The Room (Wiseau, 2003): Prince Charles Cinema, February 9-13, Various times
Move aside The Sound of Music and The Rocky Horror Picture Show. The Room is the modern-day Plan 9 From Outer Space and a movie so awful it now has a cult following, a following so large that the Prince Charles has 15 screenings planned over the next five days - and most of them are sold out. If you want some background to the film it's all here in a fine piece which appeared in the Telegraph in 2009. If you want a flavour of the movie here is an extract.
The Prince Charles have regular monthly screenings of The Room but the cause of all the excitement this time is that the director, Tommy Wiseau, is in town and will be delivering a live intro and be around for a Q&A after every screening. You can get all the details here via the cinema website.
Chicago Reader review:
'Written, produced, and directed by Tommy Wiseau, this inept 2003 melodrama has become a Rocky Horror-style cult favorite in Los Angeles and other cities. Wiseau stars as an eerily placid and good-natured banker whose live-in girlfriend is secretly getting it on with his best friend, though the filmmaker often strikes out in different directions, only to bump into the wall and come back. As someone who's watched more bad movies than you can imagine, I'm mostly immune to the so-bad-it's-good aesthetic, though I can see how, viewed in a theater at midnight after a few drinks, this might conjure up its own hilariously demented reality. Poignantly, Wiseau has now positioned the movie as a "black comedy."
JR Jones
Capital Celluloid 2012 - Day 39: Wednesday Feb 8
Martha Marcy May Marlene (Durkin, 2011): On general release
On a quiet night on the repertory front here's a recommendation for a film released on Friday February 3 and out on general release. This was one of the hits of the London Film Festival and widely regarded as an impressive debut movie from Sean Durkin.
If you missed critic Danny Leigh's take on BBC Film 2012 on Wednesday night then here's a chance to catch his rave review. You can watch it here on BBC i-player (from 17:00).
Chicago Reader review:
'The horror aesthetic of B-movie producer Val Lewton—that the unseen is more frightening than the seen—is carried to a merciless extreme in this unnerving debut feature by writer-director Sean Durkin. An alluring young woman (Elizabeth Olsen) escapes from the wilderness dominion of a charismatic cult leader (John Hawkes) and hides out with her older sister (Sarah Paulson) and brother-in-law (Hugh Dancy) at their secluded vacation home. As the narrative slips back and forth between her increasingly awkward stay with the couple and her gradual initiation into the cult two years earlier, Durkin reveals how the sisters have been pulled in opposite directions by the death of their parents. But the story structure also nurtures a creeping, finally unbearable dread that may have you looking over your shoulder all the way home.'
JR Jones
Here is the trailer.
On a quiet night on the repertory front here's a recommendation for a film released on Friday February 3 and out on general release. This was one of the hits of the London Film Festival and widely regarded as an impressive debut movie from Sean Durkin.
If you missed critic Danny Leigh's take on BBC Film 2012 on Wednesday night then here's a chance to catch his rave review. You can watch it here on BBC i-player (from 17:00).
Chicago Reader review:
'The horror aesthetic of B-movie producer Val Lewton—that the unseen is more frightening than the seen—is carried to a merciless extreme in this unnerving debut feature by writer-director Sean Durkin. An alluring young woman (Elizabeth Olsen) escapes from the wilderness dominion of a charismatic cult leader (John Hawkes) and hides out with her older sister (Sarah Paulson) and brother-in-law (Hugh Dancy) at their secluded vacation home. As the narrative slips back and forth between her increasingly awkward stay with the couple and her gradual initiation into the cult two years earlier, Durkin reveals how the sisters have been pulled in opposite directions by the death of their parents. But the story structure also nurtures a creeping, finally unbearable dread that may have you looking over your shoulder all the way home.'
JR Jones
Here is the trailer.
Capital Celluloid 2012 - Day 38: Tuesday Feb 7
The Living Dead at the Manchester Morgue (Grau, 1974):
The Jackalope 98 Stoke Newington Church Street, London, N16, 8pm
The Exploding Head Film Club is back - and with a bang. The return couldn't be more impressive with one of the great cult movies and one very rarely seen. Here is the Exploding Head club's Facebok page for more details.
Time Out review:
'Although made in the Lake District with a mainly dubbed cast, Arthur Kennedy as a very American English policeman, and a plot indebted to Night of the Living Dead, this works against all the odds. Through intelligent handling of locations, England becomes a very bleak place indeed, full of sinister quietness. Hero and heroine, thrown together by chance, find themselves pursued by both police and an army of cannibalistic living dead through this increasingly nightmarish landscape. It's a film of unrelieved blackness, from the seedy photographer who snaps his junkie wife cowering in the bath to homicidal babies, from mongol child at a petrol station to Kennedy's brutal sergeant. It's all the more absurdly fatalistic for refusing to draw political, moral or social conclusions.'
Verina Glaessner
Here is the trailer.
