PROGRAMME SWALLOWS & AMAZONS SEPTEMBER 2016 “possibly Britain’s most beautiful cinema..” (BBC) Britain’s Best Cinema – Guardian Film Awards 2014 SEPTEMBER 2016 • ISSUE 138 www.therexberkhamsted.com 01442 877759 Mon-Sat 10.30-6.30pm Sun 4.30-5.30pm NO MORE TAKEAWAYS... CONTENTS Films At A Glance 16-17 Rants & Pants 24-27 BOX OFFICE: 01442 877759 Mon to Sat 10.30-6.30 Sun 4.30-5.30 SEAT PRICES Circle £9.00 e’ve had pizzas, macs, We know you come straight Concessions £7.50 sushi, baked potatoes from the train sometimes and Table £11.00 Wand roll mop herring, are hungry, but we’re not your Concessions £9.50 not to mention those who Mum and you won’t waste away Royal Box Seat (Seats 6) £13.00 brought their AGA complete in two hours. Eat on the run if with servants. you must. Whole Royal Box £73.00 It is a night at the Pictures. No, The branded stuff... All matinees £5, £6.50, £10 (box) two hours-ish at the Pictures. Your Costas, Waitrose, Disabled and flat access: through We have seats like couches but Starbucks paper cups with the gate on High Street (right of they’re not for potatoes. lids. What’s that all about…? apartments) We make you feel at home but Why is everybody suddenly you’re not at home. You’re out. walking along pavements with So be out. these cups of coffee? Are they Director: James Hannaway the new dummy, if so we can Unlike the Theatre, going to the 01442 877999 provide them for you. We can Pictures has engendered, even Advertising: Chloe Butler even see the practicality of encourages audiences to eat 01442 877999 getting to your seats easier in and drink. Please do, but with Artwork: Demiurge Design the dark than with a cup and our fab selection. We carefully 01296 668739 saucer. So we will do it. plan the best snacks to suit you at the movies and us, by We are told our coffee is the designing the least noisy and best in town, and cheaper, The Rex except for Waitrose. You can’t High Street (Three Close Lane) least messy snacks and sweets get cheaper than ‘free’. Berkhamsted, Herts HP4 2FG for you to enjoy and us to clear www.therexberkhamsted.com up. We will always (not quite) So here’s the deal: you bring cheerfully clear our mess left nothing in. We will provide the by you, but we have now lost best to suit you and this, yours patience clearing up the mess and our, fabulous cinema. “ Unhesitatingly The Rex you bring in. That’s it. is the best cinema I have It is recreational snacking, not ever..” (STimes Culture) supper. SEPTEMBEROCTOBER FILMS FILMS 8 THE REX - SEPTEMBER BOX OFFICE: 01442 877759 The BFG Finding Dory Roald Dahl’s classic is spectacularly brought to life It was thirteen years ago that the Pixar classic in delightful Spielbergian fashion. Finding Nemo warmed our hearts with its central Many will have fond memories of David Jason’s theme of the enduring parent-child bond. In this heartening portrayal of the lofty softie in Brian ‘charming’ sequel we follow Dory. Perhaps the most Cosgrove’s charming 1989 animated adaptation. Fast memorable character from Finding Nemo, on an forward nearly three decades and the big friendly emotionally searching journey of her own. Dory giant finally has his big screen adventure, with Mark (voiced by Ellen De Generes) was the loveable Rylance deftly stepping into some very large shoes. amnesiac blue tang, who assisted clownfish Marlon When orphan Sophie is snatched from her bed in the on his quest to find his only son, Nemo. A year has middle of the night, she is carried off in terror to Giant passed since Marlon and Nemo were reunited and Country. Once there she soon discovers her captor Dory has become part of the family. Despite her new to be the gentle and caring guardian she has always longed for and the two set out on an extraordinary found companionship, Dory seeks a parental (Diane adventure to capture the evil man-eating giants Keaton and Eugene Levy) reunion of her own. who have been terrorising the human world. What The three embark on an adventure that takes them perfect timing… Reuniting with Spielberg following across oceans to the far side. 2015’s worldwide Oscar runaway: Bridge of Spies, it A Californian marine park, which ‘hosts’ an array of is Rylance who ultimately steals the show, Stephen weird and wonderful aquatic creatures for our sweet lending CGI a new enchantment throughout. pleasure! “We may witness our heroine cover a vast “Spielberg creates a landscape of astonishments” expanse of ocean, but Finding Dory is (parabled to (Telegraph) be) an intimate and hopeful tale of perseverance “The BFG is a big friendly giant of a film from a and friendship, as much about humans as