Projects
Here's a list of films that are screening with Flicks in the Sticks.
Robert Redford, Nick Nolte and Emma Thompson star in Ken Kwapis' (The US Office and Parks and Recreation) delightfully funny adaptation of Bill Bryson's international bestseller. Deciding to hike the notoriously tough Appalachian trail, Bryson (Redford) invites old pal Katz (Nolte), who turns up wheezing and overweight for a trip involving high altitudes, hardy terrain and... bears. Using their journey as a metaphor for the uncertainty of old age, with majestic footage of rural America, it's a hilarious, touching film with very enjoyable comic turns from Redford, Nolte, Emma Thompson (as Bryson’s wife), Nick Offerman and Kristen Schaal.
British filmmaker Mark Jenkin’s first full-length feature Bait has been critically lauded since its Berlinale premiere. Continuing his focus on handmade filmmaking from his shorts work and shot in grainy 16mm black and white, it chronicles a Cornish coastal town under threat from modernity. Fisherman Martin (Edward Rowe) is struggling to buy a boat while coping with a family rivalry and the influx of London money, Airbnb and stag parties to his harbour village. The summer brings simmering tensions between the locals and newcomers to boiling point, with tragic consequences. Around this drama, Jenkin has fashioned a film that feels original, experimental and often mythic in its observations of the timeless natural world alongside the everyday human one. Strikingly atmospheric and stylistically bold, rooted in local culture and community, Bait is both nostalgic and angrily contemporary and positions Jenkin as an exciting new voice in British cinema.
A coal mine in a northern English village faces closure, which would also mean the end of the miners' brass band. With a cast of familiar faces (including Pete Postlethwaite and Ewan McGregor) this is a solid British drama.
In a deserted Macedonian village, Hatidze, a 50-something woman, trudges up a hillside to check her bee colonies nestled in the rocks. Serenading them with a secret chant, she gently maneuvers the honeycomb without netting or gloves. Back at her homestead, Hatidze tends to her handmade hives and her bedridden mother, occasionally heading to the capital to market her wares. One day, an itinerant family installs itself next door, and Hatidze’s peaceful kingdom gives way to roaring engines, seven shrieking children, and 150 cows. Yet Hatidze welcomes the camaraderie, and she holds nothing back—not her tried-and-true beekeeping advice, not her affection, not her special brandy. But soon Hussein, the itinerant family’s patriarch, makes a series of decisions that could destroy Hatidze’s way of life forever.
Mr. Turner explores the last quarter century of the great if eccentric British painter J.M.W. Turner (1775-1851). Profoundly affected by the death of his father, loved by a housekeeper he takes for granted and occasionally exploits sexually, he forms a close relationship with a seaside landlady with whom he eventually lives incognito in Chelsea, where he dies. Throughout this, he travels, paints, stays with the country aristocracy, visits brothels, is a popular if anarchic member of the Royal Academy of Arts, has himself strapped to the mast of a ship so that he can paint a snowstorm, and is both celebrated and reviled by the public and by royalty.
Beloved British artist L.S. Lowry (Timothy Spall) lived all his life with his over-bearing mother Elizabeth (Vanessa Redgrave). Bed-ridden and bitter, Elizabeth actively tried to dissuade her bachelor son from pursuing his artistic ambitions, whilst never failing to voice her opinion at what a disappointment he was to her. By turns hilarious, brutal and tender, and featuring yet another tremendous performance from Timothy Spall, this has an appealing old-school charm. Often sad and unsettling, this is also livelier and less oppressive than it may sound thanks to the fine writing, deft direction, and the superb, if painful interplay between Redgrave and Spall. “An entertaining showcase for two first-class performers.” Guardia
In this enigmatic historical romance set at the end of the 18th century, artist Marianne is commissioned to paint a betrothal portrait of a young woman, Lady Héloïse. Knowing that Héloïse resists marriage, Marianne disguises herself as a lady’s companion in order to gain her subject’s trust; only to find herself inadvertently falling in love with her. This is a subversively seductive love story, as the two women grapple with a society that prohibits not only sexual and emotional bonds between them, but also the control of their own artistry, bodies and lives. Both bold and restrained, it’s an absorbing and immersive film, gorgeous to look at.
While World War II rages across the channel, reclusive writer Alice lives a solitary life on the seaside cliffs of Southern England. Her life’s work is using science to discredit myths and magic. One day, she opens her front door to find she has been assigned a young London evacuee named Frank to look after. Initially resistant, Alice is gradually won over by Frank’s innocent curiosity and the two realise they have more in common than she had assumed. As the painful past opens up a brighter future, this tells an intensely emotional story of love's endurance in trying times.
Rollo decides to marry his sweetheart Betsy and sail to Honolulu. When she rejects him he decides to go alone but boards the wrong ship, the "Navigator" owned by Betsy's father. Unaware of this, Betsy boards the ship to look for her father, whom spies capture before cutting the ship loose. It drifts out to sea with the two socialites each unaware of there being anyone else on board.
TINA is the ultimate celebration of a global superstar and an intimate portrait of a woman who overcame extreme adversity to define her career, her identity and her legacy on her own terms. From her early career as the queen of R&B to her record-breaking sell-out arena tours of the ’80s, Tina Turner draws back the curtain to invite us into her private world in a way she has never done before. Revealing her inner-most struggles, and sharing some of her most personal moments, TINA is the defining and inspirational record of one of the greatest survivors in modern music.
The lucky winner of the national lottery is Ned Devine, so taken by his good fortune that he now can't be waked, because he died from the shock of it! News of the win spread quickly in the scenic little Irish village of Tully More, but not the secret news of Ned's demise. With lottery officials closing in to confirm the prize claimed by the deceased Devine, Ned's closest friends scheme to keep the prize money close to home, in memory of Ned of course! But as the plot twists humorously, they learn it is hard is to keep such a secret in a small town.
Yesterday, everyone knew The Beatles. Today, only Jack remembers their songs. He’s about to become a very big deal. From Academy Award®-winning director Danny Boyle and Richard Curtis, the Oscar-nominated screenwriter , comes a rock-n-roll comedy about music, dreams, friendship, and the long and winding road that leads to the love of your life.
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