Mar 25th  

Angels One Five**      

(GB 1952)                          

Exploits of members of RAF Neethley during the height of the Battle of Britain.
Stoic, quietly effective war drama, in parts as moving as The Way to the Stars, and unlike most airborne dramas, has easy to follow action scenes.

Written by: Derek Twist, based on the book "What Are Your Angels Now?" by Pelham Groom.
Producers: John W. Gossage, Derek Twist.
Director: George More O'Ferrall.
Starring: Jack Hawkins, John Gregson, Michael Denison, Cyril Raymond, Dulcie Gray, Andrew Osborn, Humphrey Lestocq, Veronica Hurst.
Photography: Christopher Challis.
Music: John Wooldridge.

Preceded by:
Something Fishy
(GB 2014. 3m.; A goldfish's perspective on a 'cat burglar' threatening households.; d: Ian Martin; s: voice of Paul Reed, Gavin Radcliffe, Kate McCormick.)

Mar 20th
Gravity** (12A)
(Odeon Colchester)                              

(US/Spa/GB 2013)

A shuttle explorer mission is struck by accidental flying debris, and the main science officer has a perilous journey in trying to get back to Earth.
Oscar winning space drama actually more about human survival, with a heroine similar in resourcefulness to that of Alien's Ripley, and visually as striking as Kubrick's 2001, but with more of a heart than either. The 3D is well used, in the ironically anti-claustrophobic seclusion of outer space.

Written by: Alfonso Cuaron, Jonas Cuaron.
Producers: Alfonso Cuaron, David Heyman.
Director: Alfonso Cuaron.
Starring: Sandra Bullock, George Clooney.
Photography: Emmanuel Lubezki.
Music: Steven Price.
Production Design: Andy Nicholson.

Mar 18th   
Candleshoe*       

(GB 1976)                            

A streetwise Los Angeles kid poses as the lost granddaughter of an English country estate in order to help crooks pursue a hidden treasure chest.
Dislikeable modern variation on Little Lord Fauntleroy from the Disney studio's 70s phase, with a tomboyish leading role. Some occasional touching and amusing moments from some reliable faces.

Written by: Rosemary Anne Sisson, David Swift, based on the novel "Christmas at Candleshoe" by Michael Innes.
Producers: Hugh Attwooll, Ron Miller.
Director: Norman Tokar.
Starring: Jodie Foster, David Niven, Helen Hayes, Leo McKern, Vivian Pickles, Veronica Quilligan, Ian Sharrock, Sarah Tamakumi, David Samuels.
Photography: Paul Beeson.
Music: Ron Goodwin.

Mar 10th
The Candidate**        

(US 1972)          

An idealistic Governor's son is persuaded to run for the Senate against the Republican favourite, but his own ideas get lost in the campaign machinery as his chances start to improve ...
Telling semi-documentary political satire, as relevant today as it was then, with a central character clearly modelled on John F. Kennedy. More style than substance, but that's the point.

Written by: Jeremy Larner.
Producer: Walter Coblenz.
Director: Michael Ritchie.
Starring: Robert Redford, Peter Boyle, Don Porter, Allen Garfield, Karen Carlson, Melvyn Douglas, Kenneth Tobey, Natalie Wood.
Photography: Victor J. Kemper.
Music: John Rubinstein.

Mar 8th  
Orlando**     

(GB/Russia/Fra/Ita/Netherlands 1992)

A courtier of Queen Elizabeth I inherits his title on condition that he retains his youth, which he does for the next 400 years, encountering various lives and loves, and also changing sex.
Intriguing, ultimately pretentiously vague period romantic drama about human identity, in a flamboyant style quite reminiscent of Michael Powell (who is dedicated in the credits). Skips through the succeeding centuries at quite a cleverly swift pace, and not without moments of interest along the way.

Written and Directed by: Sally Potter, based on the novel by Virginia Woolf.
Producer: Christopher Sheppard.
Starring: Tilda Swinton, Quentin Crisp (as Elizabeth I), Billy Zane, John Wood, Charlotte Valandrey, Lothaire Bluteau, Heathcote Williams, Simon Russell Beale, Toby Jones, Ned Sherrin, Jimmy Sommerville.
Photography: Alexei Ridionov.
Music: David Motion, Sally Potter.
Costume: Sandy Powell.

Feb 28th   
Silent Running**      

 (US 1971)                            

A conservationist murders his fellow crewmen after they have been ordered to destroy the last of Earth's remaining natural resources preserved in outer space greenhouses.
Another doom-laden 70s vision of the future but with an underlying message of hope, a well designed and rather touching ecological fable, with robots as heroes once the humans have messed things up.

Written by: Deric Washburn, Michael Cimino, Steve Bachco.
Producer: Michael Gruskoff.
Director: Douglas Trumbull.
Starring: Bruce Dern, Cliff Potts, Ron Rifkin, Jesse Vint.
Photography: Charles F. Wheeler.
Music: Peter Schickele (songs sung by Joan Baez).