Nov 26th  
May December**   (15)     
(Picturehouse Fulham Road)   
 
(US 2023)                            
Sky Original/Maria Sanchez/Mountain A/Killer Films/T&D/Project Infinity/Rocket Science. 117m.

An actress researches with the housewife she is playing who married an underage pet shop colleague 20 years before, but the subsequent delving reveals the relationship is still far from untroubled.
The director pays semi-homage to The Go-Between, both in its opening titles and music, where "the past is a foreign country", and this interesting but slightly flawed black comedy plays on some of that, with other quirky elements and sub-plots that are not resolved, but the performances are sensitive enough and add that extra level of maturity.

Written by: Samy Burch, Alex Mechanik.
Producers: Natalie Portman, Sophie Mas, Pamela Koffler, Christine Vachon, Grant S. Johnson, Tyler W. Konney, Jessica Elbaum, Will Ferrell.
Director: Todd Haynes.
Starring: Natalie Portman, Julianne Moore, Charles Michael Smith, D.W. Moffett, Gabriel Chung.
Photography: Christopher Blauvelt.
Music: Michel Legrand (arranged by Marcelo Zarvos).

Nov 21st   
Much Ado About Nothing**  
(GB 1993)
Samuel Goldwyn/Reinnaissance. 110m.

The arrival of Don Pedro and his officers to Messina creates romantic complications, including the bantering Beatrice and Benedick.
Splendidly realised Shakespeare adaptation, one of Branagh's best in every department, with an international cast whose varied styles of acting try to exceed or are simply outshone by the glorious Tuscan locations.

Written and Directed by: Kenneth Branagh, from the play by William Shakespeare.
Producers: Kenneth Branagh, Stephen Evans, David Parfitt.
Starring: Kenneth Branagh, Emma Thompson, Denzel Washington, Keanu Reeves, Michael Keaton, Richard Briers, Robert Sean Leonard, Kate Beckinsale, Brian Blessed, Phyllida Law, Ben Elton, Gerard Horan, Imelda Staunton, Jimmy Yuill.
Photography: Roger Lanser.
Music: Patrick Doyle.

Preceded by:  
Tom and Jerry in   
Hatch Up Your Troubles**
(US 1949.; A baby woodpecker as the latest scene-stealing sidekick for Jerry.; d: William Hanna, Joseph Barbera; p: Fred Quimby.)

Nov 17th
Where Has Poor Mickey Gone?**   
(The Cinema Museum, London)

(GB 1964)
Ledeck. 64m. bw

London louts unwisely break into the premises of a mysterious elderly magician, who turns the tables on them.
Basic but effective supernatural drama on the level of a staple Twilight Zone episode, with the overdue comeuppance for its antagonists contrived but suitably chilling and satisfying.

w, p, d: Gerry Levy
s: Warren Mitchell, John Malcolm, Ray Armstong, John Challis, Christopher Robbie
ph: Alan Pudney
m: Graham Westham (title song by Ottile Patterson)

Nov 7th  
Trading Places**   
(US 1983)          
Paramount. 116m.

Two Pennsylvania stockbroker brothers decide to reverse roles for a wealthy relative of theirs and a beggar, to wager if they will completely change in character. 
Two veterans lend dignity to this slightly excessive comedy with partial nostalgic throwbacks to Frank Capra and Preston Sturges, combined with the excesses of the corporate 1980s. The film extends itself more than it needs to with its reciprocal conmen conning the conmen plot, and the ultimate resolution stretches credibility as well as leaving a not entirely pleasant taste in the mouth, but the ensemble playing is excellent.

Written by: Timothy Hatris, Herschel Weingrod.
Producer: Aaron Russo.
Director: John Landis.
Starring: Dan Aykroyd, Eddie Murphy, Don Ameche, Ralph Bellamy, Denholm Elliott, Jamie Lee Curtis, Kirstin Holby, James Gleason, Jim Belushi.
Photography: Robert Paynter.
Music: Elmer Bernstein.

Preceded by:  
The Wizard of Speed and Time*
(US 1979. 3m.; A whacky wizard rapidly transports would-be starlets to Hollywood. Highly energetic experimental semi-animated short, which caught enough attention to lead to its own extended feature film version in 1988.; w, d, s: Mike Jittlov.)

Nov 2nd  
The Changeling**   
(Canada 1979)     
Chessman Park/Mario Kassar-Andrew Vagna. 107m.

A widowed composer recuperates in a large house haunted by a child's death similar to his own daughter's.
Suspenseful and in turn just as silly supernatural ghost story with plenty of holes and red herrings in the plot, but also with some effective jolts, and professionally assembled.

Written by: William Gray, Diana Maddox, from a story by Russell Hunter.
Producers: Joel B. Michaels, Garth H. Drabinsky, Mario Kassar.
Director: Peter Medak.
Starring: George C. Scott, Trish Van Devere, Melvyn Douglas, John Colicos, Helen Burns, Madeleine Sherwood, Barry Morse, Jean Marsh.
Photography: John Coquillon.
Music: Rick Wilkins, Howard Blake.
Production Design: Trevor Williams.

THE CHANGELING. Similar in tone but not in subject matter to The Omen, the publicity department nonetheless played on this factor.