Met Opera

Jacques Offenbach’s fantastical opera ‘Tales of Hoffman’ kicks off the Metropolitan Opera’s season. It will make an interesting comparison with the Royal Opera's version showing in January 2025.

Sun 6 Oct 13:00

Beetlejuice is back! After a family tragedy, three generations of the Deetz family return home to Winter River.

Still haunted by Beetlejuice (Michael Keaton), Lydia's (Winona Ryder) life is turned upside down when her rebellious teenage daughter, Astrid (Jenna Ortega), discovers the mysterious model of the town in the attic and the portal to the Afterlife is accidentally opened. With trouble brewing in both realms, it's only a matter of time until someone says Beetlejuice's name three times and the mischievous demon returns to unleash his very own brand of mayhem.

USA 2024 Tim Burton 104m

A story of ambition, blackmail and desire with a dazzling anti-hero at its dark heart, all brought together by a delicious performance by Ian McKellen as a catty theatre critic in 1930s London.

Jimmy Erskine (McKellen) is the most feared and famous theatre critic in 1930s London, saving his most savage takedowns for Nina Land (Gemma Arterton), an already unsure leading lady. He takes pleasure in ritually tearing her down, a practice that has further eroded her fragile sense of confidence. As a gay man forever at the mercy of laws that prohibit his very existence, Jimmy is living life on the edge, indulging in park sex with strangers while showboating his flamboyance in writing. But when his newspaper’s proprietor dies and his son (Mark Strong) takes over, Jimmy may need to turn to Nina for help. As the three become entangled in a whodunnit wrapped in a Faustian pact, their strange triangle winds tighter and tighter to devastating effect for all those caught in the deadly web of blackmail and betrayal. McKellen makes Jimmy simultaneously despicable, understandable and wholly entertaining, whilst Arterton is also a stand-out, as she skilfully navigates how a stage actress tries to overcome personal demons and self-doubt. Supporting cast also includes Romola Garai, Claire Skinner and the always impressive Lesley Manville. This is a whodunnit wrapped in a Faustian pact which winds tighter and tighter.

UK/USA 2023 Anand Tucker 95m

A cantor in a crisis of faith finds his world turned upside down when his grade school music teacher re-enters his life as his new adult Bat Mitzvah student.

Between The Temples is graced with two endearing performances from Jason Schwartzman (Ben) as the Jewish cantor suffering a crisis of faith, and Carol Kane (Carla) as the ageing Bat Mitzvah student who gives him a new lease of life. Ben has arrived at a joyless stage of his life with his wife having died a year earlier. He is living back in the upstate New York home of his two mothers when his old elementary school music teacher re-enters his life, wanting to have the Bat Mitzvah she was denied as a 13-year-old. Ben comes to recognise in Carla something of a kindred lost soul and, as they study together, they develop a warm friendship that begins to see them both open up. elevated by the chemistry between Carol Kane and Jason Schwartzman.

USA 2024 Nathan Silver 112m

When a skeleton is discovered in the desert, a lawman and son of a legendary local sheriff, begins an investigation that will have profound implications both for him personally and for all of Rio County

When Sam Deeds (Chris Cooper) uncovers a skeleton in a small south-western Texas border town, it is thought to be that of Charlie Wade (Kris Kristofferson), the infamously corrupt, cruel and racist sheriff who was driven from the town by Deeds’ father Buddy (Matthew McConnaughey). A keen observer of America’s social fabric, writer/director John Sayles uncovers the haunted past buried beneath this border town with an Oscar-nominated screenplay. This masterful 90s classic western features a brilliant ensemble cast, transitions seamlessly from past to present and has been given a 4k digital remastering, making it a must-see on the big screen.

USA 1996 John Sayles 125m

Faced with both her hot-tempered father's fading health and melting ice-caps that flood her ramshackle bayou community and unleash ancient aurochs, six-year-old Hushpuppy must learn the ways of courage and love.

Six-year-old Hushpuppy (Quvenzhané Wallis) lives with her father, Wink (Dwight Henry), in a remote Delta community. Wink is a stern taskmaster, but he is preparing his young daughter for the end of the world. When Wink falls mysteriously ill, nature seems to fall ill with him. Temperatures rise, the ice caps melt and fearsome prehistoric beasts called aurochs run loose. Rising waters threaten to engulf their community, sending Hushpuppy in search of her long-lost mother. This is a fantastical and emotionally powerful journey with a strong environmental focus. Filmmaking that values imagination over money.

USA 2012 Benh Zeitlin 93m

Followed by short talk + Q&A in the studio by chalk stream expert Sarah Hughes of the Western Sussex Rivers Trust.

Keyke Mahboobe Man

A septuagenarian, solitary for many years, chooses to revive her love life. A chance encounter becomes an unforgettable evening. A lovely film that keeps up Iran’s reputation as a powerhouse of quality storytelling.

70-year-old Mahin (Lili Farhadpour) has lived alone in Tehran since her husband’s death and her daughter’s departure for Europe, until an afternoon tea with friends leads her to break her solitary routine and revitalise her love life. What begins as an unexpected encounter quickly evolves into an unpredictable, unforgettable evening. She meets Faramarz (Esmaeel Mehrabi), a modest, personable single man of her age, who himself is of Mahin’s independent frame of mind: he got into trouble with joyless authorities for playing a musical instrument in a wedding band. The Iranian government prevented the film’s two directors from travelling to Berlin to attend their own premiere, most probably because of a scene in which police drive self-importantly around Tehran, intimidating women who are allegedly not wearing their hijabs with enough modesty. Our 70-year-old heroine – who wistfully remembers a time when hijabs were not required at all – stands up to these uniformed bullies and rescues a woman from their clutches. Unmissable cinema.

Iran 2024 Maryam Moghadam & Behtash Sanaeeha 97m