Film / Previews
Event Cinema for October 2015
It’s another busy month for theatre, music, opera and other unclassifiable cinematic events, including Casablanca at Walton Castle, outdoor screenings at Tyntesfield and Halloween spookfests at Arnos Vale. The big ‘un is the live broadcast of Benedict Cumberbatch in Hamlet to virtually every cinema. Many of these screenings have already sold out, so you’d be well advised to bag your ticket pronto. For more information and trailers, see our detailed daily film listings starting here.
National Trust Screen: Hot Fuzz
This outdoor screening of the West Country cop comedy at Tyntesfield is part of the National Trust Screen season. As the sun goes down, the show will start with a selection of recently digitised local films from the BFI’s archive. These include a journey down the Avon gorge filmed in 1902, an amateur colour film capturing the devastation wreaked on Bristol by the bombing raids of 1940-41 and a post-war documentary on how the city emerged from the Blitz. See our earlier feature here for more on these films, which are also available to watch free on the BFI Player. Advance tickets are available here. See our news story here for more on the season.
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Screening Oct 2: Tyntesfield
National Trust Screen: Shaun the Sheep the Movie
In his big-screen debut, Shaun joins force with the rest of the flock, plus Bitzer the sheepdog, on a mission to rescue the Farmer from the Big City. Go here for our full review, and here for our feature on the film. Local films will also be screened – details as above. Advance tickets are available here. See our news story here for more on the season.
Screening Oct 3: Tyntesfield
Bristol Surf Film Festival 2015
Relocated to the Paintworks Event Space, this year’s Bristol Surf Film Festival promises a selection of international feature films, award-winning shorts and a bunch of exhibiting brands. Among the confirmed films are Bjornora, in which three brothers set out on an Arctic adventure to the remote Bear Island; The Fjord, exploring the Faroe Islands’ untapped surfing potential; Nix Nic Nooley, the tale of a pair of surf dudes from the year 2879 who have to travel back in time for their surf fix after the oceans have dried up; and Alombre, which documents the waves and surfers of France’s Medoc region. You can find the full programme here. The event runs from 2pm-11pm. Advance tickets are available here
Screening Oct 3: Paintworks
In 15th century Spain, Verdi heroine Leonora sacrifices her life for gypsy troubadour Manrico. David McVicar’s Goya-inspired production features soprano Anna Netrebko as Leonora. Tenor Yonghoon Lee sings the ill-fated Manrico, baritone Dmitri Hvorostovsky is his rival, and mezzo-soprano Dolora Zajick is the mysterious gypsy with the troubled past. The opera kicks off the Met’s 2015/16 live broadcast season.
Screening Oct 3: Vue Cribbs Causeway, Vue Longwell Green
Royal Opera: Le Nozze Di Figaro
Bizarrely enough, The Marriage of Figaro was considered highly inflammatory back in the late 18th century for daring to depict servants outwitting their masters. This stage comedy naturally appealed to Mozart, who was eager to shake off the restrictions imposed by his aristocratic patrons. David McVicar’s popular production returns to Covent Garden with a cast led by bass Erwin Schrott and Romanian soprano Anita Hartig. The conductor is Ivor Bolton.
Screening Oct 5: Odeon, Orpheus, Showcase Cinema De Lux, Vue Longwell Green, Vue Cribbs Causeway
Encore screening Oct 18: Showcase Cinema De Lux
The ‘oo’s 50th anniversary bash in front of a 65,000-strong capacity crowd. Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey are joined by Pete’s brother Simon on guitar and vocals, Pino Palladino on bass, and Ringo Starr’s son Zak Starkey on drums for a crowd-pleasing run-through of all the hits. Cinema punters also get a short featurette that includes contributions from such celeb fans as Robert Plant, Johnny Marr and Iggy Pop. The 15 certificate was earned by all the swearing. Those naughty scamps.
Screening Oct 7: Showcase Cinema De Lux, Vue Longwell Green, Vue Cribbs Causeway
The Importance of Being Earnest – Live
“A handbag?” Yep, Poirot himself gets to utter the immortal line as David Suchet drags up to play Lady Bracknell in Adrian Noble’s production of Oscar Wilde’s great satire on Victorian manners. The play is broadcast live to cinemas from London’s Vaudeville Theatre
Screening Oct 8: Showcase Cinema De Lux, Vue Cribbs Causeway, Vue Longwell Green, Curzon, Orpheus
Bristol Bad Film Club: Never Too Young to Die
Homophobia, mullets and power ballads ahoy! This month, the Bristol Bad Film Club have unearthed what they describe as “a contender for the most ’80s film ever made”. Made back in the era when Kiss’s Gene Simmons was attempting to carve out a parallel career as a movie villain for himself and his improbable hair, this extraordinary film is an amalgam of The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Gymkata, The Road Warrior and every James Bond movie you’ve ever seen. Simmons stars as a hermaphrodite nightclub performer and leader of a renegade LA biker gang who wants to bring the city to its knees by contaminating the water supply with radiation. Ranged against him is undercover agent Lance Stargrove (John Stamos) and sexpot Danja (Prince’s protégé Vanity – hey, whatever happened to her?). Watch out for former Bond George Lazenby as Lance’s dad. Advance tickets, price £5, are available here. All profits go to the Kids Kino Project.
