Gransnet forums

TV, radio, film, Arts

Film recommendations or otherwise

(33 Posts)
NanKate Sun 08-Mar-26 17:15:28

I recently put up a Film thread on GN and was pleased to find other filmgoers, so I am starting a regular thread about films I or You have seen.

We now have an Everyman cinema in our town and I have become an avid filmgoer again.

They had a throwback film on today ā€˜Singing in The Rain’ with Gene Kelly, Debbie Reynolds and Donald O’Connor. It was brilliant. šŸ’ƒšŸ•ŗšŸ•ŗ

TerriBull Sun 08-Mar-26 17:39:11

Well the last film I saw was your recommendation Nan Kate, The King - Elvis at our local Everyman, we both loved it, I could actually sit through it again and I don't say that very often. My film before that was Hamnet and before that, A Complete Unknown, from the beginning of last year. I have to really, really want to see the film these days though. The Everyman, whilst a lovely cinema, can be expensive. Usually I book online but decided with the latest Elvis film to go in and get the tickets a few days prior at the box office, swerving the booking fee charged of £2.50 hmm

The film I'm sorry I missed now would have been Song Sung Blue. No idea what I'll see next.

Boz Sun 08-Mar-26 18:03:45

Utube have a lot of films to rent, including up-to-date stuff. They go from about 2.99 to 5.99.
Also, Apple tv..

keepingquiet Sun 08-Mar-26 18:22:28

My local family run cinema live streams from various places.

I just went to see Royal Ballet's Giselle from the Royal Opera House- fantastic and what a bargain for better than front row seats for £12!

Grammaretto Sun 08-Mar-26 18:32:30

We have a community cinema in our town, run by volunteers. It's every Sunday night and open to the public.
A small team choose the films but we can request so thanks for this.
Tonight it's Quartet. which I have seen before but we have new films (we had I swear recently)
Next week it's Hitchcock's Rope
We have an interval and serve tea and coffee and homemade cakes for a donation. It's also a chance to speak to people.
If the film is awful, you can escape in the interval šŸ˜„

We have locally made film nights and films with local interest too but most of the Oscar winners come here eventually.

NanKate Sun 08-Mar-26 21:37:00

A community cinema sounds great. Not everyone can afford the prices at Everyman. Our son regularly gives us vouchers for the cinema as opposed to gifts we do not really need. That suits us.

Deedaa Sun 08-Mar-26 21:42:27

Just saw a man with a premiere programme for Metropolis on Antiques Roadshow. I'd love to see it again. I last saw it at a film festival about 30 years ago.

Floradora9 Sun 08-Mar-26 21:43:10

keepingquiet

My local family run cinema live streams from various places.

I just went to see Royal Ballet's Giselle from the Royal Opera House- fantastic and what a bargain for better than front row seats for £12!

We used to see a lot of ballets and opera at the cinema but what was missing was the atmosphere. Nobody aplauding at the end just getting ready to go home . You do see ballet in a different light though compared to being miles away from the stage.

Sarnia Sun 08-Mar-26 22:26:41

My latest trip to the cinema was to see One Battle After Another. It is nominated for several Oscars and although 3 hours long it is action all the way. Leonardo di Caprio and Sean Penn deliver wonderful performances.

keepingquiet Sun 08-Mar-26 22:30:47

Floradora9

keepingquiet

My local family run cinema live streams from various places.

I just went to see Royal Ballet's Giselle from the Royal Opera House- fantastic and what a bargain for better than front row seats for £12!

We used to see a lot of ballets and opera at the cinema but what was missing was the atmosphere. Nobody aplauding at the end just getting ready to go home . You do see ballet in a different light though compared to being miles away from the stage.

Yes, you're right- not much of an audience either- but I enjoyed the music and the dance anyway.
Darcy and Petroc also get on your nerves a little but they come with the package.
To be fair I couldn't afford to see a live ballet in a theatre for that price.

Ampersand Mon 09-Mar-26 14:27:43

Odeon have reintroduced Silver Cinema for 60+ - Matinee showings usually midweek - Cost £1.80 Putney or £2.00 Wimbledon - includes tea/coffee/biscuit and there is no booking fee.
I have recently seen Desperate Journey & The Choral (written by Alan Bennett) - both released in 2025. Thoroughly enjoyed both

pen50 Mon 09-Mar-26 15:18:03

Last film at the cinema was Nuremberg; good but harrowing, of course.

We have an independent cinema which is just fabulous and will always choose to go there rather than the multi-screened chains.

sixandahalf Mon 09-Mar-26 15:25:04

Ampersand

Odeon have reintroduced Silver Cinema for 60+ - Matinee showings usually midweek - Cost £1.80 Putney or £2.00 Wimbledon - includes tea/coffee/biscuit and there is no booking fee.
I have recently seen Desperate Journey & The Choral (written by Alan Bennett) - both released in 2025. Thoroughly enjoyed both

That's an amazing deal.
I found The Choral to be uneven and included gratuitous scenes.

foxie48 Mon 09-Mar-26 15:28:04

I am a member of the Malvern Festival Theatre cinema club, I get two free tickets which is what the annual membership costs and 50p off each ticket for (can buy two tickets). I went to see H is for Hawk yesterday, my ticket cost £7.50. I now go to the cinema most weeks. The film was beautifully photographed and the story was well told and affecting. I was mesmerised by the goshawk, it is a really good film.

