MAGAZINE
THE PATIENCE STONE JANUARY 2014...
“Unhesitatingly The Rex is the best cinema I have ever seen…” (STimes Culture) “possibly Britain’s most beautiful cinema...” (BBC)
JANUARY 2014 Issue 106 www.therexberkhamsted.com 01442 877759 Mon-Sat 10.30-6pm Sun 4.30-5.30pm To advertise email [email protected] INTRODUCTION
Gallery 4-6 BEST IN JANUARY January Evenings 11 Coming Soon 25 December Films at a glance 25 January Matinees 27 St Albans 42-44
SEAT PRICES (+ REX DONATION £1.00) Circle £8.00+1 Concessions £6.50+1 At Table £10.00+1 Concessions £8.50+1 Royal Box (seats 6) £12.00+1 All is Lost or for the Box £66.00+1 No it's not, Redford's back. He's older, but still All matinees £5, £6.50, £10 (box) +1 "better when he moves" BOX OFFICE : 01442 877759 Wed 29th / Thu 30th 7.30 Mon to Sat 10.30 – 6.00 Sun 4.30 – 6.30 FILMS OF THE MONTH Disabled and flat access: through the gate on High Street (right of apartments)
Some of the girls and boys you see at the Box Office and Bar:
Dayna Archer Ellen Manners Ally Clifton Liam Parker Kitty Clucas Amberly Rose Nicola Darvell Georgia Rose Ashley Davis Sid Sagar Romy Davis Alex Smith Karina Gale Alex Stephenson Ollie Gower Liam Stephenson Elizabeth Hannaway Jordan Turner Cinema Paradiso Billie Hendry-Hughes Bethanné Wallman Natalie Jones James Wallman Simply, one of the most beautiful Abigail Kellett Jack Whiting films ever made Amelia Kellett Olivia Wilson Lydia Kellett Roz Wilson Sun 5th 6.00 / Wed 22nd 7.30 Tatjana LeBoff Keymea Yazdanian Emily Main Yalda Yazdanian
Ushers: Amy, Amy P, Annabel, Becca, Cameron, Ellen W, Ellie, Freya, Hannah, James, Katie, Lizzie, Luke, Meg, Patrick, Sophie, Zoe
Sally Rowbotham In charge Alun Rees Chief projectionist (ret’d) Jon Waugh Projectionist Anna Shepherd Projectionist & writer Martin Coffill Projectionist Jacquie Rose Chief Admin Blue Is The Warmest Colour Oliver Hicks Best Boy (ret’d) This too may be said to be another 'most Simon Messenger Writer Jack Whiting Writer beautiful' Sun 12th 5.00 Jane Clucas & Lynn Hendry PR/Sales/FoH Andrew Dixon Resident Artist Darren Flindall Maintenance Paul Fullagar, Alan Clooney Advisors and Investors Ed Mauger Genius Demiurge Design Magazine Design 01296 668739 Lynn Hendry Advertising 01442 877999 James Hannaway ceo 01442 877999 Betty Patterson Company Secretary and THE ORIGINAL VISIONARY of The Rex. The Rex High Street (Three Close Lane) Berkhamsted HP4 2FG The Patience Stone www.therexberkhamsted.com And this too... Beauty from the other side of the earth Mon 27th 7.30 4 Box Office: 01442 877759 GALLERY
NELSON MANDELA 18 JULY 1918 – 5 DECEMBER 2013
President Mandela, awarding the 1995 Rugby World Cup to SA's captain Francois Pienaar, a historic victory over NZ's All Blacks. Madiba is wearing the despised Springbok's shirt, to shake Francois hand. This picture went world-wide in seconds. It alone is said to have turned South Africa around. "Their open friendship helped forge a new country..."
rich old folk – Neil was there for work. Consequently we were the only people there who had kids. Mandela attended a charity breakfast there and we all lined up outside to wave him off when he left. I think it was widely known that he had a soft spot for kids and seeing our two in the crowd, he made a bee line for us – a very special day for us. A cherished chance meeting with t was in 1998, Billy was two and a 'Madiba' himself. He's holding baby half, Hannah only 4 months old, we Billy's hands. A huge moment for a little Iwere staying at The Mount Nelson, St Albans' family: Helen & Neil Dawson an old colonial style hotel in Cape Town, (Billy's on his shoulders) with tiny used mostly by business travellers or sister Hannah, were all there together. GALLERY www.therexberkhamsted.com 5 PHILOMENA AT THE REX 1ST DECEMBER 2013 n o s p m i S
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Philomena with her daughter Jane in the foyer h P hilomena Lee came to the Rex on just touch her hand. With an Sunday 1st December, to watch extraordinary presence, she held the Pher film and talk to the audience. stage with her own story, sharing For the first time, and away from the laughter with the audience over scripted International jokes added to the screenplay. Premiere/Festival/Interview circus, Everybody was as deeply moved by her she was in a setting where she could beauty, intelligence and humility as they relax with her family around her, and were the film. A truly unforgettable be moved by the film. It was a evening in the company of a very special remarkable evening, with the audience woman. Here’s to her glittering all the at the end coming to talk, to kiss her, or red carpets at the 2014 film awards.
Judi Dench, in the film And here the Philomenas together 2013 6 Box Office: 01442 877759 GALLERY
PETER O’TOOLE 2 AUGUST 1932 – 14 DECEMBER 2013
lready, those glorious RIP things have been said about somebody loved and treasured, but who didn't particularly treasure himself. "My fear is my Aconcern". We saw The Beatles, Connery's first Dr No and Lawrence roughly within the same year. I loved George, wanted to be Lennon, thought I was Sean Bond and wanted to drink with Lawrence in full bedouin in that officer's mess. The gorgeous Peter O'Toole is dead. So we'll have to drink alone from now on. A line fed to him as Lawrence but delivered as Peter O'Toole, might sum up a great and courteous rebel. "The trick, William Potter, is not minding that it hurts..." JANUARY EVENINGS 12 Box Office: 01442 877759 JANUARY EVENINGS
Gravity Philomena Thu 2 7.30, Fri 3 7.30 Sat 4 7.00
Director: Stephen Frears Starring: Judi Dench, Steve Coogan Certificate: 12A Duration: 98 mins Origin: UK/USA/France 2013 By: Twentieth Century Fox
Judi Dench plays Philomena Lee, who in the early 1950s became pregnant as a teenager, she was sent as a ‘fallen woman’ to the convent of Roscrea and forced to give up her child for A pair of satellite engineers are adoption. stranded in space. Gravity, or lack of Steve Coogan, who co-wrote and it, is utterly unique. produced the film also plays the former Alfonso Caurón worked for four years BBC journalist, Martin Sixsmith. The script to get it done. It’s been worth the wait. is adapted from Sixsmith’s 2009 non- Sandra Bullock and George Clooney are fiction book: The Lost Child of Philomena. Stone and Kowalsky; two astronauts out Sixsmith, at a low ebb in his career, agrees in the deep, cold abyss doing a little to help Philomena search for her missing repair work on the Hubble telescope. son with the aim of writing a story about So far so routine, but when they’re told her. Although, originally calling it ‘a that a chunk of satellite debris is human interest story... for weak minded, heading their way at high speed, they ignorant people’. have to move quickly, not easy in Dench and Coogan’s characters are the space. This is when Gravity transforms classic odd couple. On screen together from a therapeutic space adventure into throughout, their trail to find the boy one of the most tense thrillers of recent brings them face to face with some long years; a suffocating, dizzying nightmare buried secrets. that I can only compare to a theme park “The brilliance of Judi Dench’s virgin going a few rounds on Nemesis. performance lies in the sure-footed way Scientific inaccuracies aside, Gravity is a she combines comedy and extreme technical marvel. Thanks to the pathos without ever lapsing into pioneering technology adapted to create caricature.” ( Independent ) this fantastic cinematic masterpiece, the “The film is one of the few capable of ‘camera’ swoops, ducks, and dives; there allowing its watchers to shed a tear and is nowhere the viewer doesn’t have laugh within more or less the same access to. However none of that would sequence” ( Standard ) work if it wasn’t for such an assured Another fabulous award winning turn by performance from Ms Bullock. Space in Dame Judi. Let’s hope for the best during all its vastness has been represented the new year’s awards circus. realistically in cinema before, Philomena herself still lives in St Albans. Kubrick’s 2001 springs to mind, but that She came to the Rex with her family in was made with gaffer and string. Gravity December and completely won-over the makes space terrifying, which is as it audience. (see page 5) should be, and it’s only 91 minutes!
