Sun 8 Jun • Matinee

SUGAR AND SPICE AND ALL THINGS MOVIES (U) 12.00

(UK 2008) dir. Melih Kancelik 22m. Digital.
Documentary about cinema collector and enthusiast, Umit Mesut, and his Hackney based sweet shop that now resembles a film museum. For Umit, sweets are a sideline; his real passion is for cinema. In his shop window there is sign: "This is Super 8 Not Video or DVD Rubbish". We follow him from his celluloid Aladdin's Cave to the Rio Cinema in Dalston, in an attempt to answer the big question: does Digital spell the end for cinema, or a new beginning? A fascinating documentary featuring a unique Hackney character.
+ Q&A with director and participants

£5

Sun 8 Jun • Alfred Hitchcock double bill

THE LADY VANISHES (U) 2.00

(UK 1938) dir. Alfred Hitchcock 96m. Digital.
Margaret Lockwood, Michael Redgrave, Basil Radford, Paul Lukas.

Hitchcock's witty and wicked comedy-thriller with Margaret Lockwood investigating the disappearance of charming old spinster Dame May Whitty, who has seemingly vanished into thin air aboard a train. Against the background of a Europe on the verge of war, a complex web of mystery is unravelled by a delightful assortment of English eccentrics. Pure Hitchcock. Pure delight.

+ THE 39 STEPS (U) 4.00

(UK 1935) dir. Alfred Hitchcock 86m. Digital.
Robert Donat, Madeleine Carroll, Lucie Mannheim, Godfrey Tearle.

It's classic Hitchcock all the way in this adaptation of John Buchan's Boys Own Adventure. Spies, English eccentrics and a man with a missing finger punctuate a thrilling chase, in which our hero is both the pursuer and the pursued, across the Scottish moorlands. A perverse romantic interlude involves a blonde heroine and a pair of handcuffs. MacGuffins were never more delightful.

Sun 15 Jun • Double bill

I VITELLONI (PG) 2.15

(Italy/France 1953) dir. Federico Fellini 107m. Subtitles.
Franco Interlenghi, Alberto Sordi, Franco Fabrizi, Leopolde Trieste.

Fellini's landmark 1953 black comedy is is a semi-autobiographical masterpiece of sharply drawn character sketches. Five young men linger in post-adolescent limbo dreaming of adventure and escape from their small seaside town. The consequences of their lothario ways will soon catch up with them, whilst Fellini will be recognised as a major international movie maker with his next film LA STRADA.

+ MY BROTHER IS A ONLY CHILD (Mio Fratello è Figlio Unico) (12A) 4.30

(Italy/France 2007) dir. Daniele Luchetti 104m. Subtitles.
Elio Germano, Riccardo Scamarcio, Diane Fleri, Angela Finocchiaro, Massimo Popolizio.

Two working-class brothers grow up in the provincial town of Latina in the 1960s and are torn apart by ideological conflict in the 1970s, much like Italy itself. Based on the bestselling novel by Antonio Pennacchi, and scripted by the writers of the epic THE BEST OF YOUTH, this is a likable, bitter-sweet tragi-comedy which perfectly captures the times, the places and the characters.

Sun 22 Jun• Rolling Stones double bill

SYMPATHY FOR THE DEVIL (15) 1.30

(UK 1968) dir. Jean-Luc Godard 101m.
Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Brian Jones, Marianne Faithful.

Rock 'n' Roll and revolutionary-counter culture politics come together in Jean-Luc Godard's quintessential 1968 movie. The Stones record Sympathy for the Devil and around that Godard creates a series of abstract fictional vignettes on such diverse topics as Black Power, pornography and the irony of interviewing celebrities. There is nothing remotely like it.

+ SHINE A LIGHT (12A) 3.40

(US/UK 2008) dir. Martin Scorsese 122m.
Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Ron Wood, Christina Aguilera.

In 2006 Scorsese filmed The Rolling Stones at New York's Beacon Theatre. The result, combined with vintage footage, is an astonishing visual and audio tour-de-force. Nine cinematographers (all of them Oscar winners or nominees) capture the raw energy of the band now, and Scorsese brilliantly puts it all together to create a unique portrait of the ultimate rock 'n' roll band.

