Get rid of the January blues with movies at Errol Flynn Filmhouse

The Errol Flynn Filmhouse has unveiled the movies it will be showing in January.
The Danish GirlThe Danish Girl
The Danish Girl

Among the films are the much-hyped Star Wars film The Force Awakens and the remarkable love story The Danish Girl starring Oscar winning actor Eddie Redmayne.

The cinema’s Under The Radar series continues to present brilliant new independent films, including the heart-warming comedy Grandma, with Lily Tomlin, and moving British drama Radiator, alongside a fascinating selection of documentaries.

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The programme of classics includes a mini-season of work from French-Swiss auteur Jean-Luc Godard, and there are more live broadcasts from Bolshoi Live, Met Opera Live and NT Live.

Steve McQueen: The Man and Le MansSteve McQueen: The Man and Le Mans
Steve McQueen: The Man and Le Mans

One of the highlights of the Under The Radar selection is the comedy Grandma, directed by About a Boy’s Paul Weitz and starring Lily Tomlin as a misanthropic lesbian poet who embarks on a day of visits to old friends and former flames to raise money for her pregnant granddaughter’s abortion.

The moving and gentle film Radiator sees a middle-aged teacher summoned to visit and care for his elderly parents in the North of England, where his cantankerous father refuses to move from the sofa. Inspired by events in his own life, director Tom Browne filmed the movie in the cluttered Cumbrian cottage which belonged to his deceased parents.

The Forbidden Room is an ode to the lost movies of the silent era – an epic fantasy of stories unfolding within stories. Foreign language movies include Bulgarian film The Lesson, in which a young teacher, troubled by petty theft in her classroom, soon finds herself questioning her principles when she is hit by her own financial woes and romantic French comedy, All About Them, sees a disenchanted couple embark on secret affairs with the same woman, going to desperate lengths to cheat on one another.

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An intriguing selection of documentaries starts with Steve McQueen: The Man and Le Mans, chronicling the issues that dogged McQueen’s 1970 box office failure Le Mans, combining newly-discovered footage and private recordings with original interviews.

Star Wars: The Force AwakensStar Wars: The Force Awakens
Star Wars: The Force Awakens

Shown in association with Q-Film, Do I Sound Gay? sees journalist David Thorpe embarking on a hilarious and touching journey of self-discovery, enlisting acting coaches, linguists, friends and celebrities including David Sedaris and George Takei.

Bolshoi Babylon offers unparalleled behind-the-scenes access to the Bolshoi Ballet, the world’s most famous ballet company, followed by a live satellite Q&A with principal dancer Anastasia Meskova, historian Simon Sebag Montefiore and other special guests.

The latest big releases include biographical drama The Danish Girl, starring Eddie Redmayne and Alicia Vikander, telling the moving story of artists Lili Elbe and Gerda Wegener as they navigated Lili’s ground-breaking journey as a transgender pioneer.

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The long-awaited new sequel, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, continues the saga three decades after Return of the Jedi, and sees original cast members Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher and Marc Hamill return, joined by Oscar Isaac, John Boyega and Daisy Ridley.

GrandmaGrandma
Grandma

Based on real events, the thriller Black Mass follows an FBI agent (Joel Edgerton) who persuades Irish mobster Whitey Bulger (Johnny Depp) to become an informant to help eliminate a common enemy, the Italian mafia. The cast also includes Benedict Cumberbatch and Kevin Bacon.

Based on a best-selling novel, The Dressmaker is a bittersweet comedy-drama set in early 1950s Australia, starring Kate Winslet as a talented, glamorous misfit who returns to her hometown to right the wrongs done to her in the past, transforming women with her couture skills and in turn exacting sweet revenge.

David O. Russell (American Hustle) directs the biographical comic-drama Joy, following a family through four generations, centring on entrepreneur Joy Mangano (played by Jennifer Lawrence) as she creates a business dynasty. The film also features Robert de Niro and Bradley Cooper.

