At The Cinema at Gloucester Guildhall this week: Prepare to be rendered speechless by 'The Artist'

The award favourites season as well concludes this week with the big one, the leader of the pack, the one that has had critics and audiences singing its praises ever since it premiered at the Cannes Film Festival and has emerged as THE front runner in almost every major award category at this years main ceremonies. It can only be Michel Hazanavicius' The Artist - a cinematic love letter to the silent era of the late 20s/early 30s, with the film itself largely silent (bar the musical score of course) and presented in both black and white and in the traditional 4:3 aspect ratio. It doesn't get any more authentic than that.


The year is 1927 and the place is Hollywood. George Valentin (Jean Dujardin) is a silent movie superstar who is attending the premiere of his latest film A Russian Affair. Amongst the hubbub of a red carpet photo shoot, packed with photographers and adoring fans, Valentin accidentally bumps into a young woman, Peppy Miller (Berenice Bejo) reacting graciously, which sends the photographers into a frenzy. As an aspiring actress herself, Peppy decides to audition for a role in Valentin's next production. Upon spotting her, he insists to the studio boss Al Zimmer (John Goodman) that she should be in the movie, despite Zimmer's initial reservations. With a little guidance from Valentin, Peppy begins to slowly flourish as an actress landing several significant movie roles. Two years later the advent of the talkies sounds the death knell for both silent film production and sees George Valentin's career fall into oblivion. For Peppy Miler on the other hand it seems the sky's the limit - major movie stardom awaits. The Artist ultimately tells the story of their interlinked destinies.


What was simply a dream of director Hazanavicius, to create a silent film in admiration of his idols who themselves were silent filmmakers, has now turned into one of the biggest cinema success stories in recent history. Following painstaking research into the silent film era, ensuring that all the technical details such as lighting, camera moves and lenses were just right (even down to reducing the frame rate), the film went opened to huge critical acclaim, none more so than from The Guardian's Peter Bradshaw who wrote "The film had me on my feet cheering throughout the final credits... I can't wait to see it again." The critical success would then only be later matched if not exceeded by the abundance of award wins from the likes of Critics Choice, London & New York Critics Circle, Cannes Film Festival, Golden Globes and most recently the BAFTAs with wins in most if not all of these categories: Best Film, Best Director (Michel Hazanvicinus), Best Actor (Jean Dujardin) Best Actress (Berenice Bejo), Best Original Screenplay, Best Score, Best Cinematography, Best Costume Design, Best Editing and not forgetting Best Dog (Uggie) or as it is awarded in Cannes...the Palm D'og. It is certainly one of the best performances by an animal this year, if not within the last decade. If you are wondering however whether all these wins are truly deserved the answer is simple: YES. Not only does it present itself as a crowd-pleasing tribute to a long lost cinematic era, it is an extremely clever and absolutely joyous film providing delightful performances and visual style to spare.


Poised to steal the show at this year's Academy Awards (Sunday 26th Feb- coverage on Sky Movies Premiere) with a staggering 10 nominationsacross the board, don't miss your chance to see what is without question the best film of 2012 so far.


Check out the trailer below:

The Artist (PG) runs from Friday 24th Feb - Thursday 1st March 2012.  

Posh Snacks come to The Cinema at Gloucester Guildhall!

After many many requests for a greater variety of snacks to munch with your film, we're excited to annouce that tonight will see the launch of a brand new "Posh Snacks" menu, available from our café/bar. We're starting small but have plans to add a lot more to the menu in the coming weeks if it proves popular, so give it a try and let us know your thoughts!

At The Cinema At Gloucester Guildhall this week: Run like the wind to watch ‘War Horse’

Our award favourites season at The Cinema at Gloucester Guildhall continues this week with renowned director Steven Spielberg’s (Jaws, E.T., Jurassic Park, Schindler’s List and Saving Private Ryan) critically and commercially acclaimed adaptation of Michael Morpurgo’s War Horse. Beginning life as a children’s book in 1982 by the Children’s Laureate Morpurgo, and later adapted for the West End and Broadway stage in 2007 to huge success, this new adaptation of the WWI epic features a screenplay penned by Richard Curtis (Four Weddings, Love Actually and TV’s Blackadder) and Lee Hall (Billy Elliot) alongside an all-star British cast including Emily Watson, David Thewlis (last seen in The Lady which played at the Guildhall recently), Benedict Cumberbatch, Tom Hiddleston, Eddie Marsan, Toby Kebbell and introducing newcomer Jeremy Irvine.

Set against a sweeping canvas of rural England and Europe during the First World War, the film begins with the remarkable friendship between a horse named Joey and a young man called Albert (Irvine), who tames and trains him. When they are forcefully parted, the film follows the extraordinary journey of the horse as he moves through the war, changing and inspiring the lives of all those he meets - from British cavalry and German soldiers, to a French farmer and his granddaughter - before the story reaches its emotional climax in the heart of No Man's Land. The First World War is experienced through the journey of this horse: an odyssey of joy and sorrow, passionate friendship and high adventure.