Sun 29 Jun • The Independent Midwives Association presents

THE BUSINESS OF BEING BORN (15) 11.00am

(US 2008) dir Abby Epstein 87m.
Ricki Lake, Cara Muhlhahn, Abby Epstein, Michel Odent, Marsden Wagner, Ina May Gaskin.

Compelled to explore the subject after the birth of her first child, actress Ricki Lake recruits filmmaker Abby Epstein to question the way American women have babies. The film interlaces intimate birth stories with surprising historical, political and scientific insights and shocking statistics about the current maternity care system. Should most births be viewed as a natural life process, or should every birth be treated as a potentially catastrophic medical emergency?

+ panel discussion

All proceeds to ‘Save Independent Midwifery Campaign’

£8/£5 Concs

Sun 29 Jun • Double bill

SON OF RAMBOW (12A) 2.00

(France/UK/Germany 2007) dir. Garth Jennings 96m.
Bill Milner, Will Poulter, Jules Sitruk, Jessica Hynes.

A delightfully quirky comedy about friendship, faith and the bizarre business of growing up in the 1980s. Will is the unhappy eldest son in a deeply religious, fatherless family. Forbidden from watching television, new worlds open when he sees a RAMBO video supplied by school terror Lee. So begins the boys' secret filmmaking life, until the arrival of a French exchange student pushes their unique friendship and precious film to breaking point.

+ IN BRUGES (18) 4.00

(UK/Belgium 2008) dir. Martin Mcdonagh 107m.
Colin Farrell, Brendan Gleeson, Ralph Fiennes, Anna Madeley.

Hit men Ray (Farrell) and Ken (Gleeson) are ordered to hide out in the Belgium city of Bruges after a job goes wrong. As they wait for new orders the two men find themselves inexplicably drawn towards the city and increasingly dangerous entanglements with locals, tourists, and a film shoot. It's a true original, beautifully written and acted, endlessly surprising, and darkly hilarious – and it could just be the film of the year so far.

Sun 6 Jul • Double bill

THE OTHER BOLEYN GIRL (12A) 12.45

(UK/US 2008) dir. Justin Chadwick 115m.
Natalie Portman, Scarlett Johansson, Eric Bana, David Morrissey, Jim Sturgess, Mark Rylance, Kristin Scott Thomas, Eddie Redmayne, Benedict Cumberbatch, Ana Torrent, Oliver Coleman, Juno Temple.

The big screen adaptation of Phillipa Gregory's bestselling novel of romance and intrigue. Portman and Johansson are perfect as Anne and Mary Boleyn, sisters driven apart by their pursuit of handsome King Henry VIII. It's certainly more hysterical drama than historical drama, but this is entertainment not education. And there's no denying that the costumes and sets are stunning.

+ LOVE IN THE TIME OF CHOLERA (15) 3.00

(US 2007) dir. Mike Newell 139m.
Javier Bardem, Giovanna Mezzogiorno, Benjamin Bratt, Unax Ugalde, John Leguizamo, Fernanda Montenegro, Catalina Sandino Moreno, Ana Claudia Talancón, Laura Harring, Hector Elizondo, Liev Schreiber, Marcela Mar.

Gabriel Garcia Marquez's novel adapted by Ronald Harwood as an epic love story set against a breathtaking South American backdrop at the turn of the century. When teenage Florentino Ariza sees Fermina Daza for the first time a spark of youthful infatuation ignites a romance that will span a crazy, rollercoasting and always unpredictable lifetime. Javier Bardem and Giovanna Mezzogiorno age magnificently and the Shakira infused soundtrack is a bonus.

Sun 13 Jul • Matinee

LA SCALA OPERA SERIES

TRISTAN UND ISOLDE (PG) 12.30
by Richard Wagner

Director: Patrice Chéreau, Conductor: Daniel Barenboim, Design: Richard Peduzzi.
Cast: Ian Storey (Tristan), Waltraud Meier (Isolde), Michelle De Young
(Brangane), Gerd Grokowski (Kurwenal).
Recorded at La Scala, Milan in high definition, the opera will be projected in 2K
digital together with 5.1 surround sound.
Sung in German with English subtitles.