Director: Alfonso Cuarón Starring: Sandra Bullock, George Clooney Certificate: 12A Duration: 91 mins Origin: USA 2013 By: Warner Brothers JANUARY EVENINGS www.therexberkhamsted.com 13
Cinema Paradiso Nebraska Mon 6 7.30 Sun 5 6.00 Director: Alexander Payne Starring: Bruce Dern, Will Forte, Stacy Keach Certificate: 15 Duration: 115 mins Origin: USA 2013 By: Paramount International Pictures
After making side trips to California’s Central Coast (Sideways) and Hawaii (The Descendants) Alexander Payne If ever a film came from the heart, it returns to his home state of Nebraska was Giuseppe Tornatore’s nostalgic for his sixth directorial feature, a Cinema Paradiso (1988) now getting wistful ode to small-town Midwestern a re-release to celebrate its silver life and the idealistic dreams of jubilee. A man takes us back to his stubborn old men. Sicilian childhood as a cheeky scamp The premise seems a dead end: Bruce called Salvatore (Toto) played by a Dern plays an elderly man named Woody lovely little imp, Marcus Leonardi). Grant living in Billings, Montana who Learning to love the magic of film, he gets a letter saying he’s won $1million. befriends the reluctant old projectionist, All he needs to do is call a number and Alfredo (Philippe Noiret, the most maybe buy a magazine subscription. faultless French actor with the gentlest Instead of laughing it off, Woody insists eyes. Died 2006 aged 76). on travelling hundreds of miles to In the dark confines of the Cinema company headquarters in Lincoln, Paradiso, young Toto and the other Nebraska for his fortune. Since he’s lost townsfolk escape grim post-war Sicily to his driving license and his family won’t crowd into the tiny cinema in the town let him walk, it comes down to his son, square. David (Will Forte) to take him. Funny, affectionate, nostalgic, heart- The movie’s true destination turns out breaking, and winner of the Best Foreign not to be Lincoln but a stopover at the Languate Oscar in 1989 (when ‘Best small Nebraska town where Woody once Foreign Language’ was a category) lived. His extended family is there and Cinema Paradiso is a love letter to the so are many old neighbours and friends. power of cinema and is now a constant The film then turns its focus inward to presence in the top best films of all time. the emotional heart of Woody’s absurd, “It is a wonderful and open-hearted romantic quest. tribute to the beauty of cinema… one of “Bruce Dern is at the top of his game.” the finest films about innocence ever (Observer ) made, a perfect picture of a time when “Alexander Payne’s bittersweet road cinema was the only source of laughter movie, which finds Bruce Dern in terrific and joy. The roaring, spitting, smoking, form, blends hard truths with a soft groping scenes in the old Paradiso might heart”. ( Guardian ) ( research Jane Clucas ). come from any culture at any time, just Sad to see Bruce Dern like this. not now, not ours…” Depressingly grey, but uplifting here and (Camilla Long. ST Culture ) Don’t miss it there. for the world.
Director: Giuseppe Tornatore Starring: Jacques Perrin, Philippe Noiret Certificate: PG Duration: 120 mins Origin: Italy/France 1988 By: Arrow Films 14 Box Office: 01442 877759 JANUARY EVENINGS
The Butler Tue 7 7.30, Wed 8 7.30, Sat 11 7.00 On the eve of Barack Obama’s election victory in November 2008, The Washington Post tracked down ‘a story from the back pages of history’ that of Eugene Allen who served in the White House for 34 years before retiring as head butler in 1986. Described as ‘a figure in the tiniest of Director: Lee Daniels print’, Allan had been called ‘Gene’ by Starring: Forest Whitaker, Oprah Winfrey Truman, talked golf with Ford and been Certificate: 12A invited to dinner by the Reagans. More Duration: 132 mins importantly, he had seen America change Origin: USA 2013 from a segregated country in which he By: Entertainment Film Distributors wasn’t allowed to use public lavatories in his native Virginia to a superpower ruled by its first black president. Inspired by this story, Lee Daniel’s star- studded adaptation sees the fictional Cecil Gaines (Forest Whittaker) live an extraordinary life that takes him from the cotton fields of Georgia (where his mother is raped and his father shot) to the corridors of the White House (where the serving staff are black) via an apprenticeship that teaches him to first accept and then to reject the term ‘house nigger’ as servitude turns to empowerment. “Forest Whitaker is quietly powerful as a servant who lived through the long battle for civil rights”. ( M.Kermode ) (research Jane Clucas ). It might be good if it’s not too cloying. Shouldn’t have watched the trailer so much. Come, try the whole film, see how it goes. JANUARY EVENINGS www.therexberkhamsted.com 15
Saving Mr Banks Don Jon Thu 9 7.30 Fri 10 7.30
Director: Joseph Gordon-Levitt Starring: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Julianne Moore, Scarlett Johansson Certificate: 18 Duration: 90 mins Origin: USA 2013 By: Warner Brothers
Joseph Gordon-Levitt writes and stars in his directional debut (clever boy?) The testy stand-off between Walt with the confidence and flair expected Disney and PL Travers, the formidable only from (some) veteran film makers. author of Mary Poppins, is well-known Don Jon is a rom-com of sorts that doesn’t in film circles. Travers resisted attempts flirt with its themes so much as tackling by Disney, his screenwriters and them head on, with hilarious results. composers, to make her fictional heroine Those themes, as it turns out, are to do more lovable, and railed at the thought of with two types of unfulfilling addictions. animation being used in the 1964 film Gordon-Levitt plays Jon, a latter-day bearing her name. lothario whose real-life conquests leave This clash has been reworked into a cat- him longing for the unreal fantasies of and-mouse game that often resembles a hardcore pornography. When he finally seduction. In one corner: Tom Hanks as meets the girl of his dreams (Scarlett Disney, all bluff charm and sweet Johansson), he promises to put aside the persuasive reason. In the other: Emma porn, but can’t, any more than she can Thompson as the prickly Travers, renounce the dopey Hollywood love protective of her literary creation, a stories that fuel her own fantasy dreams. stickler for facts and grammar, and Only when he starts to connect with a suspicious of the wearingly cheerful night-school classmate (Julianne Moore) optimism of the studio’s culture. who has experienced both the pleasure Will starchy old PL finally get thawed by and pain of genuine human interaction Walt’s rich warmth? Will she abandon her does Jon begin to understand what it haughty resistance to his folksiness and means to lose yourself in someone else. schmaltz? And can this intensely One could view Don Jon is the sweet and American figure faithfully represent the punchy alternative to Steve McQueen’s quintessential Britishness (Australianness Shame, and Gordon-Levitt does a fantastic in fact) of the Mary Poppins story? job in front and behind the camera. Issues “Smart, witty entertainment. Job done. regarding sex, porn, and addiction don’t Spit spot”. ( Telegraph ) exactly chime success in cinema, but Don “An enormous spoonful of sugar and the Jon combines them skillfully, painting a tiniest bit of medicine: it all goes down, compelling ménage à trois. ( research/ just about”. ( Guardian ) review Jack Whiting ) It sounds good. Not “It boasts a fine (eyebrows and small to be missed? Come and see. disapproving mouth) performance from Thompson, who starts the movie in eccentric groove like a prickly version of Joyce Grenfell’s Miss Gossage, but slowly and subtly reveals her character’s vulnerabilities and complexities”. (Independent ) ( research JC )
Director: John Hancock Starring: Emma Thompson, Tom Hanks Certificate: PG Duration: 98 mins Origin: Australia/UK/USA 2013 By: Walt Disney Int'l 16 Box Office: 01442 877759 JANUARY EVENINGS Blue is The Warmest Colour Sun 12 5.00 The winner of the Palme d’Or in 2013’s Cannes Film Festival, Abdellatif Kechiche’s stunning portrait of a relationship is a remarkable achievement. Adapted from the graphic novel by Julie Maroh, Kechiche’s film explores a journey through different frontiers that occur in any love affair. Shot in intimate hand-held close-up, it is a work of unhurried, unforced naturalism, but is also full of an intoxicating youthful vigour. Adéle’s life is changed forever when she meets blue-haired Emma. After an encounter in the street; Adéle daydreams this confident older art student into her life. Director: Abdellatif Kerchiche Soon after, Emma does enter Adéle’s life, Starring: Adèle Exarchopoulos, Léa making way for an intense and Seydoux complicated love story that spans a Certificate: 18 decade and is touchingly universal in its depiction. Emma teaches Adéle to Duration: 180 mins discover desire and to assert herself as a Origin: France 2013 woman and as an adult. By: Curzon Film World “Blue is the Warmest Colour is mostly tremendous, and anchored by two of the year’s most fiercely committed performances.” ( Telegraph ) “Fearless, relatable and beautiful, this is one of the year’s best. Holding you so close for so long, you won’t want to break free.” ( Total Film ) Come see why the Palme d’Or (with Jury headed by Steven Spielberg) was awarded to leading actresses: Léa Seydoux and Adèle Exarchopoulos and their director, as Blue is the Warmest Colour makes its long anticipated appearance here at the Rex. ( Anna Shepherd ) JANUARY EVENINGS www.therexberkhamsted.com 17
