Feb 15th     
The Time Traveler's Wife*      

(US 2008 - released 2009)    
New Line/Plan B Entertainment. 107m. ws

A young girl meets a man who suffers from a genetic disorder of jumping back and forth in time; she later meets and marries him as an adult. 
Sentimental fantasy romance with too easily good-looking stars, and some interesting supporting characters and scenes are only mere incidentals. The time travel element itself works more as Cupid than as catalyst.

Written by: Bruce Joel Rubin, from the novel by AudreyNiffenegger.
Producers: Nick Wechsler, Dede Gardner.
Director: Robert Schwentke.
Starring: Eric Bana, Rachel McAdams, Arliss Howard, Michelle Nolden, Stephen Tobolowsky, Ron Livingston, Hailey McCann, Brooklyn Proulx.
Photography: Florian Ballhaus.
Music: Michael Danna.
Editing: Thom Noble.

 Feb 10th    
Faust**     
(Ger 1926)    
UFA. 106m. bw. silent

Aged physician Faust sells his soul to try and cure plague victims, but is corrupted instead by the Devil.
Wonderfully visual if typically overstated Murnau supernatural drama, not long before his Hollywood transfer with Sunrise.

Written by: Hans Kyser.
Producer: Erich Pommer.
Director: F.W. Murnau.
Starring: Gosta Ekmann, Emil Jannings, Camilla Horn, Frida Richard, William Dieterle, Yvette Gilbert, Werner Fuetterer.
Photography: Carl Hoffmann.

Preceded by:
Under the Roses    
(GB 2025. 10m.; Two railway workers trapped underground start to discover each others' secrets.; w, p, d: Jim Burke; s: George Penny, Lester Pearce; ph: Noah Grant; m: Harvey O'Sullivan.)

Feb 8th       
Batman**      
(Eventim Apollo Hammersmith - former Odeon)   

(US 1989)
Warner Bros. 125m.

A mysterious caped crusader stalks the streets of a Gotham City ruled by gangsters and thugs, with Bruce Wayne as his alter ego. In the process of fighting crime, he inadvertently helps to create a new adversary: The Joker.
Live concert performance of Danny Elfman's soundtrack to this flawed but entertaining blockbuster, with dramatic sets and a perfectly cast villain having a whale of a time, to make up for some gaping holes in an otherwise interesting plot. Considered at the time to be quite dark in tone (in contrast to the earlier 1960s TV series), it is still more enjoyable than the much "darker" comic book films made today.

Written by: Sam Hamm, Warren Skaaren, based on the comic book created by Bob Kane.
Producers: John Peters, Peter Guber.
Director: Tim Burton.
Starring: Michael Keaton, Jack Nicholson, Kim Basinger, Robert Wuhl, Michael Gough, Jack Palance, Jerry Hall, Pat Hingle, Billy Dee Williams, William Hootkins, Tracey Walter, Garrick Hagon.
Photography: Roger Pratt.
Music: Danny Elfman (performed live).
Make-up: Paul Engelen (Joker make-up by Nick Dudman).
Production Design: Anton Furst.

100 Favourite Films: Batman

Feb 8th   
Saipan*  (15)            
(Odeon Camden)   


(Ireland/Northern Ireland 2025)   
Wild Atlantic.Fine Point Films/others. 90m. ws

The bust-up before the 2002 FIFA World Cup between Irish manager Mick McCarthy and his loose cannon star player Roy Keane, made as a pop video docudrama celebrating the era as much as it is also a study of male versus alpha-male. Unlike The Damned United , a brief disclaimer about the historical veracity of it all appears at the beginning of the film rather than at the end.

w: Paul Fraser
p: Macdara Kelleher, John Kruille, Trevor Birney, Oliver Butler
d: Glenn Leyburn, Lisa Barros D'Sa
s: Eanna Hardwicke, Steve Coogan, Harriet Cains, Alice Lowe, Jack Hickey
ph: Piers McGrall
m: David Holmes
ed: Gavin Buckley, John Murphy

                     SAIPAN. Another double act featuring Steve Coogan, although one far less harmonious than Laurel and Hardy