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 The result is not surprisingly vague and curiously out of date, whether in the context of the past or the future (with some allusions to the current Trump era), but performances hold it together, including one or two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.

Sep 10th  
The Red Tent*     
(Ita/USSR 1969)      
Paramount/Vides/Mosfilm. 121m.

General Nobile reflects on his feelings of guilt having survived his ill-fated 1928 expedition to the North Pole by airship when most of his colleagues perished.
Typical mishmash of an international production of the time, told in jarring flashback which at least allows the star cast to interact with each other (including Connery in a peculiarly elderly make-up as Amundsen), whilst the grim story is eventually told with some pictorial flair and some occasional moving scenes.

Written by: Yuri Nagibin, Richard L. Adams, Ennio De Concini (and Robert Bolt).
Producers: Franco Cristaldi, Victor Freilich.
Director: Mikhail Kalatozov.
Starring: Peter Finch, Sean Connery, Claudia Cardinale, Hardy Kruger, Eduard Martsevich, Massimo Girotti, Mario Adorf, Luigi Vannucchi.
Photography: Leonid Kalashnikov.
Music: Ennio Morricone (international version).
Editing: Peter Zinner, John Shirley.

THE RED TENT. Sean Connery easily exudes charisma as Roald Amundsen whilst Peter Finch is hard working and diligent as Umberto Nobile. A classic example of the difference between a good actor and a star,

Sep 4th  
Under Milk Wood* (15)  
(Electric Palace, Harwich)

(GB 2015)
Ffatiti Films/S4C. 89m. ws

Broad and colourful adaptation of Dylan Thomas's play (qv), with pleasant musical refrain, although hard to follow for those without knowledge of the original.

w: Kevin Allen, Michael Breen, Murray Lachlan Young
p: Kevin Allen, Stephen Malit, Rhys Ifans
d: Kevin Allen
s: Rhys Ifans, Charlotte Church, Bradley Freeguard, William Thomas, and others
ph: Andy Hollis
m: Mark Thomas
ed: Sara Jones

+ followed by live discussion and Q&A session with director Kevin Allern and co-writer Murray Lachlan-Young

Aug 30th
The Age of Adaline**    
(US 2015)      
Lionsgate/Lakeshore Entertainment. 115m.

A reclusive young woman rendered ageless by a freak accident in 1906 is romanced by a young man in contemporary San Francisco, but his father then recognises her as a jilted lover from 50 years before.
Sentimental supernatural romance, a softer Picture of Dorian Grey scenario without the darker side, and cloying narration which only partly helps.

Written by: J. Mills Goodloe, Salvador Paskovitz.
Producers: Sidney Kimmel, Gary Luccchesi, Tom Rosenberg.
Director: Lee Toland Krieger.
Starring: Blake Lively, Michiel Huisman, Harrison Ford, Ellen Burstyn, Kathy Baker, Cate Richardson, Anthony Ingruber, Hugh Ross (narrator).
Photography: David Lanzenberg.
Music: Rob Simonsen.

Aug 11th   
Paris, Texas** (12A)
(Greenwich Picturehouse)     

(WG/Fra 1984)  

Argos Films/Tobis Film/Road Movies/Filmproduktion GmbH. 148m.

A desert drifter heads towards the piece of land he owns in Paris, Texas, but patches up things first with his estranged wife and son.
Breakthrough arthouse film for this director casting his visual eye over the semi-remote American landscape, with various allusions to Westerns, road movies and some Biblical echoes (eg. the main character in the wilderness like Christ, etc.), long and languorous but less enigmatic than David Lynch and with moving moments of acting.

Written by: Sam Shepard, Kit Carson.
Producer: Don Guest.
Director: Wim Wenders.
Starring: Harry Dean Stanton, Dean Stockwell, Nastassja Kinski, Aurore Clement, Hunter Carson, Bernhard Wicki.
Photography: Robby Muller.
Music: Ry Cooder.

PARIS, TEXAS (1984). Wim Wenders's cult film "about America" although mostly European made, including Aurore Clement as a surrogate mother who reflects on her semi-adopted son leaving home to find his actual mother. His bedsheets referenced a popular film of the time.