Author: david

WILDING (2023) PG (DOCUMENTARY)

Wilding is based on Isabella Tree’s 2018 memoir of how she and her husband Charlie Burrell completely overhauled the 1400-acre Knepp estate he had inherited in Sussex. The first thing they were told when they took over the land was that they would never make a go of farming it, as the soil had been impoverished by over-intensive cultivation, so the couple decided to experiment with returning it to the wild. They introduced wild ponies from Dartmoor, let deer wander, and allowed herds of pigs to roam freely (to the disapproval of their neighbours). All their cows and sheep live outdoors all year round with little husbandry.

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Based on the extraordinary character at the centre of Roald Dahl’s beloved children’s book Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Wonka tells the wondrous story of how the world’s greatest inventor, magician and chocolate-maker became the Willy Wonka we know today. Young Willy Wonka is full of ideas, and determined to change the world one delectable bite at a time – proving that the best things in life begin with a dream, and if you’re lucky enough to meet Willy Wonka anything is possible. Click here for the trailer

The true story of Sir Nicholas ‘Nicky’ Winton, a young London broker who visited Prague in December 1938. He found families who had fled the rise of the Nazis in Germany and Austria, living in desperate conditions with little or no shelter and food, and under threat of Nazi invasion. How many children could he and the team rescue before the borders closed? Fifty years later, Nicky is still blaming himself for not doing more. It’s not until a live BBC Television show, ‘That’s Life’, surprises him by introducing him to some surviving children – now adults – that he finally begins to come to terms with the guilt and grief he had carried for five decades. 

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A 1920s English seaside town bears witness to a dark, absurd scandal in this riotous mystery comedy. Based on a stranger-than-fiction true story, Wicked Little Letters follows two neighbours: deeply-conservative local Edith Swan (Olivia Colman) and rowdy Irish migrant Rose Gooding (Jessie Buckley). When Edith and fellow residents start to receive wicked letters full of unintentionally hilarious profanities, foul-mouthed Rose is charged with the crime. The anonymous letters prompt a national uproar, and a trial ensues. However, as the town’s women, led by Police Officer Gladys Moss (Anjana Vasan), begin to investigate the crime themselves, they suspect that something is amiss and Rose might not be the culprit after all.

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From Taika Waititi, who directed the wonderful Hunt for the Wilderpeople, comes this story of the American Samoa soccer team, who suffered the worst loss in World Cup history, losing to Australia 31-0 in 2001. With the 2014 World Cup approaching, the team recruits a down on his luck, maverick coach (Fassbender) to help turn their fate around. 

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The retelling of June 6, 1944, from the perspectives of the Germans, the U.S.,Britain, and the Free French. Marshall Erwin Rommel, touring the defences being established as part of the Reich’s Atlantic Wall, notes to his officers that when the Allied invasion comes they must be stopped on the beach. “For the Allies as well as the Germans, it will be the longest day. The longest day.” Click here for trailer

Adapted for the screen from Bea Roberts’ multi-award-winning stage play, And Then Come the Nightjars is a heart-warming story of friendship and survival set against the backdrop of the 2001 Foot and Mouth outbreak. An unlikely friendship develops between a Devon farmer and the vet who is assigned to cull his precious herd.

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In 2014, near-nonagenarian Bernie Jordan (Michael Caine) is sad to miss out on an official group outing to the D-Day anniversary in France. Encouraged by wife Rene (Glenda Jackson), he sneaks out from his care home and goes on one last big adventure to cross the hannel, while reminiscing about his wartime experiences.

Celebrating the 80th birthday of this classic noir. Insurance salesman Walter Neff embarks on an affair with Phyllis Dietrichson, the seductive wife of one of his clients. Phyllis plans to murder her husband to receive the proceeds of an accident insurance policy and Walter devises a scheme to receive twice the amount based on a double indemnity clause. When Mr Dietrichson is found dead on a train track, the police accept that it’s an accidental death. But Walter’s best friend and colleague Barton Keyes is not convinced…

In post-World War II Venice, Hercule Poirot (Branagh), now retired and living in
self-imposed exile, reluctantly attends a séance. But when one of the guests is
murdered, the former detective must put his little grey cells to work one more
time to uncover the killer.

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