• Friday 19 November for 2 weeks

G.O.R.A. – A SPACE MOVIE (15)
(Turkey 2003) dir.Omer Faruk Sorak 128m. Subtitles
Cem Yilmaz, Ozge Ozberk, Ozan Guven,Safak Sezer, Rasim Oztekin, Ozkan Ugur.

Arif is a carpet salesman, travel agent, tour guide, anything you can think of and, oh yes, a producer of fake UFO photographs. One day, he's captured by spacemen from the planet Gora, for real... Logar, the cruel Commander of Planet Gora is intent on avenging his grandfather by imprisoning and torturing any earthling who comes his way. New prisoner Arif is easy going and quickly makes some new friends: Bob Marley Faruk is an old Turkish lag and 216 is an android under Gora's command. Planet Gora is ruled by Master Tocha, who has a daughter, Ceku. Logar wants to marry Ceku if only because it's a great opportunity to become the new master of Gora. As for Ceku, she has her own marriage problems... An escape plan brings together Arif, Bob, 216, Ceku and a mysterious stranger, Garavel, who helps them along the way. But how do they get back to Earth? Will there be room for everyone on board the spaceship? You won't have to wait for next week's thrilling instalment to find out!

• Monday 13 December for 4 days

LOOK AT ME (Comme une image) (12A)

(France 2004) dir.Agnès Jaoui Subtitles.
Marilou Berry, Agnès Jaoui, Laurent Grevill, Jean-Pierre Bacri, Virginie Desarnaut, Keine Bouhiza, Grégoire Oestermann, Michèle Moretti, Serge Riaboukine.

“Jaoui’s marvellous movie is nominally centred on Lolita (Berry), a 20-year-old classical singer happy neither with her looks nor her relationship with her successful but self-centred writer father Etienne (Bacri); but it actually gives just as much room to her music teacher Sylvia (Jaoui), the woman’s struggling-novelist hubby Pierre (Grevill) and sundry other characters. All are caught up in an absurd, horribly familiar (from life, rather than cinema) dance of attraction and repulsion, ambition and disappointment, loyalty and betrayal. To reveal more would diminish the many pleasures to be had from this enormously witty, touching, perceptive roundelay, which examines contemporary manners and attitudes to family, friendship physical appearance, sex, age, art, class and the whole damn thing. Are the articulate dialogue, humanist concerns and fascination with the relationship between life and art a bit old-fashioned? Who cares? This is exemplary cinema in the classical tradition, as lucid, subtle and pertinent in its social and philosophical implications as it is entertaining in its storytelling. Bravo!”
(Geoff Andrew, Time Out)

• Friday 17 December for 3 weeks

THE INCREDIBLES (U)

(USA 20040 dir.Brad Bird 121m. Animation.
Voices of Craig T Nelson, Holly Hunter, Samuel L Jackson, Jason Lee, Elizabeth Peña, Brad Bird, Spencer Fox, Sarah Vowell, Wallace Shawn, John Ratzenberger.

“This magical collision between Brad Bird (THE IRON GIANT) and Pixar not only features mind-bogglingly inventive animation, as you'd expect, but the story is so full of heart and soul that you can actually feel it becoming a classic while you're watching it. Bob Parr (Nelson) is the secret identity of Mr Incredible, one of many superheroes who save those in need. But lawsuits force the heroes underground, and 15 years later Bob and his fellow ex-hero wife Helen (Hunter) are living a "normal" suburban life with their three kids. Bob longs for the good old days and hangs out with his pal Lucius (Jackson), formerly Frozone, listening to the police scanner and helping people when they can. But it seems like a nefarious force might be at work. Writer-director Bird knows that the most important elements are story and characters, and he never lets either get lost in the astonishing visual whizzery. The animation is spectacular – both characters and settings are created with wit and flair, echoing the sharp spirit of the script with a kind of retro-modern style. The attention to detail is brilliant. And when things get moving it's breathtaking; action sequences are thrilling, propelling the story and telling us about the characters, all of whom are expertly voiced. These are extraordinary, well-defined people, and the vocal cast resist putting their own personalities into the roles – they're playing memorable characters here, not doing self-referential shtick. Even the kids have astute, sassy qualities that continually defy clichés. And there are lovely touches everywhere, most memorably in the hilarious Edna, an Edith Head-inspired seamstress voiced by Bird himself. In his refusal to rely on hip cultural references, Bird creates a film that will easily stand the test of time. The only nods are to other classic genres – superheroes, alien invasions, James Bond – and there's not a pop single on the soundtrack! He also continually subverts the conventions of modern animated features, refusing to employ a rollercoaster structure and instead balancing the adrenaline-rush action with moments of genuine drama and sharp comedy that might leave small kids fidgeting in their seats. But that's unlikely with a story and characters this strong. Fantastic.”
(Rich Cline, Shadows on the Wall)

• Sunday 26 December for 12 days

HOUSE OF THE FLYING DAGGERS (15)

(China 2004) dir.Zhang Yimou 119m. Subtitles.
Takeshi Kaneshiro, Andy Lau, Zhang Ziyi, Dandan Song.

