🎥 MOVIE ROADHOUSE LONDON

⏳The fate of the free world hangs in the balance.

👋 Hey guys! This time, we’re meeting up for a historical thriller directed by Anthony Maras, set in the final 72 hours before D-Day. Based on David Haig’s play, and focuses on critical decisions made in the war rooms.

Though this a dramatised retelling, it’s about the real James Stagg, who delivers forecasts that could alter history and faces an impossible choice: launch the most dangerous seaborne invasion or risk losing the war altogether.

As viewers, we know history matters—so let’s see if this Hollywood film tries to stay close to the truth.

The Meetup: We'll be meeting for pre-drinks at Joshua's Tavern at The Londoner at 6:15 pm (5mins from the cinema). Then we’ll head to VUE Cinema Leicester Square for the 7:15 pm showing where you'll find me in seat B12 if want to sit in the same row.

💣 This is the bombshell ACME doesn't want you to see. It’s explosive!

👋 Hey guys! We’re hanging out at Picturehouse Central before heading in to see Dave Green’s new live-action legal comedy, starring Will Forte, which looks absolutely hilarious!

This one has a pretty bizarre premise, as a seemingly ordinary legal battle spirals completely out of control and one unlikely lawyer finds himself caught up in a case where common sense has apparently left the courtroom!

☢️ What would you give up if you knew the world was about to end!

👋 Hey guys! For this one we’re heading to Curzon Mayfair for the 4K restoration of Andrei Tarkovsky’s The Sacrifice, screening as part of Curzon’s Film 50 celebrations.

This was Tarkovsky’s final film, made in Sweden and released in 1986, the same year he died. It follows Alexander, a retired actor celebrating his birthday with his family when news arrives that nuclear war may have begun. Faced with the possibility of everything disappearing, he makes a desperate bargain with God.

It’s also an interesting meeting of two cinematic worlds. Tarkovsky made the film in Sweden with several people closely associated with Ingmar Bergman, most notably cinematographer Sven Nykvist, and the result unmistakably looking absolutely beautiful. Seeing Nykvist’s images in a new 4K restoration on the big screen feels like a pretty good reason to spend a Sunday afternoon at the cinema.

The Meetup: We’ll meet at the Curzon Mayfair bar from 2:15 pm for drinks and a chat before heading into the 3:00 pm screening. I’ll be in seat G21 if you want to book nearby.

The restoration runs for around 2 hours 29 minutes, so allowing for trailers we should be back at the bar at around 5:45 pm for our discussion and Letterboxd scores.

See you there!
Faheem

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👉 HEADS UP

🔥The Cinema Museum is proud to present a series of avant-garde film screenings on 16mm in benefit of the Museum’s fundraiser to buy their home. This second screening of the season is the infamous Flaming Creatures (1963), directed by Jack Smith.

👋 Hi everyone! today we are watching a classic of queer, underground and experimental cinema at once, Flaming Creatures follows an ensemble of drag performers vamping it up in front of the camera and participating in a mock advertisement for a heart-shaped brand of lipstick. However, things take a dark, nightmarish turn when a transvestite chases, catches and begins molesting a woman. Soon, all of the titular “creatures” participate in a (mostly clothed) orgy that causes a massive earthquake.

After the creatures are killed in the resulting chaos, a vampire dressed like an old Hollywood starlet rises from her coffin to resurrect the dead. All ends happily enough when the now undead creatures dance with each other, even though another orgy and earthquake loom over the end title card.

Note: Because of the film’s sexual content, some venues refused to show Flaming Creatures, and in March 1964, police interrupted a screening and seized a print of the film. The screening’s organisers (Jonas Mekas, Ken Jacobs, and Florence Karpf) were prosecuted, and the film was ruled to be in violation of New York’s obscenity laws. Mekas and critic Susan Sontag mounted a critical defence of Flaming Creatures, and it became a cause célèbre for the New American Cinema movement.

The Cinema Museum is proud to present a rare screening of this avant-garde film classic in its original format. All proceeds go towards The Cinema Museum’s fundraiser to buy their long-term home.

The Meetup: We will meet at the Cinema Museum Cafe at 4:30 pm. The Film Screening is at 5:00 pm and then after that we'll catch up again for drinks. You’ll also find the full ticket information, cinema address and map down below, so you won’t get lost.

I look forward to catching up with you guys there
Ray

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👉 HEADS UP