Big screen classics

A collection of the best the big screen has to offer.

Tickets for these screenings are only £8

November

Watching the Detectives

As last month, our daily screenings of classic movies look at the fallible art of detection. Not every detective is a full-time sleuth: besides professional private eyes and police officers, films have followed insurance investigators, tax inspectors, journalists and all manner of amateurs in their pursuit of the truth. Curiosity, courage and cunning, deduction and downright determination viewith erroneous conclusions.

Geoff Andrew, Programmer-at-large

House of Bamboo

This racy, pacy thriller sees an undercover agent infiltrating an American-led gang of racketeers in postwar Japan.
Kiss Me Deadly

A brutish private eye investigates the murder of a mysterious woman.
The Manchurian Candidate

Suspense and satire mingle in this prescient tale of brainwashing and political conspiracy.
Dirty Harry

Eastwood excels as cop Harry Callahan, who resorts to problematic methods in his hunt for a serial killer.
Dirty Harry + pre-recorded intro by film scholar Hannah Hamad, Cardiff University

Eastwood excels as cop Harry Callahan, who resorts to problematic methods in his hunt for a serial killer.
Shaft

Shaft investigates a Harlem racketeer, while simultaneously searching for the man’s kidnapped daughter.
Un Flic

Melville’s final movie is a moody meditation on professionalism, friendship and betrayal.
Un Flic + pre-recorded introduction by film critic Christina Newland

Melville’s final movie is a moody meditation on professionalism, friendship and betrayal.
The Long Goodbye

Altman’s updating of Raymond Chandler’s detective novel to 70s LA makes for one of his greatest movies.
The Long Goodbye + pre-recorded intro by Geoff Andrew, Programmer-at-Large

Altman’s updating of Raymond Chandler’s detective novel to 70s LA makes for one of his greatest movies.
Chinatown

A rich, resonant account of greed, corruption and worse in mid-30s LA.
Murder on the Orient Express

Sidney Lumet’s lavish adaptation of this Poirot mystery boasts an extraordinarily starry cast.
Illustrious Corpses

Lina Ventura excels as a cop investigating the murders of prominent judges.
Blue Velvet

David Lynch’s supremely imaginative blend of neo-noir mystery and near-surreal fairy tale.
Devil in a Blue Dress

This stylish adaptation of Walter Mosley’s thriller has memorably fine performances by Denzel Washington and Don Cheadle.
Devil in a Blue Dress + intro by Empire Magazine Contributing Editor Amon Warmann

This stylish adaptation of Walter Mosley’s thriller has memorably fine performances by Denzel Washington and Don Cheadle.
The Silence of the Lambs

Jodie Foster stars as an FBI agent who enlists the help of a killer (Hopkins) to catch a killer.
The Silence of the Lambs + pre-recorded intro by Professor Yvonne Tasker, author of The Silence of the Lambs: BFI Film Classics

Jodie Foster stars as an FBI agent who enlists the help of a killer (Hopkins) to catch a killer.
Heat

Pacino and De Niro excel as a cop and criminal engaged in a contest of wills in Michael Mann’s magnificent crime saga.
In the Cut

A New York lecturer becomes (dangerously?) involved with a cop investigating a local murder.
Inside Man

Spike Lee’s heist thriller has a stellar cast including Washington, Owen, Foster and Plummer.
No Country for Old Men

The Coens’ dark but dazzlingly brilliant film is a tale of greed, cruelty and deadly violence.
No Country for Old Men + pre-recorded intro by Geoff Andrew, Programmer-at-Large

The Coens’ dark but dazzlingly brilliant film is a tale of greed, cruelty and deadly violence.
Zero Dark Thirty

Kathryn Bigelow’s compelling and controversial account of the CIA’s lengthy search for Osama bin Laden.

December

Christmas on screen

It’s that time of year when certain cinematic favourites turn up as inevitably as a Yuletide hangover. It may be the season of goodwill, but it can also be a time of loneliness, sadness, tension, regret and reflection. Accordingly, this month’s daily screenings of classic movies include both celebrations of comfort and joy and other, more ambivalent responses to the Christmas experience.