Based largely on the romance by Gottfried von Straßburg, Wagner's composition of TRISTAN UND ISOLDE was inspired by his affair with Mathilde Wesendonck and the philosophy of Arthur Schopenhauer. Widely acknowledged as one of the peaks of the operatic repertory, TRISTAN is notable for Wagner's advanced use of chromaticism, tonality, orchestral colour and harmonic suspension.

Approximate running time: 300m. (including 2 intervals)

£12/£10 Concessions & Rio Friends

Sun 20 Jul • Double bill

TOVARISCH: I AM NOT DEAD (12A) 1.45

(UK 2007) dir. Stuart Urban 83m. Digital.
Garri Urban, Stuart Urban, Menachem Urban, Anne Applebaum, Noka Kapranova.

British filmmaker Stuart Urban follows his extraordinary Russian father Garri, survivor of the Holocaust and the Gulags, back to the Ukraine to revisit the location of past horrors, whilst in search of the file the KGB still holds on him. It's a gripping and moving documentary that tells an amazingly rich, vivid and complex story about guilt, loyalty and family.

+ HEARTBEAT DETECTOR (La Question Humaine) (12A) 3.30

(France 2007) dir. Nicolas Klotz 140m. Subtitles. Digital.
Mathieu Amalric, Michael Lonsdale, Jean-Pierre Kalfon, Lou Castel, Edith Scob, Valérie Dréville.

A superb, nightmarish thriller with Mathieu Amalric as a suave psychologist assigned to monitor the erratically behaving boss of a giant German corporation (the great Michel Lonsdale). The past begins to take on a relevance to the present as Amalric delves deeper into the company's history and unearths some chilling Third Reich connections.

Sun 27 Jul • Double bill

DON'T TOUCH THE AXE (Ne Touchez Pas a La Hache) (PG) 12.30

(France/Italy 2007) dir. Jacques Rivette 137m. Subtitles.
Jeanne Balibar, Guillaume Depardieu, Michel Piccoli, Bulle Ogier, Anne Canineau.

Adapted from a Balzac story, Rivette's masterful costume drama is the tale of an ill-fated love affair between a Parisian socialite and a Napoleonic war hero that turns into a revengeful game of cat and mouse. A galaxy of superb and subtle star performances make this a fascinating exploration of the intricacies of love and desire.

+ THE LAST MISTRESS (La Vieille Maitresse) (15) 3.10

(France/Italy 2007) dir. Catherine Breillat 104m. Subtitles.
Asia Argento, Fu'ad Ait Aattou, Roxane Mesquida, Claude Sarraute, Yolande Moreau, Michael Lonsdale, Anne Parillaud.

A tale of amour fou and intrigue set in the aristocratic world of Paris in 1835. Director Catherine Breillat's mix of the erotic and the cerebral captures a world of courtliness and cruelty in a movie that is as elegantly stylish as it is passionately intelligent. Asia Argento is perfectly cast as the brazen mistress with an outrageous wardrobe to match.

Sun 3 Aug • Double bill

MY BLUEBERRY NIGHTS (12A) 12.45

(Hong Kong/China/France 2007) dir. Wong Kar Wai. 90m.
Norah Jones, Jude Law, Natalie Portman, David Strathairn, Rachel Weisz.

In his first English language movie, that master of unspoken melancholy Wong Kar Wai takes a stylised dramatic journey across America to measure the distance between heartbreak and a new beginning. A star-studded cast of misfits, (Jude Law, Natalie Portman, Rachel Weisz), each living with their own kind of yearning, encounter Norah Jones, newly dumped by her boyfriend, along the way.

+ SOME CAME RUNNING (PG) 2.45

(US 1958) dir. Vincente Minnelli 137m.
Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Shirley MacLaine, Martha Hyer, Arthur Kennedy.

Sinatra is the bitter and boozy failed writer who returns to his hometown in the Midwest. Cynicism clashes with the rampant hypocrisy of small town life as he opts for the company of floozy Shirley MacLaine and misogynist gambler Dean Martin. Director Vincente Minnelli lights a tense slow-burning fuse and then brilliantly orchestrates a spectacularly chaotic finale.