The official blog of The Cinema at Gloucester Guildhall and its Film Club. News, reviews and everything to do with the films showing at Gloucester Guildhall.
Ken Loach has done it again! Established for films such asSweet Sixteen and Looking for Eric, The Angels' Share follows many of Loach's traits; juggling the harsh realities of life with that special bit of humour makes this film a pleasure to watch.
Loach and regular screenwriter Paul Laverty chatted to Total Film's Matt Maytum about the films idea's and finding new talent. Click here to read this engaging interview for yourself and understand Loach's inspiration behind the film and find out if he really will broaden his filming style.
Ken Loach's new film The Angels' Share is showing at Gloucester Guildhall on Friday 20th July at 7.45pm, Saturday 21st July at 10.45am and 7.45pm and Monday 23rd July at 2pm and 7.45pm.
A Royal Affair is the story of a young queen, who is married to an insane king. She falls in love with her husband's physician and together they start a revolution that changes a nation forever.
Have a look at this interview with Mads Mikkelsen who stars as Johann Friedrich Struenseethe king's physician.
A Royal Affair is screening on Monday 16th 7.45pm, Tuesday 17th at 2pm, Wednesday 18th at 7.45pm and Thursday 19th at 7.45pm.
This month we showed four classics directed by the amazing Woody Allen and to finish off our little retrospective nicely, in July we are screening Woody Allen: A Documentary for a very limited time only,which provides audiences an insight look to how he directs and what it is like to work with him. Check out this review from the Sydney Film festival.
Woody Allen: A Documentary screens on Monday 9th at 2pm and 7.45pm
Café De Floreis the amazing new film from the director of C.R.A.Z.Y., featuring a really stunning turn from Vanessa Paradis. This is a mystical and fantastical yet sincere and solemn odyssey on love and soulmates: the tale of the love between a man and a woman, and a mother and her son, their stories separated by four decades and yet metaphysically connected.
In modern Montreal, DJ Antoine embarks on a new affair with free spirit Rose whilst reflecting on his life with teenage sweetheart Carole, the complications of his current situation causing him to re-visit his past to a shocking conclusion. Meanwhile in 1969 Paris, Jacqueline is a single mother to Laurent, who is born with Down’s Syndrome. Fiercely protective and ambitious for her son, they have an intensely loving relationship which is disrupted when Laurent makes a new friend at school and Jacqueline becomes threatened by his interests in the wider world.
This is one of the most beautiful and mesmerising films of the year, with a captivating soundtrack featuring Pink Floyd, The Cure and Sigur Ros that will leave you yearning for more.
The cinema team were lucky enough to see Cafe De Flore at the ICO Screening Days in April and were absolutely blown away by it. Rocketing straight into our top 10 favourite films of all time, it received raving reviews from everyone we spoke to. It really has everything you could want from a film - the angst-ridden love story, the dishy male lead (Kevin Parent), intrigue and suspense, inspiring and heartwarming performances from Vanessa Paradis and newcomers Marin Gerrier and Alice Dubois, the earth-shattering reveal and a truly brilliant soundtrack. This is world cinema for a new generation (and the old generation too). Truly outstanding, this film will (almost!) change your life.
*The film is generous to all its besotted creatures, and to the audience as well. Viewers who fall in love with Café de Flore will find that it loves them back.* TIME Magazine
*Haunting and heartbreaking, director Jean-Marc Vallée's romantic drama is an electrifying multi-layered experience.* Radio Times
Have a look at the trailer below and start getting excited:
Café De Flore (15) runs: Tuesday 3rd at 2pm and 7.45pm, Wednesday 4th at 7.45pm and Thursday 5th 7.45pm.
The fabulous Delicacy is gracing the screen of Gloucester Guildhall twice more: this afternoon and tonight.
The film stars one of the most well-known French actresses - Audrey Tautou - whose films are always a delight, and Delicacy is no exception! To find out more about her have a read of this interview from The Telegraph.
