The Roses
The Roses has Herself and, groan, No Time to Die. Both of those I’ve written about before.
The Guildhall
Some signs of life at The Guildhall. On Saturday, Herself and Respect, both of which have been widely seen. Then The Nest, the yuppie nightmare film with Jude Law and Carrie Coon. An entrepreneur moves his family to rural England and everything goes pear-shaped. It had some good press but the skinny on it is not so brilliant. On Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, there is Souad (2021), an interesting-looking Egyptian/German film about a young girl who pretends to abide by conservative social norms but spends her time flirting with attractive young men on social media. Definitely worth considering. Arabic with English subtitles. On Friday afternoon there is Balloon (officially released in 2021, although it seems to have been hanging about for years). Some young boys in Chinese-controlled Tibet find a condom and think it is a balloon. From this opening incident, the film broadens out into a documentary-style story of state-enforced contraception and the Chinese empire. Chinese/Tibetan with subtitles. A rather good German true adventure with the same title, about family escaping the Eastern Bloc in a homemade hot air craft, came out at around the same time and got a lot less attention, Finally, on Friday evening there is Pig. Nic Cage stars in a festival-friendly film about a Oregon truffle hunter who goes in search of his kidnapped foraging pig. Nice photography, sensitive classical piano music, a lot of acting.
The Sherborne
Paw Patrol, The Many Saints of Newark and The Pebble and the Boy at various points in the week. But also Around The World in 80 Days, a new French/Belgian animated version of the Jules Verne perennial, with a marmoset Passepartout and a frog Phileas Fogg. Looks to be bright, colourful and aimed at small children. That’s at 13:00 and 15:00 on Saturday and Sunday.
The Tivoli
The Tivoli has No Time To Die, The Courier, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the 10 Rings, and The Many Saints of Newark. New soft furnishings, seats and screens, and tired films to help you sleep.
The Cineworlds
At Cheltenham, The Addams Family 2 (2021), an animated version; wall-to-wall No Time To Die; The Many Saints of Newark; Shang-Chi and the Legend of the 10 Rings; Candyman; Around the World in 80 Days; Free Guy; Paw Patrol and Spirit Untamed. There’s a 25th Anniversary screening of Wes Craven’s Scream on Tuesday at 19:45. On Thursday, there seem to be two ‘events’: a film of The New York Metropolitan Opera’s current production of Modest Mussorgsky’s Boris Godunov at 14:30, and, possibly, a tour of the Victoria & Albert Museum’s Lewis Carroll exhibition, Alice: Curioser and Curioser. Naturally, Cineworld’s website isn’t working properly. The book button isn’t functioning for that one and neither show lists prices. Don’t expect them to be cheap. A film about an exhibition? Not for me, although Alice is of great local interest, as residents of Cudnall Street, Charlton Kings, will explain. Next Friday, there’s Venom: Let There Be Carnage, a Marvel franchise movie with Tom Hardy. Directed by Andy Serkis, a good actor who must be broke.
Gloucester has all the same stuff, minus the special events that Cineworld’s algorithm must think cultured Cheltonians (who wouldn’t be seen dead in Cineworld) must be interested in.