Nov 27th  
Gattaca**    
(US 1997)       
Columbia/Jersey Films. 106m.

In a genetic society of the future, a naturally born man tries to take the identity of a perfect being in order to leave the planet for the main moon of Saturn, but risks his cover being blown when he is implicated in a murder plot.
Intriguing science fiction where style on this occasion is actually more pleasing than content, with a largely implausible plot, but sensitively handled and with performances likewise.

Written and Directed by: Andrew Niccol.
Producers: Danny De Vito, Michael Shamberg, Stacey Sher, Gail Lyon.
Starring: Ethan Hawke, Uma Thurman, Jude Law, Alan Arkin, Loren Dean, Gore Vidal, Xander Berkeley, Elias Koteas, Ernest Borgnine, Tony Shalhoub.
Photography: Slawomir Idziak,
Music: Michael Nyman.

Nov 24th  
Laxdale Hall*
(GB 1952)             
Group 3. 77m. bw

A Parliamentary delegation is sent  to a remote Highland village where the locals have taken the law into their own hands to combat poachers and to petition for a new road.
Decent enough scenic Scottish whimsy, of a fashion for the time, not especially dramatic but with pleasant performances.

Written by: Alfred Shaughnessy, John Eldridge, from the novel by Eric Linklater.
Producer: Alfred Shaughnessy.
Director: John Eldridge.
Starring: Raymond Huntley, Ronald Squire, Kathleen Ryan, Sebastian Shaw, Fulton Mackay, Prunella Scales, Jameson Clark, Andrew Keir, Kynaston Reeves, Jean Colin.
Photogtsphy: Arthur Grant, Ken Hodges.
Music: Frank Spencer.

LAXDALE HALL. Romance blossoms for two future sitcom stars: Fulton Mackay and Prunella Scales.

Nov 22nd  
Lola Montes* 
(Fra/WG 1955) 
Gamma Films/Florida/Oska. 115m. Cinemascope                         

A 19th century courtesan has a succession of lovers, including the King of Bavaria which brings about his ultimate ruin, and she is resorted to telling her life story a New Orleans circus.
Overblown and magisterial looking epic romantic drama with its circus setting the most audacious and the most bizarre aspect about it. Sweeping in its scope but utterly empty emotionally, perhaps deliberately so. It's director's last great folly, the version here is a 2008 restoration, after the original was heavily altered following the premiere that offended many - although one struggles to see how any alterations would have changed the basic premise.

Written by: Max Ophuls, Franz Greiger, Annette Wadement, based on the novel by Cecil Saint-Laurent (Jacques Laurent).
Producer: Albert Caraco.
Director: Max Ophuls.
Starring: Martine Carol, Peter Ustinov, Anton Walbrook, Ivan Desny, Oskar Werner, Will Quadflieg (as Franz Liszt), Lise Delamare, Carl Esmond.
Photography: Christian Matras.
Music: Georges Auric.

Nov 18th  
Man with a Movie Camera***    
(USSR 1929)
VUFKU. 68m. bw. silent

Experimental documentary beginning in a cinema and charting a cameraman's journey a day in the city.
Something of an ordeal for those who didn't have the freedom to choose whether to see this film, but also brilliantly surreal and thematic, as well as historical hindsight for its evocation of Moscow (and elsewhere). As a cinematic language, it tries and almost succeeds in creating a storytelling form in pure motion, but would need more artistry for that.

Directed by: Dziga Vertov.
Photography: Mikhail Kaufman (who also appears as the cameraman).
Editing: Elizaveta Svilova.

Preceded by:
Our Lady of Lourdes**
(GB/Poland 2013. Independent Films/Light + Mathematics. 17m.; A young girl and a drunken widower unwittingly rescue each other. Oddly moving drama with only partly relevant special effects scenes, and a deliberately vague sense of location.; w,d: Peter Szewecyk; s: Naomi Scott, Lech Byblik, Nick Moran.)

Nov 15th
Sex, Lies and Videotape**
(US 1989)             
MGM-UA/Virgin/Outlaw. 100m.   