Delicacy is screening today (Monday 25th) at 2pm and at 7.45pm
With the release of A Royal Affair, Danish director Nikolaj Arcel, best known for his work on the screenplay, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, talks to Entertainment UK's Stephen Applebaum about Danish history and the ideas that drove his new 18th Century period piece, along with his honest opinion on the success of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.
Click here to read the interview and understand Arcel's thinking towards this superb period piece.
A Royal Affair is showing at Gloucester Guildhall on Monday 16th July at 7.45pm, Tuesday 17th July at 2pm, Wednesday 18th July at 7.45pm and Thursday 19th July at 7.45pm. Be sure not to miss it!
Coming very soon to The Guildhall Cinema is the charming new film from Wes Anderson, its the unique Moonrise Kingdom which to much anticipation opened this year’s Cannes Film Festival.
The film is a nostalgic snapshotset on an island off the coast of New England in the summer of 1965. This is the heart-warming story of two 12-year-olds Suzy and Sam who fall in love, make a secret pact, and run away together into the wilderness. Various authorities try to hunt them down, a violent storm is brewing off-shore and the peaceful island community is turned upside down in every which way.
Moonrise Kingdom is filled with a steller cast including well known and veteran actors. Such as Edward Norton as The Camp Leader, Bruce Willis as the Captain - with hair and glasses! - and Bill Murray and Frances McDormand as the parents of Suzy, and introducing the endearing Kara Hayward and Jared Gilman as the young couple.
The opening-night film of Cannes Film Festival in 2012 was the impeccably made portrait of young love. The attention gained from critics was unbelievable, everyone loved it.
*a charming, beautifully wrought, if somehow depthless film; heartfelt and thought through to the tiniest, quirkiest detail in classic Anderson style. There are the familiar rectilinear shots and compositions with letters and drawings suddenly filling the screen like courtroom exhibits.* The Guardian
*The performances from Hayward and Gilman, as runaways, are at the heart of the film, and they manage to seem both innocent and powerful.* The Daily Telegraph
Have a look at the trailer below:
Moonrise Kingdom (12A) runs: Friday 29th at 7.45pm, Saturday 30th at 10.45am and 7.45pm and Monday 2nd July at 2pm and 7.45pm
Woody Allen's masterpiece is a romantic comedy from a time before the term "rom-com" denoted assembly-line, Hollywood dross. Telling the story of the love affair and break-up of stand-up comic Alvy Singer ( Allen ) and aspiring nightclub chanteuse Annie Hall ( Diane Keaton ), the film is a loosely structured collection of scenes, sketches and anecdotes which Allen and editor Ralph Rosenblum compiled from hours of footage, losing an unwanted murder-mystery plotline in the process.
Probably the most radical of all Allen's movies, Annie Hall is presented in a haphazard, out-of-sequence manner, with abrupt changes in style: characters literally walk into flashbacks to review their own pasts; subtitles contrast Alvy and Annie's dialogue with their inner thoughts; there are animated and split-screen sequences; Allen addresses the audience directly as if in a theatre. All this narrative post-modernism gives the film its drive and underscores the characters' own chaotic lives.
And it's funny, of course. So much of Allen's most famous dialogue comes from this movie that it's an embarrassment of riches, a masterclass in comedy writing. From the poignant humour of Alvy's thoughts on his relationship problems, to the semi-improvised slapstick of "the lobster scene", to the wicked barbs aimed at Los Angeles life, Allen's wit and imagination ignite like fireworks. The affair between Alvy and Annie is believable and touching, from their first, hesitant meeting to their inevitable parting. Diane Keaton gives a warm, kooky performance as Annie and there are fine cameos from Tony Roberts, Carol Kane, Shelley Duvall and a very young Christopher Walken. A deserved 1977 Oscar-winner, Annie Hall is a romantic comedy with heart, soul and - most importantly - a brain.
