Jun 29th  
Hit Man**     
(US 2023)       
Netflix/AGC/Shiv Hans/Monarch Media/Barnstorm Productions/Aggregate Films/Cinetic Media/Detour Filmproduction. 115m. Panavision

A Louisiana philosophy teacher poses as a hitman to assist the police force in arresting potential offenders, but under his alias he falls in love with one of his potential victims. 
Agreeable real life-based romantic comedy thriller on modern terms, slightly extended in some of its repetitive police stake-outs and later love scenes, but the skilfully contrived script and performances make it watchable to the end.

Written by: Richard Linklater, Glen Powell, Skip Hollandsworth.
Producers: Dylan king, Richard Linklater, Glen Powell, Jason Bateman, Michael Costigan.
Director: Richard Linklater.
Starring: Glen Powell, Aria Arjona, Austin Amelio, Sanjay Rao, Evan Holtzman, Molly Bernard, Mike Markoff.
Photography: Shane F. Kelly.
Music: Graham Reynolds.
Editing: Sandra Adair.

Jun 21st   
Withnail and I* (15)
(Plaza Stockport)

(GB 1986)
HandMade Films. 107m.

In1969 two unemployed actors escape Camden to a relative's country retreat in Cumbria, where they are equally ill-suited.
Semi-autobiographical black comedy memoir, of two misfits in whatever given scenario, quite a cult for those familiar with the social environment and the period - only some of which manages to come across, as well the spectacular northern countryside, relying mainly on the interplay and eccentricity of its main characters.  

Written and Directed by: Bruce Robinson.
Producer: Paul Heller.
Starring: Paul McGann, Richard E. Grant, Richard Griffiths, Ralph Brown, Michael Elphick.
Photography: Peter Hannan.
Music: David Dundas, Rick Wentworth.

+ Ringo Starr is credited as Production Consultant, under the guise of his real name

++ based on Bruce Robinson's experiences with fellow actor Vivian MacKerrell

Preceded by:
Pathe News (1957 circa)
(Liverpool: Stars at Film Premiere [These Dangerous Years] -- [Derwentwater] -- The West Country: Holiday Wash-Out -- [Amphibious Caravans] -- Middlesex: The Queen at Harrow.)
narr: Bob Danvers-Walker, Eamonn Andrews

Jun 11th
The Purple Plain**       
(GB 1954)
Rank/Two Cities. 100m.

Towards the end of WWII a mentally unstable pilot falls in love with a local Burmese girl and makes good after his plane crashes in Japanese territory.
Slightly romanticised in the Rank style and inclined towards cliche, but otherwise quite well filmed and acted war melodrama with reliable faces.

Written by: Eric Ambler, from the novel by H.E. Bates.
Producer: John Bryan.
Director: Robert Parrish.
Starring: Gregory Peck, Win Min Than, Bernard Lee, Maurice Denham, Lyndon Brook, Anthony Bushell, Brenda de Banzie, Josephine Griffin.
Photography: Geoffrey Unsworth.
Music: John Veale.
Editing: Clive Donner.

Preceded by:
Out on Death**
(GB 2016. Holy Sheet Productions. 10m. bw.; w, d: MIke Ghoul; s: Joe Cullen, Nathamn Ashley, Akyssa Harden; ph: Jaime Lastimosa.)

Jun 8th  
The Beast* (15)    
(The Garden Cinema, Covent Garden)

(Fra/Canada 2023)                            
Les Films du Belier/My New Picture/Sons of Manual/Arte France Cinema/AMI Paris. 146m.

In 2044 Paris a woman tries to reject her human emotions in a society that considers them redundant, but she consistently hankers for the young man who is also undergoing the same process.
Extended semi-futuristic drama, with Henry James's The Beast in the Jungle inserted somewhere into the semi-coherent plot. An agreeable opening flashback to 1910 Paris (with unexpected diversions into English) gives way to a more indulgent latter half set in the not particularly fantastic 2014 Los Angeles, with the director losing the focus of the story.

Written by: Bertrand Bonello, Guillaume Breaud, Benjamin Charbit.
Producers: Justin Taurand, Bertrand Bonello.
Director: Bertrand Bonello.
Starring: Lea Seydoux, George MacKay, Martin Scali, Guslagie Malanda, Elina Lowensohn.
Photography: Josee Deshales.
Music: Bertrand Bonello, Anna Bonello.
Editing: Anita Roth.

+ the closing credits consist of a bar code for audiences to scan with their mobile phones - the director's intention partly to reflect the starkness of future society, but it may well become a trend