Utopia Saving Mr Banks Mon 13 7.30 Tue 14 7.30
Director: John Hancock Starring: Emma Thompson, Tom Hanks Certificate: PG Duration: 98 mins Origin: Australia/UK/USA 2013 By: Walt Disney Int'l
The testy stand-off between Walt Disney and PL Travers, the formidable author of Mary Poppins, is well-known John Pilger returns to his native in film circles. Travers resisted attempts Australia to see if the treatment of by Disney, his screenwriters and Aborigines has improved since his composers, to make her fictional heroine earlier documentary: The Secret more lovable, and railed at the thought of Country in 1985. animation being used in the 1964 film Utopia is an epic portrayal of the world’s bearing her name. “oldest continuous human culture” and This clash has been reworked into a cat- an investigation into a suppressed and-mouse game that often resembles a colonial past and rapacious present. seduction. In one corner: Tom Hanks as The illuminating moments of the film Disney, all bluff charm and sweet come from the Aborigines themselves. persuasive reason. In the other: Emma The people whose ancestors lived in Thompson as the prickly Travers, Australia prior to British colonisation, protective of her literary creation, a have now been pushed to the fringes of stickler for facts and grammar, and society, often living in shocking levels of suspicious of the wearingly cheerful deprivation, dying early and getting optimism of the studio’s culture. barraged with racial abuse along the Will starchy old PL finally get thawed by way. One of the world’s best kept secrets Walt’s rich warmth? Will she abandon her is revealed against a background of the haughty resistance to his folksiness and greatest boom in mineral wealth. schmaltz? And can this intensely “To see this is to engage with arguably American figure faithfully represent the the most shocking case of political and quintessential Britishness (Australianness social oppression in an affluent in fact) of the Mary Poppins story? country.” ( LittleWhiteLies ) “Smart, witty entertainment. Job done. “When the subject and subjects are Spit spot”. ( Telegraph ) allowed to speak for themselves, they “An enormous spoonful of sugar and the glow like throbbing wounds, unlike tiniest bit of medicine: it all goes down, when Pilger stands and preaches the just about”. ( Guardian ) injustices.” ( Financial Times ) “It boasts a fine (eyebrows and small Utopia is both a personal journey and disapproving mouth) performance from universal story of power and resistance Thompson, who starts the movie in and how modern societies can be eccentric groove like a prickly version of divided between those who conform and Joyce Grenfell’s Miss Gossage, but slowly a dystopian world of those who don’t. and subtly reveals her character’s (Anna Shepherd ) The now familiar story vulnerabilities and complexities”. of big business stopping at no trick too (Independent ) ( research JC ) dirty to get its hands on mineral wealth below Aboriginal (or any) soil.
Director: John Pilger Certificate: 12A Duration: 115 mins Origin: UK 2013 By: Dartmouth Films 18 Box Office: 01442 877759 JANUARY EVENINGS
Philomena Captain Phillips Wed 15 7.30, Tue 21 7.30 Thu 16 7.30
Director: Paul Greengrass Starring: Tom Hanks Certificate: 12A Duration: 134 mins Origin: USA 2013 By: Sony Pictures Releasing
We’re still reeling from the intensity of A Hijacking and now another cargo ship has been boarded by Somali Judi Dench plays Philomena Lee, who pirates, this time however, Tom in the early 1950s became pregnant as Hanks is on board, so it’ll all be a teenager, she was sent as a ‘fallen okay… woman’ to the convent of Roscrea and Captain Phillips is the true-ish story of a forced to give up her child for skipper whose vessel was overrun by adoption. pirates off the coast of Somalia in 2009. Steve Coogan, who co-wrote and It gives British director Paul Greengrass produced the film also plays the former licence to indulge two of his favourite BBC journalist, Martin Sixsmith. The script storytelling pastimes: high-stakes is adapted from Sixsmith’s 2009 non- tension and real-world politics, and lots fiction book: The Lost Child of Philomena. of hand-held camera shake (see United Sixsmith, at a low ebb in his career, agrees ‘93 and the Bourne’s: Supremacy & to help Philomena search for her missing Ultimatum). son with the aim of writing a story about It also sees Tom Hanks playing an her. Although, originally calling it ‘a unexceptional guy at the heart of an human interest story... for weak minded, exceptional crisis. (Bearded, paunchy ignorant people’. and comfortable; the complete Dench and Coogan’s characters are the antithesis of his skinny captors). classic odd couple. On screen together “Greengrass doesn’t deny either, their throughout, their trail to find the boy heroic qualities, Phillips shows brings them face to face with some long resilience and courage yet there’s buried secrets. nothing superhuman about any of “The brilliance of Judi Dench’s them.” ( Time Out ) performance lies in the sure-footed way “It might have all been another she combines comedy and extreme Hollywood-formula flick with American pathos without ever lapsing into might taking on the alien other. But caricature.” ( Independent ) Greengrass gives Phillips and his captors “The film is one of the few capable of equal bearing, with time to discover allowing its watchers to shed a tear and shared beliefs and fears” ( Rolling Stone ) laugh within more or less the same It is without a doubt one of, if sequence” ( Standard ) not the best role of Hanks’ career. Another fabulous award winning turn by Applause too to Greengrass for Dame Judi. Let’s hope for the best during delivering yet another edge-of-seat the new year’s awards circus. movie. ( research Jack Whiting ). Philomena herself still lives in St Albans. It was all a bit shouty for me. She came to the Rex with her family in December and completely won-over the audience. (see page 5)
Director: Stephen Frears Starring: Judi Dench, Steve Coogan Certificate: 12A Duration: 98 mins Origin: UK/USA/France 2013 By: Twentieth Century Fox JANUARY EVENINGS www.therexberkhamsted.com 19
The Hunger Games: Catching Fire Fri 17 7.30, Sat 18 7.00, Sun 19 6.00 This sequel to the wildly successful Hunger Games gets down and dirty with its contestants upping the stakes, and a triple OTT in costume design. “The story picks up in the classico- futurist kingdom of Panem, where an annual bread-and-circuses spectacle has teenagers competing for rations in a televised fight to the death. The first film introduced us to Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence), a bold 16-year-old who volunteers for the fight. By the start of Catching Fire, she is a champion, celebrity and role model, trapped in the crowd-pleasing romance she concocted with fellow contender Peeta Mellark (Josh Hutcherson) while her secret lover Gale (Liam Hemsworth) languishes on the sidelines. President Snow (a brilliantly malign Director: Francis Lawrence Donald Sutherland, and looking better than ever) is still in charge, but Katniss’s Starring: Jennifer Lawrence, Josh clever, rule-bending victory has made the Hutcherson populace itch for revolution. Snow’s Certificate: 12A Machiavellian media chief (Philip Duration: 146 mins Seymour Hoffman) suggests a simple Origin: USA 2013 solution: commission a special, all-star By: Lionsgate Films UK Hunger Games that will bring Katniss back into the arena, where she will lose her reputation and then her life. Catching Fire continues to distance itself from the Twilight crowd and succeeds admirably; inching ever closer to the televised carnage of Battle Royale, but with nary a drop of blood in sight. Lawrence too brings a gravitas seldom seen in young actresses. Roll on part three. ( research Jack Whiting ) 20 Box Office: 01442 877759 JANUARY EVENINGS
Jeune et Jolie Cinema Paradiso Mon 20 7.30 Wed 22 7.30
