Ticket price £7.00
Whiplash (15) – 6.30pm
2014 (USA) (Drama, Music)
Starring: Miles Teller, J.K. Simmons, Melissa Benoist
Director: Damien Chazelle
In Whiplash music teacher Terence Fletcher (JK Simmons) turns tuition into torture in the belief that it is the only way to nurture greatness. Ambitious, talented jazz drummer Andrew (Miles Teller) could be his perfect student. The bond they forge becomes a form of psychological warfare in which the abusive Fletcher constantly ups the stakes.
With five Oscar nominations and five Bafta nominations, including Best Director and Best Original Screenplay for Chazelle, Whiplash is an extraordinarily taut, accomplished piece of work for a debut feature.This blisteringly told tale of an aspiring drum soloist and his bullying mentor is a hugely entertaining, refreshingly subversive take on the well-worn “inspirational teacher” theme and the final showdown provides as gripping a climax as you will see all year.
(1hr 47min)
followed by…
Pride (15) – 8.45pm
2014 ( UK / France) (Comedy, Drama)
Starring: Bill Nighy, Imelda Staunton, Dominic West
Director: Matthew Warchus
Director: Matthew Warchus
Winner of Best British Independent Film at the 2014 British Independent Film Awards, Pride is inspired by an extraordinary true story. It’s the summer of 1984, Margaret Thatcher is in power and the National Union of Mineworkers is on strike, prompting a London-based group of gay and lesbian activists to raise money to support the strikers’ families. Initially rebuffed by the Union, the group identifies a tiny mining village in Wales and sets off to make their donation in person. As the strike drags on, the two groups discover that standing together makes for the strongest union of all.
The screenplay by playwright Stephen Beresford is well organised and full of tangy one-liners, while the large and talented ensemble cast make his characters seem rounded, real and loveable. Pride is a joyous crowd-pleaser that genuinely works and is a great British film.
(1hr 59min)