into the thick of the ice cream war.
|
 |
|
|
|
|
Vicky-Cristina
Barcelona
14 January 2010
Director: Woody Allen
with Javier Bardem, Patricia Clarkson, Penelope Cruz, Rebbeca Hall, Scarlett Johansson, Chris
Messi
USA 2008 1h36mins
Woody
Allen’s European tour heads south to Spain for a funny, lusty film that will have fans breathing a sigh of relief after
the awful English episodes. Most audiences should enjoy the Spanish and Catalan clichés - Gaudi, Miró, longhaired
lotharios with guitars - that Allen lays on liberally in return for a light, witty, sexy exchange of views on flirting, relationships,
commitment and the ongoing clash of lifestyles in the old and new worlds. The story is about two graduates from the US who
arrive in Barcelona for the summer. Linha de Passe
21 January 2010
Directors: Walter Salles, Daniela Thomas
with Sandra Corveloni, João Baldasserini, Vinicius de Oliveira, José Geraldo Rodriguez,
Kaique Jesus Santos
Brazil 2008 1h48mins
Linha de Passe is an astonishingly beautiful
film about a dysfunctional family living on the outskirts of São Paulo. The directors have used non-actors except for
Vinicius de Oliveira who was seen in Salles’ earlier film Central
Station.Set over four months, the story
follows the family - a middle aged mother and her four very different sons - as they try to cope with their poverty,sponsibilities
and hopes. It is a superbly handled ensemble piece that paints an insightful portrait of life in this 20-million city. Sommer Vorm Balken
Summer in Berlin
28 January 2010
Director: Andreas Dresen
with Inke Friedrich, Nadja
Uhl, Andreas Schmidt, Stefanie Schonfeld, Kurt Radeke, Vincent Redetzki
Germany 2005
1h45mins
A hot summer. Nike has a balcony, Katrin has a son, Ronald
drives a lorry, Tina is a waitress, Oskar and Helene are old and alone. At the beginning, middle or end of their lives - they
all ask the same question: Can love last through the seasons? Or is something affecting the brain that just comes and goes?
Director Andreas Dresen and his author Wolfgang Kohlhaase have created a most touching, sublime and
very thoughtful comedy which concerns itself with life and survival - from one day to the next. Zwartboek
Black
Book
04 February 2010
Director: Paul Verhoeven
with Carice van Houten, Sebastian Koch, Thom Hoffman, Halina Reijn, Waldemar Kobus
Netherlands 2007 2h25mins
Paul Verhoeven re-emerges
from his native Netherlands with the barnstorming Black
Book. A World War II resistence
thriller centred on a revenge-seeking Jewess (the sterling Carice van Houten) who falls for a sympathetic SS officer. She
completes the blonde disguise to infiltrate the local Gestapo HQ on behalf of the Dutch Resistance. On a personal mission
to avenge her family’s murder, she finds out the hard way that her own country’s good guys can be more corrupt
than the so-called enemy. Persepolis
18 February 2010
Directors: Vincent Paronnaud,
Marjane Satrapi
Feature Animation
France 2007
1h35mins
Anyone who still doesn’t believe that animation is an exciting medium
for both adults and children will run out of arguments in the face of Persepolis. This
autobiographical tour de force is completely accessible and art of a very high order. It is a first-person tale of congenitally
rebellious Marjane Satrapi who was eight years old when the Islamic Revolution transformed her native Teheran. It boasts a
great lyricism spanning great joy and immense sorrow. The
Walker
25 February 2009
Director: Paul Schrader
with
Woody Harrelson, Kristin Scott Thomas, Lauren Bacall, Willem Dafoe, Lily Tomlin, Ned Bestty
USA
2007 1h50mins
In the opulent world of Washington’s political
elite, Woody Harrelson leads an all-star ensemble as ‘The Walker,’ a man who escorts the elegant but desperately
lonely wives of powerful men to dinner or the opera. When his best friend, Lynn Lockner (Kristin Scott Thomas) the beautiful
and adoring wife of a Senator, discovers her lover has been brutally murdered she turns to him for help. Caught in a web of
intrigue, he finds himself implicated in the killing. Considered as Schrader’s best screenplay. Parlez-Moi de la Pluie
Let's Talk about the Rain
04 March 2010
Director:
Agnes Jaoui
with Agnes jaoui, Jeanne-Pierre Bacri, Jamel Debbouze
France
2008 1h38mins
It has been five years since Agnes Jaoui’s delightful
Comme Une Image. The passage of time has done nothing to dull her robust directorial
style, droll dialogue and particular awareness of the petty hypocrisies of the bourgeois. Taking the lead role here as
an ambitious politico who’s forgotten her family roots, she’s joined by real-life husband Bacri (who also co-writes)
as a slightly daft and selfabsorbed filmmaker who wants to make a documentary about her. A comedy of manners. Der
Baader Meinhof Komplex
The Baader Meinhof Complex
11 March 2010
Director: Uli Edel
with Martina Gedeck, Moritz Bleibtreu,
Bruno Ganz
Germany 2008 2h30mins
Adapted
from Stefan Aust’s best-selling story of Germany’s Red Army Faction terrorists. This utterly absorbing thriller
brilliantly depicts how a group of young middle-class people, whose moral indignation at the Vietnam War and the injustices
of Capitalist society turned to bombings, kidnap and murder. The Baader-Meinhof group killed 47 people, wounded 93 and took
162 hostages and robbed 35 banks during the 1970’s in their attempt to overthrow the German political system.
A gripping account. Happy-Go-Lucky
18
March 2010
Director: Mike Leigh
with Sally Hawkins, Alexis Zegerman, Andrea Riseborough
UK 2008 1h58mins
Mike Leigh’s
new film revolves around its central character - a smart, confident, goofy primary school teacher from north London named
Poppy (Hawkins in memorable performance). As breezy as the title suggests, Happy-Go-Lucky is about as far as can be imagined
from such bleak Leigh classics as Vera Drake and Naked, but does so without being at all syrupy or sentimental. Is Poppy a
little crazy and irresponsible perhaps? Or is she deeply sane and sensible? Either way, everybody falls in love with her,
for better or for worse..... |
|
|
|
|