Director: Giuseppe Tornatore Starring: Jacques Perrin, Philippe Noiret Certificate: PG Duration: 120 mins Origin: Italy/France 1988 By: Arrow Films
If ever a film came from the heart, it was Giuseppe Tornatore’s nostalgic Cinema Paradiso (1988) now getting In many ways an extension of his a re-release to celebrate its silver mischievous and deft In the House. jubilee. A man takes us back to his François Ozon’s latest film – Jeune et Sicilian childhood as a cheeky scamp Jolie, continues to explore the effects of called Salvatore (Toto) played by a a rebellious teenager’s behaviour and lovely little imp, Marcus Leonardi). the impact on a typical bourgeois Learning to love the magic of film, he family. befriends the reluctant old projectionist, Like a modern-day telling of Buñuel’s Alfredo (Philippe Noiret, the most classic Belle De Jour (1967), but rather faultless French actor with the gentlest than Catherine Deneuve’s bored eyes. Died 2006 aged 76). housewife; the film links teenage In the dark confines of the Cinema schoolgirl, Isabelle (model Marine Vacth) Paradiso, young Toto and the other on an unexpected journey of self- townsfolk escape grim post-war Sicily to discovery, albeit in an unconventional crowd into the tiny cinema in the town way. square. After a brief holiday romance, Isabelle Funny, affectionate, nostalgic, heart- returns to Paris life; and for no directly- breaking, and winner of the Best Foreign clear reason, she embarks on a secret life Languate Oscar in 1989 (when ‘Best of prostitution. Divided into four seasonal Foreign Language’ was a category) chapters, each accompanied by a different Cinema Paradiso is a love letter to the tune from Françoise Hardy. power of cinema and is now a constant “The crisp elegance of Ozon’s style presence in the top best films of all time. commands your interest, even as the “It is a wonderful and open-hearted film’s blank psychology pays dwindling tribute to the beauty of cinema… one of dividends.” ( Telegraph ) the finest films about innocence ever “An engagingly provocative French drama made, a perfect picture of a time when with an enigmatic central performance cinema was the only source of laughter from newcomer Marine Vacth, and a and joy. The roaring, spitting, smoking, superbly written script that steers groping scenes in the old Paradiso might commendably clear of the expected come from any culture at any time, just clichés.”( ViewLondon ) not now, not ours…” Ozon’s unsensational approach perfectly (Camilla Long. ST Culture ) Don’t miss it complements the youthful irreverence of for the world. the main character, while leaving audiences to come to their own moral conclusion. ( Anna Shepherd ) Another tale of youth and beauty, an age old story from French master-story tellers. Not to be missed.
Director: Francois Ozon Starring: Marine Vacth, Fantin Ravat Certificate: 18 Duration: 94 mins Origin: France 2013 By: Lionsgate Films UK JANUARY EVENINGS www.therexberkhamsted.com 21
Kill Your Darlings Thu 23 7.30 Daniel Radcliffe dons another pair of iconic glasses, this time to play Beat Generation icon Allen Ginsberg. Set during the famed poet’s early years at Columbia University in the 1940s. He swiftly falls under the spell of handsome, charismatic Lucien Carr (Dane DeHaan) who sees himself as the Director: John Krokidas architect of an artistic ‘New Vision’. Starring: Daniel Radcliffe, Ben Foster Carr introduces Ginsberg to Jack Certificate: 15 Kerouac and William Burroughs, Duration: 104 mins bringing together the founding fathers Origin: USA 2013 of the Beat Movement. Meanwhile, an By: The Works UK Distribution older outsider named David Krammerer (Michael C. Hall) becomes obsessed with free spirited Carr. Ginsberg becomes embroiled in a real life murder case that involved the stabbing to death in dubious circumstances of one gay man by another. “Sex, drugs, murder, radical verse and Radcliffe make persuasive bedfellows in Krokidas’ live-wire lit-pic. It gets busy, but fizzy direction and Radcliffe’s rigour help to keep its pulse alive”. ( Total Film ) “The story is somewhat specialised but as films about writers go, especially the Beats, this is one of the best, an intoxicating, absorbing and handsome exploration of what it really means to be inspired, featuring Daniel Radcliffe’s best post-Potter performance.” ( Empire ) Come see Radcliffe shake off his childhood cloak and pupate into a praiseworthy and mature actor. ( Anna Shepherd ) 22 Box Office: 01442 877759 JANUARY EVENINGS Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom Fri 24 7.30, Sat 25 7.00, Sun 26 6.00, Tue 28 7.30 He was 27 years in jail for speaking out, much of it tortuous hard-labour, breaking rocks for no reason. In film terms if it helps, think of Cool Hand Luke being forced to dig that huge hole, fill it in, then dig it again and again. Nelson Mandela walked slowly to freedom, took charge of a country in turmoil and about to explode into a 100 years war. Then miraculously calmed it down. And even though, it is still a tough place to live, and probably will be for ever, it is not suffocated by bloody civil war. Then, as if to defy the life sentence, his jailors and the State, he died at 95, a free man in one piece. “I’m getting heartily sick of hearing people say Mr Mandela’s greatest Director: Justin Chadwick achievement was his capacity to forgive. Starring: Idris Elba, Naomie Harris No that’s not his greatest achievement. Certificate: 12A His greatest achievement was Duration: 147 mins overthrowing you buggers, and the fact Origin: USA 2013 that he didn’t then force you to spend By: Twentieth Century Fox the rest of your life cleaning every toilet in Soweto with your own toothbrush, is frankly disappointing...” ( the exquisite Jeremy Hardy: News Quiz 13.12.13 ) There is no victory greater than to win without retaliation, grandstanding, incitement or a smug arrogance. Although a bit of toothbrushing toilets wouldn’t have gone amiss. JANUARY EVENINGS www.therexberkhamsted.com 23
The Patience Stone All Is Lost Mon 27 7.30 Wed 29 7.30, Thu 30 7.30
Director: J. Chandor Starring: Robert Redford Certificate: 12A Duration: 106 mins Origin: USA 2013 By: Universal Pictures (UK) Ltd
Sometimes simplicity is all you need. Here, Robert Redford is lost at sea on a leaky boat. That’s it, no dialogue, just Golshifteh Farahani plays a beautiful one man against the elements in a game but careworn woman in a ruined of pure survival. war-zone, (possibly Afghanistan) Redford takes on an almost wordless role obediently tending to her wounded as an extraordinarily unlucky sailor. He husband, who is in a persistent awakes one morning to find that his vegetative state after being shot in yacht has been pierced by a cargo the neck. In life, he was a cruel and container, one corner of the metal tyrannical husband, and his wife is now monstrosity embedded in the fibreglass sensing that despite the crushing burden hull like an oblong wrecking ball. of caring for him, she has a euphoric Worse still, water has gushed in and kind of freedom in speaking her mind to shorted out all the power on the vessel, his mute, unblinking quasi-corpse. rendering any contact with the rest of the It’s a situation which exposes her to world impossible. danger from the marauders, but also As Gravity has proven so confidently, the allows her to say things she would never concept of one person stranded against have dreamed of saying to her husband insurmountable odds is utterly thrilling during their marriage. The man has and emotionally draining, as this shows, become what ancient tradition called a albeit with splinters and sea water “patience stone”, a mystical jewel to replacing computer wizardry. And it’s all which all cares and worries can be him, at 75! cathartically confided. “Robert Redford delivers a tour de force: “Her candid story is gripping; her holding the screen effortlessly with no sensuality and sexuality, together with acting support whatsoever. After a period defiant self-respect, powerfully uncoil. of scaling back performance to This is a film to be compared with accommodate directing and the Sundance Almodovar’s Talk To Her or maybe festival, he appears to be re-emerging Dennis Potter’s Brimstone and Treacle. energised.” ( Guardian ) Its final moments have overwhelming Redford clearly isn’t ready to retire, and force”. ( Guardian ) in understatement alone, were it not for “After countless macho movies about this year’s weighty political competitors, Afghanistan in the shadow of war, it is he would secure awards for the best refreshing to encounter a film with such performance of his illustrious career. a lyrical and offbeat approach”. (research Jack Whiting ) Try Jeremiah (Independent ) ( research Jane Clucas ) Johnson, Jack (1972). Try not to lose patience, just don’t miss. For me, Robert Redford can do no wrong.
