Our Films of 2011

As we near the end of an amazing year of cinema, it's time to look back over what's delighted us in 2011. We've got contributions from all kinds of industry bods, as well as the all-important Top 10 Most Popular Guildhall Films as dictated by our wonderful audience. So let's get started...





Chloe Homer, Guildhall Film Programmer
1. Love Like Poison
2. Beginners
3. Treacle Jr
4. Heartbeats
5. Another Earth
6. Submarine
7. Passenger Side
8. Source Code
9. Tower Heist
10. Oranges & Sunshine

Carol Sutton, Guildhall Box Office
1. Biutiful
2. Puss In Boots
3. 127 Hours
4. Pirates Of The Caribbean: On Stranger Tides
5. Tintin
6. Wuthering Heights
7. The Three Musketeers
8. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2

Dan Thomas, FILMCLUB
1. Senna
2. The Ides of March
3. Miss Bala
4. Drive
5. Black Swan
6. Bridesmaids
7. Submarine
8. Sound It Out
9. Troll Hunter
10. Snowtown

Kate Garwood, culturemouse
1. Black Swan
2. Take Shelter
3. Heartbeats
4. Senna
5. Midnight In Paris
6. Arrietty
7. Tangled
8. The King's Speech
9. The Artist
10. Thor

Roxy Bar & Screen, London
1. Attack The Block
2. Monsters
3. Inside Job
4. Animal Kingdom
5. Norwegian Wood
(Top 3 most critically over-rated: The Skin I Live In, Senna, Archipelago)

Rebecca Rau, DCM
1. The King's Speech
2. Black Swan
3. Blue Valentine
4. The Inbetweeners Movie
5. The Hangover Part II

Nicholas Tobias, Cineworld
1. The Interrupters
2. Project Nim
3. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2
4. Moneyball
5. The Guard
6. 13 Assassins
7. Weekend
8. Knuckle
9. Win Win
10. Drive

Sam Wilson, FILMCLUB
1. 50/50
2. Animal Kingdom
3. Black Swan
4. Drive
5. The Guard
6. The Ides of March
7. The Secret In Their Eyes
8. Tyrannosaur
9. Senna
10. True Grit

Gareth Negus, Curzon Community Cinema
1. Tomboy
2. The Tree of Life
3. A Separation
4. Black Swan
5. Arrietty

Portsmouth Film Society
1. Oranges & Sunshine
2. Biutiful
3. Pina

The Guildhall Audience Top 10 - most attended films of the year
1. The King's Speech
2. Jane Eyre
3. Midnight In Paris
4. The Way
5. The Help
6. Black Swan
7. Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
8. The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet's Nest
9. Potiche
10. The Tree Of Life

Well that's about it for this year! We're off to end 2011 with a bang with a ridiculously popular one-off Christmas screening of Home Alone... All that remains to say is a truly heartfelt thank you for all your support at The Cinema this year - we couldn't do any of this without you! Here's to a bigger and better 2012! Mulled wine anyone?

Golden Globe Nominations announced!

So the nominations were announced about an hour ago and we have to say we're pretty surprised by just one nomination for The Iron Lady, and equally surprised by the number of nominations The Ides Of March has picked up! It's showing here from tomorrow if you want to see what all the fuss is about... The Golden Globes are usually the best indication of which way the Oscars are going to go, so we're waiting with baited breath for that announcement on 24th January! And where you may have missed a few of the nominated films that we've shown, the good news is that quite a lot of them are coming up here in the next couple of months, so now is a great time to absorb some film culture so you can have that "I can't believe so-and-so won that Oscar" conversation with your friends (or is that just us that does that??).

It's not too late to get yourself down to the Guildhall for the last screening of The Help tonight. It's picked up an impressive total of five nominations (Best Picture - Drama, Best Actress - Drama for Viola Davies, Best Supporting Actress for Jessica Chastain and Octavia Spencer, and Best Original Song for The Living Proof) and has been making waves in other nomination lists recently too.

The Ides of March, which is showing from Friday for a week, is also nominated for Best Picture - Drama, as well as Best Director for George Clooney, Best Actor - Drama for Ryan Gosling and Best Screenplay.