In development for nearly 6 years following numerous attempts to adapt it for the screen, the film sees Spielberg reunite not only with long term producer partners Kathleen Kennedy and Frank Marshall, but also with cinematographer Janusz Kamiński (Schindler’s List), editor Michael Kahn (Raiders Of The Lost Ark, Saving Private Ryan) and, perhaps most excitingly of all, musical composer John Williams. Readers who are regular visitors to Devonshire, Wiltshire and Surrey will be pleased to know that the much of the entire movie, including the scenes set in France, were all shot within this area with locations including Dartmoor, Castle Combe and Wisely Airfield. Spielberg himself insisted on a British location shoot as he felt the landscape was very much a part of the character of the film. All these components provide the ingredients to an emotional drama that is technically superb, proudly sentimental and unabashedly old-fashioned and, thanks to Spielberg’s customary flair, will be sure to tug at your heartstrings.

In contention for six Academy Awards, don’t miss your chance to see this spectacular film on the Cinema at Gloucester Guildhall screen where it belongs.

Check out the trailer here:

War Horse (12A) runs from Friday 17^th - Thursday 23^rd February 2012

At The Cinema At Gloucester Guildhall this week: Never compromise with 'The Iron Lady'

February at The Cinema At Gloucester Guildhall continues this week, with the first of three films that are expected to do good business at this year's major award ceremonies. With War Horse and The Artist making their mark at last month's Golden Globes, attention is now drawn to the BAFTAs (Sunday 12th Feb- coverage on BBC One from 9pm) and of course, the Oscars (Sunday 26th Feb- coverage on Sky Movies Premiere). As always, the list of winners from both ceremonies will feature here in future blog posts so keep your eyes peeled.

We begin our award favourites season however, with one of the most talked about films in recent memory, namely for one central performance by an icon of the silver screen playing one of the 20th century's most famous and influential women. We are of course referring to The Iron Lady, a surprising and intimate portrait of Margaret Thatcher,the first and only female Prime Minister of The United Kingdom. Taking centre stage is none other than the multi-Academy Award nominated Meryl Streep (The Deer Hunter, Sophie's Choice, Kramer vs. Kramer) who is reunited with director Phyllida Lloyd in their first collaboration since the box office smash, Mamma Mia! (officially the most financially successful British film ever released.)

Penned by British screenwriter Abi Morgan (Brick Lane, Shame and TV's The Hour) this biopic charts Thatcher's journey from her early and formative political years, where she came from nowhere to smash through barriers of gender and class so as to be heard in a male dominated world. Working at her father's greengrocers in Grantham and inspired by his political speeches as Alderman, we witness a young Margaret's struggle as a lower-middle class woman to break into a male dominated Tory Party and earn her seat in the House Of Commons. Following her marriage to Dennis Thatcher (Jim Broadbent) as well as the loss of her friend and colleague Aiery Neave, she decides to run for Leader of the Conservative Party, embarking on a radical image change and a voice coaching regime. In the present day, however, we witness her struggle with dementia and old age fully realising the personal price she paid for power. It this latter period, in which she is unable to distinguish her past and present and even has conversations with her (dead) husband Dennis, that acts as the films central narrative strand allowing the film to examine major historical events throughout her political career in flashbacks. Such events, that summed up the general discontent of an 80's Britain, include the rising unemployment and tight budget of 1981 which lead to the Brixton Riots, the miners' strike of 1984-5 and the IRA bombing of the Grand Hotel during the Conservative Party Conference which almost killed both Margaret and Dennis. The film would of course not be complete without witnessing the moment she decided to reclaim the Falkland Islands back from Argentina following their invasion in 1982. Despite the subsequent victory, it did make the conflict all the more controversial due to the sinking of the ARA General Belgrano.

Co-starring Anthony Head (TV's Buffy and Merlin) as Deputy Prime Minister Geoffrey Howe, and Richard E. Grant (Withnail & I) as Secretary for Defence Michael Heseltine, the applause has to nay MUST be given to Streep whose performance is reliably perfect. Every component in the way she portrays Thatcher works absolutely brilliantly: her voice, her posture, her movements and facial expressions, her frightening and sudden imperiousness. It is put simply one of Streep's finest performance and if an Oscar does not come her way this year (it's unlikely but you never know) then there is no justice in the world. It is also interesting in the way in which the film allows to depict her rise and fall to power from her own point of view especially when filtered through the distorted lens of her Alzheimers stricken mind.


Don't miss your opportunity one of the best performances of 2012 so far at The Cinema At Gloucester Guildhall.


