Oct 26th
The Adventures of Tintin: Secret of the Unicorn** (PG)
Odeon Colchester

Tintin and Captain Haddock foil a plot by a vengeful descendant of an old enemy.
Innovative throwback to Raiders of the Lost Ark material, only now 30 years later transposed into the innovative process of motion capture, where all but the actors voices are simulated brilliantly in a near live action format faithful to the original comic books. For me the process still lacks a certain human element (like Final Fantasy), but it takes a director of Spielberg's skill to pull off the whole enterprise so entertainingly; his touch is apparent throughout (although the real stars are the animation "TDs"). It will be interesting to see how Peter Jackson's second planned instalment compares.

d: Steven Spielbergvoices (and motion captured bodies) of: Jamie Bell, Andy Serkis, Daniel Craig, Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Toby Jones
m: John Williams

Oct 18th
The Wildest Dream: Conquest of Everest**
US/GB 2010. Altitude Films. 94m.

The history of George Mallory's ill-fated attempt to climb the North face of Mount Everest, and two American climbers' subsequent attempts to emulate that feat in the present day.
Poignant, consistently interesting drama-documentary using the late Natasha Richardson as one of the voiceovers (before her own tragic death in mountainous conditions). Another film about Everest may seem old hat nowadays, but the region itself is never less than visually stunning.

d: Anthony Geffen
Narrator: Liam Neeson
Additional voices of: Ralph Fiennes, Hugh Dancy, Natasha Richardson, Alan Rickman
ph: Chris Openshaw, Ken Sauls

Oct 8th
Johnny English Reborn (PG)
Odeon Colchester

Second instalment of the bungling would-be James Bond from the credit card ads, slightly slicker this time round (with some knowing nods to the recent Daniel Craig incarnation), with Atkinson on just as good form as before and the rest of the cast enter into the spirit of things, the cheerfully idiotic plot moving along quite enjoyably - like the typical old-fashioned James Bond film in fact.

d: Oliver Parker
s: Rowan Atkinson, Rosamund Pike, Dominic West, Gillian Anderson, Daniel Kaluuya, Stephen Campbell Moore, Tim McInerney

Oct 4th

Deliverance**

US 1972. Warner Bros/Elmer Enterprises. 109m. Panavision

A canoeing trip for four city workers in the Deep South turns into a fight for survival.
Primal, semi-allegorical forest melodrama on a theme the director returned to, in this case hurling his courageous actors through real-life rapids, accompanied by a sometimes indigestible but always forceful narrative.

Written by: James Dickey, from his novel.
Producer/Director: John Boorman.
Starring: Jon Voight, Burt Reynolds, Ned Beatty, Ronny Cox, Bill McKinney, James Dickey.
Photography: Vilmos Zsigmond.
Music: Eric Weissberg.

+ LEWIS (Burt Reynolds): "Sometimes you have to lose yourself before you can find anything."

Preceded by:
Superman in
Billion Dollar Limited**
(US 1941. 9m.; Superman and Lois Lane foil gold bullion robbers on a speeding train.; d: Dave Fleischer; voices of Bud Collyer, Joan Alexander.)