Tuesday, November 21, 2017

Nov 20th  
Pandora's Box**          

(Ger 1929)                                   

 A seductress lures men to their doom but meets her ultimate demise at the hands of Jack the Ripper.
One of the most iconic of 1920s films, a ponderous but stylish sexual German melodrama benefiting greatly from the "outside" presence of its American star, whose look became a fashion style.

Written by: G.W. Pabst, Ladislaus Vajdu, based on the "Lulu" plays by Frank Wedekind.
Producer: Seymour Nebenzal.
Director: G.W. Pabst.
Starring: Louise Brooks, Fritz Kortner, Francis Lederer, Carl Goetz, Alice Roberts, Daisy D'ora, Gustav Diessl (as Jack the Ripper).
Photography: Gunther Krampf.


+ Marlene Dietrich was considered for the role of Lulu, but only after Brooks was initially unavailable for release from her Hollywood contract with Paramount

Sunday, November 19, 2017

Nov 18th
Paddington 2* (PG)                   
(Century Clacton)                                     

(GB 2017)

Sentimental follow-up to 2014's family hit (qv), with the seemingly impossible to hate bear now foiling a dastardly actor trying to steal a fortune, with those from the first outing present and correct, and sticking within its crowd-pleasing formula.

d: Paul King
s: Hugh Grant, Ben Whishaw (voice only), Hugh Bonneville, Brendan Gleeson, Sally Hawkins, Julie Walters, Jim Broadbent, Peter Capaldi, Sanjeev Bhaskar, Tom Conti




Tuesday, November 07, 2017

Nov 5th  
Murder on the Orient Express* (12A) 
(Scala Cinema, Prestatyn)                                                                         

(US/GB/NZ 2017)

Absurdly fanciful remake with unnecessary action sequences and over-elaborated locations, but some good moments of acting. Complete banishment of memories of the 1974 original is required.

w: Michael Green, based on the novel by Agatha Christie
d: Kenneth Branagh
s: Kenneth Branagh, Daisy Ridley, Johnny Depp, Michelle Pfeiffer, Derek Jacobi, Judi Dench, Willem Dafoe, Penelope Cruz, Olivia Colman