• Friday 11 June for 1 week

UZAK (Distant) (15)

(Turkey 2002) dir.Nuri Bilge Ceylan 110m. Subtitles.
Muzafer Ozdemir, Mehmet Emin Toprak, Zuhal Gencer Erkaya, Nazan Kirilmis.

“Ceylan’s third feature is a marvellous account of a friendship disintegrating under pressure from time, place and social difference. It thoroughly deserved the Best Director and Best Actor prizes it won in Cannes last year. Mahmut (Muzaffer Ozdemir), a photographer once full of lofty artistic ambitions but now resigned to cynical pragmatism, lives in Istanbul. Barely concealing his reluctance, he agrees to put up Yusuf (Mehmet Emin Toprak who tragically died shortly after the film was completed), a cousin from the Anatolian village he used to call home, while he looks for work on the ships that might enable him to live abroad. Unfortunately for both, Yusuf, unsuccessful in his rather half-hearted search, begins to outstay his welcome. With its laconic, faintly elliptical narrative, strikingly eloquent compositions (shot by Ceylan himself), and superb performances, UZAK speaks volumes both about masculinity and the wintry realities of modern life in the Western(-ised) world. Not that it’s all doom and gloom; a droll wit ensures the none-too-rosey look at friendship, fulfilment and frustration never feels forced or oppressive. A delicious sightgag involving Tarkovsky’s STALKER typifies the blend of warm affection and wry scepticism that distinguishes the film. The gentle pace and sense of how individual lives relate to larger forces echoes Edward Yang; the precise evocation of time and place and discreet formal confidence, Kiarostami; and the deadpan visual comedy, Keaton or Jarmusch. Finally, however, Ceylan’s quiet intelligence and rich imagination mean he’s his own man, and one of the most promising film-makers in the world today.”
(Geoff Andrew, Time Out)

+ showing daily with UZAK @ 8.40

TOMATO DELIVERY (15)

(Br 2004) dir.Xiaosong Que 15m. Subtitles.
Supported by Hackney Film Fund.

An illegal Chinese immigrant dreams of a better life for himself and his family. In the wake of the recent tragedy at Morecambe Bay, this film becomes all the more pertinent – allowing us a glimpse of the humanity usually hidden behind the headlines.

TOMATO DELIVERY is being shown in conjunction with Refugee Week 14-20 June 2004 (www.refugeeweek.org.uk)

• Friday 18 June for 2 weeks

CONFIDENCES TROP INTIMES (15)

(France 2004) dir.Patrice Leconte 103m. Subtitles.
Fabrice Luchini, Sandrine Bonnaire, Michel Duchaussoy, Anne Brochet, Gilbert Melki, Laurent Gamelon, Hélène Surgère, Urbain Cancelier.

“An erotically charged drama from director Patrice Leconte, Confidences Trop Intimes stars Sandrine Bonnaire as Anna, a woman trapped in an abusive relationship who mistakes tax lawyer William (Fabrice Luchini) for a psychoanalyst. Before he can correct her, she's started pouring out her heart to him and he's smitten by her fragile beauty and heart-wrenching story. Described by Leconte as a "sentimental thriller", this urbanely sophisticated French drama delivers more sentiment than thrills but has a hook that'll keep you guessing. They say opposites attract, but it's hard to imagine two more unlikely actors than Bonnaire and Luchini sharing the screen together. Much like Leconte's delightfully witty last outing L'Homme Du Train, which threw Johnny Hallyday and Jean Rochefort together, the chief pleasure of Confidences Trop Intimes is in watching these two thesps play off each other. By the time Anna discovers that William's happier balancing spreadsheets than reading Freud, it's too late – the unlikely pair are hooked on their platonic talking cure sessions. As the vaguely neurotic woman with a mean-spirited husband and a complicated sex life, Bonnaire is in sultry mode, languorously smoking cigarettes as she spills intimate details to her taxman therapist. Luchini, meanwhile, is a prim and proper anal retentive, vaguely effeminate yet full of the sly confidence of someone hiding uncharted depths (what else are we to make of his impromptu dance routine to Wilson Pickett's In The Midnight Hour?!). Even by Leconte's airy standards, it's slight filmmaking. Fortunately, it's buoyed by a simmering erotic undertow that recalls the director's earlier film about obsession, The Hairdresser's Husband. Plus there's a fantastic supporting cast, including William's disapproving old battleaxe of a secretary (Hélène Surgère) and a 'real' psychoanalyst (Michel Duchaussoy), who offers him an enigmatic crash course in head shrinking – "Once ajar the door to female mystery is hard to shut again" – while charging him through the nose for the privilege.”
(Jamie Russell, BBCi)

• Friday 25 June for 1 week

THE COOLER (15)

(US 2003) dir.Wayne Kramer 102m.
William H Macy, Maria Bello, Alec Baldwin, Ron Livingston.