The Jackalope 98 Stoke Newington Church Street, London, N16, 8pm
The Exploding Head Film Club is back - and with a bang. The return couldn't be more impressive with one of the great cult movies and one very rarely seen. Here is the Exploding Head club's Facebok page for more details.
Time Out review:
'Although made in the Lake District with a mainly dubbed cast, Arthur Kennedy as a very American English policeman, and a plot indebted to Night of the Living Dead, this works against all the odds. Through intelligent handling of locations, England becomes a very bleak place indeed, full of sinister quietness. Hero and heroine, thrown together by chance, find themselves pursued by both police and an army of cannibalistic living dead through this increasingly nightmarish landscape. It's a film of unrelieved blackness, from the seedy photographer who snaps his junkie wife cowering in the bath to homicidal babies, from mongol child at a petrol station to Kennedy's brutal sergeant. It's all the more absurdly fatalistic for refusing to draw political, moral or social conclusions.'
Verina Glaessner
Here is the trailer.
Capital Celluloid 2012 - Day 37: Monday Feb 6
Tokyo Story (Ozu, 1953): Riverside Studios Cinema, 6.10pm
Chicago Reader review of a film regularly voted one of the best of all time:
'The film that introduced Yasujiro Ozu, one of Japan's greatest filmmakers, to American audiences (1953). The camera remains stationary throughout this delicate study of conflicting generations in a modern Japanese family, save for one heartbreaking moment when Ozu tracks around a corner to discover the grandparents, alone and forgotten. A masterpiece, minimalist cinema at its finest and most complex.'
Dave Kehr
Here is the trailer.
Chicago Reader review of a film regularly voted one of the best of all time:
'The film that introduced Yasujiro Ozu, one of Japan's greatest filmmakers, to American audiences (1953). The camera remains stationary throughout this delicate study of conflicting generations in a modern Japanese family, save for one heartbreaking moment when Ozu tracks around a corner to discover the grandparents, alone and forgotten. A masterpiece, minimalist cinema at its finest and most complex.'
Dave Kehr
Here is the trailer.
Capital Celluloid 2012 - Day 36: Sunday Feb 5
Night of the Trailers: Roxy Bar & Screen, 7pm
What do you need to know? This is run by the brilliant Duke Mitchell film club team. They've found some of the most amazing and bizarrer trailers you're ever likely to see. You only have to look at the trailer for this Night of the Trailers evening to know this will be a lot of fun.
The trailer for the Night of the Trailers is here. The Facebook page for the event can be found here.
Here's the introduction from the Duke himself: Welcome to the first ever Night Of The Trailers event, an evening dedicated to those short bursts of cinematic tease that explode onto the screen before the main feature. Only this time there isn’t a main feature, this time it’s just non-stop trailers all night long!
Yes come along for an evening of Coming Attractions as I guide you through the world of the film trailer, from the stylish to the raw to the downright bizarre you’ll see trailers for films you’ve never heard of, from directors long forgotten and from genres you didn’t know existed! I’ve got trailers from the 1930s right up to modern day, trailers from all around the world and from every different type of genre imaginable in this unique one off event.
Some of the highlights to look forward to include: a trailer I created myself for a film that’s so amazing it just has to be seen to be believed, a long lost Grindhouse trailer that’s never been seen by anyone anywhere since its release back in 1976, I’ll also be counting down my Top 5 trailer discoveries of the past year as I guide you through the evening.
So come along an enjoy these, and much more, in an evening of the unexpected and unknown as we take a trip through the Night Of The Trailers.
What do you need to know? This is run by the brilliant Duke Mitchell film club team. They've found some of the most amazing and bizarrer trailers you're ever likely to see. You only have to look at the trailer for this Night of the Trailers evening to know this will be a lot of fun.
The trailer for the Night of the Trailers is here. The Facebook page for the event can be found here.
Here's the introduction from the Duke himself: Welcome to the first ever Night Of The Trailers event, an evening dedicated to those short bursts of cinematic tease that explode onto the screen before the main feature. Only this time there isn’t a main feature, this time it’s just non-stop trailers all night long!
Yes come along for an evening of Coming Attractions as I guide you through the world of the film trailer, from the stylish to the raw to the downright bizarre you’ll see trailers for films you’ve never heard of, from directors long forgotten and from genres you didn’t know existed! I’ve got trailers from the 1930s right up to modern day, trailers from all around the world and from every different type of genre imaginable in this unique one off event.
Some of the highlights to look forward to include: a trailer I created myself for a film that’s so amazing it just has to be seen to be believed, a long lost Grindhouse trailer that’s never been seen by anyone anywhere since its release back in 1976, I’ll also be counting down my Top 5 trailer discoveries of the past year as I guide you through the evening.
So come along an enjoy these, and much more, in an evening of the unexpected and unknown as we take a trip through the Night Of The Trailers.
Capital Celluloid 2012 - Day 35: Saturday Feb 4
Teenage Wasteland: Hackney Picturehouse, 12.45pm till (very) late.
