Cinema

Our 2012 season continues with:

 

• Friday 25th May at 20:00
• My Week with Marilyn (2011 - UK)    [PG] - 99mins

Colin Clark, an employee of Sir Laurence Olivier, documents the tense interaction between Olivier and Marilyn Monroe during the production of The Prince and the Showgirl.

 

• Friday 8th June at 20:00
• Chinatown (1974 - USA)    [15] - 130mins

Roman Polanski’s brooding film noir exposes the darkest side of the land of sunshine, Los Angeles of the 1930s, where power is the only currency — and the only real thing worth buying.  Jack Nicholson is J.J. Gittes, a private eye in the Chandler mould who, during a routine straying-spouse investigation finds himself drawn deeper and deeper into a jigsaw puzzle of clues and corruption.
Chinatown is one of the greatest, most completely satisfying crime films of all time.  Faye Dunaway and John Huston also star.

• Wednesday 13th June at 10:30
• War Horse (2011 - USA)    [12A] - 146mins

The madness of war is exposed by a stallion in Spielberg’s emotional, no-holds-barred moral epic.  The story starts on a farm in Devon rented by the Narracott family - father (Peter Mullan), mother (Emily Watson), and son Albert (Jeremy Irvine).  When the father buys a beautiful horse for three times its work value, Albert becomes enamoured with it and trains it, naming it Joey.  Their bond becomes as strong as possible between a human and an animal.  But on the outbreak of the First World War the Army requisitions the horse, along with many others in the county.  Albert promises Joey that they will find each other again one day - and eventually enlists to embark on a search for his friend.  Spanning four years during the war, the story is of Joey’s journey; from becoming the mount for a brave English officer (Tom Hiddleston), to a German workhorse, to a gift from God for a dying little girl.  He gives us a glimpse of the waste of war - and of all the soldiers, both young and old, who never deserved to die.

• Wednesday 11th July at 10:30
• The Artist (2011 - France - Silent with English intertitles)    [PG] - 100mins

Hollywood, 1927.  Outside a movie première, enthusiastic fan Peppy Miller (Bérénice Bejo) literally bumps into the swashbuckling hero of the silent film, George Valentin (Jean Dujardin).  The star reacts graciously and Peppy plants a kiss on his cheek as they are surrounded by photographers.  The headlines demand: “Who is That Girl?” and Peppy is inspired to audition for a dancing bit-part at the studio.  However as Peppy slowly rises through the industry, the introduction of talking-pictures turns Valentin’s world upside-down.

• Wednesday 8th August at 10:30
• The Muppets (2011 - USA)    [U] - 103mins

While on holiday in Los Angeles, Walter, the world’s biggest Muppet fan and his friends Gary (Jason Segel) & Mary (Amy Adams) from Smalltown discover that oilman Tex Richman (Chris Cooper) plans to raze the Muppet Theatre so he can drill for the oil recently discovered beneath the Muppets’ former stomping grounds.  To raise the $10 million needed to save the theatre, Walter, Mary and Gary stage The Greatest Muppet Telethon Ever and help Kermit reunite the Muppets, who have all gone their separate ways: Fozzie now performs with a Reno casino tribute band called the Moopets, Miss Piggy is a plus-size fashion editor at Vogue Paris, Animal is in a Santa Barbara clinic for anger management, and Gonzo is a high-powered plumbing magnate.

• Wednesday 12th September at 10:30
• The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (2012 - UK)    [12A] - 124mins

The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel is supposed to be India’s answer for the UK’s most elegant retirees - a place where they can spend their golden years surrounded by lush amenities - that is, until seven retirees who are in need of a transformation find themselves on the front steps of the not-quite-ready building.  Thus begins a comic, romantic and poignant adventure in a land full of unexpected pleasures, brought to life by some of the most honoured and accomplished screen actors of our time - including Judi Dench, Bill Nighy, Dev Patel, Tom Wilkinson and Maggie Smith.

Ledbury Film Club showings are generally on second Fridays at 20:00.
They are marked in RED in the list above.