Light House Film Club

Director: Marek Losey

Cert: 15

Time: 1hr 22mins

A story set in a bird hide on a bleak stretch of Sussex coast line would, you might think, be the last place to stage a tense drama. Yet just like the characters in this film, you should never judge things at face value.

Roy, brilliantly played by Alex McQueen (In the Loop) is in every sense the stereotypical nerd. Needing only one more bird to complete the British List he settles down in the hide and prepares for a long stint ahead. His solitude however is soon shattered by the arrival of Dave, a suspicious fugitive whose appearance brings out the worst in Roy. Seemingly at opposite ends of the social spectrum the men soon find that they have more in common than first thought and as more information comes to light it leads to a dramatic and wholly unexpected climax.

Marek Losey’s unnerving yet clever film is at times funny, at times tense but overwhelmingly claustrophobic a feel which is heightened by the use of a sepia tinted film, the bleak surroundings and numerous close ups. Well worth seeing.

Rating: 4/5

Patrons: 3

CA

Director: John Crowley

Cert: 12a

Time: 1hr 35mins

Understated and slightly sentimental though it may be John Crowley’s film about the friendship between a grumpy old man and an independent minded youngster is highly enjoyable.

When Clarence (Michael Caine on top form) a retired magician comes to stay at the care home owned by Edward’s parents the latter’s life is disrupted. Unceremoniously removed from his bedroom - to make way for Clarence - he is nonetheless forced to interact with a man whom he finds difficult to like. However as the weeks pass their enmity recedes as each helps the other, Clarence in making the youngster engage with the world of the living and Edward (Bill Milner of Son of Rambow fame) in getting Clarence to confront the death of his wife.   

One might think that a film set in an old people’s home might be rather morbid. Not so, with a number of laugh out loud moments. A further subplot of problems affecting the marriage of Edward’s parents and the impact on him, is also sensitively portrayed. Worth the entrance fee.

Rating: 3/5

Patrons: 14

CA

Director: Armando Iannucci

Cert: 15

Time: 1 hr 46 mins

Released in the midst of the Damien McBride smear saga, writer/director Armando Iannucci has touched the zeitgeist in a way he could never have envisaged when he was creating this wonderfully prescient comedy.

Those of you familiar with the TV series The Thick of It, will already be familiar with Malcolm Tucker (brilliantly played by Peter Capaldi) the foul mouthed master of control and spin who bears an uncanny resemblance to Alistair Campbell - he has seen the film but didn’t find it particularly funny.  

The story follows the political machinations which led to a US / British sponsored war in the Middle East. And in so doing it shows the depths to which politicians, their advisors and the military will stoop to climb the greasy pole and save their own skins.  All are skewered none more so than Simon Foster (Tom Hollander) a hapless British Secretary of State who, like a child seeking attention, backs the war in order to engineer a central role in the affair.  

No one escapes with their reputation intact and whilst one must not forget that it is farce I suspect that it’s closer to reality than anyone is prepared to admit.  A must if you enjoy politics and current affairs.  

Rating 4/5

Patrons:  14

CA

Director: Tom Hooper

Cert: 15

Time: 1 hr 37 mins

The years 1973-74 were not the happiest in the life of one Brian Howard Clough. It all started when Ol’ Big ‘ed, as he liked to be known, decided to commit career suicide by calling the bluff of the Derby County board and offering up his resignation. Much to his surprise, they accepted and he departed (along with a collaterally damaged Taylor), under a cloud. Having left the frying pan he then jumped into the fire when, some ten months later, he accepted the job as Manager of Leeds United, a team for whom he only had contempt.  That this should also end in tears, after a mere 44 days, was probably evident to everyone bar Clough, whose sizeable ego somewhat blinded him.

The Dammed United, based on the brilliant David Peace novel of the same name, tells the story of this turbulent period together with how Clough and his erstwhile assistant Peter Taylor came to reach a position of pre-eminence in the footballing world.  The film is a period delight, depicting perfectly the down at heal look of football in the seventies.  And Michael Sheen  plays Clough with an eerie physical and verbal perfection, aided by a wonderful script packed with coruscating one liners - Clough was noted for his verbal put downs. Add to that excellent performances by Timothy Spall (Peter Taylor), Colm Meaney (Revie) and Jim Broadbent as the put upon Derby Chairman, Sam Longson and you have the makings of a fine film.

Whilst the subject matter might not appeal to everyone, if you do like football and are old enough to remember the seventies, it’s a complete delight.

Rating 4/5

Patrons:  Circa 40

CA

Director: Bryan Singer

Cert: 12a

Time: 2 hrs

The “July 20 Plot” on Hitler’s life is one of the most heroic but least known episodes in WWII. Severely wounded in combat, Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg (Tom Cruise) returns from Africa to join the German Resistance and help to create Operation Valkyrie, the complex plan to allow a shadow government to replace Hitler’s once the Fuhrer is dead. But fate and circumstance conspire to thrust Stauffenberg from bit player to a central role in the plot. Not only must he lead the coup and seize control of the government… he must kill Hitler himself.

Those of a sniffy nature have ridiculed this film for its melange of Hollywood accents and I suppose it might have been better had not Cruise spoken American, Kenneth Brannah et al English and others a strained form of English with a German accent.  But that is to be churlish for by concentrating on the narrative you cannot help but be drawn into a tense and historically accurate thriller that keeps one enthralled from beginning to end. In so doing you gain an insight into what by any standard must rank as one of the most audacious plans ever hatched during WWII.  Stauffenberg and his team came within a hair’s breadth of success, a remarkable feat given how heavily the cards were stacked against them.

This is a powerful film and makes one think how finite is the difference between success and failure, life or death.

Rating: 3/5

Patrons:  22

CA

Cert: 15

Time: 1 hr 44 mins

It is 1964 at St Nicholas Catholic School in the Bronx and charismatic Father Flynn (Philip Seymour Hoffman) is trying to change the school’s strict and repressive customs, which are fiercely guarded by Sister Aloysius (Meryl Streep) a dour and intimidating headmistress.  It is a time of political change as the school accepts its first black student, Donald Miller. But Sister Aloysius becomes suspicious that Father Flynn is paying too much personal attention to Donald and tries to unearth the truth.  

The ensuing battle of wits is both tense and absorbing as is the method by which the film changes the way one feels about these two characters. This is entirely down to Streep and Hoffman who are both tremendous in their respective roles, ably supported by Amy Adams, a young teacher caught up in the midst of their struggle.

Regrettably the final scene dilutes the power of much that has preceded it, leaving this particular viewer feeling somewhat cheated.   Which is a shame because for the most part this is an excellent and enthralling film.    

Rating: 3/5

Patrons:  60

CA