A very Happy New Year to all our supporters, we hope you’re all rested and ready to go (to the cinema!) This week, we reopen with a fantastic triumvirate of big films focusing on three important historical figures – Leonard Bernstein, Napoleon Bonaparte and, um, Willy Wonka. (we are pretty sure there is a link between these characters but can’t quite put our finger on it – food for thought!)
During January we’ll also be bringing you American comedy, British drama and Japanese monsters, and we will be starting up regular slots for essential classics and cult favourites (see below for more details), so stick with us through this new year and we can share some great evenings out together.
Here is this week’s timetable. Bar opens at 6.15pm for the 7pm screenings.
Maestro
Thursday 4th January at 7pm
Much of the talk around Maestro has centred on Bradley Cooper’s prosthetic nose, and the controversy and sensitivities therein. But this biographical drama of the relationship between Leonard Bernstein (Cooper) and Felicia Montealegre (Carey Mulligan) is a compelling portrait of the Maestro’s sexual and emotional turmoil and its impact on his art over a roughly 40-year period. With Cooper also directing, following his acclaimed version of A Star Is Born, the film is sure to feature in the coming Oscar deliberations. Rotten Tomatoes summarises nicely: ‘Led by a pair of powerful performances, Maestro is a stirring overview of a tremendous talent’s life and legacy.’
Wonka
Friday 5th January at 7pm
Director Paul King gives us a third screen outing for Roald Dahl’s most iconic creation in Wonka. But rather than re-telling Charlie and Chocolate Factory, here we get an ‘origin’ story of how young Willy takes on the ‘chocolate cartel’ and in the process becomes the kids’ favourite chocolatier. Harking back to a youthful Wonka enables Timothy Chalamet, somewhat younger than Gene Wilder was, to take on the title role, including singing some of the musical numbers, ably supported by a whole bevy of faces that will be particularly well known to British audiences. To quote IndieWire, ‘like the chocolate [Wonka] concocts, it will make you fly.’
Napoleon
Saturday 6th January at 7pm
One would never accuse Ridley Scott of being low-key, and Napoleon doesn’t frustrate expectation. Described by the Guardian as ‘an outrageously enjoyable cavalry charge of a movie’, this is as packed with action and drama as Gladiator and, like that film, features Joaquin Phoenix, albeit centre stage as the title character in a portrayal just waiting for awards to follow. But the action is also refracted through the prism of Napoleon’s relationship with Josephine (Vanessa Kirby) and how it shapes the facts of the emperor’s public life. Spectacular cinema in the manner of the old-fashioned epics of classic Hollywood.
Up Next Week:
Jules, Godzilla Minus One, Femme
Coming Soon:
Did we mention that we are inaugurating two regular slots in our monthly schedule, No.6’s Greatest Films Of All Time and Cult Classics? We’re starting in January with a pair of stormers: Powell and Pressburger’s much-loved A Matter Of Life And Death is our all-time great, showing on Friday 19th, and Jane Fonda’s iconic performance as Barbarella in our Cult Classic slot on 26th January. We’ll be presenting a film every month under each of these banners – hopefully come this time next year, you’ll be able to look back and say you’ve seen a bundle of the greatest movies ever made and a whole bunch of cult favourites, all on the big screen. We are very excited about doing this, and look forward to picking the films you will really want to see.