Greciangirl Mon 09-Mar-26 15:35:55

I thoroughly enjoyed The Choral at my local odeon.
Seniors Tuesdays is a jolly good deal. £2.50 and free tea and coffee.
Lovely comfortable seats too as I prebooked online.

Qwerty Mon 09-Mar-26 23:41:17

We saw Song Sung Blue on a miserable, wet Sunday afternoon. We love going to the cinema when the weather's bad during the day, it feels decadent. I wasn't sure whether I'd like the film but we both loved it.
More recently we saw Mother's Pride and enjoyed that. We always have a preference for English films.

NotSpaghetti Tue 10-Mar-26 00:59:32

Deedaa - just looked up screenings of Metropolis:

London
(March 21, 2026) The Musical Museum at Kew Bridge is hosting a screening with a live score performed on a Mighty Wurlitzer organ.

​Suffolk
(March 20, 2026) The Cut Arts Centre in Halesworth is showing the film with a live soundtrack by Tom Horton.

Also, the Hebden Bridge Picture House is running a "Live Re-Score" event this month featuring contemporary electronic music.

Otherwise - what about YouTube?
Look up:
Metropolis (1927) - English Titles, Restored Footage, Original Score

Good luck.

NotSpaghetti Tue 10-Mar-26 01:03:44

Floradora9 and keepingquiet - I've seen some ballet like this but don't always want to look where the cameraman takes me. I find it a little annoying to be honest.
"Live performance" isn't made the same way as a film.
I find this with dramas as well. Not just ballet.
A reasonable but ultimately unsatisfactory second-best.

I wish I could enjoy it more.

keepingquiet Tue 10-Mar-26 08:57:56

If you can't access 'the best' due to distance and finance then for me it is an excellent replacement.

I go to see live ballet when I can, but I also support my local community cinema too.

For me it isn't an all or nothing thing- it is having access to the arts, which is not a cheap affair these days, especially as most of it is in London...

NotSpaghetti Tue 10-Mar-26 09:29:27

Yes I agree. You are right of course.

TheatreLover Tue 10-Mar-26 09:43:37

If anyone likes a slow-moving, intense, film I can thoroughly recommend The Secret Agent, which is set in Brazil, and is about the lives of some revolutionaries post-revolution.
The film has been nominated for 3 Oscars, including best actor for the lead actor Wagner Moura.

LucyAnna5 Tue 10-Mar-26 09:52:38

Our local cinema shows arty / foreign films every couple of weeks. Enjoyed - ā€œEleanor the Greatā€, ā€˜Oh my Goodness’ (ā€˜Juste ciel!), ā€˜When Autumn Falls’.

Mawmac Tue 10-Mar-26 14:17:40

The Glasgow Film Festival was on last week. Would have loved to see quite a few, but limited by time to 2.

First was The last Viking, a Swedish dark comedy starring Mads Mikkelsen and others you would recognise. It was excellent, thought provoking and uplifting. I would go and see it again.

Second was Orwell 2+2=5. Not so cheery! A part documentary about Orwell's life, with footage from previous 1984 and Animal Farm films, Damian Lewis reading his diaries and parallels being drawn with rhetoric from various governments today. I did leave feeling quite despondent, but it is an excellent film.

Not sure when either will go on general release.

sixandahalf Tue 10-Mar-26 14:36:14

LucyAnna5

Our local cinema shows arty / foreign films every couple of weeks. Enjoyed - ā€œEleanor the Greatā€, ā€˜Oh my Goodness’ (ā€˜Juste ciel!), ā€˜When Autumn Falls’.

I enjoyed When Autumn Falls. I love Pierre Lottin who also appears in The Marching Band.

MayBee70 Tue 10-Mar-26 15:48:32

Mawmac

The Glasgow Film Festival was on last week. Would have loved to see quite a few, but limited by time to 2.

First was The last Viking, a Swedish dark comedy starring Mads Mikkelsen and others you would recognise. It was excellent, thought provoking and uplifting. I would go and see it again.

Second was Orwell 2+2=5. Not so cheery! A part documentary about Orwell's life, with footage from previous 1984 and Animal Farm films, Damian Lewis reading his diaries and parallels being drawn with rhetoric from various governments today. I did leave feeling quite despondent, but it is an excellent film.

Not sure when either will go on general release.

I’ve loved Mads ever since I saw him in A Royal Affair. There is a film called The Promised Land which I think is still on BBC iplayer. I’ve watched it several times. It’s very dark but I can watch anything with Mads in.