cinema city BOX OFFICE 01323 622 047

Spanish with English subtitles

Mexico/Spain/USA 2006

120 mins

director : Guillermo del Toro

starring : Sergi López, Ariadna Gil, Ivana Baquero, Doug Jones, Maribel Verdú

A fairy tale for adults inspired by the paintings of Francisco Goya and rooted, like THE DEVIL'S BACKBONE, in the context of war, this is del Toro's most accomplished work in his own opinion. In 1940s Spain, recently remarried Carmen and daughter Ofelia move in with the cold and authoritarian new husband, Vidal, a captain in General Franco's army. Finding her new life difficult, Ofelia seeks refuge in a labyrinth she discovers next to the house. A magical creature named Pan, the guardian of the labyrinth, reveals that Ofelia is the long-lost princess of a magical kingdom. To discover the truth, she will have to accomplish three dangerous tasks. Del Toro's startling vision rests on a profoundly moving story with universal appeal

UK 2006

99 mins

director : Stephen Frears

starring : Helen Mirren, Michael Sheen, James Cromwell, Sylvia Syms

Frears' (DIRTY PRETTY THINGS, MRS. HENDERSON PRESENTS) hotly

anticipated new feature offers an intimate and revealing portrait of Queen Elizabeth II and the royal family, in turmoil during the days immediately after the death of Princess Diana. When news of the accident breaks the Queen retreats behind the walls of Balmoral Castle with her family, unable to comprehend the public response to the tragedy. For Tony Blair, the newly elected Prime Minister, the people's need for reassurance and support from their leaders is palpable. As the unprecedented outpouring of emotion grows ever stronger, Blair must find a way to reconnect the Queen with the British public. Mirren (CALENDAR GIRLS) is a revelation in a challenging role, skilfully depicting private grief and public duty.

USA 2006

116 mins

director : Emilio Estevez

starring : Anthony Hopkins, Elijah Wood, Demi Moore, Sharon Stone

On 5 June 1968, as Robert F. Kennedy was making his way from the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles to give a press conference after winning the California Primary, he was shot and fatally wounded. In the Altman-esque ensemble BOBBY, actor-turned-director Estevez focuses less on Kennedy or the assassination, and more on the ordinary people who unwittingly found themselves at the centre of one of the most important events in America's recent past. Against the backdrop of the issues gripping the country at the time, including racism, sexual inequality and class divisions, hotel staff prepare for the big night, campaign workers gee up the voters, and supporters and guests congregate in anticipation of the celebration. The film boasts impeccable period detail bolstered by archive footage.

USA 2006

102 mins

director : Jonathan Dayton, Valerie Faris

starring : Greg Kinnear, Steve Carell, Toni Collette, Paul Dano, Alan Arkin

An immensely likeable, left-of-centre effort from husband-and-wife team Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris, LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE tells

the story of the Hoovers, one of the most endearingly fractured families ever seen on screen. Together, the motley six-member family headed by Richard (Kinnear) and Sheryl (Collette) treks to the Little Miss Sunshine pageant in California to fulfil the greatest wish of seven-year-old Olive. Along the way the family must deal with crushed dreams, heartbreaks, and a broken-down VW bus, before reaching the surreal Little Miss Sunshine competition. Featuring characters including a Nietzsche-reading teenager and a horny, heroin-happy grandfather (Arkin) with a penchant for creative profanity, this is a hilarious, beautifully observed road movie in which sanity frequently takes a back seat

English and various languages with English subtitles

USA/Mexico 2006

143 mins

director : Alejandro González Iñárritu

starring : Cate Blanchett, Gael García Bernal, Kôji Yakusho, Brad Pitt

González Iñárritu's (AMORES PERROS, 21 GRAMS) third collaboration with writer Guillermo Arriaga continues the duo's interest in the consequences of random acts. When two boys fire a rifle at a tourist bus in Morocco, the lives of four groups of people, across three continents, collide. Richard (Pitt) and Susan (Blanchett) are a holidaying American couple aboard the bus; Amelia (Barraza) is their Mexican nanny who decides to take their kids with her across the border so she can attend her son's wedding; and Chieko is a rebellious deaf-mute student in Tokyo grappling with the loss of her mother and adolescence. A film of great immediacy and authenticity, the global setting for which highlights the difficulties of interpersonal communication.

USA 2006

130 mins

director : Bill Condon

starring : Jamie Foxx, Beyoncé Knowles, Anika Noni Rose, Eddie Murphy, Jennifer Hudson

Set in the turbulent era from the early 1960s to the mid-1970s, DREAMGIRLS follows the rise of a trio of women - Ellie (Hudson), Deena (Knowles) and Lorrell (Rose) - who found a promising girl group called The Dreamettes. At a talent competition they are discovered by an ambitious manager named Curtis Taylor (Jamie Foxx, RAY) who offers them the opportunity of a lifetime: to become backing singers for headliner James 'Thunder' Early (Murphy). Curtis gradually takes control of the girls' look and sound, eventually giving them their own shot in the spotlight as The Dreams. DREAMGIRLS is a sparkling music-drama that boasts a truly stellar cast, a dazzling array of music set-pieces and enough toe-tapping songs to keep you glued to the screen throughout.

Contains one use of strong language and hard drug references.

USA 2006

106 mins

director : Robert Altman

starring : Meryl Streep, Kevin Kline, Lindsay Lohan

A fitting epitaph to maverick filmmaker Altman's distinguished career. A star-studded outing which brings a fictionalised version of Garrison Keillor's long-running radio programme to vivid life in an intricately woven backstage fable. The radio programme A Prairie Home Companion somehow managed to survive the television age to entertain its audience every Saturday night from the stage of the historic Fitzgerald Theatre in St. Paul, Minnesota. The film is based around the final performance of of his much loved variety show where the under-the-line antics are nearly as entertaining as the programme itself. There's still plenty of fun and mystery though to be had at the old Fitzgerald before the final curtain falls on A Prairie Home Companion.