Sleeper, Woody Allen's typically irreverent take on the kind of dystopian future seen in Nineteen Eighty-Four or Fahrenheit 451, marks the transition between his so-called "early, funny films" and his more mature work of the late 1970s... after he's got the giant banana-skin joke out of the way, of course.
Allen plays Miles Monroe, a Brooklyn health food store owner who goes into hospital for a routine operation in 1973 but, after complications, is frozen in cryogenic suspension and not revived for 200 years. Monroe wakes to find himself in a world seemingly devoted to pleasure - the citizens have robot servants and enjoy legal drugs and technologically-enhanced sex - but where the government monitor everybody's slightest movements and reprogram anyone who doesn't conform. Teaming up with Diane Keaton's spoilt, ditzy society girl / poet, he tries to escape the authorities and discover the dark secret at the heart of this future society. As in all the best Science Fiction, Allen uses this future world to hold a twisted mirror up to his own time and takes parodic pot-shots at contemporary concerns like feminism, Marxism, the Watergate scandal, inner city paranoia and Norman Mailer's ego...
With its surreal slapstick and racous trad-jazz score, Sleeper may not be to everyone's taste ( and is certainly dated ) but its energy and verve are undeniable. Allen rattles through scene after scene of absurd sight-gags and prat-falls, in tribute to Silent Movie -era greats such as Buster Keaton and Harold Lloyd, while still finding room for his trademark wry observations on life, death and sex. And any film featuring Diane Keaton impersonating Marlon Brando has to be seen to be believed...
The Cinema at Gloucester Guildhall continues its June programme this week with a Canadian French drama film in the form of Monsieur Lazhar
Produced by the team behind 2010’s Incendies and developed from a one-character playby Evelyne de la Cheneliere, the film centres on Bashir Lazhar (Mohamed Fellag) a 55 year old Algerian immigrant living in Montreal.
Following the suicide of an elementary school teacher he decides to offer his services to the school as a substitute teacher. Quickly hired to replace the deceased, not only does he find himself in an establishment in crisis but also he carries the burden of overcoming a personal tragedy. While the students goes through the healing process, and as Bashir eventually comes to be loved and respected by them, nobody in the school is aware of Bashir's painful past...
Oscar nominated for Best Foreign Language Film,this little gem is an absolute must-see featuring strong performances from Fellag and the rest of the supporting cast. It also welcomes favourable comparisons to the likes of Laurent Catnet’s The Class (2008) and Dead Poets Society.
*TENDER AND TOUCHING...a smart screenplay, moving performances and social observations free of any political agenda* Now Magazine Toronto
*MASTERFUL! Lead actor Fellag is outstanding* Peter Howell, The Star
Check out the trailer below:
Monsieur Lazhar (12A) screens on Tuesday 26th at 2pm and 7.45pm, Wednesday 27th at 7.45pm and Thursday 28th at 7:45pm.
Jared Gilman and Kara Hayward are making their film debut this summer in Moonrise Kingdom. Catch a quirky interview with the two bright young stars HERE with USA Today.
Moonrise Kingdom plays at the Guildhall on the following dates: Friday 29th at 7.45pm, Saturday 30th at 10.45am and 7.45am and Monday 2nd July at 2pm and 7.45pm.
The screening on Monday 2nd July at 7.45pm is also July's Film Club meet. Meet us in the Guildhall bar at 7.15pm if you fancy joining us.
After the incredible success of the Marvel Avengers Assemble, big things are in the pipeline for Mark Ruffalo who plays The Hulk. He has been signed up for six more Marvel films...! Read all about it HERE on The Guardian's own film blog.
Last chance to catch Marvel Avengers Assemble (12A) is this evening - Monday 18th at 7.45pm. Don't miss out!
Delicacy is the latest romantic comedy from Audrey Tautou, which is gracing the screen at Gloucester Guildhall this weekend. It is also a directorial debut from the French brothers David and Stéphane Foenkinos. Delicacy is adapted from David’s novel of the same name: a best-seller in France.
