Now where on earth does that phrase come from? (Pretending for just one second that the internet doesn’t exist and one can Google™ it and not only find out from whence it came, but also watch the multiple commercials in which it was used) I think it’s from an advert from the 1970s or ‘80s for Croft Original Sherry (other sherries are available)... Now, the reason I’m expropriating that particular expression is I’ve been in this game for long enough to know a good programme of films when I see one, and this booklet holds the essential information on a very good programme of films! 

But where to start? We continue our relationship with Netflix by showing their marvellous The Two Popes, which stars Jonathan Pryce and Anthony Hopkins as Popes Francis and Benedict respectively (we must resist the temptation to call this film Frankie & Benny – other chain Italian restaurants are available), ahead of its bow on the streaming platform; there’s a couple of great docs about infamous shoe-lover and erstwhile Philippines’ First Lady, Imelda Marcos, and Russian oligarch-turned-anti-Putin activist, Mikhail Khodorkovsky, in The Kingmaker and Citizen K respectively.

Still from The Two Popes
Still from The Two Popes

Motherless Brooklyn is Ed Norton’s splendid 50s-set, private-eye directorial debut, Knives Out is a top drawer Agatha Christie-style (big house, extended family, murdered patriarch) whodunnit, and whilst those who know me might doubt my enthusiasm for such fare, there’s a great selection of holiday season-related films, which includes the utterly essential It’s A Wonderful Life. We’ve put in four of David Lean’s great epics, a fine selection of films from Scotland (Scotland Galore!), Greta Gerwig’s wonderful Little Women, Taika Waititi’s latest Jojo Rabbit and Fellini’s restored masterpiece La Dolce Vita, as a taster for an entire Fellini retrospective in the coming months. 

Still from Little Women
Still from Little Women

That expression at the top of the page doesn’t look so much like hubris now, does it?! And while I have you, huge thanks for being our marvellous customers during 2019 and we look forward to welcoming you throughout 2020… and beyond! 

Download the current programme here.