“After his first foray into action with Hero, Zhang goes even deeper into the genre here, adding sublime drama and romance to make one of the most beautifully moving wuxia films you'll ever see. A highly secretive rebel group, House of Flying Daggers, is destabilising the ruling dynasty in AD 859 China. But even after killing their leader, the daggers continue to fly! Captain Leo (Lau) and his right-hand man Jin (Kaneshiro) suspect that the gifted blind dancer Mei (Zhang) is the daughter of the deceased leader. So they hatch a plan in which Jin will pretend to be a defecting warrior who falls in love with her, hoping she will lead them to the Flying Daggers' hideout. But playing with love is a dangerous game. This is an action epic as a three-hander; even though scenes are filled with soldiers, dancers, warriors and others, Zhang keeps the focus tightly on the human drama among this trio. And as the story grows increasingly tangled, our hearts are firmly gripped by a film style that's both grand and intimate at the same time. Amid the nonstop gritty action is a wrenchingly powerful romance, and it's filmed with lush, exquisite artistry that feels authentic and real, even with the fantastical gravity-defying battles. Sound and image combine beautifully with deeply internalised emotions, augmented by camera trickery and wire stuntwork. It's simply breathtaking on every level! This isn't the carefully controlled colour scheme of HERO; it's much more naturalistic, grabbing colours from locations, costumes, changing leaves on trees and an astonishing climactic snowstorm (which wasn't scripted, but just happened during filming). This striking visual style is never superficial – it adds depth to everything, as does Zhang's startlingly inventive staging of the fight scenes. But the people are the main thing – this is a strongly personal story, and the three actors are exceptional as people who aren't who they seem to be, subtly and realistically transforming their characters with each new wrinkle. They shift beautifully from sexy to soulful to brutal to brave, often within a single scene. And the story is full of heartbreaking tenderness, which infuses every moment in the film, including the battles. Masterful and unmissable.”
(Rich Kline, Shadows on the Wall)

• Friday 7 January for 2 weeks

VERA DRAKE (12A)

(Br 2004) dir.Mike Leigh 125m.
Imelda Staunton, Richard Graham, Eddie Marsan, Alex Kelly, Daniel Mays, Phil Davis, Adrian Scarborough, Heather Craney, Ruth Sheen.

“Even after three decades of work, Mike Leigh is still making films that bristle with honesty and life, fearlessly tackling issues that other filmmakers won't touch, and maintaining a level of integrity we rarely see on screen. This might be his best film yet. Vera (Staunton) is a middle-aged wife and mother in 1950 London. She cleans houses for her rich neighbours, but her sense of charity is so strong that she dedicates her spare time to meeting people's needs – tending to sickly shut-ins and her lonely mother, caring for her husband (Davis) and adult children (Kelly and Mays), and "helping young girls out" when they find themselves pregnant. No one knows about this last thing except her childhood friend Lily (Sheen), and when one abortion goes wrong Vera has to face the raw truth of her entire life. This is an extraordinarily strong story, and Leigh tells it with skill and beauty. This is a topic no one in Post-War Britain would ever talk about, so the repercussions here are both mind-spinning and profoundly moving. In telling the story, Leigh cuts straight to the heart of the matter, and as a result connects with us emotionally very early on, never letting up for a second ... and also never taking advantage of us either (there's not a single cheap cinematic moment)! It also helps that Staunton is such a transcendent actress – from Vera's cheerful obsession with nice cups of tea to the sudden dawning of what's at stake here. This is one of the year's most remarkable performances, and yet it never grandstands for a second. From her face alone we fully understand that her life is shattered not because she's been caught, but because she almost hurt someone. And the cast around her is note-perfect as well, brilliantly balancing the humour, class issues, confusion and inner turmoil. The film is also blessed with warmth and charm drawn out in the striking production design, lush-but-dark cinematography and minimalist score. Leigh's writing and direction are astute and insightful, lacing the film with moments of joy, irony and pain. This is masterful, earth-shaking filmmaking – complex, entertaining and so profoundly stirring that it's impossible to get it out of your mind.”
(Rich Kline, Shadows on the Wall)