Check out the trailer below:

The Iron Lady (12A) runs from Friday 10th February - Thursday 16th February

At The Cinema At Gloucester Guildhall this week: You Are Cordially Invited To A Screen Tea with 'The Lady'

The Cinema at Gloucester Guildhall presents the new feature from acclaimed director Luc Besson, The Lady, as its Screen Tea selection for this Saturday and Monday. Starring  Michelle Yeoh (Tomorrow Never Dies, Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon) and David Thewlis (Harry Potter series and War Horse which opens at the Guildhall on Friday 17th Feb), the film plays as an inspiring biopic of the Burmese opposition politician and General Secretary to the National League for Democracy Aung San Suu Kyi.


Perhaps one of the most prolific figures in Eastern politics winning the Nobel Prize in 1991, Kyi's campaign was supported by her people yet fiercely opposed by those in government to the extent that prior to 1990 election where she held  81% of the seats in Parliament, she was placed under house arrest and was not released for over a decade. Whilst the film serves as a standard biopic, beginning with her childhood and her other milestones through her life, its main focal point is the tenacious long-distance relationship she maintained with her British husband during her imprisonment.


Premiering at last year's Toronto Film Festival, it is certainly a meticulous creation that Besson has assembled thanks to the involvement of producer Andy Harries (The Queen, The Damned United) as well as award-winning cinematographer Thierry Arbogast who serves up stunning visuals of the South Asian landscape. Credit has to go to Michelle Yeoh, whose remarkable performance displays both sheer determination and real fear, with David Thewlis' turn as Aris acting as the perfect counterpoint to Yeoh's intensity. Yeoh, who spent months researching the role, describes the film as "an incredible love story set against the background of political turmoil" adding that the role was "a labour of love" although incredibly intimidating.


Check out the trailer below:

The Lady (12A) is showing on Saturday 4th and Monday 6th February.

At The Cinema At Gloucester Guildhall this week: Get Under The Skin Of 'The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo'

With January now behind us, The Cinema at Glouester Guildhall looks to February, which features a stellar line-up of films including three of the big heavyweight contenders at this year's award ceremonies. With both the BAFTAs and the Oscars this month, there's no better place to experience the likes of The Iron Lady, War Horse and The Artist than in the comfort of The Cinema at Gloucester Guildhall.

We begin February however with the latest incarnation of Swedish author Stieg Larsson's thrilling and best-selling Millenium Trilogy in the form of The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo- an English language version of the first installment in the series (continuing with The Girl Who Played With Fire and concluding with The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet's Nest). Selling more than 50 million copies in 46 countries, the series was originally produced for the screen in the author's native country and language back in 2009 and made a star out of Noomi Rapace (now currently in Sherlock Holmes: A Game Of Shadows). This Hollywood reinterpretation, part of a planned three-picture deal with Sony Pictures, has been adapted by renowned Oscar-winning screenwriter Steve Zaillian (Schindler's List, Gangs Of New York, Moneyball) and features an all star cast including Daniel Craig (the current James Bond) and Rooney Mara (The Social Network) under the direction of the legendary David Fincher whose credits include The Social Network, Seven, Fight Club, Panic Room, Zodiac and The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button.

Neil Blomkvist (Craig) is a disgraced political journalist having just lost a ruinous libel case to a famous businessman. Unsure of his career direction, as well as his marriage and family, he is called upon by an ageing rich industrialist named Henrik Vagner (the Oscar nominated Christopher Plummer). Employing Blomkvist to assist with the writing of his memoirs, the job quickly turns into a crime investigation as it seems Vagner is more concerned with finding the murderer of his favourite great-niece, who disappeared from the family island in the summer of 1956. The mystery soon gets the attention of computer hacker Lisbeth Salander (Mara) who performed a background check on Blomkvist as a preliminary to his hiring. The pair team up to lead the investigation where they find themselves pursuing several serial killers. The question is, could the killer be closer than they think?

Whilst it's fair to say that the original Swedish language version holds a special place in people's hearts and minds (especially those who regularly visit The Cinema at Gloucester Guildhall, where the original films did very well) this film shouldn't be dismissed as a vacuous commercialised Hollywood remake and it certainly doesn't do any disservice to either the novels or the original films. It provides a new interpretation to the story that is brutal but nevertheless captivating, with Fincher working at his lurid best along with a committed performance form Rooney Mara, which has earned her an Oscar nomination for Best Actress. It also goes without saying that it features a killer soundtrack by regular Fincher collaborators Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, including a brilliant cover version of Led Zeppelin's Immigrant Song playing over the opening titles sequence that is worth the admission price alone.

With the second and third parts now in the works, and with both Daniel Craig and Rooney Mara signed up to star, there is no better way to introduce yourself to the Millenium Trilogy than at The Cinema at Gloucester Guildhall.

Check out the trailer below:

The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo (18) runs from Friday 3rd - Thursday 9th February.