A Taste of Honey screening and Q&A at the Cornerhouse in Manchester

Yesterday, we were incredibly sad to hear of the death of Shelagh Delaney, who died of cancer, aged 71. She was and is a northern icon, star and inspiration for The Smiths and noted playwright, writing the classic A Taste of Honey when she was just 19. If you've never seen it, there's a special screening of the movie at Manchester's Cornerhouse on Wednesday 30th November.

Swinging London flick Haunted House of Horror (1969) gets a DVD reissue

A movie we've raved about in the past gets a new DVD reissue courtesy of Odeon - Haunted House of Horror.

Kids TV swings once more with the reissue of The Tyrant King (1968)

I'll be honest, this is a new one to me, but after reading the write-up, I'm desperate to see The Tyrant King, which is being issued on DVD for the first time by Network.

Blu-ray review: Regan - the original pilot for The Sweeney (1974)

Remember Armchair Cinema? No, me neither. I'm sure it was a pretty good series, but even if it wasn't, it spawned one classic episode and one classic TV series which is still on the box right now, The Sweeney. That episode was called Regan and it's just been issued by Network on Blu-ray for the very first time.

DVD Review: What's Good For The Goose (1969)

When it comes to Norman Wisdom, you expect pretty much all of his output to involve a jaunty flat cap and a cry of 'Mr Grimsdale!' Not a mid-life crisis, a bunch of hippies and the Pretty Things. Which is what you actually get with What's Good For The Goose.

Blu-ray review: More (1969)

I've always been slightly fascinated with More. The first time I saw it was on late night Channel 4, its mix of Pink Floyd, 60s hippiedom and stunning Ibiza landscapes being the perfect post-club comedown. Now its here via the BFI on Blu-ray, Does it still cut it?

Norman Wisdom's psych-tastic What's Good For The Goose (1969) gets a DVD release

After a seriously long wait, there is now a confirmed UK DVD release for 1960s psychedelic classic What's Good For The Goose.

Odeon is releasing the film Norman Wisdom perhaps didn't want to talk up in his later life, the tale of a middle-aged banker called Timothy Bartlett. He's suffering from a mid-life crisis and during a banking conference in Southport, hooks up with the local hipsters, starting a relationship with teenager Nikki (Sally Geeson) as well as taking in The Pretty Things at the local psych hangout.

It's a film you have to see to believe. Odeon is releasing it on 26th September with trailers and a booklet, with a pre-order price of £9.70 on Amazon. See over the page for one of those Pretty Things club scenes that perhaps have kept the movie so notorious.

Find out more about the DVD at the Amazon website

Newly-restored Kes (1969) is back on the big screen

Some classic Ken Loach is heading back to the big screen - Kes - which originally dates back to 1969.

Over 40 years on and the movie has had a complete restoration, hitting the cinemas as part of the BFI celebration for the director's 75 birthday. More on that here.

So far, screenings have been confirmed as:
London BFI Southbank: Fri 9 - Fri 23 Sep 2011
Dublin Irish Film Institute: Fri 9 - Thu 15 Sep 2011
HMV Curzon Wimbledon: Sat 10 - Sun 11 Sep 2011

More are likely to be added. Check this site for additional screenings. If you've never had the pleasure of this tale of a boy, a bird and Barnsley, see the trailer over the page.

Tommy screening plus Ken Russell Q&A at the BFI - plus a whole weekend of cool Vintage movies

As part of the Vintage event taking at the Embankment in London over 29th, 30th and 31st July, there's a programme of rather cool movies screenings by the BFI, headed up by Ken Russell himself.

The headline act is, as we type (although not 100 per cent confirmed), Ken Russell presenting a screening of his 1975 adaptation of Tommy at the BFI. Not only that, the screening on Sunday 31st July will also feature a Q&A with the eccentric director too, right after the big screen showing.

If that's not enough, other movies are showing too, the likes of The Party's Over, The Damned, The Lavender Hill mob and so on. Full details over the page.

BFI website

DVD Review: Black Joy (1977)

I'd ever heard of Black Joy before the advance notice came through from Odeon, but I'm certainly glad I made the effort to secure a copy.

It's an obscure movie, but with some familiar faces - Norman Beaton and Floella Benjamin for example - featuring in this play-turned-film that endeavours to show the gritty streets of mid-70s Brixton through the eyes of someone alien to it, Guyanan immigrant Ben, played by Trevor Thomas.

Cult clip: Deep End (1970) trailer

Following on from our recent review, check out this newly-restored trailer for the (newly-restored) big screen version of Deep End from 1970. Check out the BFI site for details of screenings in May.

 

Review: Deep End (1970)

Creeping about the West End in search of film obscurities being something of a hobby of mine, your pal Scenester fair leapt out of his office at 5.30 one chilly Monday evening, throwing his coat on as he did, to make his way once more to BFI Stephen Street, for a screening of Deep End, a forgotten gem from 1970. I confess to not having heard of this film before, although I am at a loss to say why, in view of the gritty subject matter, year of production, authentic London locations and strong cast.

The list of films dealing with society's changing sexual mores, young and older people and their contrasting attitudes to sex is a particularly lengthy one, but I can safely say that this one is a real oddity, even by the standards of the time.

Joanna (1968) gets a dual-format release by BFI and Flipside

The second of the releases from BFI and Flipside for April is Joanna, a former big-screen presentation from the Flipside and reviewed by us here when it was on that big screen.

17-year-old Joanna (Genevieve Waite) is cool, stylish, and determined to start a new life as an art student in swinging sixties London. She indulges in the pleasures of casual sexual encounters, colourful daydreams and an impromptu trip to Morocco with the wise and debonair Lord Peter Sanderson (Donald Sutherland). But when Joanna falls in love with Gordon (Calvin Lockhart), from Sierra Leone, her life begins to get complicated.

BFI and Flipside release Lunch Hour (1962) on dual-format disc

We're always happy to see some new discs incoming from the BFI offshoot Flipside, with Lunch Hour being the first of the new releases for April.

Based on a John Mortimer play, Lunch Hour, from 1962, stars Shirley Anne Field (Saturday Night and Sunday Morning) as a young designer on the brink of an affair with a married male executive (Robert Stephens) at the company where she works. This story of an illicit lunch-hour rendezvous is shot in 'real-time' and is described as a 'stylish and highly-charged story of subterfuge, simmering tensions and sexual conflict'.

Remake of cult classic And Soon The Darkness heads to DVD

Regular reader will know that the original version of And Soon The Darkness is one of our favourite films. The work of the team behind The Avengers and set in rural France in 1970, the film has been remade, with much the same scenario, in Argentina. That version is getting a reissue on DVD this month.

In the remake, best friends Stephanie and Ellie decide to head off on their own for the final days of the trip hoping to find a bit more fun before having to head back home to the US. They wind up in a pretty rural village and spend the evening getting drunk in a bar, where Ellie picks up a handsome local while Stephanie heads back to their hotel alone intending to get a good night’s sleep. Stephanie is soon awoken by a booze-fuelled altercation between Ellie and her new 'friend', which is eventually broken up by an American ex-pat called Michael, who is also staying at the hotel.