• Friday 4 August for 1 week

CARS (PG)

(US 2006) dir.John Lasseter 121m. Animation.
Voices of Owen Wilson, Paul Newman, Bonnie Hunt, Larry The Cable Guy, Cheech Marin, John Ratzenberger, Michael Keaton.

Academy Award-winning director John Lasseter and the technical wizards at Pixar Studios have already taken moviegoers into the magic realms of toys, bugs, monsters, fish, and superheroes. Now they hit the road with this fast-paced comedy adventure set in the world of cars, in which a hotshot, a rookie and a born-to-win race car, Lightning McQueen (voiced with cocky charm by Owen Wilson), learn that life is about the journey, not the finish line. Lightning is speeding on his way to California's Piston Cup Championship when he crashes into Radiator Springs, a small town on fabled but sleepy Route 66. Having wreaked havoc in the place, Lightning is sentenced to community service by judge Doc Hudson, a 1951 Hudson Hornet (voiced by the acting and racing legend Paul Newman). Meanwhile he gets to know the town’s offbeat characters – including Sally (Bonnie Hunt) a snazzy 2002 Porsche, and Mater, a rusty but trusty tow truck (Larry The Cable Guy) – who help him realise that there are more important things than trophies, fame and championship. Once more, Pixar have excelled at giving the scenery an atmosphere of its own. CARS shows how to blend brash comedy with technical prowess so that each enhances the other. A high octane delight for moviegoers of all ages.

• Friday 4 August for 1 week

LITTLE FISH (15)

(Australia 2006) dir.Rowan Woods 114m.
Cate Blanchett, Sam Neill, Hugo Weaving, Martin Henderson, Dustin Nguyen.

“Tracy (Cate Blanchett) is trying to get a bank to loan her the cash that would enable her to buy from her boss the Sydney video store in which she works. Neither the banks nor, for that matter, her mum Janelle (Noni Hazlehurst) have much faith in her future; they’re clearly worried she might succumb to the heroin addiction she painfully put behind her five years ago. That’s when her brother Ray (Martin Henderson) lost his legs in an accident for which Janelle holds both Lionel (Hugo Weaving) and Jonny (Dustin Nguyen) responsible. While the film could have lapsed into crime-thriller cliché or sensationalist hysteria, Woods prefers to concentrate on characterisation and interplay. The details of the backstory are revealed only gradually, so interesting nuances develop as the film proceeds. The various characters move in endless murky circles, inhabiting an almost incestuously closed world where drugs, deceit and despair forever threaten to drag them down. It’s an admirably tough film; the fine performances never romanticise the characters. Consequently, the glimmer of hope that accompanies one of their number finally taking proper control is richly deserved, and rightly rewarding.”
(Geoff Andrew, Time Out)

• Friday 11 August for 1 week

PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: DEAD MAN’S CHEST (12A)

(US 2006) dir.Gore Verbinski 150m.
Johnny Depp, Orlando Bloom, Keira Knightley, Bill Nighy, Stellan Skarsgård, Jack Davenport.

Following the phenomenal success of PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: THE CURSE OF THE BLACK PEARL, Johnny Depp reprises one of the best performances of his career as Captain Jack Sparrow. Caught in yet another tangled web of supernatural intrigue, Captain Jack has an unpaid debt to the legendary Davey Jones, ruler of the ocean depths and captain of the ghostly Flying Dutchman... his soul. If Jack can't figure a crafty way out of this one, he'll be cursed to an afterlife of eternal servitude and damnation. As if that weren't enough, Captain Jack's problems throw a huge wrench into the wedding plans of the blissful Will Turner (Orlando Bloom) and Elizabeth Swann (Keira Knightley), who quickly find themselves thrust into Jack's misadventures. DEAD MAN’S CHEST is a breathtaking, swashbuckling adventure with many laughs along the way.

• Friday 18 August for 1 week

A SCANNER DARKLY (15)

(US 2006) dir.Richard Linklater 100m. Animation.
Keanu Reeves, Robert Downey Jr, Winona Ryder, Woody Harrelson, Rory Cochrane.