When Natalie’s husband dies in an accident, her perfect world comes crashing down around her. Convinced she will never love again she shuts herself off from the world until salvation presents itself in the form of unlikely co-worker Markus. As their relationship goes from awkward to genuinely loving, Nathalie and Markus find themselves fighting to overcome not only other people’s judgements but their own self-doubts in pursuit of a happy ending.
The star of the film is Audrey Tautou, who has been seen in films such as Beautiful Lies, Coco Before Channel, Priceless and of course Amelie back in 2001. She is a well-liked actress.
The film was first screened at Sarlat film festival in Autumn 2011 - this is one of the finest film festivals/competitions in France. Large crowds are drawn in every year with its diverse range of visual offerings.
*Audrey Tautou ... makes a cute romcom that is rather charming and sometimes genuinely sad* The Guardian
*Poignant and charming, this romance will strike a chord with anyone who has loved and lost, and its optimistic message lingers fondly in the memory.* Radio Times
Watch the trailer below:
Delicacy is screening on: Friday 22nd at 7.45pm, Saturday 23rd at 10.45am, Monday 25th at 2pm and at 7.45pm|
Following on from The Purple Rose Of Cairo and Sleeper, our Woody Allen season reaches its penultimate offering and it’s safe to say that we are saving the best till last. We now come to what critic Roger Ebert describes as “just about everyone’s favourite Woody Allen film”. It can only be the Academy Award winning Annie Hall, heralded by Allen himself as a “major turning point” in his filmography as it introduced a level of seriousness to his films that were not found in the farces and comedies that were his work to that point.
Originally released in 1977, during the Me Decade, this romantic comedy follows the up and down relationship of two mismatched New York neurotics. Jewish comedy writer Alvy Singer (Allen) ponders the modern quest for love and his past romance with tightly-wound WASP singer Annie Hall (Diane Keaton). The twice-divorced Alvy knows that it's not easy to find a mate when the options include pretentious New York intellectuals and lifestyle-obsessed Rolling Stone writers, but la-di-dah-ing Annie seems different. Along the rocky road of their coupling, Allen/Alvy weigh in on such topics as endless therapy, movies vs. TV, the absurdity of dating rituals, anti-Semitism, drugs, and, in one of the best set pieces, repressed Midwestern WASP insanity vs. crazy Brooklyn Jewish boisterousness. Annie wants to move to Los Angeles to find that fame that finally does in the relationship -- but not before Alvy gets in a few digs at vacuous, mantra-fixated California.
What makes Annie Hall the masterpiece that it is, is in its ability to blend the slapstick and fantasy from his earlier films like Sleeper (1973) and Bananas (1971) with the more autobiographical musings of his stand-up and written comedy. It also adopts an array of intuitive movie techniques such as talking heads, split screens, and subtitles ultimately resulting in his most mature and personal film of his career. Famous for beating out Star Wars for Best Picture, the film also won Oscars for Allen as director and writer and for Keaton as Best Actress. Annie Hall, all in all, is filled with poignant performances and devastating humor representing a quantum leap for Woody Allen and will remain an American cinema classic.
Don’t miss your chance to see the film that frankly doesn’t need press quotes to prove how amazing it is!
Check out the trailer below:
Annie Hall (15) runs on Saturday 16th June at 10:45am and Wednesday 20th June 7:45pm
Whilst we pride ourselves on bringing you the very best in art house and independent cinema, we also ensure that you are provided with the opportunity to enjoy the latest Hollywood blockbusters within the comfort of your local independent cinema. This week therefore doesn’t get any bigger than the screening of Marvel Studios' latest action-packed extravaganza, Avengers Assemble - a film that has broken umpteen box office records this year on both sides of the Atlantic, becoming the third highest-grossing film of all time behind James Cameron’s box office behemoths, Titanic (1997) and Avatar (2009).
