Last week we highlighted the need to watch out for varying start times on our schedule, but it’s interesting to see what seems to be a growing trend for very long movies. Killers of the Flower Moon, Oppenheimer and Poor Things have all hovered around (or beyond) three hours, and this week adds Dune: Part II to that list (167 minutes of Willy Wonka strutting his stuff.) No.6 is agnostic on length, short films can be pleasingly concise and fast-paced, as this week’s 84-minute Drive-Away Dolls amply demonstrates, while the longer film can totally involve you in its world, something Andrey Tarkovsky knew well (but let’s not go there).
Anatomy of a Fall
Thursday 11th April at 4pm
Matinee showing for Justine Triet’s Oscar winning (for Best Original Screenplay) courtroom drama Anatomy of a Fall. German novelist Sandra (Sandra Huller) finds herself the main suspect when her husband is found dead beneath their chalet in the French Alps. The Alliance of Women Film Journalists wrote, "in front and behind the camera, Anatomy of a Fall is made by two women who are simply at the top of their game." If you missed it the first time, this is definitely one to see.
Please Note: Due to its length, the start time for Anatomy of a Fall is 4pm.
Monster
Thursday 11th April at 7pm
Monster is a brilliant and much acclaimed Japanese psychological thriller directed by Hirokazu Kore-eda and written by Yuji Sakamoto that confronts difficult issues with consummate skill. When single mother Saori notices her young son’s increasingly erratic behaviour and takes her concerns to his school, she uncovers a complex web of bullying and abuse but also incipient love between her son and another boy. With a 96% rating, Rotten Tomatoes comments, "gently devastating in its compassion, Monster is a masterpiece of shifting perspectives that surprises to the end." Also featuring the last music produced by the late Ryuichi Sakamoto.
Drive-away Dolls
Friday 12th April at 7pm
If Drive-Away Dolls conjures up images of Russ Meyer, that impression is further reinforced by the actual film title, Drive-Away Dykes. Conceived by Ethan Coen and his wife Tricia Cooke, and directed by Coen (without brother Joel for the first time) the film is a raucous road-trip comedy starring Margaret Qualley and Geraldine Visnawathan as the ‘Thelma & Louise to the nth degree’ couple caught up in a series of salacious episodes. Trashy and crass, but in a good and slightly nostalgic way, if you ever wondered what kind of film a combination of Meyer, Ridley Scott and the Coens would produce, come and see this to find out.
Dune: Part II
Saturday 13th April at 6.30pm
Every sci-fi fan knows that Frank Herbert’s classic Dune needs a good six hours of screen time to do it justice, and Denis Villeneuve’s Dune: Part II completes the story begun in the 2021 movie (just two more epic novels to go then!). Timothee Chalemet returns as Paul Atreides, along with Zendaya, Rebecca Ferguson, Josh Brolin and Austin Butler - and can you believe that Christopher Walken, Stellan Skarsgard, Charlotte Rampling and Javier Bardem are in support. All those stars recalls the Hollywood epics of old, and in that regard, Dune Part II doesn’t disappoint. Meticulously written, filmed and produced, the film spares no expense in making this the most (excuse the new age terminology) immersive experience imaginable.
Please Note: as a massively long film, the start time for Dune: Part II (that’s the film itself, NOT the ads and trailers) will be promptly at 6.30pm
Up Next Week:
The Origin Of Evil, No.6’s Greatest Films Of All Time: Apocalypse Now, Perfect Days, Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire
Coming Soon:
Next week we’re thrilled to be showing Francis Ford Coppola’s Apocalypse Now as the latest in No.6’s Greatest Films Of All time series. The film capped off the incredible decade of the New Hollywood cinema (The Godfather, Deer Hunter et al), and arguably killed it off as well with its years of excess and reality-meets-surreality hallucinatory landscapes of an imagined Vietnam. Equal parts Conrad’s Heart of Darkness and Herzog’s Aguirre, Apocalypse now represents the end of an epoch, the literal embodiment of the phrase ‘they don’t make ‘em like that anymore.’ Come and see an actual slice of history in the making.
STOP PRESS: by popular demand, we are scheduling a matinee showing of Win Wenders’ brilliant Perfect Days for the afternoon of Saturday 20th April at 4pm. Book your ticket now.
