THE SEAGULL (M)

Saoirse Ronan, Annette Bening, Billy Howle

98 mins. USA 2018. Dir: Michael Mayer

The film is based on Anton Chekhov’s classic play. One summer at a picturesque lakeside Russian estate, friends and family gather for a weekend in the countryside. While everyone is caught up in passionately loving someone who loves someone else, a tragic comedy unfolds about art, fame, human folly, and the eternal desire to live a purposeful life.

DON’T WORRY HE WON’T GET FAR ON FOOT (M)

Joaquin Phoenix, Jonah Hill, Rooney Mara

114 mins. USA 2018. Dir: Gus Van Sant

After nearly dying in a car accident, the last thing Oregon slacker John Callahan intends to do is give up alcohol. Encouraged by his girlfriend and a charismatic sponsor, he reluctantly enters a treatment programme and discovers that he has the knack for drawing. He soon finds himself with a new lease of life when his edgy and irreverent newspaper cartoons gain a national and devoted following.

COLD WAR (M)

Joanna Kulig, Tomasz Kot, Borys Szyc

88 mins. Poland/France/UK 2018. Dir: Pawel Pawlikowski

The film is set against the background of the cold war in 1950s Poland, Berlin, Yugoslavia and Paris. It’s a tale of a couple separated by politics, character flaws and unfortunate twists of fate - an impossible love story in impossible times.

LORO (MA15+)

Toni Servillo, Kasia Smutniak, Elena Sofia Ricci

150 mins. Italy 2018. Dir: Paolo Sorrentino

Loro (which translates as ‘Them’) offers a timely commentary on the excesses and follies of the power hungry. In this instance the life and times of Silvio Berlusconi is explored through a dazzling, topical and no holds barred look at life in Italy under the glistening eye of modern Europe’s most infamous politician.

THE FAVOURITE (MA15+)

Rachel Weisz, Emma Stone

120 mins. Ireland/UK/USA 2018. Dir: Yorgos Lanthimos

In the early 18th century, England is at war with France. A frail Queen Anne occupies the throne. Her close friend, Lady Sarah, becomes Chief Lieutenant, while tending to Anne’s ill health and bad temper. Abigail, a new ambitious servant sees a chance to become the Queen’s companion at any cost, as Sarah’s work load increases.

WIDOWS (MA15+)

Viola Davis, Michelle Rodriguez, Elizabeth Debicki

129 mins. UK/USA 2018. Dir: Steve McQueen

This is the story of four women with nothing in common except a debt left behind by their dead husbands’ criminal activities. Set in comtemporary Chicago amid a time of turmoil, tensions build when the women take their fate into their own hands and conspire to forge a future on their own terms.

SHOPLIFTERS (M)

Lily Franky, Sakura Andô, Mayu Matsuoka

121 mins. Japan 2018. Dir: Hirokazu Kore-eda

After one of their shoplifting sessions, Osamu and his son come across a little girl in the freezing cold. Osamu’s wife eventually agrees to take care of her after learning of the hardships she faces. Although the family is poor they seem to live happily together until an unforeseen incident reveals hidden secrets, testing the bonds that unite them.

BLACK ‘47 (MA15+)

James Frecheville, Hugo Weaving, Sarah Greene

96 mins. Ireland/Lux 2018. Dir: Lance Daly

In 1847 battle-hardened soldier Feeney deserts the British army to return home to Ireland where he finds his country ravaged beyond recognition by the Great Famine. After discovering that his mother died from starvation and his brother was hanged by the British, something snaps, sending Feeney on a relentless quest to get even.

MARY POPPINS RETURNS (G)

Emily Blunt, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Ben Whishaw

130 mins. USA 2018. Dir: Rob Marshall

Now an adult with three children in 1930s depression era London, bank teller Michael Banks learns that his house will be repossessed in five days unless he can pay back a loan. Just when all seems lost, he receives a surprise visit from his beloved childhood nanny Mary Poppins who saves the day by taking the family on a magical adventure.

SAVING MR BANKS (PG)

Emma Thompson, Tom Hanks, Colin Farrell

125 mins. Aust/UK/USA 2013. Dir: John Lee Hancock

Spurred on by a promise he made to his daughters, Walt Disney embarks on a quest to obtain the movie rights to ‘Mary Poppins’.  The author, P.L. Travers has no intention of letting her beloved characters become part of the Hollywood scene - until the books stop selling and she needs the money!