A day-long celebration of the teenage movie, with live comedy, a frat party and screenings of great coming-of-age films. This is the latest event from critic Charlie Lyne (AKA Ultra Culture) and with his pedigree this is sure to be one of the highlights of the movie-going year in London in 2012.
Times and ticket details here. And you can find Charlie's introduction to the whole day (and night) at his website here.
12.45pm Double-Bill:
10 Things I Hate About You (Junger, 1999) & Not Another Teen Movie (Gallen, 2001)
4.30pm:
Scream 2 (Craven, 1997)
4.45pm:
Mallrats (Smith, 1995)
7pm:
Election (Payne, 1999)
9.15pm:
Surprise Film (???????)
10pm:
Frat Party (it's toga chic dress code, and it's a party NOT a movie)
You can get an all-day ticket for £25 - a bargain if you ask me.
A day-long celebration of the teenage movie, with live comedy, a frat party and screenings of great coming-of-age films. This is the latest event from critic Charlie Lyne (AKA Ultra Culture) and with his pedigree this is sure to be one of the highlights of the movie-going year in London in 2012.
Times and ticket details here. And you can find Charlie's introduction to the whole day (and night) at his website here.
12.45pm Double-Bill:
10 Things I Hate About You (Junger, 1999) & Not Another Teen Movie (Gallen, 2001)
4.30pm:
Scream 2 (Craven, 1997)
4.45pm:
Mallrats (Smith, 1995)
7pm:
Election (Payne, 1999)
9.15pm:
Surprise Film (???????)
10pm:
Frat Party (it's toga chic dress code, and it's a party NOT a movie)
You can get an all-day ticket for £25 - a bargain if you ask me.
Capital Celluloid 2012 - Day 34: Friday Feb 3
The Insect Woman (Imamura, 1963): ICA Cinema, 7.30pm
This film is on every night at the ICA through to February 9. Details here.
The ICA introduction: A new restored digital print of a rarely seen classic. The late great Shohei Imamura, Palme D'or winner and most consistently provocative and productive member of the Japanese New Wave made this blistering and innovative film while at the height of his powers. Imamura saw himself as much as an anthropologist as a story-teller famously stating "I like to make messy films . . . I am interested in the relationship of the lower part of the human body and the lower part of the social structure . . . I ask myself what differentiates humans from other animals. What is a human being?"
This is The Story of Film author Mark Cousins' favourite film and here he explains why:
'The Insect Woman, by Imamura Shohei, isn't all that well known, but should be. It's about a lower class Japanese woman who struggles through life, has a child, and works as a maid for a posher woman. It's shocking - at one point the Japanese woman seems to suckle her dad. In another, we see a child scald herself with boiling soup. But there are two reasons why I love it. Firstly, its style. The Insect Woman is one of the most beautiful films ever made. It's shot very widescreen, and the compositions are breathtaking. The scalding scene is done in two amazing shots, one far away from the kid, one from above the stove, with the child out of focus below. The second reason I like it is because of what it says about people. The first shot is an insect scuttling across the land. Then we cut to the woman doing the same. For the rest of the film she scuttles, feral, determined not to give up. To use an insect as a metaphor for a woman is unflattering in a way, but Imamura loves her for her unstoppability, her survival instinct, her glorious forward propulsion. The film moves me to tears and thrills me with its pictorial beauty.'
Here is the trailer.
This film is on every night at the ICA through to February 9. Details here.
The ICA introduction: A new restored digital print of a rarely seen classic. The late great Shohei Imamura, Palme D'or winner and most consistently provocative and productive member of the Japanese New Wave made this blistering and innovative film while at the height of his powers. Imamura saw himself as much as an anthropologist as a story-teller famously stating "I like to make messy films . . . I am interested in the relationship of the lower part of the human body and the lower part of the social structure . . . I ask myself what differentiates humans from other animals. What is a human being?"
This is The Story of Film author Mark Cousins' favourite film and here he explains why:
'The Insect Woman, by Imamura Shohei, isn't all that well known, but should be. It's about a lower class Japanese woman who struggles through life, has a child, and works as a maid for a posher woman. It's shocking - at one point the Japanese woman seems to suckle her dad. In another, we see a child scald herself with boiling soup. But there are two reasons why I love it. Firstly, its style. The Insect Woman is one of the most beautiful films ever made. It's shot very widescreen, and the compositions are breathtaking. The scalding scene is done in two amazing shots, one far away from the kid, one from above the stove, with the child out of focus below. The second reason I like it is because of what it says about people. The first shot is an insect scuttling across the land. Then we cut to the woman doing the same. For the rest of the film she scuttles, feral, determined not to give up. To use an insect as a metaphor for a woman is unflattering in a way, but Imamura loves her for her unstoppability, her survival instinct, her glorious forward propulsion. The film moves me to tears and thrills me with its pictorial beauty.'
Here is the trailer.
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