If you love old movies, particularly old British movies, then I’ve got some great news for you! TV channel Talking Pictures has just launched a free, online viewing service, TPTV Encore. All you’ve got to do to use it is register.
There is a really amazing range of movies there, some historically important, some culturally important, and some simply a bit of fun!
Obviously, His Girl Friday (1940) should be your first choice, but honestly, there’s so much good stuff on there, including some of the old Saturday morning serials, such as Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe.
There’s also a set of movies only on there for a short time or that are seasonally themed, so get in there quick before they go!
(Nicole Kidman is amazing in To Die For (1995) so watch that ASAP)
It’s browser-only unfortunately, with no app for any other device, but if that’s not a problem for you, please go and watch it! Support Talking Pictures, because they’re doing a fabulous job.
Firstly, a huge – just immense – apology to all TMINE readers for my absolute and complete failure to review any movies over the past few weeks. I’m so, so sorry! My boss is on holiday, and I’ve had zero time to do anything except do his and my job this whole time.
I hope I’ll have some time this week to review the new movies I’ve watched, but if I don’t, here are some one-line reviews so that you get a sense of whether they’re worth watching or not, IMHO:
The Harder They Fall (2021) (available on Netflix): Western featuring Black characters who really did exist, even if the story is made up. It tries hard to be a Quentin Tarantino movie, just without the N word, and has some very literate dialogue and great performances. It’s just not very interesting. Or maybe I just don’t like Westerns? 🤷♀️
Red Notice (2021) (available on Netflix): Ryan Reynolds is an art thief, the Rock is an FBI profiler who catches him, but they have to team up to capture the world’s best art thief, Gal Gadot. It’s hugely expensive and has a simply fabulous pedigree in virtually every regard, from the cast through to the writer/director and the amazing locations they go to. There’s also a great twist. It’s big problem? It’s just so formulaic, it feels like the plot came from the pull out page at the back of a GCSE revision aid.
Ghostbusters: Afterlife (2021) (in cinemas): first good sequel to the original Ghostbusters (1984). It’s a little bit too much of a sequel for its own good, retreading too much of the first movie, but it’s surprisingly good and even had me crying at the end. It’s also as much a retread of Goonies (1985), as it is Ghostbusters.
Russian Film Festival 2021
Talk about low key! BFI Player has apparently been running a Russian Film Festival for the past two weeks and didn’t bother to tell me. What are the BFI and Roskino’s marketing people thinking? No press releases or anything! Look at my name! Look at my job! And I only found out about it at the weekend.
Fortunately, it runs until 10 December, so there’s still plenty of time to watch everything and if you sign up for the free trial and subscribe using the code they give you, you get an extra month free (it’s only £4.99 a month anyway), so you can watch them all for nothing! Isn’t that the best thing?
The Siege of Leningrad, the Bolshoi Theatre, Leo Tolstoy and Konstantin Stanislavski may all be familar elements from Russian culture and history, but their representations amid these startling ten features are anything but. This collection of new features – many of which only played Russian cinemas as recently as this year – showcase the impressive range and originality of contempoary Russian filmmaking. While festival favourites like Aleksey Fedorchenko and Andrey Zaitsev may be known names to some, there are number of notable debut features here from prodigious new talents, waiting to be discovered.
Russian Film Festival 2021 runs from 12 November – 10 December 2021 and is organised in collaboration with ROSKINO, a state organisation representing the Russian audiovisual content industry internationally with the support of the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation and the Russian Cinema Fund.
Here’s the rundown:
Masha (2021)
A Siege Diary (2021)
Tell Her (2021)
Last ‘Dear Bulgary’ (2021)
The Story of an Appointment (2018)
The Conscience (2021)
The Bolshoi (2017)
Doctor Liza (2020)
The Humorist (2019)
I’ll be watching all of these and hopefully covering them in the TMINE Multiplex, in their own post or even individually, since December should be lovely and work-light for me – yes, I will be reviewing things again (yay!) – but for obvious reasons (look at my hair, look at my age), I had already seen Masha, which is a lovely and quite simple piece told in flashback about a young girl growing up in Russia in the 90s and discovering that the friends and family who’ve been looking after her are the new wave of gangsters that have emerged since the end of communism. It’s a mix of violence and coming-of-age story that’s deceptively uncomplicated, yet packed with emotion and shows the gradual decline into lawlessness over the period. The young star, Polina Gukhman, gives a wonderfully expressive performance and steals the movie. Loved it!
Look all these lovely things! What a great way to start the new year!
With special guests including director Oliver Stone (PLATOON, JFK), director Joanna Hogg (THE SOUVENIR PART II), Ricky Gervais and cast of AFTERLIFE, the cast and crew of FRESH MEAT, writer and director Romola Gari (AMULET), director Déo Cardoso (A BRUDDAH’S MIND), critic and broadcaster Mark Kermode, comedian and broadcaster Adam Buxton and more
BFI Southbank begin 2022 with seasons dedicated to Francois Truffaut and David Bowie
The BFI will kick off 2022 with a celebration of iconic French filmmaker FRANÇOIS TRUFFAUT, with a major two month season at BFI Southbank, BFI Distribution re-releases of THE400 BLOWS (1959)and JULES ET JIM (1962) and more. Also in January will be BOWIE: STARMAN AND THE SILVER SCREEN, a month-long season dedicated to actor and performer DAVID BOWIE,coinciding with what would have been his 75thbirthday; includes screenings of THE MAN WHO FELL TO EARTH (Nicolas Roeg, 1976), MERRY CHRISTMAS MR. LAWRENCE (Nagisa Ōshima, 1983), THE HUNGER (Tony Scott, 1983) and many more. Also in January, the BFI will present an epic ode to the spirit of adventure and to the achievements of explorers – TO THE ENDS OF THE EARTH: EXPLORATION AND ENDURANCE ON FILM; the season marks 100 years since the death of Anglo-Irish explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton, and the symbolic close of the ‘heroic age’ of Antarctic exploration.