Director: Atiq Rahimi Starring: Golshifteh Farahani Certificate: 15 Duration: 102 mins Origin: Afghanistan/France/ Germany/UK 2012 By: Axiom Films 24 Box Office: 01442 877759 JANUARY EVENINGS
Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues Fri 31 7.30 By the beard of Zeus! Has it really been nine years? Ron Burgundy’s story truly did enter legend as its cult status caused the fans to demand a sequel . And inevitably, here it is. Ron has left the sleepy streets of 1970s San Diego for the bright 1980s lights of the Big Apple. Now married to co-anchor Veronica Corningstone (Christina Applegate) Burgundy, looking more like a porn star than a newsman, is flying high. Until, that is, the pair’s new boss, Mack Harken (Harrison Ford) bumps Corningstone up to primetime, and dumps Burgundy altogether. After a spectacularly inept suicide Director: Adam McKay attempt, a washed-up Ron is rescued by Starring: Will Ferrell, Paul Rudd, Christina his former producer who rallies behind his one-time news champ. Reignited, Applegate, Meagan Good Burgundy then reconnects with his posse, Certificate: 15 Champ Kind (David Koechner), Brian Duration: 119 mins Fantana (Paul Rudd) and weatherman Origin: USA 2013 Brick Tamland (Steve Carell), who then By: Paramount International Pictures face-off with slick newscaster Jack Lime (James Marsden), himself now oblivious to change. Delivering 24-hour news inexplicably brings Burgundy and his merry band of misfits back into vogue. With supposedly enough unrestrained, improvised material to fill around five hours, Anchorman’s zaniness doesn’t disappoint. For the uninitiated it may all seem a little too ‘WTF’, but all you Burgundy fans out there, be rest assured, it’s a doozy. ( research Jack Whiting ). At under two hours, there’ll be somewhere Ferrell fans will find the missing 3 hrs improv. JANUARY LISTINGS AND COMING SOON 25
COMING SOON JANUARY FILMS AT A GLANCE Please check times carefully and watch out for early shows.
New releases 1 Wed CINEMA CLOSED – NEW YEARS DAY American Hustle Railway Man 2 Thu GRAVITY 2.00, 7.30 12 Years A Slave 3 Fri GRAVITY 7.30 Michael Kohlhaas 4 Sat SAVING MR BANKS 2.00 4 Sat PHILOMENA 7.00 Back by demand 5 Sun CINEMA PARADISO 6.00 Blue Is The Warmest Colour 6 Mon PHILOMENA 2.00 All Is Lost 6 Mon NEBRASKA 7.30 Mandela 7 Tue THE BUTLER 12.30, 7.30 Philomena 8 Wed PHILOMENA 2.00 Gravity Anchorman 2 8 Wed THE BUTLER 7.30 The Butler 9 Thu THE BUTLER 2.00 9 Thu SAVING MR BANKS 7.30 10 Fri DON JON 7.30 11 Sat FREE BIRDS 2.00 11 Sat THE BUTLER 7.00 12 Sun BLUE IS THE WARMEST COLOUR 5.00 13 Mon GRAVITY 2.00 13 Mon UTOPIA 7.30 14 Tue GRAVITY 12.30 American Hustle 14 Tue SAVING MR BANKS 7.30 15 Wed PHILOMENA 2.00, 7.30 16 Thu NEBRASKA 2.00 16 Thu CAPTAIN PHILLIPS 7.30 17 Fri THE HUNGER GAMES 2 7.30 18 Sat CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF MEATBALLS 2 2.00 18 Sat THE HUNGER GAMES 2 7.00 19 Sun THE HUNGER GAMES 2 6.00 Railway Man 20 Mon THE HUNGER GAMES 2 2.00 20 Mon JEUNE ET JOLIE 7.30 21 Tue THE HUNGER GAMES 2 12.30 21 Tue PHILOMENA 7.30 22 Wed CINEMA PARADISO 2.00, 7.30 23 Thu CINEMA PARADISO 2.00 23 Thu KILL YOUR DARLINGS 7.30 24 Fri MANDELA: LONG WALK TO FREEDOM 7.30 25 Sat FROZEN 2.00 Michael Kohlhaas 25 Sat MANDELA: LONG WALK TO FREEDOM 7.00 12 Years A Slave 26 Sun MANDELA: LONG WALK TO FREEDOM 6.00 27 Mon MANDELA: LONG WALK TO FREEDOM 2.00 27 Mon THE PATIENCE STONE 7.30 28 Tue MANDELA: LONG WALK TO FREEDOM 12.30, 7.30 29 Wed CAPTAIN PHILLIPS 2.00 29 Wed ALL IS LOST 7.30 30 Thu ALL IS LOST 2.00, 7.30 31 Fri ANCHORMAN 2 7.30 JANUARY MATINEES
ALL MATINEES: Balcony £5.00 • Table seats £6.50 • Royal Box seats £10.00 Matinee Warning: May contain babies 28 Box Office: 01442 877759 JANUARY MATINEES
Gravity Saving Mr Banks Thu 2 2.00 Sat 4 2.00
Director: John Hancock Starring: Emma Thompson, Tom Hanks Certificate: PG Duration: 98 mins Origin: Australia/UK/USA 2013 By: Walt Disney Int'l
The testy stand-off between Walt Disney and PL Travers, the formidable author of Mary Poppins, is well-known in film circles. Travers resisted attempts A pair of satellite engineers are by Disney, his screenwriters and stranded in space. Gravity, or lack of composers, to make her fictional heroine it, is utterly unique. more lovable, and railed at the thought of Alfonso Caurón worked for four years animation being used in the 1964 film to get it done. It’s been worth the wait. bearing her name. Sandra Bullock and George Clooney are This clash has been reworked into a cat- Stone and Kowalsky; two astronauts out and-mouse game that often resembles a in the deep, cold abyss doing a little seduction. In one corner: Tom Hanks as repair work on the Hubble telescope. Disney, all bluff charm and sweet So far so routine, but when they’re told persuasive reason. In the other: Emma that a chunk of satellite debris is heading Thompson as the prickly Travers, their way at high speed, they have to protective of her literary creation, a move quickly, not easy in space. This is stickler for facts and grammar, and when Gravity transforms from a suspicious of the wearingly cheerful therapeutic space adventure into one of optimism of the studio’s culture. the most tense thrillers of recent years; Will starchy old PL finally get thawed by a suffocating, dizzying nightmare that I Walt’s rich warmth? Will she abandon her can only compare to a theme park virgin haughty resistance to his folksiness and going a few rounds on Nemesis. schmaltz? And can this intensely Scientific inaccuracies aside, Gravity is a American figure faithfully represent the technical marvel. Thanks to the quintessential Britishness (Australianness pioneering technology adapted to create in fact) of the Mary Poppins story? this fantastic cinematic masterpiece, the “Smart, witty entertainment. Job done. ‘camera’ swoops, ducks, and dives; there Spit spot”. ( Telegraph ) is nowhere the viewer doesn’t have “An enormous spoonful of sugar and the access to. However none of that would tiniest bit of medicine: it all goes down, work if it wasn’t for such an assured just about”. ( Guardian ) performance from Ms Bullock. Space in “It boasts a fine (eyebrows and small all its vastness has been represented disapproving mouth) performance from realistically in cinema before, Thompson, who starts the movie in Kubrick’s 2001 springs to mind, but that eccentric groove like a prickly version of was made with gaffer and string. Gravity Joyce Grenfell’s Miss Gossage, but slowly makes space terrifying, which is as it and subtly reveals her character’s should be, and it’s only 91 minutes! vulnerabilities and complexities”. (Independent ) ( research JC )
Director: Alfonso Cuarón Starring: Sandra Bullock, George Clooney Certificate: 12A Duration: 91 mins Origin: USA 2013 By: Warner Brothers JANUARY MATINEES www.therexberkhamsted.com 29
Philomena The Butler Mon 6 2.00, Wed 8 2.00 Tue 7 12.30, Thu 9 2.00
Director: Lee Daniels Starring: Forest Whitaker, Oprah Winfrey Certificate: 12A Duration: 132 mins Origin: USA 2013 By: Entertainment Film Distributors
