This week, two huge presentations to satisfy the most voracious of appetites. On Thursday it’s Oscar Wilde’s The Importance Of Being Earnest, theatrical farce at its very finest, and on Saturday the panoramic sweep of historical epic The Brutalist. But we’d like to give a shout out to Friday night’s film, sandwiched between these two leviathans – A Real Pain written and directed by, and starring, Jesse Eisenberg along with the equally quixotic talent of co-star Kieran Culkin. Yes, we know, male bonding etc. but there’s something about films with two guys riffing off each other that makes for great, if more small-scale, cinema – think Sideways, Midnight Cowboy, Rain Man and more. So give it a whirl.
Here is this week’s timetable. Bar opens at 6pm for the 7pm screenings. Please note: The Brutalist will screen promptly at 6.30pm.
NT Live: The Importance of Being Earnest
Thursday 20th February at 7pm
NT Live: The Importance of Being Earnest is our latest presentation of the best in filmed theatre, this time a performance captured at the National Theatre itself. Director Max Webster (Life of Pi) presents a joyful reimagining of the famous Oscar Wilde comedy, as two gadflies-about-town seek to ‘impress the ladies’ while maintaining an elaborate web of lies about their real selves. Multi-award winning Sharon D Jones (also Grace in Doctor Who) plus the Doctor himself, Ncuti Gatwa, feature in this hilarious comedy of manners.
Please Note: the screening will begin promptly at 7pm.
A Real Pain
Friday 21st February at 7pm
It was obvious from the Social Network that Jesse Eisenberg is a restless genius, playing Zuckerberg as Eisenberg and flattering the subject in the process. A Real Pain is a buddy-road-movie-comedy written and directed by Eisenberg, with he and Kieran (the younger) Culkin as cousins on a trip to Poland to rediscover their family heritage. One neurotic, the other free spirited (no prizes for working out which is which), a turbulent and episodic road trip follows with great playing off each other in true Odd Couple style. With 96% on Rotten Tomatoes and Oscar nominations for Culkin’s performance and Eisenberg’s screenplay, the Hollywood Reporter describes this gem as ‘funny, heartfelt and moving in equal measure.’
The Brutalist
Saturday 22nd February at 6.30pm
With no less than 10 Academy Award nominations The Brutalist is the most talked about release of the last few months. Produced, directed and co-written (with Mona Fastvold) by Brady Corbet, this three and a half hour epic stars Adrien Brody as the Hungarian Holocaust survivor who eventually finds fame as an architect in America. Set over several decades, the film provides a huge sweeping, and highly emotional, portrait of the latter half of the 20th century as experienced by immigrants to the USA. Peter Bradshaw in the Guardian summed it up: "It is an electrifying piece of work, stunningly shot and superbly designed…I emerged from this film euphoric and dizzy from its monumental vastness."
Please Note: the screening will start promptly at 6.30pm.
Up next week:
A Complete Unknown, Becoming Led Zeppelin
Interactivity corner – the result:
Thanks to everyone who voted in our Hitchcock poll. We’re thrilled to say that the film we’ll be showing on Saturday 15th March will be Frenzy. In a way not surprising as the other choice (North By Northwest) does get plenty of airing, including at No.6 a while back; on the other hand, Frenzyis rarely seen, even on TV, so the appetite for it is clearly there. It’s Hitchcock at his most gruesome, and morbidly humorous, all set in an early 70s London some of us might still remember, and arguably the Master’s final masterpiece.
Coming soon:
Hey hey my my rock and roll will never die...next week No.6 revives the spirit of the classic rock era with a celebrated biopic and a much acclaimed documentary. First, Timothee Chalamet brings gallic charm to his portrayal of the Zim as he progresses from folkie ingenue to the ‘Judas’ figure who had the temerity to go electric at Newport. Meanwhile in England a bunch of respected session musicians find a singer and pick up the tatters of the Yardbirds to, yes, become Led Zeppelin in a documentary about the birth of a rock juggernaut. That’s A Complete Unknown on Friday 28th Feb and Becoming Led Zeppelin on Saturday 1st March, and a newsletter the author could write in his sleep (and probably will).
