Nov 26th 
Solaris*  
(US 2002)                 

A psychologist is sent to an isolated space station off the planet Solaris where mass suicides have occurred because of physical ghosts. His dead wife then shows up as one.
Slicker remake, just as doleful as Tarkovsky's 1972 original adaptation, with a neat twist in the final reel, proving that the director knows what he's doing.

Written and Directed by: Steven Soderbergh, based on the novel by Stanislaw Lem.
Producers: James Cameron, Rae Sanchini, Jon Landau.
Starring: George Clooney, Natasha McElhone, Jeremy Davies, Viola Davis, Ulrich Tukur.
Photography: Peter Andrews.
Music: Cliff Martinez.
Production Design: Philip Messina.
Costume: Milena Canonero.

Nov 15th  
Overlord (18) 
(Odeon Colchester)
(US 2018)     

A 101st airborne attachment crash-lands in Normandy on a mission to destroy a communications church tower that is also harbouring mutant German supersoldiers.
Noisily effective war horror with very little subtlety, and most of the war and horror cliches in place.

Written by: Billy Ray, Mark L. Smith.
Producers: J.J. Abrams, Lindsey Weber.
Director: Julius Avery.
Starring: Jovan Adepo, Wyatt Russell, Pilou Asback, Mathilde Ollivier.
Photography: Laurie Rose, Fabian Wagner.
Music: Jed Kurzel.

Nov 8th
The Other Side of the Wind** (15)
(Curzon Colchester)
(US/Fra/Iran 1976 - released 2018)

A drunken veteran film director loses his leading man in the making of his pretentious modern film The Other Side of the Wind and is also pestered by film critics and admirers of his work.
A much anticipated work which is admittedly slightly hellish to sit through: a deliberately permissive satire by Welles full of zest and energy (as his reaction to the Easy Rider generation), and plenty of self-indulgence too. Huston is drunk for most of the time, and most of the film is a bad party waiting to wind down, but some of the incidental performances are moving.

Written by: Orson Welles, Oja Kodar.
Producers: Orson Welles, Dominique Antoine, Frank Marshall, Filip Jan Rymsza, Larry Jackson, Neil Canton.
Director: Orson Welles.
Starring: John Huston, Peter Bogdanovich, Oja Kodar, Bob Random, Lilli Palmer, Susan Strasberg, Edmond O'Brien, Paul Stewart, Cameron Mitchell, Mercedes McCambridge, Tonio Selwart, Paul Mazursky, Dennis Hopper, Norman Foster, Geoffrey Land.
Photography: Gary Graver.
Music: Michel Legrand.
Editing: Bob Murawski, Orson Welles.

Nov 3rd 
(Manifest Theatre, Manningtree)
Pack Up Your Troubles* (U) 
(US 1934)           

Laurel and Hardy go to fight in the trenches, and when their best friend is killed they are left with his little daughter to find a home for.
Average star comedy which starts out as army farce and then moves into a series of individually funny scenes and Chaplin-style sentiment with the addition of the little girl; quality of jokes variable.

Written by: H.M. Walker.
Producer: Hal Roach.
Directors: George Marshall, Raymond McCarey.
Starring: Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy, Donald Dillaway, Jacquie Lyn, Richard Cramer, Charles Middleton, Tom Kennedy, James Finlayson, Billy Gilbert, George Marshall.
Photography: Art Lloyd.
Music: Marvin Hatley.

Preceded by:
Duck Soup**
(US 1927. 20m. bw; Two vagrants try to avoid firefighting by posing as master and maid in a house for rent. Interesting precursor to Another Fine Mess, before this duo became known as Laurel and Hardy, and proof positive that star teamings don't just happen by mistake.; w: H.M. Walker, from the play "Home from the Honeymoon" by Arthur J. Jefferson; d: Fred Guiol; s: Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy, William Austin, James A. Marcus, Madeleine Hurlock, Bob Kortman.)

Them Thar Hills** (qv)