The Roses
The Roses takes its turn showing The Lost King, directed by Stephen Frears and starring Sally Hawkins and Steve Coogan. It purports to tell the story of how the remains of King Richard III were discovered underneath a Leicester car park in 2012. It is not however a documentary, it is a drama. The trouble with dramatizing such recent history is that most of the people involved are still alive and almost inevitably there has been much controversy and even threats of legal action about the alleged misrepresentation of some individuals. There is one more screening of Both Sides of the Blade, then a film which hasn’t been widely shown, Juniper, directed by Mathew J Saville and set in 1980s New Zealand (pictured). It stars Charlotte Rampling as the grandmother of a teenage boy who has been suspended from school. His punishment is to look after his formidable, gin-loving old gran – a battle of wills ensues. On Friday there is the first of five screenings of Emily, which has recently been shown at Cineworld. It is directed by Frances O’Connor and stars Emma Mackey as that particular Bronte sister in a film which imagines the life and relationships within that literary family. (PW)
The Guildhall
The Guildhall also has The Lost King along with It Snows in Benidorm, directed by Isabel Coixet. This would appear to be a vehicle for Timothy Spall doing his hangdog, innocent abroad thing. He plays a bank clerk who, after being given early retirement, goes to Benidorm to visit his brother, a burlesque club owner, who has mysteriously disappeared. Starting next Friday there is The Banshees of Inisherin, the latest film from Martin McDonagh, starring Brendon Gleason, Colin Farrell and Barry Keoghan. It is set on an island off the west coast of Ireland in 1923 during the Irish Civil war and is a darkly comic but ultimately tragic story of a changing society, soured friendships and isolation. (PW)
The Tivoli
The Tivoli seems to have got my memo about showing more interesting films. Aside from Mrs Harris, Black Adam, The Banshees of Inisherin, Emily, Ticket to Paradise and Decision to Leave, it is also showing at various points Louis Armstrong’s Black & Blues, a documentary sourced from Apple TV (which doesn’t impress me); Triangle of Sadness, a rich-people-on-a-desert-island comedy starring Woody Harrelson and directed by Ruben Östlund. He directed the excellent Force Majeure and the divisive The Square. This one won the Palme d’Or at Cannes this year. Definitely worth a look. There’s also Bros., described on the site as ‘Universal Pictures proudly presents the first romantic comedy from a major studio about two gay men maybe, possibly, probably, stumbling towards love. Maybe. They’re both very busy.’ Everyone involved in it looks terrible, but they seem have to wheeled in Jude Apatow to help. He has done some reasonably funny films. I liked ‘The Big Sick’. And every night at 20:45 (what passes for a late show in Cheltenham) they are showing various horror ‘classics’. (JM)
The Sherborne
Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile, Emily, Amsterdam and The Lost King from Friday.
The Cineworlds
I really can’t be bothered to trawl through Cineworld’s increasingly random selection of stuff, but I always do enjoy the notices to customers on the first page of its website.
VIP Customer Notice
Please note due to circumstances beyond our control, we will be operating a reduced ViP menu, consisting of Popcorn, Nachos, Hotdogs and soft drinks only. Ticket prices will be temporarily adjusted to reflect the reduced menu.
Comedy gold. Being a VIP has never been so appealing.