May 12, 2019
Sarah Cook talks to director Damien Chazelle about First Man, which comes back to Picturehouse Cinemas on 13 May for a special screening with Empire Magazine.
Having kicked off the 2018 Venice Film Festival – following in the gargantuan footsteps of another of Chazelle’s masterpieces, La La Land – First Man is set to make waves come awards season. The film revisits the life of navy-pilot-turned-astronaut Neil Armstrong (La La Land’s Ryan Gosling), following his epic journey to becoming the first man to walk on the moon during the 1969 Apollo 11 space mission. Scripted by Spotlight writer Josh Singer, First Man spans Armstrong’s adventure from his acceptance into NASA’s astronaut programme in 1961 to his world-changing space walk eight years later – and all the sacrifices in between.
May 12, 2019
Film critic Elena Lazic talks to director Claire Denis about her new film High Life, in cinemas now.
Monte (Robert Pattinson) and his baby daughter are the last survivors of a damned and dangerous mission to the outer reaches of the solar system. The crew--death-row inmates led by a doctor (Juliette Binoche) with sinister motives--has vanished. As the mystery of what happened onboard the ship is unraveled, father and daughter must rely on each other to survive as they hurtle toward the oblivion of a black hole. A staggering and primal film about love and intimacy, suffused with anguished memories of a lost Earth, High Life is a haunting, thrilling achievement from visionary director Claire Denis.
May 2, 2019
Felicity Beckett talks to director Benedikt Erlingsson about his new film Woman At War, in cinemas now.
To her friends, Halla (Halldóra Geirharõsdóttir) leads a quiet and routine life. But her happy and upbeat exterior hides a secret double life as a committed environmental activist. Known to others only by her alias “The Woman of the Mountain”, she secretly wages a one-woman-war on the local aluminium industry to protect the stunning highland landscape that is under threat.
Just as she begins planning her biggest and boldest operation yet, she receives an unexpected letter that will change everything. She will be forced to choose between her environmental crusade and the chance of fulfilling her dream of becoming a mother. Funny, moving and utterly unique, Woman At War follows Halla as she juggles the adoption of a beautiful little girl with planning her final act of industrial sabotage.
April 11, 2019
Sam Clements and Corrina Antrobus talk to writer Nicole Taylor about her new film, Wild Rose. In cinemas now.
Rose-Lynn Harlan (Jessie Buckley) is bursting with raw talent, charisma and cheek. Fresh out of jail and with two young kids, all she wants is to get out of Glasgow and make it as a country singer. Her mum Marion has had a bellyful of Rose-Lynn’s Nashville nonsense. Forced to take responsibility, Rose-Lynn gets a cleaning job, only to find an unlikely champion in the middle-class lady of the house. A comedy-drama about mothers and daughters, dreams and reality and three chords and the truth.
April 2, 2019
Sarah Cook talks to director Steve Sullivan about his new film Being Frank: The Chris Sievey Story. Playing at Picturehouse Cinemas now.
A tender, funny and balanced documentary about maverick Manchester comedian Frank Sidebottom, and the life and art of his hidden creator, the wayward genius Chris Sievey.
Frank Sidebottom, remembered fondly as the man with the papier-mâché head, was the court jester of the Manchester music and comedy scene for over 25 years, but only a privileged few knew the man inside.
Calling on extensive archive material from Chris’s personal collection, including home movies, notebooks, art and music, and valuable insights from his family, friends and colleagues, Being Frank tells a twisted tale of split personalities: a suburban superhero with a fanatical desire to preserve the myth he created, who would eventually have to battle against being consumed by his alter ego.
March 23, 2019
Sarah Cook talks to Winston Duke, the co-star of Jordan Peele's new film Us.
After the roaring success of 2017’s Get Out, Jordan Peele hits us with another provocative helping of horror. US chronicles a family’s trip away to an idyllic beach house in Santa Cruz, California. Lupita Nyong’o plays mother Adelaide, who knew the seaside venue as a child, and Winston Duke plays her husband, Gabe. As night draws in, four mysterious people appear, holding hands in the driveway of their lodging. They’re not just any intruders, but are grotesque and menacing doppelgängers of the family themselves. Tranquillity gives way panic and fear, and the family break descends into nightmarish uncertainty. Who are these creatures? Where did they come from? What do they want?
March 15, 2019
Sam Clements and Noa Meshorer talk to Lucas Hedges about his new film Ben Is Back, in cinemas now.
Lucas Hedges and Julia Roberts give terrific performances in this intimate drama about family and addiction. Nineteen year-old recovering addict Ben Burns (Hedges) unexpectedly shows up at his family’s suburban home on Christmas Eve morning. Ben’s mother, Holly (Roberts), is relieved and welcoming but wary of her son staying clean. Over a turbulent 24 hours, new truths are revealed and a mother’s undying love for her son is tested as she does everything in her power to keep him safe.
March 11, 2019
Felicity Beckett is joined by director Alex Holmes and producer Victoria Gregory to discuss their new film, Maiden.
Maiden tells the inspirational story of how Tracy Edwards, a 24-year-old cook on charter boats, became the skipper of the first ever all-female crew to enter the Whitbread Round the World Race in 1989.
Tracy’s dream met opposition on all sides: her male competitors thought an all-women crew would never make it; the chauvinistic yachting press took bets on her failure; potential sponsors rejected her, fearing they would die at sea and generate bad publicity. But Tracy refused to give up: she re-mortgaged her home and bought a second-hand boat, putting everything on the line to ensure the team made it to the start line. With the support of her remarkable crew, she went on to shock the sport and prove that women are the equal of men.
March 6, 2019
Sam Clements talks to directors Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck about their new film, Captain Marvel.
Set in the 1990s, Marvel Studios’ “Captain Marvel” is an all-new adventure from a previously unseen period in the history of the Marvel Cinematic Universe that follows the journey of Carol Danvers as she becomes one of the universe’s most powerful heroes. While a galactic war between two alien races reaches Earth, Danvers finds herself and a small cadre of allies at the centre of the maelstrom.
February 27, 2019
Corrina Antrobus talks to director Sara Colangelo and actor Maggie Gyllenhaal about their new film, The Kindergarten Teacher.
Maggie Gyllenhaal stars as Lisa Spinelli, a kindergarten teacher and poet fed up with her career, her oblivious husband and teenage kids who largely ignore her. When she discovers that a five-year-old in her class may be a poetic prodigy, Lisa becomes fascinated and tries to protect him from neglectful parents. She soon finds herself risking her career and family to nurture his talent.