The Artist was always going to be a crowd-pleaser, picking up the largest number of nominations with Best Picture - Musical or Comedy, Best Director, Best Actor - Musical or Comedy, Best Supporting Actress, Best Screenplay and Best Original Score. We'll be showing it here in late February/early March, so keep an eye out!

My Week With Marilyn (here for a week and a half from 3rd January) was another big-hitter, with three nominations: Best Picture - Musical or Comedy, Best Actress - Musical or Comedy and Best Supporting Actor.

War Horse brings up the rear with just two nominations for Best Picture - Drama and Best Original Score, and The Iron Lady picks up just one nomination for Best Actress - Drama (Meryl Streep). We'll be showing both of these films in February/March.

Midnight In Paris, one of our most popular films of the year, got four nominations with Best Picture - Musical or Comedy, Best Director for Woody Allen, Best Actor - Musical or Comedy for Owen Wilson and Best Screenplay. Tilda Swinton, who seems to be winning everything in sight at the moment, picked up a predictable nomination for Best Actress - Drama for her performance in We Need To Talk About Kevin. It's nice to see The Guard sneaking into a couple of nomination lists, with a Best Actor - Musical or Comedy nomination for Brendan Gleeson, and Christopher Plummer seems to have impressed in Beginners, with a nomination for Best Supporting Actor. Ryan Gosling is everywhere at the moment, so it's no surprise that he picks up a second nomination for Best Actor - Musical or Comedy for Crazy Stupid Love (even though our audience didn't particularly seem to like it!).

The winners are announced on Sunday 15th January - get watching!

The Help leads Screen Actors Guild nominations

Lauded by critics for its style, simplicity and genuine warmth, the Screen Actors Guild Awards, which made its debut in 1995, has become one of the industry’s most prized honours, and is always a good indication of potential Oscar nominations, sharing many members with the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

And it seems that once again we've done pretty well at bringing you the films that everyone's talking about, with The Help (last screening tonight), Midnight In Paris and The Artist (coming soon) nominated for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture, Jean Dujardin (The Artist) nominated for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role, and Viola Davis (The Help), Meryl Streep (The Iron Lady - coming soon), Tilda Swinton (We Need To Talk About Kevin) and Michelle Williams (My Week With Marilyn - showing from January 3rd) all earning nominations for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role.

Kenneth Branagh (My Week With Marilyn) and Christopher Plummer (Beginners) both picked up nominations for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role, with Berenice Bejo (The Artist), Jessica Chastain (The Help) and Octavia Spencer (The Help) all getting nods for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role.

And with the Golden Globes nominations announced today, awards season is well and truly upon us! Don't know about you, but we can't wait to see what happens next! Full list of Screen Actors Guild nominations HERE.

A film that doesn't need all 'The Help' it can get

Our December programme continues with another adaptation of a bestseller (though it's certainly a little more light-hearted than last week's We Need To Talk About Kevin).

Based on the novel by Kathryn Stockett, The Help centres on the lives of three women living in 1960s Jackson, Mississippi - a time and place that witnessed the emergence of the civil rights movement. Skeeter (Emma Stone) is a budding young journalist who enlists the service of two African-American maids Aibileen (Viola Davis) and Minnie (Octavia Spencer) to assist with her piece that sets to overthrow all societal rules in the community.

Skeeter is curious, amongst many things, as to why the coloured 'help', the label given to them by the white middle-class women that they tend to with childcare and housework, are not allowed to even use the bathrooms in the family home and instead have to use a separate facility built outside. Wishing to write something from their point of view, she instills the courage of not just Aibileen and Minnie but the whole maid workforce to tell their stories of life as a maid, all the while knowing of the risk it will put them under.


Whilst somewhat guilty of merely skimming the surface of its racial themes, the film's true strength lies in the power of its cast, especially Viola Davis, whose performance as Aibileen is sure to get the Academy talking nominations-wise. It's so far proved a huge success across the pond, earning nearly $200 million at the box office and remained top of the box office charts for six consecutive weeks- enough to beat heavyweight blockbuster Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes... and that takes a lot!




Take a look at both the trailer and the official music video to the film's theme song The Living Proof, performed by R'n'B legend Mary J Blige (a definite contender for this year's Oscar for Best Song).




The Help (12A) runs from Friday 9th - Thursday 15th December at The Cinema at Gloucester Guildhall.