it is about director who knows how” (Guardian) fish.” (Empire) (research Chris Coetsee) It is tenfold gorgeous on our (research Heather Graves) big friendly NEW (happily unnoticed) BF Rex screen… It sounds like ‘They’re’ milking more fish for ever Warning: Spielberg seems more in-love with Rylance more blubbery human dollars. than Roald… Directors: Andrew Stanton, Angus MacLane Director: Steven Spielberg Voices: Ellen DeGeneres, Albert Brooks, Cast: Mark Rylance, Rebecca Hall, Hayden Rolence Penelope Wilton Duration: 103 mins Duration: 117 mins Origin: USA 2016 Origin: UK/Canada/USA 2016 Certificate: U Certificate: PG Company: Walt Disney Int’l Company: Entertainment One When... Sat 10 2.00 When... Thu 1 7.30 Sun 11 6.00 Thu 1 2.00 Sat 3 2.00 Mon 12 2.00 www.therexberkhamsted.com THE REX - SEPTEMBER 9 Jason Bourne Poor Jeremy Renner was just keeping the seat warm for Matt Damon, and now the everyman returns to the amnesiac assassin he so comfortably inhabited fifteen years ago. Bourne is wandering the globe alone, partaking in the occasional illegal fistfight, when yet another figure from his murky past returns to call him back into action. You know the score by now, the fourth true instalment (third collaboration with Greengrass) plays out like a Bourne’s greatest hits, so let’s rundown Director: Paul Greengrass the checklist: Erratic camerawork? Check. USB stick Cast: Matt Damon, Alicia Vikander, Vincent encryption? Yep. Government agents furiously typing Cassel on keyboards? Of course. A close quarters bust Duration: 123 mins up with Bourne using a piece of furniture, kitchen Origin: USA 2016 utensil, or both? Wouldn’t have it any other way. You Certificate: 12A see the Bourne formula is so perfectly calculated it’s Company: Universal Pictures (UK) Ltd hard to get anything wrong. The problem is 2007’s Ultimatum ended with the perfect trilogy close, so this return feels a little like the Bourne Redundancy. When... Thu 8 2.00 Still, the Damon/Greengrass collaboration adds muscle to any thriller; whether it’s a tense riot in Fri 2 7.30 Tue 20 2.00 Athens, or a car chase down Las Vegas strip, Jason Sat 3 7.00 Tue 20 7.30 Bourne remains riveting from start to credits (Jack Whiting) Fantastic. Can’t wait. But do. See it only here Sun 4 6.00 Fri 23 7.30 at The Rex & Odyssey. Tue 6 2.00 Sat 24 7.00 10 THE REX - SEPTEMBER BOX OFFICE: 01442 877759 Ingrid Bergman: In Her Absolutely Fabulous: Own Words The Movie Swedish director Stig Björkman provides a By extended demand, Saunders and Lumley are captivating glimpse into the extraordinary back. The plot is simple, a good job too, as it doesn’t life of one of the most celebrated actresses of matter at all. Eddy and Patsy are on the run from Hollywood’s Golden Age. relentless paparazzi after being implicated in a Focusing less on her illustrious career, Björkman’s crime at a deluxe fashion event. Escaping to the documentary instead sheds light on Bergman’s non- French Riviera without the funds to sustain their conformist maternal lifestyle, her independence accustomed glamorous lifestyle, the pair devise a and the struggle to balance her professional and way to live the high life forever. Although the film private commitments. Making extensive use of is directed by Mandie Fletcher, the screenplay is by Bergman’s personal pictures, letters and home Jennifer Saunders. So, in safe hands one hopes. At movies, an intimate portrait is carefully constructed, least it will be nothing less than can be expected accompanied throughout by Michael Nyman’s of Ab Fab. The star-studded cast is highlighted by wonderfully poetic score and fleshed out by a wealth the 60 celebs who feature in cameos, from the likes of personal anecdotes, notably those of children Pia of Kate Moss, Graham Norton and a star turn from Lindstrom and Roberto Rossellini, adding invaluable Arthur Bromwich, with various AB&C listers making layers of depth. The image that’s crafted is one up the numbers. They all pay homage to the queens of a restless, adventurous woman whose deep of ostentatious slip-ups. You might think you’ve imagination and deeper love for her family rose from seen it all before. You have, but even so there is the ashes of a lonely childhood, fuelling the career of something absolutely fabulous about these two a true screen icon who will forever have her place in fabulous, dynamic women doing it, whatever ‘it’ is cinema’s rich history. (research Chris Coetsee) for and by themselves. (research Grace Atkins) None “This is what you got when you met her, and this is of this matters, unless you’ve seen it already, you’ll what you get in the movie.