Sep 30th
Ice Planet                             

(Ger TVM 2001)

A suriviving Earth colony fighting aliens is transported to a distant world in another galaxy where a semi-humanoid society still remains.
Mainly incomprehensible sci-fi pilot for an as yet unmade TV series, with medium range special effects, and a mostly baffled looking cast.

Written by: Michal Conford.
Producers: Hendrik Hay, Michael Conford.
Director: Winrich Kolbe.
Starring: Wesley Studi, Sab Shimono, James O'Shea, Valera Nikolaeu, Reiner Schöne, Rae Baker.
Photography: Michael Hofstein.
Music: Eberhard Schoener.
Production Design: Sikander Goldau.

Sep 28th
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance**      

(US 1962)

An eminent politician returns to the former Wild West town where he made his name, to pay his respects to the real culprit who slew Liberty Valence.
Typically tough-talking and folksy John Ford Western (in the twilight of his career as well as the genre itself), with a great prologue but losing its way slightly in some of the style and acting, which is sometimes overplayed but always reliable, from a typical Ford ensemble.

Written by: James Warner Bellah, Willis Goldbeck, from the story by Dorothy M. Johnson.
Producer: Willis Goldbeck.
Director: John Ford.
Starring: James Stewart, John Wayne, Vera Miles, Lee Marvin, Edmond O'Brien, Andy Devine, Woody Strode, Jeanette Nolan, John Qualen, Strother Martin, Lee Van Cleef, John Carradine, Carleton Young.
Photography: William H. Clothier.
Music: Cyril Mockridge

+ editor of the Shinbone Star Maxwell Scott (Carleton Young): "When the fact becomes legend, print the legend."

Sep 22nd
Laura***                              
(US 1944)

A beautiful New York advertising executive is murdered, and the detective investigating her death becomes obsessed by her. She then reappears...
Classic but somehow unsatisfying noir melodrama - good but not perfect in its casting, writing, star chemistry, or even the celebrated Laura theme. Less a thriller than a caustic character study, with the director on his best form.

Written by: Jay Dratler, Samuel Hoffenstein, Betty Reinhardt, from the novel.
Producer/Director: Otto Preminger.
Starring: Dana Andrews, Clifton Webb, Gene Tierney, Judith Anderson, Vincent Price, Dorothy Adams, James Flavin.
Photography: Joseph La Shelle.
Music: David Raksin.

Sep 17th
Star Trek: Into Darkness* (12A)                      
(Odeon Colchester)

The Star Federation battles a rogue member of their band on a destructive bent to avenge the creation of a killer force of superbeings.
The second Star Trek "re-boot" is, after much teasing and advance publicity - and some interesting parallels with Ed Snowden and the War on Terror - basically an elaborate rehash of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, although this crew of the Enterprise lack the charm and gravitas of their originals, and there are enough holes in the plot to drive a starship through. It keeps you watching however, whatever it is that's going on during its rather lengthy 132 minutes, and the designs of  futuristic London and San Francisco are eye-catching and credible.

d: J.J. Abrams
s: Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Benedict Cumberbatch, Peter Weller, Zoe Saldana, Karl Urban, Simon Pegg, Anton Yelchin, John Cho, Bruce Greenwood, Noel Clarke, Leonard Nimoy
pd: Scott Chamblis.

Sep 16th
The Counterfeiters*    
original title: Die Falscher
(Austria/Ger 2006)

A Jewish master forger is ordered by the Nazis to produce millions of fake bank notes in order to ruin the British and American economies.
An interesting true story is fictionalised with a sabotage sub-plot and the bookends seem superfluous, but otherwise this is an interesting depiction of Operation Bernhard in WWII, done in tough, occasionally insightful moments in the manner of Schindler's List and The Pianist, and the central character is an intriguingly amoral figure.

Written and Directed by: Stefan Ruzowitzky, based on the book "The Devil's Workshop" by Adolf Burger.
Producers: Josef Aichholzer, Nina Bohlmann, Babette Schroder.
Starring: Karl Markovics, Devid Striesow, August Diehl, Martin Brambach, August Zirner, Veit Stubner, Sebastian Urzendowsky, Dolores Chaplin.
Photography: Benedict Neuenfels.
Music: Marius Reuhland.
Production Design: Isidor Wimmer.

Philip French review

Sep 1st
Elysium** (15)
(Vue Romford)                  

In 22nd century Los Angeles a resourceful factory worker gets a lethal dose of radiation and ventures up to the elite above Earth space colony of Elysium which will guarantee him a cure.
Unfairly if inevitably compared to the director's previous success District 9, this sci-fi eco epic like most modern films muddles its key action scenes with rapid editing and camera movement, but in between are some thoughtful and sometimes moving moments, and the city of Elysium itself, though not very appealing as a refuge for anyone but the super-rich, is beautifully and imaginatively designed.

d: Neill Blomkamp
s: Matt Damon, Alice Braga, Jodie Foster, Sharlto Copley, Diego Luna, Wagner Moura, William Fichtner, Faran Tahir