Don’t Look Now

By John MorrishOctober 23, 2021October 23, 2021 Films of the Week Leave a comment

Don’t Look Now (1973). Directed by Nicholas Roeg, English, 110 minutes. BBC4, Thursday (28/10), 21:00. Situation Vacant: Favourite Film. For 40 years I’ve been telling people that my favourite film is Nic Roeg’s Don’t Look Now. Well, I watched it again the other night, and it is still an extraordinary piece of cinema, but I’m… [continues]

Freeview films 23/10/21 to 29/10/21

By Film Cheltenham TeamOctober 22, 2021October 23, 2021 Freeview highlights Leave a comment

World Cinema Sunday (24/10) 00:40 BBC2 The Age of Shadows (2016). Korean resistance fighters smuggle explosives from China to attack the occupying Japanese in Seoul in the 1920s. The first Korean film funded by Warner Bros. Hollywood loves a revolution, but only some revolutions. Never mind: the trailer suggests it… [continues]

Souad

By John MorrishOctober 16, 2021October 16, 2021 Films of the Week Leave a comment

The Guildhall had three barely-publicised showings of the Egyptian film Souad (2021), so I went across to have a look. It proved to be a very engaging and worthwhile feature, by the courageous female director Ayten Amin, who came to prominence with Tahrir 2011: The Good, The Bad and the Politician (2011), a documentary made… [continues]

Films around Cheltenham from 16 October

By John MorrishOctober 16, 2021 Films around Cheltenham Leave a comment

The Guildhall Well, I went over to The Guildhall this week (Thursday morning) to see Souad, which I have written about as a Film of The Week. There were four people in the audience. Two of them left during the film, leaving just Stephen Ilott and me. This is shame, because the seats are now… [continues]

Freeview films 16/10/21 to 23/10/21

By Film Cheltenham TeamOctober 16, 2021October 16, 2021 Freeview highlights Leave a comment

FILM OF THE WEEK I chose this week’s Film of the Week, Young Ahmed by the Dardenne brothers, before the news of the killing of the Tory MP. It couldn’t be more topical or apposite. The review is here. World Cinema Sunday (17/10) 01:10 BBC2 … [continues]

Young Ahmed

By John MorrishOctober 16, 2021 Films of the Week, Topical films, Uncategorized Leave a comment

Young Ahmed (2019), directed by Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne. French/Arabic. 85 minutes. BBC4, Sunday (17/10), 23:40. Well, with terrible inevitability, the decision to cut and run from Afghanistan and the replacement of boots on the ground with megaphone rhetoric seems to have led to a supposed terrorist attack on British soil. All of which makes… [continues]

Films around Cheltenham from 9 October

By John MorrishOctober 8, 2021 Films around Cheltenham Leave a comment

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… [continues]

Freeview films 9/10/21 to 15/10/21

By Film Cheltenham TeamOctober 8, 2021October 8, 2021 Freeview highlights Leave a comment

Film of the Week Our real film of the week is The Mother (2003), starring Anne Reid and Daniel Craig. Here’s the write-up. I’m also intrigued, however, by The Special Relationship (2010), the third in the loose trilogy the British screenwriter Peter Morgan wrote about Tony Blair. This BBC/HBO film follows The Deal (2003) and… [continues]

The Mother

By John MorrishOctober 8, 2021 Films of the Week 2 Comments

The Mother (2003), directed by Roger Michell. English. 111 minutes. Tuesday (12/10), 21:00, BBC4. Not available elsewhere. It’s a pleasure to be able to recommend a film that you won’t be able to stream or download. I was able to track it down eventually, on a Russian pirate site, but I wouldn’t particularly encourage anyone… [continues]

YourScreen

By John MorrishOctober 1, 2021 YourScreen Leave a comment

FILM OF THE WEEK I haven’t really had a chance to look properly at the latest mini-season of films from YourScreen, the Cheltenham-based streaming service. It’s always worth a look, because it is making the effort to find interesting foreign-language and independent films. Anyway, this morning I watched Keeper (2015), a Belgian French-language feature that… [continues]

Films around Cheltenham from 2 October

By John MorrishOctober 1, 2021October 1, 2021 Films around Cheltenham Leave a comment

