ALICE DOESN’T LIVE HERE ANYMORE (Martin Scorsese, 1974)
Scorsese shows a more sensitive side in this warm road movie about a widowed woman and her precocious young son, journeying across the American Midwest in search of elusive independence and faded dreams. Ellen Burstyn is funny, touching, vulnerable and strong, with excellent support from Harvey Keitel and Kris Kristofferson.
HARD EIGHT (P.T. Anderson, 1996)
- Monday September 11
Before Boogie Nights, Magnolia and Punch Drunk Love, Paul Thomas Anderson gave us a glimpse of his future talents with this relatively small-scale film about a Reno gabling veteran (played by Anderson regular Philip Baker Hall) and the two wounded lives he influences, (John C. Reilly and the surprisingly excellent Gwyneth Paltrow). A very confident debut, despite studio interference that led Anderson to essentially disown the film
THE BIG COMBO (Joseph H. Lewis, 1955)
- Monday, September 18
Following his extraordinary Gun Crazy, Lewis tackles a mob-themed noir, which centres on the obsessive rivalry between Cornel Wilde’s lawman and the gangster (Richard Conte) he pursues. Vicious and dark, with stunning chiaroscuro cinematography from John Alton, this is a stylistic highpoint of the film noir cycle.
THE GIRL CAN’T HELP IT (Frank Tashlin, 1956)
- Monday, September 25
Loads of cult fun from former Warner Brothers cartoon director Tashlin, in this satire on the fame game. Tom Ewell is a down-on-his-luck press agent hired by mobster Edmond O’Brien to promote his dizzy blonde girlfriend – a very sporting Jayne Mansfield. The best of the 50s rock and roll cash-in movies, featuring stunning performances from legends like Gene Vincent, Little Richard, Fats Domino, Julie London and Eddie Cochran.
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