National Board of Review announce their film winners of 2011

For over 100 years the National Board of Review has dedicated its efforts to the support of film as both art and entertainment, celebrating the distinctive voice of the individual artist, honouring excellence and supporting freedom of expression in film. And it's another Best Actress award for Tilda Swinton in We Need to Talk About Kevin! Christopher Plummer picked up Best Supporting Actor for Beginners, and Best Ensemble went to The Help, which opens tonight for a week at The Cinema at Gloucester Guildhall. In an interesting twist from most other awards, the National Board of Review have also announced their Top 10 Independent Films, which include Beginners, We Need To Talk About Kevin (of course!), Take Shelter (showing here from 20th January) and Another Earth (also showing here from 27th January). Their Top Films list includes The Tree of Life, The Ides of March (showing here from 16th December), War Horse (coming soon!) and The Artist (also coming soon!). More winners HERE.

Melancholia cleans up at European Film Awards

Are you bored of hearing about awards? We're not even on the biggies yet! Good news for Lars Von Trier: Melancholia was a big winner at the European Film Awards at the weekend, picking up prizes for European Film, European Production Designer and European Cinematographer. Kirsten Dunst was beaten to Best Actress though by Tilda Swinton in We Need To Talk About Kevin. Full list of winners HERE.

British Independent Film Awards winners announced

On Sunday the British Independent Film Awards winners were announced at a ceremony in London, and we're pleased to say that three Guildhall-shown films picked up awards. With her first film in nine years, Lynne Ramsay took the Best Director prize for We Need to Talk About Kevin, Best Screening went to the very excellent Submarine, and Tinker Tailor picked up the award for Best Technical Achievement. Full list of worthy winners HERE.

The price of Screen Tea cinema tickets is changing

From January 2012 the price of Screen Tea tickets will be increasing by 50p for concessions and £1.50 for non-concessions, but we will be making the standard concession and non-concession prices available for Screen Tea screenings, giving you more ticket options. And despite the price increase you are still saving £1 compared to buying your cinema ticket and tea and cake separately.

 

Concessions: £4.50 Available for all screenings

Concessions Screen Tea: £5.50 Available weekdays at 2pm and Saturdays at 10.45am. Includes cinema ticket, tea and cake

Non-concessions: £5.50 Available for all screenings

Non-concessions Screen Tea: £6.50 Available weekdays at 2pm and Saturdays at 10.45am. Includes cinema ticket, tea and cake.

 

We know that many of our regular customers will be surprised and perhaps upset by this, which is why we wanted to explain the reason for this change.

 

This year we have been working hard to develop a long-term strategy for The Cinema to ensure that it continues to grow as an important cultural asset for Gloucester. Listening to the feedback from regular customers we know that you would like us to show a greater number of films with a wider variety of screening times, and it is things like this that raising the ticket price slightly will hopefully enable us to do in the near future. Rest assured, it is not about profit and taking as much money from you as we can, but instead making small changes to give us greater freedom to bring you exactly what you want from your cinema.

 

If you have any comments or questions please do feel free to contact Chloe on 01452 396 390 or chloe.homer@gloucester.gov.uk. We genuinely value your support of The Cinema at Gloucester Guildhall and are always happy to hear your feedback and discuss any issues with you.

Another Earth. No, really.

On the week of Another Earth's release, astronomers have confirmed the existence of an Earth-like planet around a star not unlike our own. You literally couldn't buy better publicity for a film! Amazing timing. Read the full story HERE.

Films for January

Hot off the press we bring you news of the latest films scheduled into The Cinema film programme. Kicking off the new year with screenings from 3rd - 12th January will be My Week With Marilyn, the amazing true story of the seven days an ordinary Englishman spent with superstar Marilyn Monroe, followed by the screen adapation of Terrence Rattigan's much-loved play The Deep Blue Sea, showing from 13th - 19th. Due to high public demand, you'll be able to see Michael Shannon's much-lauded performance in psychological thriller Take Shelter weekday evenings from 20th - 26th, or for something a bit different that week why not visit us on Saturday morning, or Monday or Wednesday afternoon for light-hearted Italian comedy, We Have A Pope, an audience favourite at the recent Leeds Film Festival. January ends with the intriguing Another Earth, showing from 27th January - 2nd February, a must-see for fans of Melancholia and The Tree of Life.