Geoff Andrew, season programmer

Remember the Night

A convicted shoplifter and a prosecuting attorney are thrown together for Christmas in this poignant romance.
Meet Me in St Louis

Minnelli’s evergreen musical chronicles a year in the life of a St Louis family about to move to New York.
It’s a Wonderful Life

Capra’s seasonal favourite charts a man’s growing disenchantment and the angel tasked with saving him.
Miracle on 34th Street

Can the real Santa be working in Macy's Department Store?
Scrooge (aka A Christmas Carol)

Nobody has ever played Scrooge better than the great Alastair Sim.
The Apartment + pre-recorded intro by critic and improviser Tara Judah

Wilder’s spiky fable centres on an insurance clerk torn between professional ambition and romantic idealism.
The Apartment

Wilder’s spiky fable centres on an insurance clerk torn between professional ambition and romantic idealism.
Gremlins + intro by Justin Johnson, Lead Programmer

Perhaps this wasn’t the best Christmas present idea after all…
Gremlins

Perhaps this wasn’t the best Christmas present idea after all…
Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas

One of the great stop-motion films of all time can be watched at Halloween or Christmas (and all the days between)!
Bad Santa

Billy Bob Thornton plays a thoroughly bad Santa in this R-rated festive comedy.
Tokyo Godfathers

An extraordinary anime classic about an abandoned baby found by a homeless trio at Christmas.
A Christmas Tale

Deneuve and Amalric delight in Desplechin’s persuasive, compelling portrait of a family’s troubled Christmas reunion.
Carol

Todd Haynes’ sumptuous account of the relationship between two rather different women in 1950s New York.

January 2022

The Films in Truffaut’s Life

A lifelong cinephile, François Truffaut first attracted attention as a critic. Besides writing reviews for Cahiers du cinéma and Arts-Lettres-Spectacles, he famously attacked le cinéma de papa, developed la politique des auteurs and, after turning to filmmaking, produced a book of his interviews with Alfred Hitchcock. This month’s daily screenings of classics feature some of the films and directors he particularly admired.
Geoff Andrew, season programmer

La Grande Illusion

Renoir’s classic about WWI prisoners of war repeatedly trying to escape boasts an extraordinary cast.
Citizen Kane

Welles’ masterpiece about the complex contradictions in the life and character of a controversial media tycoon.
Shadow of a Doubt

Hitchcock’s tale of a young woman beginning to wonder whether her favourite uncle might have a dark side…
Rome, Open City

Rossellini’s powerful drama about resistance, resignation and betrayal in Rome under the German Occupation.
Rome, Open City + intro by lecturer and writer Dr Julia Wagner

Rossellini’s powerful drama about resistance, resignation and betrayal in Rome under the German Occupation.
Letter from an Unknown Woman

Max Ophuls’ brilliant, bittersweet film about a young woman’s misbegotten infatuation with a concert pianist.
Les Enfants terribles

Melville’s meticulous adaptation of Cocteau’s novel about siblings retreating into a private world of erotically charged games.
Casque d’or

Simone Signoret is courted by rival suitors in Becker’s classic blend of crime movie and romance.
Casque d’or + pre-recorded intro by film critic and historian Pamela Hutchinson

Simone Signoret is courted by rival suitors in Becker’s classic blend of crime movie and romance.
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes

Monroe and Russell star as gold-digging cabaret artists attracting widespread attention on a transatlantic liner.
Smiles of a Summer Night

Bergman’s acerbic comedy brings together several couples at a country house in 1900 for a roundelay of sexual intrigue and discovery.
Ordet

A supremely beautiful and profoundly moving portrait of a rural family riven by religious differences and illness.
Bigger Than Life

James Mason is excellent as a mild-mannered teacher monstrously transformed by his addiction to cortisone.
Bigger Than Life + intro by Geoff Andrew, Programmer-at-Large

James Mason is excellent as a mild-mannered teacher monstrously transformed by his addiction to cortisone.
Twelve Angry Men

Henry Fonda heads a remarkable cast in Lumet’s single-set drama about jurors debating the evidence of a murder trial.