Sep 14th   
Circle of Friends**   
(GB/Ire/US 1995)  
Rank/Savoy/Castle Rock. 103m.

Three Irish girls graduating to Dublin to study find love in various tempestuous ways.
Romanticised coming-of-age drama in 1950s Ireland, typically "sexed-up" by its screenwriter, but still retaining some of its Irish flavour and charm, with a star in the making role for its leading lady.

Written by: Andrew Davies, based on the novel by Maeve Binchy.
Producers: Arlene Sellers, Alex Winnitsky, Frank Price.
Director: Pat O'Connor.
Starring: Minnie Driver, Chris O'Donnell, Saffron Burrows, Geraldine O'Rawe, Alan Cumming, Colin Firth, Aidan Lynch, Ciaran Hinds.
Photography: Kenneth McMillan.
Music: Michael Kamen.

Aug 20th   
The Life of Chuck** (15)   
(Curzon Colchester)

(US 2024)
FilmNation/Intrepid Pictures/Red Room. 111m. 

A 39-year old man is dying just as the universe is also starting to end; two generations earlier we begin to learn why...
Thoughtfully made and performed semi-allegorical sci-fi drama, which doesn't entirely satisfying some aspects of its double flashback structure, but with some good scenes and a strong cast who give the whole thing a suitable gravitas.

Written and Directed by: Mike Flanagan, from the story by Stephen King.
Producers: Mike Flanagan, Trevor Macy.
Starring: Tom Hiddleston, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Karen Gillan, Matthew Lillard, Mark Hamill, Mia Sara, Annalise Basso, Taylor Gordon, Carl Lumbly, Nick Offerman (narrator).
Photography: Eben Bolter.
Music: John Andrew Grush, Taylor Newton Stewart.
  

Aug 5th
Holiday Camp*     
(GB 1947)
Rank/Gainsborough. 97m. bw

Experiences of assorted guests at a British post-war holiday camp, with a secret murderer among them.
The murder element is a minor addition to a generally pleasant but unremarkable semi-documentary melodrama, with the central family of the Huggetts going on to have their own film series. Quite a hit in its day, which is where it belongs, for its evocation of holiday resorts of the time (immortalised also in the TV comedy Hi-de-Hi!)

Written by: Peter Rogers, Muriel Box, Sydney Box, Mabel Constanduros, Denis Constanduros, Ted Willis, from a story by Geoffrey Winn.
Producer: Sydney Box.
Director: Ken Annakin.
Starring: Hazel Court, Flora Robson, Jack Warner, Kathleen Harrison, Dennis Price, Jimmy Hanley, Esma Cannon, Peter Hammond, Emrys Jones, Yvonne Owen, Jeanette Tregorthen, Susan Shaw, Charlie Chester, Patricia Roc, Esmond Knight.
Photography: Jack Cox.
Music: Bob Burby.
Musical Direction: Louis Levy.

+ filmed on location at the Butlin's holiday camp in Filey

Jul 26th    
Ran*** (15)   
(King Street Cinema, Ipswich)

(Jap/Fra 1985)
Nippon Herald/Greenwich Film Productions/Toho. 162m.

A 40th anniversary re-release of an 80s action thriller, but of the much more artistically crafted kind: Kurosawa's adaptation of King Lear with an aging Samurai warlord and his three feuding sons, although the women still very much have their say in a sometimes languid epic, but beautifully visual as expected of him and with some superb battle scenes to rival the best of the Shakespeare films.

Written by: Akira Kurosawa, Hideo Oguni, Masato Ide.
Producers: Katsumi Masato Hora, Serge Silberman.
Director: Akira Kurosawa.
Starring: Tatsuya Nakadai, Akira Terao, Jinpachi Nezu, Daisuke Ryu, Mieko Harada, Yoshiko Miyazaki, Mayasuki Yui, Peter (as the Fool).
Photography: Takao Saito, Shoji Ueda, Asakazu Nakai.
Music: Toru Takemitsu.

Roger Ebert review

RAN. The perfect visual metaphor for the King and his self-destructing kingdom.

Jul 25th   
A Room with a View***    
(GB 1985)  
Curzon/Goldcrest/Film Four/Merchant-Ivory. 117m.

A chaperoned girl on holiday in Florence encounters love.
The first major success of the Merchant-Ivory team, dismissed by some as perriod-obsessed and lacking a cutting edge, and admittedly a little self-consciously stylized in its acting and presentation, but a welcome breath of fresh air in a 1980s dominated by blockbusters and violent action thrillers, with its captivating blend of operatic music and classical painting-style imagery.

Written by: Ruth Prawer Jhabvala, from the novel by E.M. Forster.
Producer: Ismail Merchant.
Director: James Ivory.
Starring: Helena Bonha Carter, Julian Sands, Maggie Smith, Denholm Elliott, Daniel Day Lewis, Simon Callow, Judi Dench, Rosemary Leach, Patrick Godfrey, Fabia Drake, Joan Henley, Rupert Graves.
Photography: Tony Pierce Roberts.
Music: Richard Robbins, Puccini (solos sung by Kiri Te Kanawa).
 

Jul 22nd   
The Man Who Would Be King**    
(US 1975)     
Columbia/Allied Artists/Persky-Bright/Devon. 129m. Panavision

Two ne'er do well British soldiers in India decide to colonise their own little region beyond the North West Frontier, but egomania ultimately is their undoing.
Huston's long-cherished project originally intended for Gable and Bogart comes to fruition with Connery and Caine instead, who function well enough as friends although the period trappings don't quite suit their style, and unlike (for example) Lawrence of Arabia, the breathtaking locations largely take second place to their exploits.

Written by: John Huston, Gladys Hill, from the story by Rudyard Kipling.
Producer: John Foreman.
Director: John Huston.
Starring: Sean Connery, Michael Caine, Christopher Plummer (as Kipling), Saeed Jaffrey, Shakira Caine, Jack May. Karroom Ben Bouih.
Photography: Oswald Morris.
Music: Maurice Jarre.
Production Design: Alexander Trauner.


Preceded by:
Tom and Jerry in  
Old Rockin' Chair Tom**
(US 1948. 7m.; Tom is replaced by a faster but roguish rival who is bad news for both him and Jerry, who therefore team up.; d: William Hanna, Joseph Barbera; p: Fred Quimby.)

Jul 14th     
Tovarich**      
(US 1937)     
Warner Bros. 98m. bw

An exiled Russian prince and duchess serve as butler and maid at a Paris household.
Lightweight from beginning to end but engaging comedy of the screwball period, with some moments of drama and two charismatic stars. 

Written by: Casey Robinson, Robert E. Sherwood, based on the play by Jacques Deval.
Producer: Robert Lord.
Director: Anatole Litvak,
Starring: Charles Boyer, Claudette Colbert, Basil Rathbone, Melville Cooper, Isabel Jeans, Anita Louise, Maurce Murphy, Montagu Love, Curt Bois.
Photography: Charles Lang.
Music: Max Steiner.