Flying High Film Workshop- Bridget Jones

We would love you to join us for this once a month opportunity for adult members of the community to come together for fun, camaraderie, learning, sharing food and film.

10.30 – Exploration workshop examining the themes, context, characters, ideas and plot of the film as well as examining the acting styles and direction.

12.30 – A light buffet style lunch, teas and coffees

1.30 – Watching the film explored in the workshop

3.34 – End of Film

 

Thursday 20th March – Bridget Jones – Mad About the Boy 

Renée Zellweger returns to the role that established a romantic-comedy heroine for the ages, a woman whose inimitable approach to life and love redefined an entire film genre.

Does Bridget’s ability to triumph, despite adversity, lead her to happiness at last through finally marrying top lawyer Mark Darcy and becoming the mother of their baby boy?

No! – in Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy, Bridget is alone once again, widowed four years ago, when Mark was killed on a humanitarian mission in the Sudan. She’s now a single mother to 10-year-old Billy and 6-year-old Mabel and is stuck in a state of emotional limbo, raising her children with help from her loyal friends, including her former lover, Daniel Cleaver (Hugh Grant).

Pressured by her Urban Family —Shazzer (Sally Phillips), Jude (Shirley Henderson) and Tom (James Callis), her work colleague Miranda (Sarah Solemani), her former editor Richard Finch (Neil Pearson) and her gynaecologist, Dr. Rawlings (Emma Thompson) — to forge a new path toward life and love, Bridget goes back to work and even tries out the dating apps, where she’s soon pursued by a dreamy and enthusiastic younger man (Leo Woodall).

Now juggling work, home and romance, Bridget grapples with the judgment of the perfect mums at school, worries about Billy as he struggles with the absence of his father, and engages in a series of awkward interactions with her son’s rational-to-a-fault science teacher (Chiwetel Ejiofor)

Oscar Catch-up Screenings: Anora (18)

Anora, a young sex worker from Brooklyn, gets her chance at a Cinderella story when she meets and impulsively marries the son of an oligarch. Once the news reaches Russia, her fairytale is threatened as the parents set out for New York to get the marriage annulled.

Winner of 5 Academy Awards including Best Film, Best Director (Sean Baker) and Best Actress (Mikey Madison)

“Sean Baker’s screwball Cinderella tale vaults him towards greatness” Guardian ★★★★★

“Mikey Madison blazes in this very modern Pretty Woman tale”  Telegraph ★★★★★

BBC ★★★★ Independent ★★★★

Directed by Sean Baker
With Mikey Madison, Yura Borisov
2hrs 19 mins // US 2024

The Last Showgirl (15)

When the glittering Las Vegas revue she has headlined for decades announces it will soon close, showgirl Shelly (Pamela Anderson) sets out to plan her next act. Reconciling the decisions she’s made and the life she’s built, she decides to repair her complicated relationship with her daughter (Billie Lourd). With an outstanding ensemble cast that includes Jamie Lee Curtis, Dave Bautista, Brenda Song and Kiernan Shipka, The Last Showgirl is a joyous tribute to a long-gone Las Vegas – and all the women who made it glitter. Directed by Gia Coppola and featuring a Golden Globe-nominated performance from Pamela Anderson, who dazzles in the role of a lifetime, this poignant film of resilience, rhinestones and feathers is simply unmissable.

“Pamela Anderson is ‘a revelation’ in poignant Las Vegas-set drama” BBC ★★★★

Directed by Gia Coppola
With Pamela Anderson
1hr 28 mins // US 2024

Becoming Led Zeppelin (12A)

Becoming Led Zeppelin explores the origins of this iconic group and their meteoric rise in just one year against all the odds. Powered by awe-inspiring, psychedelic, never-before-seen footage, performances, and music, Bernard MacMahon’s experiential cinematic odyssey explores Led Zeppelin’s creative, musical, and personal origin story. The film is told in Led Zeppelin’s own words and is the first officially sanctioned film on the group.

Directed by Bernard MacMahon
2hrs 1 min // US 2024

Nickel Boys (12A)

Based on the Pulitzer Prize winning novel by Colson Whitehead, Nickel Boys chronicles the powerful friendship between two young Black teenagers navigating the harrowing trials of reform school together in Florida.

“Colson Whitehead novel becomes intensely moving story of a racist reform school” Guardian ★★★★★

Observer ★★★★★ Empire ★★★★★ Independent ★★★★★ Times ★★★★★ Little White Lies ★★★★★

Nominated for 2 Academy Awards including Best Picture and Best Adapted Screenplay

Directed by RaMell Ross
2hrs 20 mins // US 2024

Vermiglio (15)

1944. In Vermiglio, a high mountain village of the Italian Alps where war looms as a distant but constant threat. The arrival of Pietro, a refugee soldier, disrupts the dynamics of the local teacher’s family, changing them forever.