For those who have been “keeping up with the Joneses” of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, a name synonymous with some of the most recognisable comic book figures including Spider-Man and the X-Men, this represents the culmination of the first phase of this juggernaut comic book super-hero saga which began with Iron Man (2008) ending most recently withCaptain America: The First Avenger (2011) via The Incredible Hulk (2008), Iron Man 2 (2010) and Thor (2011). Avengers Assemble therefore can only be described as the superhero team up of a lifetime. But what is the story, you may ask?
S.H.I.E.L.D are an international peacekeeping agency who encounter an unexpected enemy that threatens global safety and security. Nick Fury, the agency’s director, finds himself in need of a team to pull the world back from the brink of disaster. Spanning the globe, a daring recruitment effort begins and thus the Avengers are assembled.
Directed by the master of geek-fandom cinema, Joss Whedon (Serenity, TV’s Buffy The Vampire Slayer) and featuring an all-star ensemble cast, including Robert Downey Jr. (Iron Man), Chris Hemsworth (Thor) Chris Evans (Captain America) and Samuel L. Jackson (Nick Fury), alongside supporting roles from Jeremy Renner (Hawkeye) and Scarlet Johansson (Black Widow), and Mark Ruffalo in a new take on the Incredible Hulk character.
Marvel Avengers Assemble lives up to its hype by combining a script that never forgets its heroes' humanity, with a heavy abundance of superpowered set pieces, ultimately raising the bar for future Marvel superhero movies to come. It’s perhaps no surprise, due to its phenomenal success, that a sequel is already in development.
Don’t miss your chance to see the film critics are calling:
*An enjoyably absurd and an absurdly enjoyable extravaganza both delirious and surrealist* The Guardian
*As close as cinema gets to a fairground ride: shiny, noisy and exhilarating* Time Out
*Sets a comic book franchise gold standard that will take some beating* Film 4
Check out the trailer below:
Marvel Avengers Assemble (12A) runs on Friday 15th June at 7.45pm, Saturday 17th June at 7.45pm and Monday 18th 7.45pm
The next and final instalment of our Woody Allen Season is the 1979 film Manhattan.Hot on the heels of Annie Hall, the Oscar-winning Manhattan continued Allen's romantic obsessions in a slightly darker, more pessimistic vein.
42-year-old Manhattan native Isaac Davis has a job he hates, a seventeen-year-old girlfriend he doesn't love, and a lesbian ex-wife who's writing a tell-all book about their marriage. But when he meets his best friend's sexy, intellectual mistress, Mary, Isaac falls head over heels. Leaving Tracy, bedding Mary and quitting his job are just the beginning of Isaac's quest for romance and fulfilment in a city where sex is as intimate as a handshake - and the gate to true love is a revolving door. Sumptuously photographed in black and white (Allen's first film in that format) and accompanied by a magnificent Gershwin score.
Audiences are well aware of the films which Woody Allen has directed, especially if you have seen the other three films of his we have shown earlier this month. Diane Keaton stars as Mary the sexy and intellectual mistress. Diane Keaton is a recognised actress who has starred in other Woody Allen films (Sleeper and Annie Hall).
In 1980 Manhattanwas nominated and won various awards. To start with it was nominated for two Oscars: Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen and Best Actress in a Supporting Role. Manhattan won a couple of BAFTA Film Awards for: Best Film and Best Screenplay. Not only did this film win a number of awards in was also screened in the official selection of the 1979 Cannes Film Festival.
Here are some of the critics views of Manhattan:
*One of Woody Allen's early classics, Manhattan combines modern, bittersweet humour and timeless romanticism with unerring grace* Rotten Tomatoes
*Allen has, in black and white, captured the inner beauty that lurks behind the outer layer of dirt and grime in Manhattan.* Variety
Have a look at the trailer below:
Manhattan (15) runs on Monday 18th June at 2pm and Thursday 21st 7.45pm.