VICE (M)

Christian Bale, Amy Adams, Steve Carell

130 mins. USA 2018. Dir: Adam McKay

‘Vice’ explores the epic story about how Dick Cheney, a bureaucratic Washington insider who worked in the Nixon White House, quietly became one of the most powerful men in the world while Vice President to George W. Bush. He reshaped the country and the globe in ways that we still feel today.

GREEN BOOK (M)

Viggo Mortensen, Mahershala Ali, Linda Cardellini

130 mins. USA 2018. Dir: Peter Farrelly

Tony Lip, a bouncer from an Italian–American neighbourhood in the Bronx, is hired to drive world class black pianist Dr Daon Shirley on a concert tour to the Deep South. They must rely on the `Green Book` to guide them to the few establishments that were then safe for African- Americans.

COLLETTE (M)

Keira Knightley, Dominic West

112 mins. USA/UK/Hungary 2018.  Dir: Wash Westmoreland

After marrying a successful Parisian writer, Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette is transplanted from her childhood home in rural France to the intellectual and artistic splendour of Paris. Husband Willy convinces Colette to ghost write for him. She pens a semi-autobiographical novel that becomes a best seller. Her success leads to more novels and Colette’s fight over creative ownership and gender roles.

LEAN ON PETE (M)

Steve Buscemi, Chloë Sevigny, Charlie Plummer

121 mins. UK 2017. Dir: Andrew Haigh

Fifteen year old Charley arrives in Portland, Oregon with his single father Ray, both eager to start a new life. Ray descends into personal turmoil while Charley finds acceptance at a local race track where he lands a job caring for an ageing quarter horse named ‘Lean on Pete’. Charley and Pete have mixed experiences after heading out into the unknown to avoid Pete’s impending slaughter.

STORM BOY (M)

Jai Courtney, Geoffrey Rush, David Gulpilil

93 mins. USA 2018. Dir: Shawn Seet

The lad from Colin Thiele’s classic Australian tale ‘Storm Boy’ has grown up to be Michael Kingley, a successful retired business man and grandfather. He remembers his childhood, growing up on an isolated coastline with his father, and recounts it to his granddaughter. The story of how, as a boy, he rescued and raised an extraordinary orphaned pelican named ‘Mr Percival’.

LADIES IN BLACK (PG)

Rachael Taylor, Julia Ormond, Angourie Rice

109 mins. Australia 2018. Dir: Bruce Beresford

Set in Sydney in the 1950s the musical tells the story of bookish school leaver Lisa who joins the sales staff in fashionable department store F.G.Goode’s. Over a summer that changes her life, she befriends the colourful women of the women’s clothing department. Each is on the precipice of change - facing independence and working for a living.

Repeat screening by popular request

SWIMMING WITH MEN (M)

Charlotte Riley, Rob Brydon, Rupert Graves

94 mins. UK 2018. Dir: Oliver Parker

His job is a drag and he is not getting any younger. Accountant Eric discovers a new sense of purpose thanks to a group of similarly stuck–in-a-rut guys who have found camaraderie and self-worth through synchronized swimming. Sure, they may be a bit paunchy, but they are determined to prove that they have what it takes to win the ultimate prize: the world championship.

JOURNEY’S END (M)

Sam Claflin, Asa Butterfield, Paul Bettany

108 mins. Italy/France 2017. Dir: Saul Dibb

It is March 1918 and C Company arrives to take its turn in the front-line trenches of northern France, led by war-weary Captain Stanhope. With a German offensive fast approaching, they use food and memories of life before the war to distract themselves. In contrast a newly arrived young officer is excited to be serving under Stanhope, his former school monitor, as tensions build before the attack.

THEY SHALL NOT GROW OLD (MA15+)

Original WWI footage

99 mins. NZ/UK 2019. Dir: Peter Jackson

Using state-of-the-art technology and archive materials from the BBC and Imperial War Museum, this technical master-piece by film maker Peter Jackson allows the story of WWI to be told in colour by the men who were there. Life on the Western Front is explored through the voices of the soldiers, who discuss their feelings about the conflict, the food they ate, the friends they made and their dreams of the future.

JINDABYNE (M)

Laura Linney, Gabriel Byrne, Deborra-Lee Furness

123 mins. Australia 2006. Dir: Ray Lawrence

This film by Ray Lawrence was a follow up to his award winning film ‘Lantana’. Based on a short story by Raymond Carver, it’s a subtle, powerful tale about doubt, guilt and personal responsibility. It tells of four men, on an annual fishing trip in isolated high country who find a girl’s body in the river but delay reporting it until the next day. Compelling from first frame to end credits.