A young man who compensates for his impotence by privately interviewing women on his video camera, travels to meet his old school friend, who is cheating on his wife by having an affair with her sister.
A fresh perspective on the old menage a quartre (in keeping with Bob and Carol and Ted and Alice, Carnal Knowledge, and more recently Closer), told with a sharpness and a thoughtful insight for its characters, matched by equally affecting performances. It launched its director on a fruitful, varied career which sadly has not blossomed as much as it should - mainly due to the changing face of cinema - to make this first film with its videotape motif rather an ironically nostalgic item.

Written and Directed by: Steven Soderbergh.
Producers: John Hardy, Robert Newmyer.
Starring: James Spader, Andie MacDowell, Peter Gallagher, Laura San Giacomo, Ron Vawter, Steven Brill.
Photography: Walt Lloyd.
Music: Cliff Martinez.

Nov 11th  
Journey's End** 
(GB/US 1930)                                       
Gaumont British. 120m.

A young officer is successfully posted on the same billet as his hero and mentor from public school, shortly before the last major German offensive in 1918.
For Armistice Day a chance to include this first film version of Sherriff's definitive drama about life for British officers on the Western Front, primitive in some of its theatricality and use of early sound, but the most moving moments of the play still resonate. The director and star were good enough to stay on in America a while longer to make Frankenstein.

Written by: Joseph Moncure March, Gareth Gundrey, from the play by R.C. Sherriff.
Producer: George Pearson.
Director: James Whale.
Starring: Colin Clive, David Manners, Ian MacLaren, Anthony Bushell, Billy Bevan, Charles Gerrard.
Photography: Benjamin Kline.

Nov 6th 
The Optimists of Nine Elms*
aka. The Optimists
(GB 1973)
Cheetah/Sagittarius. 110m.

Two neglected London children befriend an elderly London street entertainer.
Rather dreary and heavy going whimsical drama with touching moments, shot in grimy, soon-to-be demolished London locations, with Sellers enjoying dressing down, but lacking the wit and the sentiment of Chaplin.

Written by: Tudor Gates, Anthony Simmons, from his novel.
Producers: Adrian Gaye, Victor Lyndon.
Director: Anthony Simmons.
Starring: Peter Sellers, Donna Mullane, John Chaffey, Marjorie Yates, David Daker, Patricia Brake, Keith Chegwin.
Photography: Larry Pizer.
Music: George Martin (songs by Lionel Bart).

+ The Optimists of Nine Elms London locations

Preceded by:
The Little Island*
(GB 1958. 33m.; Experimental early award-winning animation from a prodigious talent, about three idealistic individuals on an island - an allegory for the Earth.; d: Richard Williams; m: Tristram Cary.)

Nov 2nd
Way Out West***(U)
(Manifest Theatre, Manningtree)

(US 1937)
Hal Roach. 66m. bw

Stan and Ollie travel to Brushwood Gulch to present an heir with a family fortune, but her crooked guardians are intent on pilfering it.
Probably the best Laurel and Hardy feature film made, one of their most streamlined features equally mixing themes of a comedy Western and an above average plot, and two delightfully simple song and dance numbers: the "Shoe Shuffle" and "The Trail of the Lonesome Pine". One of the boys' most streamlined and sheerly pleasurable comedies, remembered with affection.

Written by: Jack Jevne, Charles Rogers, James Parrott, Felix Adler.
Producer: Stan Laurel.
Director: James Horne.
Starring: Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy, James Finlayson, Sharon Lyne, Rosina Lawrence, Stanley Fields, Vivien Oakland, the Avalon Boys, James C. Morton.
Photography: Art Lloyd, Walter Lundin.
Musical Direction: Marvin Hatley.

100 Favourite Films: Way Out West

Preceded by:
The Finishing Touch**
(US 1928. 20m. bw. silent; Laurel and Hardy build a dilapidated house.; w: H.M. Walker; d: James Parrott; s: Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy, Edgar Kennedy, Dorothy Coburn, Sam Lufkin.)

Any Old Port**