Dec 29th    
She's Back    

(US 1988)                                                                 

An electrician's wife is murdered during a break-in, and her ghost nags him into taking revenge.
Oddly apt to feature this rather poor black comedy from the 80s (whose star actually died this time last year), with its little moments between the two leads and some other quirks, but in general the film is more unpleasant than entertaining, and with the wrong kind of bad taste.

Written by: Buddy Giovinazza.
Producer: Cynthia De Paula.
Director: Tim Kincaid.
Starring: Carrie Fisher, Robert Joy, Matthew Cowles, Joel Sweetow, Sam Coppola, Bobby De Cicco, Erick Avari.
Photography: Arthur D. Marks.
Music: Jimmie Haskell.

Dec 15th   
The Last Jedi** (12A)   
(Century Clacton)   

(US 2017)                 

The Resistance crumbles under the grip of the First Order, but hope re-emerges when the heir to the Jedi meets the reclusive master Luke Skywalker.
Second Disney semi-remake of Star Wars away from George Lucas, and the last to feature its original principal actors (one film early, alas), long but never allowing itself to settle in at a more sedate pace. The newcomers perform as adequately as they did first time around in The Force Awakens, but the film lacks a saving grace of humour, and the original seems a long time ago in a galaxy far away.

Written and Directed by: Rian Johnson.
Producers: Kathleen Kennedy, Ram Bergman
Starring: Mark Hamill, Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Adam Driver, Carrie Fisher, Oscar Isaac, Andy Serkis, Domnhall Gleeson, Kelly Marie Tran, Laura Dern, Benicio Del Toro, Anthony Daniels, Frank Oz.
Photography: Steve Yedlin.
Music: John Williams.

Dec 13th    

Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool** (15)       
(HMV Curzon Wimbledon)

(GB 2017)             

The true story of Gloria Grahame's affair towards the end of her life with English actor Peter Turner, a slightly rosy-tinted portrait of the late 1970s, playing out as a real-life Sunset Boulevard scenario with stock footage of the real Ms. Grahame that threatens to upstage the central performance, but Bening's sensitive rendering of the character (particularly in the down-to-earth Liverpool setting) still engages and compels.

p: Barbara Broccoli, Colin Vaines

d: Paul McGuigan

s: Annette Bening, Jamie Bell, Julie Walters, Kenneth Cranham, Vanessa Redgrave, Frances Barber

Dec 12th  
Thelma and Louise**       

(US 1991)             

A repressed housewife escapes her priggish husband to spend a weekend with her best friend, that soon turns into something much more dangerous...
Landmark female road thriller, which despite its refreshing gender twist on the usual male preserve, slightly sags into one long chase, with a memorable conclusion. Its success didn't lead to a general trend for all-female action films, but it does bear hallmarks of the later Tarantino genre.

Written by: Callie Khouri.
Producers: Ridley Scott, Mimi Polk Gitlin.
Director: Ridley Scott.
Starring: Susan Sarandon, Geena Davis, Harvey Keitel, Michael Madsen, Brad Pitt, Christopher McDonald, Stephen Tobolowsky, Timothy Carhart.
Photography: Adrian Biddle.
Music: Hans Zimmer.

Preceded by:
Schools Out*
(US 1930.  20m. bw; The Little Rascals mistake their favourite teacher's brother for being her prospective fiancee.; w: H.M. Walker; d: Robert F. McGowan; s: June Marlowe, Jackie Cooper, Creighton Hale.)


                                 

Dec 5th    
Jupiter Ascending*          

(US/Australia 2015)                                                   

A girl born under the stars aligned with Jupiter is the genetic heir to its kingdom, from which a power struggle ensues.
Imaginative but semi-coherent fantasy, with the film makers once again getting too carried away with their world, rushing along with the narrative before the audience has a chance to take it in and before the characters have become sympathetic enough. In other hands it might have been a notable addition to the sci-fi cycle; as it is, just another cult item.

Written and Directed by: Lana Wachowski, Andy Wachowski.
Producer: Grant Hill, Lana Wachowski, Andy Wachowski.
Starring: Mila Kunis, Channing Tatum, Sean Bean, Eddie Redmayne, Douglas Booth, Tuppence Middleton, Jeremy Swift, Doona Bae, Tim Pigott-Smith, Maria Doyle Kennedy, James Darcy, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Terry Gilliam.
Photography: John Toll.
Music: Michael Giacchino.
Production Design: Hugh Bateup.