The Lodger and Jack the Ripper

On Saturday 2nd October we’re welcoming back the wonderful Meg Morley Trio for a live accompaniment to Alfred Hitchcock’s 1927 silent thriller film The Lodger. We’ll also be joined by Julian Upton for a short introductory talk.

To prepare for this Ripper-inspired thriller and tense atmospheric score, let’s take a moment to remind ourselves of the stories that inspired it all.

Jack the Ripper was an unidentified serial killer active in the largely poor areas in and around Whitechapel in London in 1888. The attacks ascribed to Jack the Ripper were of young women living and working in the area, and due to the way the bodies were found without vital organs, it was deducted the killer had some surgical knowledge.

Several letters were sent to Scotland Yard from those claiming to be the killer, and indeed the name ‘Jack the Ripper’ originated in one of these letters that was circulated to the media. There were a total of 5 known victims and to this day the murders have never been solved.

The case has been the inspiration for several horror and thriller films throughout the years. One of the earliest notably being Hitchcock’s The Lodger, but also including Sherlock Holmes film A Study in Terror (1965), French film Le Boucher (1970), Johnny Depp film From Hell (2001) and more recently TV series Whitechapel (2009-2013).

Don’t miss the chance to see this chilling film in atmospheric settings with a live score, join us at 7.30pm on Saturday 2nd October at Oddfellows Hall. Tickets here.

The Endless Summer - A suggested Surf music playlist

To celebrate our screening of The Endless Summer and live accompaniment by band The Rumble O’s we’ve put together a playlist of some of our favourite surf music. Ranging from vintage classics to some contemporary bands and that one song in Pulp Fiction and ranging from the original Endless Summer soundtrack so The Rumble O’s themselves. Take a listen and hang on to summer just a little bit longer!

Snake Oil – The Rumble O’s

Let’s Go Surfing – The Drums

Surfin’ USA – The Beach Boys

Surf Wax America – Weezer

Misirlou – Dick Dale & The Del Tones

Theme From Endless Summer – The Sandals

Mean Dream – La Luz

Wipe Out – Surfaris

Summer Breeze – Seals & Croft

Shot In The Dark – The Rumble O’s

Listen here: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL8iFKXnL8fqp-1y74EGiKbJ09uzcJ5ceP

Join us at Rising Brook Community Church at 5pm on Sunday 3 October for The Endless Summer with live accompaniment by The Rumble O’s. Tickets here.

The Mark of Zorro – Douglas Fairbanks the Swashbuckling Vigilante

On Thursday 30th September Pocket Film Festival will be at St Mary’s Church, bringing you a screening of the 1920 film The Mark of Zorro with a live organ accompaniment by Darius Battiwalla. Film screenings with a live score are one of our favourite types of events to run and this one promises to be spectacular.

Everyone knows the legend of Zorro, The masked, sword-wielding vigilante who defends the poor and victimized against the forces of injustice, a character created by Johnson McCulley in 1919. But what about the man portraying him?

Douglas Fairbanks claimed various things about his early life, such as attending Colorado School of Mines and Harvard University, but what seems to be the truth is that he started acting from an early age. Acting mostly in the theatre, Fairbanks gained significant athletic ability, a quality that appealed to theatre audiences at the time. Initially this trait was not appreciated by film directors, but by 1918 he was one of the most popular actors in Hollywood, starring in several comedies.

By 1920, the year The Mark of Zorro was made, Fairbanks premiered a new type of adventure-costume picture, perfect for Fairbanks’s charisma and athletic abilities. These films included The Three Musketeers (1921), Douglas Fairbanks in Robin Hood (1922), The Thief of Bagdad (1924), The Black Pirate (1926), and The Gaucho (1927). As well as the adventurous swashbuckling nature of these films, another thing they all share in common is the portrayal of some of the most well known rebellious vigilante characters of the time. Perhaps this was a role Fairbanks knew well. One of the things he was most well known for was being one of the originators of United Artists, a production company that helped him and other actors alike avoid being controlled by the studios and protect their independence. By the standards of the time this was certainly rebellious, but in the spirit of characters like Zorro and Robin Hood an act for good and against the forces of injustice.

Join us on the Thursday to enjoy more delights from the silent era of film. Tickets here.

Last Shop Standing and The Vinyl Revival - Vinyl on film

On Tuesday 28th September Pocket Film Festival will celebrating all things Vinyl with a screening of two documentaries in partnership with People Play Vinyl. As well as a double screening of Last Shop Standing and The Vinyl Revival, we’ll also be live streaming a Q&A with the director of both films, Pip Piper.

Vinyl and film have a lot in common when it comes to associations with pop culture, nostalgia and celebrated formats. Here are some of our favourite films that celebrate this link:

1. High Fidelity (2000)

Based on the much loved book by Nick Hornby, High Fidelity is the obvious choice. Rob, a record store owner and compulsive list maker, recounts his top five breakups, including the one in progress. The recent TV series remake and adaption, starring Zoë Kravitz, just goes to prove that Vinyl is still going strong.

2. Pretty in Pink (1986)

The John Hughes classic may not be entirely about Vinyl but some of it’s most memorable scenes do take place in the record shop that Molly Ringwald’s character Andie works in. Who can forget Duckies iconic dance to Otis Redding?

3. Good Vibrations (2013)

British film Good Vibrations is based around the 1970s Belfast punk scene and bringing this to life centred around a record shop "on the most bombed half-mile in Europe", according to main character DJ Terri Hooley. As well as being a drama with a lot of heart, Good Vibrations also makes you want to buy local music and see some local bands. Something we’re all looking forward to being able to do again.

Join us at 7.30pm at Redrum on Tuesday 28th September to watch Last Shop Standing and The Vinyl Revival. Tickets here.

Another Round

Another Round – Films Of Excess

Another Round will be screening as part of Pocket Film Festival, courtesy of Stafford Film Theatre who have been bringing film to Stafford for over 70 years.

Another Round follows teachers Martin (Mads Mikkelsen), Tommy, Peter and Nikolaj who are stuck in a rut. Unable to share their passions either at school or at home, the friends embark on an audacious experiment: to see if a constant level of alcohol in their blood will lead them to greater freedom and happiness. Another Round is directed by Thomas Winterberg, no stranger to extremes with his past films Festen and The Hunt.

To embrace the excess, we’re looking back at some of our favourite films that also display a similar level of “over doing it”.

1. La Grande Bouffe (1974)

La Grande Bouffe roughly translates from French to blow out, which is certainly what this film’s protagonists are engaged in. The film follows a group of men who go to a villa in the French countryside where they resolve to eat themselves to death. Needless to say what follows isn’t appetising. Branded by Peter Bradshaw as “a feast of desire and disgust” and a vaguely depressing satire.

2. The Queen of Versailles (2012)

This documentary depicts the highs and lows of former beauty queen spender Jackie Siegel. On a quest to build what's to be America's biggest house in Florida, Jackie and her husband are facing financial meltdown. Full of garish taste and unrivalled excess, it’s hard to look away.

3. Intolerance (1916)

DW Griffiths silent epic isn’t just an extravagant depiction of Babylon, Intolerance was also the most expensive set ever constructed at that time. Intolerance depicted the theme on a huge scale, looking at four different periods in the history of Earth in which its people were ravaged by intolerance. Intolerance is one of many overly expensive productions in Hollywood’s history, including Cleopatra (1963) the most expensive film ever made and Michael Cimino’s Heaven’s Gate which notoriously bankrupted the studio with its production.

Join us at 7.30pm at Gatehouse Theatre on Tuesday 28th September to watch Another Round, tickets here.