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There will be further chances to see recent popular releases including Steven Spielberg’s drama Bridge of Spies, starring Tom Hanks as a Brooklyn lawyer who finds himself thrust into the centre of the Cold War when he is sent by the CIA to rescue a pilot.

Star Wars: The Force Awakens  L to R: BB-8 and Rey (Daisy Ridley)Star Wars: The Force Awakens  L to R: BB-8 and Rey (Daisy Ridley)
Star Wars: The Force Awakens L to R: BB-8 and Rey (Daisy Ridley)

The moving drama Carol follows a married woman in 1950s New York, played by Cate Blanchett, who risks everything when she embarks on a romance with a young department store clerk.

The Lady in the Van features Alex Jennings as the playwright Alan Bennett and Maggie Smith as the transient woman, Miss Shepherd, living in her battered Bedford van parked on Bennett’s driveway for 15 years.

Animated family film, The Good Dinosaur follows a young Apatosaurus who makes an unlikely human friend. With the cinema’s special Christmas holiday Family Ticket Offer, one adult and one child can enjoy screenings of The Good Dinosaur for just £11.

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Classic movies coming up include the 1993 thriller, True Romance, written by Quentin Tarentino, starring Christian Slater and Patricia Arquette as a couple on the run, heading to Hollywood to sell stolen drugs.

January’s Cult Film Club screening, shown in association with The University of Northampton, is the 2001 modern sci-fi classic Donnie Darko, starring Jake Gyllenhaal as a troubled teenager trying to find meaning behind the disturbing visions he is experiencing about the end of the world.

The Errol Flynn Filmhouse also celebrates the work of Jean-Luc Godard, the godfather of French New Wave, showing three of his acclaimed works. His 1962 drama Vivre Sa Vie presents twelve episodes in the life of a young woman who turns to prostitution to pay her rent. The comedy, Bande À Part, from 1964, follows a trio of young idealists who imagine that they are participating in a robbery, and then act upon their musings with tragic results. Finally, Brigitte Bardot stars in 1963 drama Le Mépris, a wry parody of commercial film-making, in which a screenwriter and his wife drift apart during the filming of one of his stories.

Black MassBlack Mass
Black Mass

As part of the popular programme of live screenings, the Metropolitan Opera presents Bizet’s gorgeous opera of lust and longing, Les Pêcheurs de Perles, returning to the Met’s stage for the first time in 100 years and broadcast live from New York. Direct from Moscow, Bolshoi Live bring French choreographer Jean-Christophe Maillot’s ballet adaptation of Shakespeare’s comedy The Taming of the Shrew to the big screen.

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Courtesy of NT Live, the Donmar Warehouse’s highly anticipated production of Les Liaisons Dangereuses, a tale of intrigue and betrayal in pre-revolutionary France, is broadcast live from London.

Tickets for standard film screenings are competitively priced at £8 (concessions £7) with peak screenings (Friday and Saturday evenings from 6pm) costing £9 full price (concessions £8). Children’s tickets are just £5.50. At Silver Screen matinees, tickets for more mature customers are priced at £5.50. There are special, exclusive Parent and Baby screenings, where tickets are £7 (baby under one goes free).

Tickets for premium screenings of live productions are £14.50 full price, £12.50 for concessions and £10.50 for children, and for most non-live premium screenings, £12.50, £10.50 and £8.50.

All tickets can be booked in advance by calling the box office on 01604 624811 or online at www.errolflynnfilmhouse.com, where full details can be found of the forthcoming programme with dates and times of all screenings. Audio Description is available on many titles. Details of which films offer this facility can be found on the cinema’s website under access information, updated weekly. Audience members wanting to make use of this service should ask a member of staff for a headset or induction loop.

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The Errol Flynn membership scheme offers great benefits, including three free tickets per member, ticket discounts and great savings on food and drink purchased at Errol Flynn Filmhouse. With a single membership costing £25, and a joint membership available at £40, Errol Flynn Filmhouse membership would make an ideal gift for any film lover.