We love feedback

Click HERE for a really lovely review of The Cinema and Midnight In Paris.

We Need To Talk About 'Kevin'... literally

We begin our December programme with BAFTA-winning director Lynne Ramsey's superb adaptation of Lionel Schriver's bestseller We Need To Talk About Kevin. Starring the imcomparable Tilda Swinton alongside John C. Reilly (yes, he's not in a Will Ferrell comedy for a change) and relative newcomer Ezra Miller as Kevin, this suspenseful and gripping psychlogical thriller explores the contentious relationship between a mother and her son. Eva (Swinton) develops a growing post-natal depression and hatred for her first born child Kevin, a troublesome boy, who at 15 commits the most unspeakable crime by going on a high school kiling spree. Trying to come to terms with her grief she begins to question her feelings of responsibility for her son's evil actions.

 

Tackling 'nature vs. nurture' in a completely new way, the film, which premiered 'In Competition' at this year's Cannes Film Festival, is already set to be in the majority of film critcs' best of 2011 lists, with Radio 5 Live's Mark Kermode naming it as his best film of the year so far. Whilst certainly not an easy watch (or read, if you're familiar with the novel) this is still a fantastic piece of cinematic work providing both a masterful synergy of drama and horror and featuring fantastic performances from the whole cast, none more so than Tilda Swinton, in what is undoubtedly a career best.

 

Take a look at the trailer HERE and keep visiting this blog where we will be posting regular features on this and all other films in our December programme (and beyond!).

 

We Need To Talk About Kevin (15) runs from Friday 2nd December - Thursday 8th December.

Awards awards and more awards!

Getting their awards in before the biggies this time, the New York Film Critics Circle have named silent film The Artist as Best Picture, with Meryl Streep picking up Best Actress for her portrayal of Margaret Thatcher in upcoming film The Iron Lady, and Brad Pitt taking the award for Best Actor for his performance in The Tree of Life. Make sure you come to The Cinema at Gloucester Guildhall in February and March to catch The Artist and The Iron Lady and see for yourselves. Full list of award winners HERE

Tree of Life and Beginners tie for top Gotham Award

At the event that marks the start of the awards season, both The Tree of Life and Beginners have been awarded the accolade of Best Feature at the Gotham Independent Film Awards after the panel failed to agree on a single winner, both of which were shown at the Guildhall in September. You can read the full run-down of the winners HERE

Film Independent Spirit Awards nominations announced

The Film Independent Spirit Awards nominations have been announced, with Beginners, Midnight In Paris and Melancholia up for awards, all of which we've shown here at the Guildhall. And with plans to show The Artist and My Week With Marilyn in early 2012, you can rely on us to bring you a handpicked selection of the films you need to see each month. You can see the full list of nominations HERE

Awards season looms

The Moet British Independent Film Awards will take place on Sunday 4th December 2011. Now in its 14th year, the Awards were created in 1998 by Raindance and set out to celebrate merit and achievement in independently funded British filmmaking, to honour new talent, and to promote British films and filmmaking to a wider public. Looking at the nominations we're pretty pleased to say that we've shown/are showing at least one of the nominated films in almost every category, including Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy and We Need To Talk About Kevin in the Best British Independent Film category, and The Guard and Submarine in the Best Debut Director category. Click HERE for the full list of nominations.

Interview with Lars von Trier

You can catch controversial director Lars von Trier's Melancholia at The Cinema from Friday 18th November. Click here to read his interview with Little White Lies magazine, where he talks candidly as ever about his much-publicised battle with depression, writing a film for Penélope Cruz, and that unfortunate Nazi comment...

Films for November/December

Here's what we're showing at The Cinema up until the end of the year...

4th - 9th November: Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (15)
10th November: The Age of Stupid (12A)
11th - 17th November: Crazy Stupid Love (12A)
18th - 24th November: Melancholia (15)
25th November - 1st December: Midnight In Paris (12A)
2nd - 8th December: We Need To Talk About Kevin (15)
9th - 15th December: The Help (12A)
16th - 22nd December: The Ides of March (15)
23rd December: Home Alone (PG)

As always, full details are available on the Guildhall website, and you can book tickets online, over the phone or in person.