On the eve of Barack Obama’s election victory in November 2008, The Washington Post tracked down ‘a story from the back pages of history’ Judi Dench plays Philomena Lee, who that of Eugene Allen who served in in the early 1950s became pregnant as the White House for 34 years before a teenager, she was sent as a ‘fallen retiring as head butler in 1986. woman’ to the convent of Roscrea and Described as ‘a figure in the tiniest of forced to give up her child for adoption. print’, Allan had been called ‘Gene’ by Steve Coogan, who co-wrote and Truman, talked golf with Ford and been produced the film also plays the former invited to dinner by the Reagans. More BBC journalist, Martin Sixsmith. The script importantly, he had seen America is adapted from Sixsmith’s 2009 non- change from a segregated country in fiction book: The Lost Child of Philomena. which he wasn’t allowed to use public Sixsmith, at a low ebb in his career, agrees lavatories in his native Virginia to a to help Philomena search for her missing superpower ruled by its first black son with the aim of writing a story about president. her. Although, originally calling it ‘a Inspired by this story, Lee Daniel’s star- human interest story... for weak minded, studded adaptation sees the fictional ignorant people’. Cecil Gaines (Forest Whittaker) live an Dench and Coogan’s characters are the extraordinary life that takes him from classic odd couple. On screen together the cotton fields of Georgia (where his throughout, their trail to find the boy mother is raped and his father shot) to brings them face to face with some long the corridors of the White House (where buried secrets. the serving staff are black) via an “The brilliance of Judi Dench’s apprenticeship that teaches him to first performance lies in the sure-footed way accept and then to reject the term ‘house she combines comedy and extreme pathos nigger’ as servitude turns to without ever lapsing into caricature.” empowerment. (Independent ) “Forest Whitaker is quietly powerful as a “The film is one of the few capable of servant who lived through the long allowing its watchers to shed a tear and battle for civil rights”. ( M.Kermode ) laugh within more or less the same (research Jane Clucas ). It might be good sequence” ( Standard ) if it’s not too cloying. Shouldn’t have Another fabulous award winning turn by watched the trailer so much. Come, try Dame Judi. Let’s hope for the best during the whole film, see how it goes. the new year’s awards circus. Philomena herself still lives in St Albans. She came to the Rex with her family in December and completely won-over the audience. (see page 5)
Director: Stephen Frears Starring: Judi Dench, Steve Coogan Certificate: 12A Duration: 98 mins Origin: UK/USA/France2 013 By: Twentieth Century Fox 30 Box Office: 01442 877759 JANUARY MATINEES
Free Birds Gravity Sat 11 2.00 Mon 13 2.00, Tue 14 12.30
Director: Alfonso Cuarón Starring: Sandra Bullock, George Clooney Certificate: 12A Duration: 91 mins Origin: USA 2013 By: Warner Brothers
A pair of satellite engineers are stranded in space. Gravity, or lack of it, is utterly unique. Owen Wilson voices Reggie, a turkey, Alfonso Caurón worked for four years who like all the other turkeys, is to get it done. It’s been worth the wait. heading for the chop, only to be Sandra Bullock and George Clooney are miraculously saved by the president Stone and Kowalsky; two astronauts out himself. in the deep, cold abyss doing a little The prez has chosen him as the repair work on the Hubble telescope. traditional ‘pardoned turkey’ and so So far so routine, but when they’re told living with America’s First Family, that a chunk of satellite debris is heading Reggie finds out about top-secret their way at high speed, they have to military plans to develop a time move quickly, not easy in space. This is machine. He sneaks into this hi-tech when Gravity transforms from a craft, on a personal mission to head back therapeutic space adventure into one of to Plymouth Colony 1621, and change the most tense thrillers of recent years; the turkey-eating tradition so he and his a suffocating, dizzying nightmare that I kind can be spared. Now, given what we can only compare to a theme park virgin know about what continues to be the going a few rounds on Nemesis. Thanksgiving food of choice in America, Scientific inaccuracies aside, Gravity is a how can the film arrive at a happy technical marvel. Thanks to the ending? pioneering technology adapted to create “It’s troublesome to know that anyone this fantastic cinematic masterpiece, the who’s seen Chicken Run will wonder ‘camera’ swoops, ducks, and dives; there why they’re not enjoying a well- is nowhere the viewer doesn’t have constructed Aardman animation rather access to. However none of that would than attempting to make sense of this work if it wasn’t for such an assured incoherent transatlantic trifle.” ( Mark performance from Ms Bullock. Space in Kermode ) all its vastness has been represented “The target audience may be the kids realistically in cinema before, who’ll stare goggle-eyed at any low-rent Kubrick’s 2001 springs to mind, but that Pixar knockoff, but the purported was made with gaffer and string. Gravity humour and reliance on nonsensical plot makes space terrifying, which is as it twists are pure stoner. To call this a should be, and it’s only 91 minutes! turkey would be an insult to poultry.” (Time Out ) Why do grown-up crits get so animated about kids cartoons? Take no notice, it’s a January Saturday afternoon, and it is only a “trifle”. See what the “goggle-eyed” kids think
Director: Jimmy Hayward Starring: Owen Wilson, Woody Harrelson Certificate: U Duration: 91 mins Origin: USA 2013 By: Entertainment One UK JANUARY MATINEES www.therexberkhamsted.com 31
Philomena Nebraska Wed 15 2.00 Thu 16 2.00
Director: Alexander Payne Starring: Bruce Dern, Will Forte, Stacy Keach Certificate: 15 Duration: 115 mins Origin: USA 2013 By: Paramount International Pictures
After making side trips to California’s Central Coast (Sideways) and Hawaii Judi Dench plays Philomena Lee, who (The Descendants) Alexander Payne in the early 1950s became pregnant as returns to his home state of Nebraska a teenager, she was sent as a ‘fallen for his sixth directorial feature, a woman’ to the convent of Roscrea and wistful ode to small-town Midwestern forced to give up her child for adoption. life and the idealistic dreams of Steve Coogan, who co-wrote and stubborn old men. produced the film also plays the former The premise seems a dead end: Bruce BBC journalist, Martin Sixsmith. The script Dern plays an elderly man named Woody is adapted from Sixsmith’s 2009 non- Grant living in Billings, Montana who fiction book: The Lost Child of Philomena. gets a letter saying he’s won $1million. Sixsmith, at a low ebb in his career, agrees All he needs to do is call a number and to help Philomena search for her missing maybe buy a magazine subscription. son with the aim of writing a story about Instead of laughing it off, Woody insists her. Although, originally calling it ‘a on travelling hundreds of miles to human interest story... for weak minded, company headquarters in Lincoln, ignorant people’. Nebraska for his fortune. Since he’s lost Dench and Coogan’s characters are the his driving license and his family won’t classic odd couple. On screen together let him walk, it comes down to his son, throughout, their trail to find the boy David (Will Forte) to take him. brings them face to face with some long The movie’s true destination turns out buried secrets. not to be Lincoln but a stopover at the “The brilliance of Judi Dench’s small Nebraska town where Woody once performance lies in the sure-footed way lived. His extended family is there and so she combines comedy and extreme pathos are many old neighbours and friends. without ever lapsing into caricature.” The film then turns its focus inward to (Independent ) the emotional heart of Woody’s absurd, “The film is one of the few capable of romantic quest. allowing its watchers to shed a tear and “Bruce Dern is at the top of his game.” laugh within more or less the same (Observer ) sequence” ( Standard ) “Alexander Payne’s bittersweet road Another fabulous award winning turn by movie, which finds Bruce Dern in terrific Dame Judi. Let’s hope for the best during form, blends hard truths with a soft the new year’s awards circus. heart”. ( Guardian ) ( research Jane Clucas ). Philomena herself still lives in St Albans. Sad to see Bruce Dern like this. She came to the Rex with her family in Depressingly grey, but uplifting here and December and completely won-over the there. audience. (see page 5)