“There's a churning passion inside this eerie dramatic thriller. Linklater has adapted Philip K Dick's ahead-of-its-time 1977 novel into a gripping examination of addiction and politics. Bob Arctor (Keanu Reeves) may be a drug dealer, but he's also a detective assigned to keep an eye on himself. And his junkie pals (Robert Downey Jr, Winona Ryder, Woody Harrelson and Rory Cochrane) don't realise that he spends his days scanning videotapes of their drug-taking and backstabbing.
Like WAKING LIFE, Linklater filmed the scenes and then painstakingly animated each frame so the movie looks like a shimmering painting. The shifting, colourful imagery gives the film a brilliantly surreal tone, allowing Linklater to delve into the characters' hallucinatory perception of the world around them. This filmmaking style also vividly captures the performances. It's one of Reeves' most involving roles while the other characters also register strongly. In addition to the film's astonishing visuals, the script is packed with jagged humour and astute observations. As the story progresses, it shifts from a black comedy about junkies into a sublime political treatise that makes its point in incredibly subtle ways.”
(Rich Cline, Shadows on the Wall)

• Friday 25 August for 2 weeks

VOLVER (15)

(Spain, 2006) dir.Pedro Almodóvar 121m. Subtitles.
Penélope Cruz, Carmen Maura Lola Dueñas, Blanca Portillo, Yolanda Cobo, Chus Lampreave, María Isabel Díaz.

“Pedro Almodóvar again taps deep into human emotions for this exquisite drama about mothers and daughters, about the things we wish we said, and that we hadn't. Raimunda (Penelope Cruz) is a busy woman, holding her family together but refusing to give up on her dream of one day being her own boss. Then Raimunda's sister Sole (Lola Dueñas) has an encounter with the ghost of their mother (Carmen Maura). Maybe she can solve some mysteries from their past, especially one involving a lifelong friend (Blanca Portillo). Almodóvar approaches this with a disarming simplicity. It looks like a sunny, relaxed, bittersweet family drama, full of everyday humour, warmth and sadness. But underneath this is a film layered with complex emotions that slowly reach up and engulf us. As the story develops, it generates a subtle Hitchcock-like vibe, watching these women get into situations far over their heads, without ever panicking. Death is everywhere in this film but it's just part of life. Performances are simply gorgeous. This is by far the best work Cruz has ever done. Magic.”
(Rich Cline, Shadows on the Wall)

• Friday 8 September for 2 weeks

LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE (15)

(US 2006) dirs.Jonathan Dayton & Valerie Faris 102m.
Greg Kinnear, Steve Carell, Toni Collette, Alan Arkin, Abigail Breslin, Paul Dano.

“A quietly antic dysfunctional family road trip comedy that shoots down the all-American culture of the winner and offers sweet redemption for losers – or at least the ordinary folks often branded as such. The film is distinguished by a flawless cast, a gentle spirit of rebellion and a smart script by first-time screenwriter Michael Arndt that knows never to push its character quirks too hard.
Richard (Greg Kinnear) is a motivational speaker on a career downslide yet stubbornly committed to his "Refuse to lose" philosophy. His wife Sheryl (Toni Collette) barely disguises her impatience with his canned claptrap. The family's sole oasis of serenity and self-possession is Olive (Abigail Breslin), a slightly chubby, bespectacled 7-year-old with a questioning nature and a fixation on beauty pageants. Having been taught to pursue her dreams, Olive has been privately rehearsing her talent routine with Grandpa (Alan Arkin); her shot at the Little Miss Sunshine crown is the engine that drives the comedy. During the interstate trip, punctuated by hilarious setbacks and disasters, the directors nurture the melancholy strain in Arndt's script while subtly coaxing small signs of love and support within the Hoover family. The directors' light, uncalculated touch with the material is echoed in the modest production's fresh, appealingly unslick feel.”
(David Rooney, Variety)

• Friday 22 September for 2 weeks

CHILDREN OF MEN (15)

(UK/US 2006) dir.Alfonso Cuarón 109m.
Clive Owen, Julianne Moore, Michael Caine, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Charlie Hunnam, Claire-Hope Ashitey.

Alfonso Cuarón is certainly one of the most versatile and prolific directors of his generation. After his latest commercial and critical success with HARRY POTTER AND THE PRISONER OF AZKABAN, Cuarón is back with an imaginative sci-fi thriller about civilisation on the verge of extinction.

London 2027. The world’s youngest citizen has just died at 18, and humankind is facing the likelihood of its own extinction. While science is at loss to explain why man can no longer procreate, the world is being ravaged by violence and nationalistic factions at war. However, hope comes in the shape of unlikely hero Theo Faron (Clive Owen), a disillusioned ex-peace-activist-turned-civil-servant. Theo agrees to help his revolutionary ex-wife Julian (Julianne Moore) protect and transport a miraculously pregnant woman to a sanctuary at sea, where her child's birth may help scientists save the future of mankind. Carried by beautiful lead performances from Owen and Moore, this dark, gripping dystopian tale echoes contemporary fears about the future of humankind.