Screening Oct 8: The Station
Peasant girl Giselle carks it of a broken heart when she learns that the love of her life, Albrecht, has betrayed her. Now she finds herself obliged to join the wilis – a bunch of vengeful spirits who condemn Albrecht to a frenzy of hoofing until he perishes of exhaustion. The Bolshoi’s production of this great French romantic ballet is choreographed by Yuri Grigorovich.
Screening Oct 11: Showcase Cinema De Lux, Cineworld, Orpheus
Curzon at the Castle: Casablanca
A digitally restored print of this classic romantic wartime thriller, which bagged just three Oscars back in 1944 but subsequently topped many an all-time-great film list. Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman, As Time Goes By . . . “Play it, Sam!” This first themed joint venture between Clevedon’s Curzon Cinema and Walton Castle sees the film screened in a castle turret on Tuesday, October 13. Your ticket price of £28.50 includes a Moroccan-style nosh-up and drinkies in turret eight, followed by the film screening in turret one. Advance tickets are available here.
Screening Oct 13: Walton Castle
Monty Python and the Holy Grail 40th Anniversary + Intro
Unfairly overshadowed by the subsequent, more controversial Life of Brian, the Pythons’ first proper movie (And Now For Something Completely Different was just a bunch of sketches slung together for the cinema) still stands up well all these years on. A suitably grimy parody of the traditional mediaeval adventure, with plenty of swipes at those seemingly inexhaustible reserves of human gullibility and stupidity (the witch-hunting scene being a brilliant summation of zealotry and perverse logic), the film suffers from an episodic construction, but at least these episodes are consistently funny. Who could forget John Cleese’s astonishingly rude Frenchman taunting the grail-seekers from his lofty turret; the anything-but-brave Sir Robin (Eric Idle), whose minstrels sing joyously of his shortcomings; the Knights who say ‘Ni!’ and their shrubbery; and Cleese’s ludicrously bellicose Black Knight, who continues to taunt Lancelot long after he’s been deprived of every limb? This 40th anniversary screening of the new ‘singalong’ edition of the film will be accompanied by a specially filmed introduction from surviving Pythons Terry Jones, Terry Gilliam, Michael Palin, Eric Idle and John Cleese. Be warned that it only runs for about five minutes.
Screening Oct 14: Odeon, Vue Cribbs Causeway, Vue Longwell Green
Attention Cumberbitches: the fastest selling show in London theatre history comes to fleapits for what also seems likely to break event cinema records. Presumably, there’ll be no restrictions on excited squealing in the aisles and taking selfies if you opt to see Benedict Cumberbatch in the title role of the Bard’s great tragedy at your local cinema rather than hauling ass to the Barbican. There are several options available, though be warned that many screenings have already sold out. The play is broadcast live on Thursday, October 15. There are also encore screenings at some cinemas on Thursday October 22 and Thursday October 29. Additionally, if you wish to savour every pore on Mr. Cumberbatch’s face, the Vue cinemas’ encore screenings are broadcast in ultra-high-resolution 4K. Finally, the Curzon in Clevedon has already announced additional encore screenings on Wednesday November 4 and Wednesday November 11. Expect more to be added.
Screening Oct 15: Showcase Cinema De Lux, Odeon, Vue Cribbs Causeway, Vue Longwell Green, Curzon, Orpheus, Cineworld
Encore screenings Oct 22: Orpheus, Vue Cribbs Causeway, Vue Longwell Green
Encore screenings Oct 29: Vue Cribbs Causeway, Vue Longwell Green
Venetian general Otello is tricked by envious Iago into believing that his new bride Desdemona is having an affair with Cassio. Plagued by doubts, jealously and increasing mistrust of blameless Desdemona, the Moor descends into madness – with terrible consequences. Bartlett Sher’s new production of Verdi’s Bard-inspired opera casts tenor Aleksandrs Antonenko as the doomed Otello. New soprano star Sonya Yoncheva sings Desdemona, Otello’s innocent wife and victim. Baritone Zeljko Lucic plays the evil Iago.
Screening Oct 17: Vue Cribbs Causeway, Vue Longwell Green
English National Opera: The Barber of Seville
Lovelorn Count Almaviva is eager to lure beautiful and feisty Rosina away from her lecherous ward Dr. Bartolo, who keeps her firmly under lock and key. So he solicits the assistance of Figaro, the well-connected barber of Seville. Set in an elegant vision of 18th century Seville, Jonathan Miller’s acclaimed production of Rossini’s opere buffe masterpiece returns to the London Coliseum. The conductor is Christopher Allen.