Amara Karan is the leading lady in June's film All In Good Time (12A). However there is a bit more to this young actress than meets the eye.
Click here to read an article published in the London Evening Standard. About how Amara Karan gave up her banking career to become an actress, and a very successful actress at that. All in Good In Time is a superb film.
Last chance to see the film this afternoon at 2pm and 7.45pm
Breathing (15) is a uplifting German language film about a young man. The compelling story sees this young man, Roman Kogler, after being released from prison, taking a probation job at a local mortuary. During this time Roman discovers some startling news about the mother who abandoned him as a child. It is this event which leads him to explores his past and helps him reintegrate himself into a society that is completely different to the one he knew before. By the end of the film he is ultimately shown the path back into life.
The first-time director is a veteran Austrian actor who has previously acted in The Counterfeiters and Unknown alongside Liam Neeson.
Breathing was first seen by audiences at Cannes in 2011 and one of the reviews included this review:
*Spare, meditative and hauntingly eloquent ... more promising debuts in Cannes.* The Hollywood Reporter
Breathing (15) runs on Tuesday 12th June at 2pm and 7.45pm, Wednesday 13th June at 7.45pm and Thursday 14th 7.45pm...|
All In Good Time is the new film from the writer who brought East is East and the director who brought Calender Girls to our screens. Come along to The Guildhall to see a hilarious and moving feel-good film.
This film is a British comedy drama about two young newly-weds in Bolton who get a lot less than they bargained for when they move in with the groom’s parents after their wedding day. Meddling relatives and gossiping locals all pile on the pressure as nerves fray and tempers rise - will the marriage be over before it's even been consummated?
Watching All In Good Time you will recognise the steller cast of this film, which includes well-known actress Meera Syal (East is East), Arsher Ali (Silent witness) and upcoming actress Amara Karan (St. Trinians).
Nigel Cole is a film-maker who paints a picture of provincial and suburban life; he has previously directed Calender Girls, Cold Feet, Saving Grace and Made in Dagenham.
*A classic 1960s working-class drama translates beautifully into a comedy of contemporary British Asian family life* The Guardian
*touching, poignant and often witty* The Telegraph
Have a look at the trailer (below):
All In Good Time is screened on Friday 8th June at 7.45pm, Saturday 9th June at 10.45am and 7.45pm and Monday 11th June at 2pm and 7.45pm
Come along to the next Family Screening at Gloucester Guildhall! We are showing the the latest animated adventure from Aardman, the makers of Wallace & Gromit: The Pirates! In an Adventure With Scientists.
Bring your children to join the Pirate Captain and his rag-tag crew. Seemingly blind to the impossible odds stacked against him, the Captain has one dream: to beat his bitter rivals Black Bellamy and Cutlass Liz to the much coveted Pirate Of The Year Award. It's a quest that takes our heroes from the shores of exotic Blood Island to the foggy streets of Victorian London doing battle with the pirate-hating Queen Victoria and teaming up with a young Charles Darwin. Hilarious fun and exploring history for the whole family!
We all love the Wallace & Gromit films and this new film appears to be just as popular. Of course as it is an animated film we just hear the voices of well known actors, including Hugh Grant as the Pirate Captian, Martin Freeman as the Pirate With A Scarf, David Tennant as Charles Darwin and Imelda Staunton as Queen Victoria.
The film is stop-motion claymation which is quite simply fantastic.
*The charm is entirely in the detail* starplus.com
*The movie is a curiosity cabinet of visual pleasures but so breezy and lightly funny that you may not realize at first how good it is.* New York Times
*Endearingly British as Yorkshire pudding, soccer hooliganism and wonky teeth* Variety
Have a look at the trailer below:
The Pirates! In an Adventure With Scientists screens on: Friday 8th June at 10.45am and 3pm and Saturday 9th June at 3pm
