Apr 30th
Son of Rambow** (12A)
Odeon Colchester

Two misfit schoolboys make their own video action film.
Amusing slice of 1980s nostalgia, a little overlong but full of authentic and eccentric detail (even if the fashions hop around different parts of the decade), and successfully capturing the feeling when childhood was the most important time of your life. A must-see for anyone of that age from that era.

d: Garth Jennings.
s: Bill Milner, Will Poulter, Jules Sitruk, Jessica Stevenson, Neil Dudgeon, Ed Westwick, Anna Wing, Eric Sykes
Derek Tate review

Preceded by:
Neighbor*
(US TVM 2003. 3m.; Two remote neighbours have a party - for the two of them. Part of the Future Shorts collection; w,d: Eric Lynne.)

Apr 14th
Darby O'Gill and the Little People** US 1959. Walt Disney. 93m.

A retiring Irish gamekeeper helps to set his affairs in order with the assistance of King Brian of the Leprechauns.
Quietly charming Blarney fantasy, quaintly stereotypical at first but with some lively special effects sequences and winning, warm-hearted performances. A minor forgotten gem in the Disney canon.

Written by: Lawrence Edward Watkin, from stories by H.T. Kavanagh.
Producer: Walt Disney.
Director: Robert Stevenson.
Starring: Albert Sharpe, Sean Connery, Janet Munro, Jimmy O'Dea, Kieron Moore, Estelle Winwood, Walter Fitzgerald, Denis O'Dea.
Photography: Winston Hoch.
Music: Oliver Wallace.
Special Photographic Effects: Peter Ellenshaw, Eustace Lycett.

Preceded by:
Leave 'Em Laughing*(US 1928. 20m. bw. silent; Stan has toothache, but he and Ollie overdose on laughing gas – as does the film.; w: Hal Roach, Reed Heustis; d: Clyde Bruckman; s: Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy, Edgar Kennedy, Charlie Hall.)

Apr 5th
Awake* (15)
Rich Mix Centre, Bethnal Green

US 2007. Icon/Greenestreet Films. 85m. ws

A heart transplant patient suffers from "Anesthesia Awareness", and overhears a murder plot at the operating table, in his state of semi-consciousness.
Improbable but interesting medical thriller, cleverly assembled in understated Hitchcockian/Les Diaboliques manner, but suffering from rather unengaging characters.

Written and Directed by: Joby Harold.
Producers: Jason Kliot, John Penotti, Fisher Stevens, Joana Vicente.
Starring: Hayden Christensen, Jessica Alba, Terrence Howard, Lena Olin, Christopher McDonald, Arliss Howard, Fisher Stevens, Sam Robards, Georgina Chapman.
Photography: Russell Carpenter.
Music: Samuel Sim.
Editing: Craig McKay.

Apr 2nd
Space Camp
US 1986. Twentieth Century Fox/ABC. 107m.

Youngsters at the NASA Summer Camp dream of taking off into the stars, which for some of them becomes a reality sooner than they expected.
Flimsy teenage space fantasy with sentimental asides (including an unnecessary robot sidekick), more Spielberg than Space Shuttle.

Written by: W.W. Wicket (Clifford Green), Casey T. Mitchell.
Producer: Patrick Bailey.
Director: Harry Winer.
Starring: Kate Capshaw, Lea Thompson, Tate Donovan, Kelly Preston, Larry B. Scott, Leaf (later Joachin) Phoenix, Tom Skerritt, Barry Primus, Terry O'Quinn.
Photography: William A. Fraker.
Music: John Williams.
Production Design: Richard McDonald.

+ the film's release was put back after the Challenger Shuttle disaster in January 1986