"The phenomenally unlucky Bernie Lootz (Macy) works for gangster Shelly Kaplow (Baldwin), 'cooling' in a Vegas casino, spreading his bad luck to potential winners. When Bernie hooks up with waitress Natalie (Bello), his luck changes - a problem for Shelly, who makes it a problem for Bernie and Natalie. This first feature from director/ co-writer Wayne Kramer would make a great double-bill partner for last year's Spanish hit, INTACTO. That dealt with good luck as a supernatural power, revealing how smiling fortune could also be a curse; this mirror image shows that a lifelong losing streak can be a career - but a turn for the better can jump-start catastrophe. Allegedly based on a Las Vegas legend, the 'cooler' concept is wittily demonstrated by early scenes that parody De Niro's glide through CASINO or 007's baccarat triumphs in DR. NO. William H. Macy's sand-suited sad sack Bernie creeps unnoticed through a gaming room, spreading misery and loss among the clientele while the staff smugly rake in the suckers' cash. Macy hasn't had a role this good since FARGO, and demonstrates again his mastery of the droopy-eyed, apologetically desperate, borderline bitter shrug. THE COOLER takes a typical Macy character in new directions, playing him off against equally offbeat supporting turns. Maria Bello's waitress-hooker, whose affair with Bernie keeps tripping over new revelations, is sexy and sad, especially in a couple of very funny bedroom scenes. A revelation is Alec Baldwin as an old-style gangster, sentimental and brutal by turns, resisting the transformation of his dingy casino into a glitzy tourist trap, all the more monstrous in that he commits his worst crimes out of genuine friendship. Most Vegas movies, from CASINO to SHOWGIRLS, revel in the neon glamour they purport to find disgusting, but THE COOLER goes for rottenness all the way. The ghosts of the Rat Pack have long departed, leaving only disillusioned, late-night sleaze. The bittersweet comedy allows moments of violence which underline the threat that comes with trying to outrun doom. You need to buy into the fable-like premise to click with the story, but it's a good, simple idea, well executed. And you even get an acting masterclass from the three leads thrown in." (Kim Newman, Empire)

• Thursday 2 July for 2 weeks

SHREK 2 (U)

(US 2004) dirs.Kelly Asbury, Conrad Vernon. 105m. Animation.
Voices of Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy, Cameron Diaz, John Cleese, Julie Andrews, Antonio Banderas, Rupert Everett.

“It is not often that an animated film gains a Competition berth at Cannes, and unprecedented that its sequel should be invited back to challenge for the Palme d’Or two years later. But SHREK was no ordinary animated film, and SHREK 2 is, rarer still, proving every bit as cute, clever and funny as the original. SHREK 2 finds the title character (voiced again by Mike Myers) and his new bride, Princess Fiona (Cameron Diaz), returning from their honeymoon to find an invitation from her parents, King Harold and Queen Lillian (John Cleese and Julie Andrews respectively), who want to meet their new son-in-law. Fiona is excited; Shrek is apprehensive, aware that a giant green ogre is not what most parents envisage for their daughter. With Donkey (the inimitable Eddie Murphy) joining them, the newlyweds journey 700 miles to the aptly-named Kingdom of Far, Far Away. It turns out that Shrek’s fears are well founded. While the queen accepts her new son-in-law, the king does not. He turns to the powerful Fairy Godmother (Jennifer Saunders) for help. She is only too happy to comply, since her own future is predicated upon the marriage of her son, the narcissistic Prince Charming (Rupert Everett), to the Princess. Fairy Godmother enlists the services of Puss in Boots (a delightful Antonio Banderas), legendary slayer of ogres. The jokes and sight gags, some wonderfully subtle, keep the laughter level high throughout the movie. As before, the humour is rooted in character, story and clever tweaking of everything from fairy tales to Hollywood. Once again, Myers, Diaz and Murphy give flawless vocal performances. And while all the new characters (and actors) slide nicely into place, the clear stand-out is Puss in Boots, who elicits the film’s two biggest laughs, not with a line of dialogue but by his facial expression. In what can only be described as an extraordinary collaboration between voice talent and animators, Donkey and Puss all but steal the show. As impressive as the first film’s state-of-the-art 3D computer animation was (a complex process developed at PDI/DreamWorks several years ago enabled animators to convey more emotion in human faces), the sequel benefits from even newer advances. The most important has to do with something called a ’bounce shader’, which affects how both the characters and the set are lit. It is evident not only in the appearance of the human characters but also in the extraordinary reproduction of wet fur when Donkey and Puss get caught in the rain. One thing is already clear: SHREK 2 will be delighting audiences all summer.”
(Jean Oppenheimer, Screen International)

