Get rare film merchandise to help support the cinema
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This week's round up of film recommendations to enjoy online during lockdown include picks from staff, volunteers and friends of the Electric Palace.
CINEMA MEMORABILIA ONLINE - JUST TWO DAYS LEFT!
Show off your diverse film taste by decorating the background of your video calls with a high brow film print to display on your wall! Continuing until midday this Sunday 17 May, film fan Alan is hosting an eBay sale of his personal cinema memorabilia, all in aid of the Electric Palace. To see what's on offer (including the It's A Wonderful Life print, pictured above), visit his eBay seller ‘larchesladalan’ and see if you can grab a bargain and support the cinema while you’re at it!
VIRTUAL FILM TOUR: THANK YOU FROM US ALL
We were delighted to see that so many of you were able to watch the Feminista Films Virtual Film Tour to support the cinema in the past couple of weeks. Thank you so much to all those who donated - we raised £184 with 32 tickets sold. Your generosity helps us keep the cinema operating in the background during lockdown until we're able to open again.
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MEET OUR VOLUNTEERS - Nicholas
Who are the friendly folk who welcome you as you head up the stairs to the cinema? Our Meet the Volunteers series introduces you to our fantastic volunteers.
This week meet Nicholas Johnson, who is also director of Hastings' Black Huts festival:
What film would you most like to see at the Electric Palace?
"A Luis Buñuel triple bill all-nighter... then sleep at the Jenny Lind pub!." Meet Nicholas >>
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THE GRASS ARENA
We had planned on showing 'The Grass Arena’ on 17th May, but it will be rescheduled for when we reopen. The film has been programmed by Nicholas Johnson, director of Black Huts Film and Poetry Festival and also long term volunteer for the cinema. Here, Nick talks about why you should look out for this unusual film:
“‘The Grass Arena’ is a little known film from that time, rich for new Channel 4 film, which took on the subject of the first 30 years of the life of John Healy. Healy was a Kentish Town Irish lad who by the late '50s was a prizefighter and alcoholic. He made chess learned in prison his combat, and became a champion despite his class.
Mark Rylance’s performance as Healy is extraordinary in capturing his light, quicksilver and almost androgynous physicality, as well as a person panicked, vulnerable, shy, charming, lonely and with a lot of hope placed on the table: Nurses who could poison him, a therapist he falls in love with, a murder in the grass arena he could have committed - all these paradoxes Rylance captures in body language and speech.
When the lights finally darken in the Electric Palace and the screen can again light up ‘The Grass Arena’ must be one of the first films we share together.” - Nicholas Johnson.
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SPOTLIGHT ON ARCHIVE FILM WITH PAUL SARGENT
With Covid-19 scuppering our immediate plans to screen Sam Mendes' 1917 film this coming week, instead we speak with war film archive specialist, and long-term volunteer with the Electric Palace, Paul Sargent (you might recognise him from our Thursday morning screenings), about his career immersed in historic film footage from wars beyond.
"D W Griffith filmed extensively on the western front for his film Hearts of the World, only to discard this footage later as not being dramatic enough and shoot his battle scenes on Salisbury Plain and back home in California."
Learn about Paul's lifetime achievement in archive film >>
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Recommendations from friends of the Electric Palace
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WHAT ARE FILM CRITICS WATCHING WITH THEIR KIDS DURING LOCKDOWN?
Recommended by friend of the Electric Palace, film critic Pamela Hutchinson
Sign up to the Sight & Sound Weekly Film Bulletin enewsletter for a weekly round up of its film-related recommendations. 'Parental Guidance' is this week's theme, highlighting a vast selection of movies that film critics are showing their children while cooped up at home:
"The moment Netflix acquired a slate of Studio Ghibli films in February was a boon for cinephile parents. Michael Leader, a critic who co-hosts the Ghibliotheque podcast, recommends starting little ones on My Neighbour Totoro, Kiki's Delivery Service and Ponyo. 'The rest are U/PG territory, but The Wind Rises is rather complex, thematically. Then there are films such as Only Yesterday that skew a bit more towards the Young Adult age range.'”
Also from the Weekly Film Bulletin:
"The BFI Player has put all its family-friendly and free archive content in one place, from a silent 1903 version of Alice in Wonderland to beloved safety films such as The Ballad of the Battered Bicyle (1947). Two early 70s recommendations in the rental selection that may have slipped past your radar: The Belstone Fox, a heartwarming tale about fox who befriends a litter of puppies, and classic ghost tale The Amazing Mr Blunden."
See the films on BFI Player »
(Find out about the 14-day free trial.)
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MISSING THE A21?
Ace local band Ore Synthesiser Club recently collaborated on a new song with music journalist and local Hastings resident, Gavin Martin. We spotted it and thought you'd like it too.
In the song, Gavin "The Irishman" Martin extols the beauty of the A21 - The Highway to Hastings - and the characters found on it. Ore Synthesizer Club provide the soundtrack.
"Of all the roads of which songs are sung / There's few that can compare to the A21."
Listen to the amusing A21 song >>
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RADIO ON
We asked musician Oliver Cherer, who works at the excellent Music's Not Dead record shop in Bexhill, for his recommendation for music films you can see online during lockdown. Oliver has performed at the Electric Palace in the past, and recently contributed to the soundtrack for Andrew Kotting's highly acclaimed new film 'The Whalebone Box':
"Radio On is the best British road movie ever, filmed in misty black and (a little) white by Wim Wenders' cinematographer, in about 1979. It's moody, downbeat and has the best late '70s soundtrack that features Kraftwerk, Ian Dury, Robert Fripp and David Bowie singing in German. In my all time top ten."
Watch Radio On via BFI Player >>
(Find out about the 14-day free trial.)
Trivia corner: Did you know that Electric Palace founder and director Rebecca E Marshall appears in Chris Petit's (director of Radio On) film Unrequited Love? See if you can spot her!
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THE LAST THURSDAY FILM CLUB PICKS...
Another intriguing and fascinating regular pick by The Last Thursday Film Club. Dr Reekie from the club suggests:
"Now it’s never been easier to make your own animations. There are numerous D.I.Y. animation videos on YouTube, there’s free animation software and there are phone apps for doing stop motion. And you don’t even need puppets or drawings, you could just animate the objects in your room or other people, like Pascal Baes did in '46Bis, rue de Belleville (1988).'"
Watch 46Bis, rue de Belleville >> |
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Upcoming films to book in the future:
Take a look at our listings to plan ahead for when we can host screenings again. Most of our current season's screenings are postponed rather than cancelled. We look forward to seeing you soon.
Download our listings brochure to peruse at your leisure.
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