On 14 January BFI Southbank will welcome Academy Award-winning director, screenwriter and producer Oliver Stone for a special In Conversation event, where he will discuss his memorable and thought-provoking work such as PLATOON, JFK, NIXON, WALL STREET and BORN ON THE FOURTH OF JULY. Regular event MARK KERMODE LIVE IN 3D AT THE BFI, in which critic and broadcaster Mark Kermode is joined by surprise guests from across the film industry to explore, critique and dissect current and upcoming releases, cinematic treasures and industry news, will this month take place on 17 January, with guests to be announced soon.
BFI Southbank will host a pair of must-see TV comedy events in January. Firstly, there will be a preview of the third season of Ricky Gervais’ poignant comedy AFTERLIFE (Netflix/Derek Productions, 2022) on 6 January. This event will include a preview of the first two episodes from the final season, as well as a chance to hear from Ricky Gervais and the cast, who will take part in a Q&A following the screening. From its first episode, FRESH MEAT broke new ground thanks to its cripplingly self-aware yet heartfelt portrayal of university life, shaped loosely by writer-creators Jesse Armstrong and Sam Bain’s own experiences together in Manchester. On 15 January, BFI Southbank will mark the 10th anniversary of the show with a special event featuring archive clips and a Q&A with actors Jack Whitehall, Zawe Ashton, Joe Thomas, Kimberley Nixon, Greg McHugh and Charlotte Ritchie, as well as the writer-creators Jesse Armstrong and Sam Bain.
Film previews in January will include BFI-backed THE SOUVENIR PART II (Joanna Hogg, 2021), in which film student Julie is picking up the pieces in the aftermath of her tumultuous relationship with the enigmatic Anthony. Beautifully expanding on Julie’s personal and creative coming-of-age journey, THE SOUVENIR PART II is an exquisite, sensational concluding chapter that also stands alone as a singular piece; the preview on 17 January will be followed by a Q&A with director Joanna Hogg. There will also be a Woman with a Movie Camera powered by Jaguar preview of Romola Garai’s directorial debut AMULET (2020) on 21 January followed by a Q&A with writer-director Romola Garai; this moody, intensely unsettling horror-thriller is bursting with haunting imagery and gruesome scares, and stars Carla Juri, Imelda Staunton and Alec Secareanu. Also in January, BFI AFRICAN ODYSSEYS present the UK Premiere of A BRUDDAH’S MIND (2020) on 22 January, followed by a Q&A with director DéoCardoso. Based on real events, this political drama follows a Black student, Saulo, inspired by the Black Panthers, who challenges his school in the largely white city of Fortaleza. Despite a calm and articulate demeanour, Saulo’s teachers describe him as a delinquent and try to expel him, but he isn’t alone in his struggle against racism and fascism in Brazil. Also returning in January will be the LONDON SHORT FILM FESTIVAL (LSFF), the programme for which will be announced soon.
In which Nat talks briefly about the movies she’s been watching this week for no particular reason and that probably don’t warrant proper reviews, but hey? Wouldn’t it be nice if we all chatted about them anyway?
OMG you won’t believe the fortnight I’ve had! I saw my best friend from uni who I haven’t seen in a decade and she gave me a cold – which I haven’t had in a decade either. Ugh! I’m so wretched right now! But I saw my sister, I joined a gym and I finally got really good at yoga.
Unfortunately, all my big ambitions to write about the movies I’ve seen have been thwarted. I’ve seen Dune (2021) three times now. I’ve been to see The French Dispatch (2021) with my sister, who I watch every new Wes Anderson movie with. I’ll talk about that in a minute.
My weekly film night has continued, and we’ve watched Fight Club (1999), The Princess Bride (1987) and The Sixth Sense (1999).
In preparation for Ghostbusters: Afterlife (2021), I’ve rewatched Ghostbusters (1984), GhostbustersII (1989) and Ghostbusters (2016).
I’ve also rewatched Battleship Potemkin (1925) for my Russian movie strand in the TMINE Multiplex.
I’ve just not written about any of them! I’m so sorry!
It’s always great to see a broad range of cinema available, not just the usual US and UK movies. Hooray then! Because hot on the heels of the London Film Festival, we now have the French Film Festival back at Ciné Lumière in London from 3 to 13 November and in 32 other cinemas UK-wide until 15 December.
Most of the films showing at Ciné Lumière will be UK premieres and were presented at the Cannes Film Festival earlier this year, including the Palme d’Or winner Titane. But there will be some classic French movies, too.
Directors Bruno Dumont and Catherine Corsini will respectively be travelling from France for the screening of France, starring Léa Seydoux, at the Festival opening night (3 November), and The Divide (6 November).
Other highlights include Petite Maman by Céline Sciamma, Paris, 13th District by Jacques Audiard, and OSS 117: From Africa with Love starring Jean Dujardin.
Here’s a trailer and I’ll put the programme and full details after the jump, complete with trailers! Just between you and me, I feel I should point out I just copied and pasted from the web site, but I think this makes it easier to see everything at a glance.
I feel Rob would want me to point out that there will be two French TV shows screened as part of the festival as well: UFOs and All The Way Up.