• Friday 16 July for 2 weeks

SPIDER-MAN 2 (* tbc)

(US 2004) dir.Sam Raimi 130m. (approx)
Tobey Maguire, Kirsten Dunst, Mary Jane Watson, Alfred Molina, James Franco, Elizabeth Banks.

In Spider-Man 2, the latest installment in the blockbuster Spider-Man series based on the classic Marvel Comics hero, Tobey Maguire returns as the mild-mannered Peter Parker, who is juggling the delicate balance of his dual life as a college student and a web-slinging super hero. Tormented by his secrets, Peter finds that his relationships with all those he holds dear are in danger of unraveling. His life-long yearning for M.J. (Kirsten Dunst) becomes even stronger as he fights the impulse to reveal his secret life and declare his love. His friendship with Harry Osborn (James Franco) is complicated by the young Osborn's bitterness over his father's death and his growing vendetta against Spider-Man. Even Peter's beloved Aunt May (Rosemary Harris), who has fallen on hard times after the death of Uncle Ben, begins to have doubts about her nephew. The adventure escalates and Spider-Man’s life becomes even more complicated as he encounters a formidable new foe – Dr. Otto Octavius (Alfred Molina) who has been reincarnated as the maniacal and multi-tentacled “Doc Ock”. Spider-Man must use all the powers at his disposal to try to stop this diabolical madman in his octagonal tracks.

• Friday 30 July for 1 week

FAHRENHEIT 9/11 (*)

(US 2004) dir.Michael Moore 112m. Documentary

“Michael Moore’s blistering documentary offers such a comprehensive assault on the failings, lies and deceptions of the Bush administration that it is certain to play a part in the 2004 Presidential election. Inevitably, it is becoming a focus for anti-Bush sentiment and those US voters disillusioned by the war in Iraq. FAHRENHEIT 9/11 presents Moore’s wide-ranging reflections on the past four years of US history, from the Presidential election of 2000 through the events of September 2001 to the search for weapons of mass destruction and the ongoing war in Iraq. Told with passion and cutting sarcasm, the film has a good deal of the Moore trademarks, from a deft use of various television and pop culture clips to embarrassing encounters with the great and the good. The irony and childish iconoclasm are still there but this is a film in which an adult sense of anger and frustration also dominate. The four years of the Bush Presidency provide a structure to the film as Moore traces the mutually beneficial connections between the Bush family and the ruling elite of Saudi Arabia who are said to own 7% of America. Bush Jr is depicted as a lazy, empty-headed buffoon who was on holiday 42% of the time during the first eight months in office. Moore also reveals how 24 Bin Laden family members, who were in the US on 9/11, were allowed to leave for home two days after the attacks – with the approval of the White House. Filled with probing questions and disturbing footage, FAHRENHEIT 9/11 covers territory and puts accusations that many will recognise. But Moore stitches them together in such a fascinating way that he succeeds in exposing the profound failure of US democracy. The Democrats are seen to be irrelevant as a force of opposition. The media is widely partisan. The public is ill-informed and gullible. The politicians are cynical and sly. And there are moments that take the breath away. The causes and consequences of the Iraq war also revisit some familiar arguments but they are illustrated with unfamiliar footage of interviews with the troops, grieving relatives in the US and the military’s recruitment drives among the poorest citizens of the land. This is a provocative, manipulative, funny, shocking and completely unmissable letter from America in which Moore is as deadly as any Weapon of Mass Destruction.”
(Allan Hunter, Screen International)