Feb 27th
The Hoax*          

(US 2006)                        

In 1971 Clifford Irving goes to elaborate lengths to write a fake autobiography of Howard Hughes.
The manner in which the authors attempt their con never seems to convince, but the truth, as they say, is stranger than fiction. Reasonably well performed and conveyed of the period, with some speculative scenes involving shady characters allegedly connected to Howard Hughes.

Written by: William Wheeler, from the book by Clifford Irving.
Producers: Mark Gordon, Bob Yari, Betsy Beers, Leslie Holleran, Joshua D. Maurer.
Director: Lasse Hallstrom.
Starring: Richard Gerem Alfred Molina, Marcia Gay Harden, Julie Delpy, Hope Davis, Stanley Tucci, Eli Wallach.
Photography: Oliver Stapleton.
Music: Carter Burwell.

+ Irving's adventures were also covered in entertaining semi-documentary fashion by Orson Welles in F for Fake

Feb 22nd
The Lego Movie (U)    
(Vue Leicester Square)                

A humble construction worker becomes the chosen one to thwart the plans of the evil Lord Business to glue the Lego world together permanently.
Relentlessly visual animation based around the popular children's play bricks and their subsequent cult of computer animated spin-offs. As a film it could just as well be any other form of animated adventure, as bar a few occasional amusing sight gags - revolving around the toy bricks themselves - the first thing that really needed building properly was the script.

d: Phil Lord, Christopher Miller
Voices of: Chris Pratt, Will Ferrell (also in person), Elizabeth Banks, Will Arnett, Liam Neeson, Morgan Freeman, Alison Brie, Billy Dee Williams, Anthony Daniels.

Feb 18th
A Clockwork Orange*          

(GB 1971)                    

A young thug is betrayed by his friends and brainwashed and then exploited by the state to "cure" him of his violent ways.
Sick and stylish semi-futuristic black comedy (more about its own era than the future), a deliberate antidote to the sleek, enigmatic sophistication of 2001: A Space Odyssey, but later withdrawn by Kubrick himself from distribution after death threats to his family and "copycat" acts of violence. It has since earned a perhaps undeserved cult reputation after being absent from British screens for over 25 years.

Written, Produced and Directed by: Stanley Kubrick, based on the novel by Anthony Burgess.
Starring: Malcolm McDowell, Patrick Magee, Michael Bates, Warren Clarke, Adrienne Corri, Anthony Sharp, Carl Duering, Aubrey Morris, Sheila Raynor, Philip Stone, David Prowse.
Photography: John Alcott.
Music: Walter Carlos, and others.
Production Design: John Barry.

The slogan "Stanley Kubrick's Clockwork Orange" (not Anthony Burgess's) was telling.

Preceded by:
The Burning*
(GB 1967. BFI Production Board/Memorial Enterprises. 31m. bw; Restrained but telling little interracial drama from a child's perspective in an Apartheid state just at the onset of a revolution.; w: Roland Starke, from his short story; d: Stephen Frears; s: Mark Baillie, Gwen Ffrangcon-Davies, Isobel Muller, Cosmo Pieterse.)

Feb 8th
August: Osage County* (15)        
(Ipswich Film Theatre)                  

Family tensions and revelations instigated by the drug-addicted mother suffering from mouth cancer, after her husband has disappeared and then committed suicide.
Heavy-going soap opera, an actors' piece adapted from a play that allows most of the all-star cast to revel in their roles.

Written by: Tracy Letts, from his play.
Producers: George Clooney, Jean Doumanian, Grant Heslov, Steve Traxler.
Director: John Wells.
Starring: Meryl Streep, Julia Roberts, Ewan McGregor, Chris Cooper, Juliette Lewis, Julianne Nicholson, Margo Martindale, Benedict Cumberbatch, Dermot Mulroney, Abigail Breslin, Sam Shephard, Misty Upham.
Photography: Adriano Goldman.
Music: Gustavo Santaolalla.

AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY. A film of twelve angry men, and women - mostly the women.

Feb 3rd
Misery** 

(US 1990)                    

A romantic author crippled in a car crash is imprisoned and cared for by his psychotic no. 1 fan.
One of the best of the Stephen King film adaptations, a grimly gruesome allegory about the artist trying to break away from typecasting in the face of his over-eager audience, with more emphasis on character than usual in spite of King's usual excesses - which when they come, are still pretty gruesome.

Written by: William Goldman, from the novel by Stephen King.
Producers: Andrew Scheinman, Rob Reiner.
Director: Rob Reiner.
Starring: James Caan, Kathy Bates, Richard Farnsworth, Frances Sternhagen, Lauren Bacall, J.T. Walsh.
Photography: Barry Sonnenfeld.
Music: Marc Shaiman.