During the four seasons marking the end of World War II, Pietro and Lucia, the eldest daughter of the teacher, instantly drawn to each other, led to marriage and an unexpected fate. As the world emerges from its tragedy, the family will face its own.

“An exquisite Italian Alps wartime drama” Observer ★★★★★

Guardian ★★★★ Filmhounds ★★★★

*In Italian with English subtitles
Directed by Maura Delpero
With Tommaso Ragno, Roberta Rovelli, Martina Scrinzi
1hr 59 mins // ITA/FRA/BEL 2024

Escapes Preview: The Penguin Lessons (12A)

Free tickets are now available for our latest Escapes film The Penguin Lessons!

Starring Oscar nominee Steve Coogan, this poignant dramedy from director Peter Cattaneo follows an Englishman’s personal and political awakening after he adopts a penguin

Tickets to The Penguin Lessons are completely free and available now through the link 🔗

Escapes, supported by the BFI, awarding National Lottery funding, offers everyone the opportunity to enjoy the big screen experience and discover independent cinema. Whether someone that rarely prioritises a trip to the cinema, someone who treasures a visit but only as a special occasion, or someone who is keen to uncover new experiences, Escapes is on a mission to bring new audiences to the cinema with regular free tickets.

Dog Man (U)

Part dog, part man, all hero.

From DreamWorks Animation—creators of the beloved blockbuster franchises Kung Fu Panda, How to Train Your Dragon and The Boss Baby—comes the canine-crime-fighting film adaptation of Dav Pilkey’s New York Times bestselling literary phenomenon: Dog Man.

When a faithful police dog and his human police officer owner are injured together on the job, a harebrained but life-saving surgery fuses the two of them together and Dog Man is born. Dog Man is sworn to protect and serve—and fetch, sit and roll over.

Directed by Peter Hastings
1hr 29 mins // US 2024

Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy (15) – Extra Screenings Added!

Two-time Academy Award® winner Renée Zellweger returns to the role that established a romantic-comedy heroine for the ages, a woman whose inimitable approach to life and love redefined an entire film genre.

Bridget Jones first exploded onto bookshelves in Helen Fielding’s literary phenomenon Bridget Jones’s Diary, which became a global bestseller and a blockbuster film. As a single career woman living in London, Bridget Jones not only introduced the world to her romantic adventures, but added “Singletons,” “Smug Marrieds” and “f—wittage” into the global lexicon. Bridget’s ability to triumph despite adversity led her to finally marry top lawyer Mark Darcy (Academy Award® winner Colin Firth) and to become the mother of their baby boy. Happiness at last.

But in Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy, Bridget is alone once again, widowed four years ago, when Mark was killed on a humanitarian mission in the Sudan. She’s now a single mother to 10-year-old Billy and 6-year-old Mabel and is stuck in a state of emotional limbo, raising her children with help from her loyal friends, including her former lover, Daniel Cleaver (Hugh Grant).

Pressured by her Urban Family —Shazzer (Sally Phillips), Jude (Shirley Henderson) and Tom (James Callis), her work colleague Miranda (Sarah Solemani), her former editor Richard Finch (Neil Pearson) and her gynecologist Dr. Rawlings (Oscar® winner Emma Thompson) — to forge a new path toward life and love, Bridget goes back to work and even tries out the dating apps, where she’s soon pursued by a dreamy and enthusiastic younger man (Leo Woodall).

Now juggling work, home and romance, Bridget grapples with the judgment of the perfect mums at school, worries about Billy as he struggles with the absence of his father, and engages in a series of awkward interactions with her son’s rational-to-a-fault science teacher (Oscar® nominee Chiwetel Ejiofor)

Directed by Michael Morris
With Renée Zellweger
2hrs 4 mins // UK/US 2024

I Am Martin Parr (12A)

One of the most controversial photographers of his time, Martin Parr’s images often have the power to both amuse and leave us ever so slightly uncomfortable, caught between laughter and the uneasy recognition of ourselves in his uncompromising portrait of consumer society. Though he’s now celebrated, collected and exhibited worldwide, Parr’s early work did not find an easy public and was highly criticized for trivializing the working class.

Yet, in retrospect, perhaps he was just observing what we often overlook – forcing it into the spotlight as an essential topic of discussion. I Am Martin Parr is the definitive portrait of an extraordinary photographer who revolutionized contemporary photography by inventing a political, humanist and accessible photographic language.

“Valuable documentary on the vigilant genius whose highly coloured 70s and 80s images revealed the white working class as never before” Guardian ★★★★

Directed by Lee Shulman
1hr 10 mins // UK 2024