Director: Stephen Frears Starring: Judi Dench, Steve Coogan Certificate: 12A Duration: 98 mins Origin: UK/USA/France2 013 By: Twentieth Century Fox 32 Box Office: 01442 877759 JANUARY MATINEES
Cloudy With A The Hunger Games: Chance Of Catching Fire Meatballs 2 Sat 18 2.00 Mon 20 2.00, Tue 21 12.30
Director: Francis Lawrence Starring: Jennifer Lawrence Certificate: 12A Duration: 146 mins Origin: USA 2013 By: Lionsgate Films UK
This sequel to the wildly successful Hunger Games gets down and dirty with its contestants upping the stakes, and a triple OTT in costume design. The first shower of meatballs was a “The story picks up in the classico- hyperkinetic, sugar-rush of fart jokes futurist kingdom of Panem, where an and sight gags that proved successful annual bread-and-circuses spectacle has with kids and adults alike, and round teenagers competing for rations in a two doesn’t show signs of slowing televised fight to the death. The first film down. introduced us to Katniss Everdeen It picks up not long after the first film (Jennifer Lawrence), a bold 16-year-old leaves off, with the town of Swallow who volunteers for the fight. By the start Falls, devastated by the foodnados and of Catching Fire, she is a champion, foodalanaches unleashed by our hapless celebrity and role model, trapped in the inventor hero Flint Lockwood (Bill crowd-pleasing romance she concocted Hader) it is now in desperate need of with fellow contender Peeta Mellark (Josh cleanup. To the rescue comes Flint’s Hutcherson) while her secret lover Gale hero Chester V (Will Forte) part mad (Liam Hemsworth) languishes on the scientist and part Steve Jobs, who offers sidelines. the services of his huge tech company President Snow (a brilliantly malign Live Corp to tidy things up. Meanwhile, Donald Sutherland, and looking better Flint goes off to Live Corp’s than ever) is still in charge, but Katniss’s headquarters and enters the race to clever, rule-bending victory has made the achieve a lifelong dream and join the populace itch for revolution. Snow’s company’s hive-mind of inventors. Machiavellian media chief (Philip But before the movie can turn into The Seymour Hoffman) suggests a simple Internship, Flint and his pals are called solution: commission a special, all-star back to their island, which has Hunger Games that will bring Katniss apparently been overrun by armies of back into the arena, where she will lose living food monsters, including a her reputation and then her life. terrifying cheeseburger with chips for Catching Fire continues to distance itself legs and a thousand sesame seeds for from the Twilight crowd and succeeds eyes. admirably; inching ever closer to the A little undercooked when stacked up televised carnage of Battle Royale, but against the original, then, but Cloudy 2 with nary a drop of blood in sight. retains a lot of the feverish energy that Lawrence too brings a gravitas seldom has made it a surprise success. ( Jack seen in young actresses. Roll on part Whiting ) Fun, silly food antics and great three. ( research Jack Whiting ) animation. Don’t miss.
Directors: Cody Cameron, Kris Pearn Voices: Bill Hader, Anna Faris, James Caan, Benjamin Bratt Certificate: U Duration: 95 mins Origin: USA 2013 By: Sony Pictures Releasing JANUARY MATINEES www.therexberkhamsted.com 33
Cinema Paradiso Wed 22 2.00, Thu 23 2.00 If ever a film came from the heart, it was Giuseppe Tornatore’s nostalgic Cinema Paradiso (1988) now getting a re-release to celebrate its silver jubilee. A man takes us back to his Sicilian childhood as a cheeky scamp called Salvatore (Toto) played by a lovely little imp, Marcus Leonardi). Learning to love the magic of film, he befriends the reluctant old projectionist, Alfredo (Philippe Noiret, the most faultless French actor with the gentlest eyes. Died 2006 aged 76). In the dark confines of the Cinema Paradiso, young Toto and the other townsfolk escape grim post-war Sicily to crowd into the tiny cinema in the town square. Director: Giuseppe Tornatore Funny, affectionate, nostalgic, heart- Starring: Jacques Perrin, Philippe Noiret breaking, and winner of the Best Foreign Certificate: PG Languate Oscar in 1989 (when ‘Best Duration: 120 mins Foreign Language’ was a category) Origin: Italy/France 1988 Cinema Paradiso is a love letter to the By: Arrow Films power of cinema and is now a constant presence in the top best films of all time. “It is a wonderful and open-hearted tribute to the beauty of cinema… one of the finest films about innocence ever made, a perfect picture of a time when cinema was the only source of laughter and joy. The roaring, spitting, smoking, groping scenes in the old Paradiso might come from any culture at any time, just not now, not ours…” (Camilla Long. ST Culture ) Don’t miss it for the world. 34 Box Office: 01442 877759 JANUARY MATINEES
Frozen Sat 25 2.00 Disney’s Frozen, an animated fairy tale musical inspired by Hans Christian Andersen’s ‘The Snow Queen’ takes place in the kingdom of Arendelle, where the young princess Elsa was born with the ability to magically create ice and snow using her bare hands. When Elsa slips up and nearly kills her sister Ana, by accident, the panicked king and queen decide to isolate their daughters from the outside world and push Elsa to keep her emotions in check (out of fear that she will cause serious harm). Several years later, following some tragic circumstances, grown-up Elsa (Idina Menzel) and Ana (Kristen Bee) no longer share the close bond that they once had. However, upon Elsa’s Directors: Chris Buck, Jennifer Lee coronation day, people from all over the Certificate: PG kingdom flock to meet the new queen Duration: 108 mins and Ana meets and falls for the Origin: USA 2013 handsomely goofy Prince Hans (Santino By: Walt Disney Int'l Fontana). Unfortunately, Elsa’s mounting emotions start to break free, as she terrifies the locals with her powers and inadvertently starts an eternal winter upon fleeing the kingdom. ‘Cheesy critical metaphors are hard to avoid: with such warmth within its icy landscape, this is a celluloidbaked Alaska. It is glorious family entertainment’. ( Guardian ) ‘This is terrifically enjoyable – romantic, subversive, engaging and enthralling’. (Observer ) “Frozen is the best Disney since Aladdin, a glittering, sparkling cartoon epic…” (CL. ST Culture ). Definitely don’t miss. JANUARY MATINEES www.therexberkhamsted.com 35 Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom Mon 27 2.00, Tue 28 12.30 He was 27 years in jail for speaking out, much of it tortuous hard-labour, breaking rocks for no reason. In film terms if it helps, think of Cool Hand Luke being forced to dig that huge hole, fill it in, then dig it again and again. Nelson Mandela walked slowly to freedom, took charge of a country in turmoil and about to explode into a 100 years war. Then miraculously calmed it down. And even though, it is still a tough place to live, and probably will be for ever, it is not suffocated by bloody civil war. Then, as if to defy the life sentence, his jailors and the State, he died at 95, a free man in one piece. “I’m getting heartily sick of hearing people say Mr Mandela’s greatest achievement was his capacity to forgive. No that’s not his greatest achievement. His greatest achievement was overthrowing you buggers, and the fact that he didn’t then force you to spend the rest of your life cleaning every toilet in Soweto with your own toothbrush, is frankly disappointing...” ( the exquisite Jeremy Hardy: News Quiz 13.12.13 ) There is no victory greater than to win Director: Justin Chadwick without retaliation, grandstanding, Starring: Idris Elba, Naomie Harris incitement or a smug arrogance. Certificate: 12A Although a bit of toothbrushing toilets Duration: 147 mins wouldn’t have gone amiss. Origin: USA 2013 By: Twentieth Century Fox 36 Box Office: 01442 877759 JANUARY MATINEES
Captain Phillips All Is Lost Wed 29 2.00 Thu 30 2.00
Director: J. Chandor Starring: Robert Redford Certificate: 12A Duration: 106 mins Origin: USA 2013 By: Universal Pictures (UK) Ltd
Sometimes simplicity is all you need. Here, Robert Redford is lost at sea on a leaky boat. That’s it, no dialogue, just one We’re still reeling from the intensity man against the elements in a game of of A Hijacking and now another cargo pure survival. ship has been boarded by Somali Redford takes on an almost wordless role pirates, this time however, Tom as an extraordinarily unlucky sailor. He Hanks is on board, so it’ll all be awakes one morning to find that his yacht okay… has been pierced by a cargo container, Captain Phillips is the true-ish story of a one corner of the metal monstrosity skipper whose vessel was overrun by embedded in the fibreglass hull like an pirates off the coast of Somalia in 2009. oblong wrecking ball. It gives British director Paul Greengrass Worse still, water has gushed in and licence to indulge two of his favourite shorted out all the power on the vessel, storytelling pastimes: high-stakes rendering any contact with the rest of the tension and real-world politics, and lots world impossible. of hand-held camera shake (see United As Gravity has proven so confidently, the ‘93 and the Bourne’s: Supremacy & concept of one person stranded against Ultimatum). insurmountable odds is utterly thrilling It also sees Tom Hanks playing an and emotionally draining, as this shows, unexceptional guy at the heart of an albeit with splinters and sea water exceptional crisis. (Bearded, paunchy replacing computer wizardry. And it’s all and comfortable; the complete antithesis him, at 75! of his skinny captors). “Robert Redford delivers a tour de force: “Greengrass doesn’t deny either, their holding the screen effortlessly with no heroic qualities, Phillips shows acting support whatsoever. After a period resilience and courage yet there’s of scaling back performance to nothing superhuman about any of them.” accommodate directing and the Sundance (Time Out ) festival, he appears to be re-emerging “It might have all been another energised.” ( Guardian ) Hollywood-formula flick with American Redford clearly isn’t ready to retire, and might taking on the alien other. But in understatement alone, were it not for Greengrass gives Phillips and his captors this year’s weighty political competitors, equal bearing, with time to discover he would secure awards for the best shared beliefs and fears” ( Rolling Stone ) performance of his illustrious career. It is without a doubt one of, if (research Jack Whiting ) Try Jeremiah not the best role of Hanks’ career. Johnson, Jack (1972). Applause too to Greengrass for For me, Robert Redford can do no wrong. delivering yet another edge-of-seat movie. ( research Jack Whiting ). It was all a bit shouty for me.
Director: Paul Greengrass Starring: Tom Hanks Certificate: 12A Duration: 134 mins Origin: USA 2013 By: Sony Pictures Releasing 42 Rants & Pants DEAR MRS TRELLIS... ST ALBANS – THE ODYSSEY... s m a d A
i u q c a J
y b
h p a r g o t o h P
e still need that ridiculously Clockwork from top left: St Albans Abbey illusive £500,000 to complete Gdns Christmas market sunset 8th December. Wthe job. It seems we’ve never We had jolly nice Odyssey stand/hut for a week stopped chasing that same half million... in December. One way or another we have raised it This looks like the toilet block in Gulag five times, but just as we get close, it conditions (top right). It is in fact the toilet runs away, like those cruel running block we ‘inherited’ and a toilet block you too tricks played by older kids (still?) on will inherit. Butch & Sundance’s tenner (middle) their little sisters and brothers. It pain Lastly take-in these two ladder pictures, and that circumstances ‘beyond our control’ remember them when we open. The solitary have cost us half of our original £1.6m ladder in the foyer (June 2010) is next to budget. working ladders in the same space (Dec 2013). While we have never let set-backs set What a difference two ladders make... us back, we need to find this last £500k in the first two months of the new year if we are to finish the job by the Summer. Our genuinely brilliant builder, Procare, is hugely supportive and totally on our side, as is our architect and project management under Robert Martell & Co. Each is doing everything within an ever tightening budget to complete on time for opening in the Summer. So it’s a tenner for a personally signed limited edition Butch & Sundance ‘£10’ replica. Or £1000 (£1500 for a box seat) to name your seat for life, and to enjoy a number of special seat-holder treats in the first year of opening. This is a great New Years resolution gift for a loved one, or your company, or to yourself - because you deserve it...? So with both ends of the crazy money DEAR MRS TRELLIS... Rants & Pants 43
spectrum on offer, I wish you a Happy simple: a beautifully restored cinema, New Year. Here’s to glorious opening my programming, but your cinema, parties at the Odyssey this Summer. back in St Albans after 19 years and a Do either or both now. The reward is couple of grey hairs. 44 Rants & Pants DEAR MRS TRELLIS... ODYSSEY FUNDRAISER...
oulfish last year at the Arena Two acoustic guitars, occasional bass raised a remarkable £15,000 and two voices in great harmony. Sfor us. This gig could do even Turn your back you think there's a better...? whole band behind you. The Overtures are said to be the So the whole band in St Albans will most authentic covers band in be – WOW! And you wont want to Britain. turn your back... I've seen two of them (on nights off) Don't miss it (for) The ODYSSEY... play in packed bars as The Beatniks. or the band. 2014 CALENDARS
DAR OUR FIRST EVER ODYSSEY CALEN
2014 2014 THE GOOD THE BAD AND THE IRRITATING
NOW AVAILABLE FROM THE BOX OFFICE FOR £10