Nov 13th  
Blitz**  (12A)     
(Curzon Colchester)    

(GB 2024)     
Apple Original/Working Title/Regency/Lammas Park. 120m.

In 1940 a half-black child in London goes AWOL whilst being evacuated, and has a perilous time wanting to get back to his mother.
Modern retelling of WWII successfully conveying the nightmare of the Blitz by squeezing most of the major emergencies into one drama, far removed from the old British stiff upper lip of the period, with most of the characters fashionably dropping their t's. Powerfully and melodramatically but also sensitively done, with homages to The Great Escape and Oliver Twist (and the more originally authentic Fires Were Started), and just the right side of historical veracity.

Written and Directed by: Steve McQueen.
Producers: Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Steve McQueen, Anita Overland, Adam Somner, Arnon Milchan, Yariv Milchan, Michael Schaefer.
Starring: Saoirse Ronan, Elliott Heffernan, Paul Weller, Harris Dickinson, Benjamin Clementine, Stephen Graham, Kathy Burke, Alex Jennings, and others.
Photography: Yorick Le Saux.
Music: Hans Zimmer.

BLITZ. Poster advertising on the London Underground - one of the major settings for the film itself

                        

Oct 30th   
They Live**    
(US 1988)   
Universal/Carolco/Alive. 94m. Panavision

A construction worker in Los Angeles discovers that most affluent people in the world have been infiltrated by aliens in disguise.
Nifty sci-fi/horror satire on the consumerist 1980s with a strong premise put across in a simply effective (although slightly underdeveloped) manner, with the director back on good form.

Written and Directed by: John Carpenter, based on the story "Eight O'Clock in the Morning" by Ray Nelson.
Producer: Larry Franco.
Starring: Roddy Piper, Keith David, Meg Foster, Peter Jason, George "Buck" Flower, Raymond St. Jacques.
Photography: Gary Kibbe.
Music: John Carpenter, Alan Howarth.

Oct 21st   
Lee**  (15)
(Electric Palace, Harwich)

(GB 2023)  
Sky Original/Rocket Science/MS Partecipations/Brouhaha. 117m.

Memories of a former European-based American model for Vogue Magazine who turned photographer during World War II into some of its darkest corners.
From Mr. DiCaprio to his Titanic co-star, in an excellent star vehicle (and pet project) based fairly closely on history, and with a thoroughly convincing make-up for the elderly Lee Miller, even though this involves the old hackneyed convention of the flashback. Harrowing, moving and interesting, although none of it is particularly surprising. 

Written by: Liz Hannah, John Collee, Marion Hume, Lem Dobbs, based on the book "The Lives of Lee Miller" by Antony Penrose.
Producers: Kate Solomon, Kate Winslet, Troy Lum, Andrew Mason, Marie Savare, Lauren Hantz.
Director: Ellen Kuras.
Starring: Kate Winslet, Alexander Skarsgaard, Andy Samberg, Marion Cotillard, Andrea Riseborough, Josh O'Connor, Samuel Barnett.
Photography: Pawel Edelman.
Music: Alexandre Desplat.

Oct 20th
The Aviator**   
(US 2004)   
Warner Bros/Miramax/Forward Pass/Appian Way. 170m. ws

The younger active years of Howard Hughes from his first breakthrough film in Hollywood to his obsession with completing and flying his wartime Hercules "Spruce Goose".
Superficial and long but excitingly fast-paced biopic, with a star still too baby-faced looking, despite much effort from himself and those of an all-star supporting cast (some of whom are also laughably dis-similar to their real-life counterparts), and Scorsese's distinctively stylistic touches.

Written by: John Logan, based on the book "Howard Hughes: The Secret Life" by Charles Higham.
Producers: Michael Mann, Sandy Climan, Graham King, Charles Evans Jnr.
Director: Martin Scorsese.
Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Cate Blanchett (as Kate Hepburn), John C. Reilly, Alec Baldwin, Alan Alda, Kate Beckinsale (as Ava Gardner), Ian Holm, Danny Huston, Gwen Stefani (as Jean Harlow), Jude Law (as Errol Flynn), Brent Spiner, Willem Dafoe.
Photography: Robert Richardson.
Music: Howard Shore.
Production Design: Dante Ferreti.

Sep 29th  
Megalopolis* (15)
(Cineworld Ipswich)  

(US 2024)
American Zoetrope/CaesarfilmLLC. 138m. (IMAX)

In an alternate reality Roman empire switched to America, Caesar Catilina struggles against rival factions to build a new futuristic utopia for New Rome (New York).
A weirdly enigmatic but much anticipated piece of fantasy drama mainly because of the status of its director, who not surprisingly had this stuck on the drawing board for several years. The result is not surprisingly vague and curiously out of date, whether in the context of the past or the future (with some allusions to the current Trump era), but performances hold it together, including one or two moving contributions from Coppola veterans.

Written and Directed by: Francis Ford Coppola.
Producers: Barry Hirsch, Fred Roos, Michael Bederman, Francis Ford Coppola.
Starring: Adam Driver, Nathalie Emmanuel, Giancarlo Esposito, Aubrey Plaza, Shia LaBeouf, Jon Voight, Laurence Fishburne, Dustin Hoffman, Kathryn Hunter, Grace Vanderwaal, James Remar, D.B. Sweeney, Talia Shire.
Photography: Mihai Malaimare.
Music: Osvaldo Golijov.

Sep 19th  
Maverick*   
(US 1994)      
Warner Bros/Icon. 127m. Panavision

Adventures of a Wild West card player on his way to the big game on a pleasure steamer.
The Gibson of Lethal Weapon transposes to the Wild West in this semi-spoof transposition of the TV series (complete with its original star in a major role), with plenty of indulgences by both director and stars, at rather an extended length. Scenically very attractive, in spite of all the longeurs.

Written by: William Goldman, based on the TV series by Roy Huggins.
Producers: Bruce Davey, Richard Donner.
Director: Richard Donner.
Starring: Mel Gibson, Jodie Foster, James Garner, Alfred Molina, James Coburn, Graham Greene, Geoffrey Lewis, Paul Brinegar, Denver Pyle.
Photography: Vilmos Zsigmond.
Music: Randy Newman.

+ uncredited appearances by Danny Glover and Margot Kidder

Preceded by:
Tom and Jerry in
Texas Tom**
(US 1950. 7m.; d: William Hanna, Joseph Barbera; p: Fred Quimby.)

Sep 14th   
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice* (12A)      
(Odeon Salisbury)



(US 2024)
Warner Bros/Geffen/Plan B Entertainment. 104m.

The dysfunctional teenager who survived the devilish Belelgeuse is still tormented by him years later as an adult, whilst he is also being pursued by a former corpse bride.
Mad out-of-control sequel, every bit as weirdly imaginative as the original, although tending to recycle old formulas (including a splendid finale aping Richard Harris's MacArthurs Park) and with too many unnecessary plot strands, so that even Beetlejuice himself takes a back seat for most of the time. Any semblance of reality in the film checks out long before the end.

Written by: Alfred Gough, Miles Millar, Seth Grahame Smith.
Producers: Marc Toberoff, Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner, Tommy Harper, Tim Burton.
Director: Tim Burton.
Starring: Michael Keaton, Winona Ryder, Catherine O'Hara, Jenna Ortega, Monica Bellucci, Justin Theroux, Arthur Conti, Danny De Vito, Willem Dafoe, Burn Gorman.
Photography: Hans Zambarlorkus.
Music: Danny Elfman.