The Roses The Roses in Tewkesbury has Our Ladies, Respect and The Nest, none of which is new. The Guildhall The Guildhall has The Courier, Herself and Respect, none of which is new. On Friday (8/10) it has two screenings of a British documentary called After Shaun: A Suicide Awareness Film, directed by a man… [continues]

Freeview films 2/10/21 to 8/10/21

By Film Cheltenham TeamOctober 1, 2021 Freeview highlights, Uncategorized 2 Comments

FILM OF THE WEEK This week’s film of the week is The Truth (La vérité), 2019, French and English with subtitles. On Saturday (2/10) at 21:00 on BBC4. Here’s the preview by John Russell. World Cinema Saturday (2/10) 00:30 BBC2 The Gangster, The Cop,… [continues]

The Truth

By John RussellOctober 1, 2021October 1, 2021 Films of the Week Leave a comment

The Truth (2019), directed by Hirokazu Kore-eda. French and English with subtitles. Saturday (2/10), 21:00, BBC4. Also available on subscription or to rent or buy. Or, if you are a Cheltenham Film Society member, you can see it at the Bacon Theatre on 2 November. Catherine Deneuve and Juliette Binoche appear together on screen for… [continues]

CIFF Lecture Invitation

By John MorrishSeptember 27, 2021September 27, 2021 Uncategorized Leave a comment

Leslie Sheldon, the indefatigable director of Cheltenham International Film Festival, is putting on his first annual festival lecture at the Parabola Arts Centre of Cheltenham Ladies College on Tuesday October 4, which is next week, at 5.30pm. He has kindly invited readers of this page or the newsletter to attend the talk, which is being… [continues]

The Tivoli

By John MorrishSeptember 25, 2021 Film news 6 Comments

O ye of little faith! I’ve bored everybody to death this year by telling them that the new Tivoli cinema at the back of the Regent Arcade in Cheltenham would a) never open and b) be crap. It opened this week. Yesterday, I wandered in to have a look. It’s rather nice. It is a… [continues]

Films around Cheltenham from 25 September

By John MorrishSeptember 25, 2021September 25, 2021 Films around Cheltenham Leave a comment

Well, things seem to have looked up a bit this week. One new film at The Roses in Tewkesbury and a handful at Cineworld in Cheltenham. The Roses The Roses has, at various points in the week, The Last Bus, Stillwater, and Our Ladies, all of which we already know about. The new film is… [continues]

Freeview films 25 September to 1 October

By Film Cheltenham TeamSeptember 24, 2021September 25, 2021 Film previews 2 Comments

FILM OF THE WEEK This week’s film of the week is Under the Skin (2013), which is on Friday (1/10) at 01:30 on Film4. Here’s the preview, by Steve Sasanow. World Cinema Saturday (25/9) 21:00 BBC4 The King’s Choice (2016). Tremendous historical drama about the German invasion of Norway in… [continues]

Monos

By John RussellSeptember 24, 2021September 24, 2021 Films of the Week Leave a comment

Monos (2019). Directed by Alejandro Landes. Thursday (30/9), 23:25, Film4. Rent from Rakuten (cheapest), Amazon, Google, YouTube, BFI Player and Curzon. Buy from Amazon, Google, Sky Store, YouTube and Rakuten. With echoes of Lord of the Flies (1963) and Apocalypse Now (1979), Monos follows a group of child soldiers, the Monos, in the Colombian mountains… [continues]

Under The Skin

By Steve SasanowSeptember 24, 2021 Films of the Week Leave a comment

Under The Skin (2013). Directed by Jonathan Glazer. Friday (1/10), 01:30, Film4. Stream from BFI or BFI Player on Amazon. Rent or buy from Apple. Anyone with a fantasy about alien abduction should definitely see Under The Skin – or, then again, maybe not. That is only if you would like to be seduced by… [continues]

Freeview films 18 to 24 September

By John MorrishSeptember 18, 2021 Freeview highlights Leave a comment

FILM OF THE WEEK Inside Man (2006), directed by Spike Lee. Paramount, Monday (20/9) at 22:55. Previewed by John Russell This is unusual territory for Spike Lee but definitely worth a look. Denzel Washington and Clive Owen are pitted against each other as hostage negotiator and taker, in a bank heist with unusual features. One is… [continues]