Screening Oct 19: Showcase Cinema De Lux, Orpheus, Curzon, Vue Longwell Green, Vue Cribbs Causeway
Cannoli & Gun: The Silence of the Lambs
“Good nutrition’s given you some length of bone, but you’re not more than one generation from poor white trash, are you Agent Starling?” Yup, moves’n’nosh specialists Cannoli & Gun serve up a generous portion of classic horror in the form of cinema’s most adventurous foodie – Dr. Hannibal Lecter. Alas, there’s no longpig on the menu, but your admission fee gets you sage tagliatelle with chicken liver & fava beans, plus a glass of ‘Chianti’. Mercifully, there’s also a vegetarian option. Note that this event takes place at Rosemarino’s Colston Street restaurant and not the Clifton one. Due to overwhelming public demand, there will be two sittings, on Monday October 19 and Monday October 26. The Oct 26 event is already sold out, but tickets for Oct 19 are available here, price £20.
Screening Oct 19 & Oct 26: Rosemarino
THX 1138 + Asian Dub Foundation
Star Wars director George Lucas’s much-sampled dystopian fantasy directorial debut from 1971 gets the live re-score treatment from Asian Dub Foundation. Tickets, price £19.50, are available here.
Screening Oct 21: Colston Hall
During the Punic wars of the third century BC, a little girl named Cabiria is abducted along with her nurse in the chaos that ensues after the eruption of Mount Etna. Her parents believe her to be dead, but she’s actually sold by dastardly Phoenician pirates to a high priest in Carthage, who plans to sacrifice her to the great god Moloch. As you do. Conceived on a suitably grand scale, Italian director Giovanni Pastrone’s 1914 silent epic has been championed by Martin Scorsese, who insists that Pastrone deserves the praise that’s been heaped upon the likes of D.W. Griffith and Cecil B. DeMille. This inaugural Hot Pot Cinema event includes a live electronic soundtrack composed and performed by interestingly named local musician Epistrophe Smith. The promised nosh is described as a “big sharing pot” inspired by the film. Go here for more information and ticket details.
Screening Oct 21: Hamilton House
Henry IV has carked it and Hal is king. Seeking to put his youth behind him, he sets out to grab a bit of France and launches what he hopes will be a nation-uniting war. Following his performance as Hal in Henry IV Parts I & II, Alex Hassell returns as Henry V in Gregory Doran’s ongoing romp through the Bard’s history plays. Neatly, it turns up in the 600th anniversary year of the Battle of Agincourt.
Screening Oct 21: Showcase Cinema De Lux, Cineworld, Orpheus, Curzon
Ed Sheeran: Jumpers for Goalposts
Ed Sheeran performs before 80,000 punters at Wembley Stadium back in July. All the hits are promised, plus a ‘surprise’ duet with Sir Elton John. The show is interspersed with a behind-the-scenes documentary in which Ed marvels at how he managed to become so popular so quickly. The Oct 22 screening comes live from the film’s Leicester Square premiere and includes an additional exclusive live performance for those who just can’t get enough Ed.
Screening Oct 22: Showcase Cinema De Lux, Cineworld, Vue Cribbs Causeway, Vue Longwell Green
Encore screening Oct 23: Vue Cribbs Causeway, Vue Longwell Green
Barry Sonnenfeld’s hugely entertaining first Addams Family comedy from 1991, with Anjelica Huston as Morticia and the very young Christina Ricci as Wednesday. This is the first, and most family-friendly, of two (almost) Halloween screenings at Arnos Vale. It’s organised by Backyard Cinema and tickets are available here. Gates open at 4.30pm. More details can be found here.
Screening Oct 29: Arnos Vale
The much-hyped no-budget horror hit of 1999 gets an al fresco outing in the suitably spooky surroundings of Arnos Vale Cemetery. This is the second of two (almost) Halloween screenings at Arnos Vale. It’s organised by Backyard Cinema and tickets are available here. Gates open at 7.30pm with the film starting at around 8.30pm. More details can be found here.
Screening Oct 29: Arnos Vale
Thirteenth century knight Tannhauser is caught between the rival charms of Venus, goddess of lust, and the earthly Elisabeth. Mmm… tough choice, dude. Eventually, he’s dispatched to Rome to apologise to the Pope for his illicit legovers in the spiritual realm. South African tenor Johan Botha, takes on the daunting title role of the young knight in this first Met production of Wagner’s early masterpiece in more than a decade. Eva-Maria Westbroek is Elisabeth. James Levine returns as conductor. Wagner virgins should be warned that they won’t get much change out of four-and-a-half hours.
Screening Oct 31: Vue Cribbs Causeway, Vue Longwell Green
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