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Films

Our Next Film: Beast

Wednesday, 19 September 2018, 2:00 pm & 7:30 pm

2017, UK, 107 minutes, (15)
Director – Michael Pearce

A troubled woman living in an isolated community finds herself pulled between the control of her oppressive family and the allure of a secretive outsider suspected of a series of brutal murders.

TRAILER:

LINKS:
IMDb – Beast
Rotten Tomatoes – Beast

Films

Our Next Film: Nothing Like a Dame

Tuesday, 11 September 2018, 2:00 pm & 7:30 pm

2018, UK, 84 minutes, (12A)
Director – Roger Michel

Eileen Atkins, Judi Dench, Joan Plowright and Maggie Smith take a trip down memory lane and share stories from their 50 year friendship. Cut together with diligently researched archive material from four remarkable careers the result is a hugely enjoyable and celebratory documentary.

TRAILER:

LINKS:
IMDb – Nothing Like A Dame
Rotten Tomatoes – Nothing Like A Dame

Films

Our Last Film Of The Season: You Were Never Really Here

Wednesday, 20 June 2018, 2:00 pm & 7:30 pm

2017, UK/USA, 89 minutes, (15)
Director – Lynne Ramsey

Joaquim Phoenix plays a traumatized veteran, unafraid of violence, tracks down missing girls for a living.  When a job spins out of control, Joe’s nightmares overtake him as a conspiracy is uncovered leading to what may be his death trip or his awakening.

TRAILER:

LINKS:
IMDb – You Were Never Really Here
Rotten Tomatoes – You Were Never Really Here

AUDIENCE REACTION:

A mixed response to the last film of the season

  • Excellent  6
  • Very Good 7
  • Good 6
  • Average 4
  • Poor 2
  • Off the scale 1

Giving an overall rating of 58.7%

COMMENTS:

  • Clichéd and over produced drivel
  • The plot was a bit think, but very clever management of atmosphere and character.  A reminder of how brutal life can be
  • Great film – really enjoy Ramsey’s attention to small details and themes – plus great soundtrack
  • Kind of like ‘Taxi Driver’ meets ‘The Shining’ –  most engrossing and one to revisit ……
  • Psycho babble
  • I saw it through – intriguing but confusing plot at times,  please don’t choose such a violent film again it was well done but not enjoyable.
  • Bit gory – soundtrack brilliant
  • Joaquin Phoenix is always watchable!
  • The film tried very hard but was too disturbing and pretentious in the depiction of violence.  The main character was a bit too devoid of emotion
  • Bewildered – bit too violent for my taste but liked music
  • Painful to watch at times but I liked the possibility of redemption at the end

Films

Our Next Film: Loveless (Nelyubov)

Tuesday, 5 June 2018, 2:00 pm & 7:30 pm

2017, Russia/France, 127 minutes, (15)
Director – Andrei Zvyagntsev

A couple going through a divorce must team up to find their son who has disappeared during one of their bitter arguments. Eerie thriller of hypnotic, mysterious intensity from Leviathan director

TRAILER:

LINKS:
IMDb – Loveless
Rotten Tomatoes – Loveless

AUDIENCE REACTION:

  • Excellent 7
  • Very good 8
  • Good 2

Giving an overall score of 82%

COMMENTS:

  • Great sound mix
  • Bleak
  • Very harrowing and hard hitting.  Quite difficult to watch in parts.  Haunting
  • Terrific music – start to end.  Dark and depressing.  Accurate but too cold for me to enjoy

Films

Our Next Film: Lady Bird

Wednesday, 23 May 2018, 2:00 pm & 7:30 pm

2017, USA, 93 minutes, (15)
Director – Greta Gerwig

A Californian nurse maintains a turbulent bond with her teenage daughter – loving, strong-willed and deeply opinionated – just like her. A feel good film filled with tenderness and wit.

TRAILER:

LINKS:
IMDb – Lady Bird
Rotten Tomatoes – Lady Bird

AUDIENCE REACTION:4

  • Excellent 29
  • Very Good 8
  • Good 7
  • Average 2

Giving an overall score of 84.78%

COMMENTS:

  • Loved the humour, reality, mix of funny and poignant – enjoyed
  • Really good film of joy, tears and life
  • Thank you  I really needed this film – I’m a mother!
  • Some of the dialect wasn’t clear – not as good as I was expecting
  • Well paced, thoughtful and nostalgic – loved that the complexity of all the characters was allowed to emerge
  • Beautifully observed relationship of teenagers
  • Very funny moments throughout.  Resonated well with the story line
  • Gorgeous film, stunning writing.  Gave me tons of my own ideas

Films

Our Next Film: In Between (Bar Bahar)

Tuesday, 8 May 2018, 2:00 pm & 7:30 pm

2016, Israel / France, 103 minutes, (15)
Director – Maysaloun Hamoud

Three Palestinian women attempt to balance faith and tradition with their modern lives while living in the heart of Tel Aviv. a light yet nuanced approach to dramatizing complex, timely themes, further enriched by outstanding cinematography and powerful performances.

TRAILER:

LINKS:
IMDb – In Between
Rotten Tomatoes – In Between

AUDIENCE REACTION:

N/A

COMMENTS:

N/A

Audience Response

Audience Reaction: The Nile Hilton Incident

AUDIENCE REACTION:

The Nile Hilton Incident was very well received scoring

  • 19 Excellent
  • 10 Very Good
  • 2 Good

With an overall scoring of 88.7%

COMMENTS:

  • Real portrayal of corruption
  • Superb.  Great thriller but also a fascinating social document.  The best film of the season
  • Such a bleak portrayal of a man trapped in a corrupt system.  Compelling thriller
  • Good thriller.  Interesting politics
  • Very compelling.  Kept one gripped to the end
  • Corruption with a capital ‘C’ – very believable characters living in moral mayhem – moody music provided good support
Films

Our Next Film: The Nile Hilton Incident

Wednesday, 25 April 2018, 2:00 pm & 7:30 pm

2017, Sweden/Denmark/Germany, 106 minutes, (NR) subtitled
Director – Tarik Saleh

Set against the backdrop of the Egyptian Revolution, this thriller features a police officer who investigates the murder of a woman. What initially seems to be a killing of a prostitute turns into a more complicated case involving the very elite of Egypt.

TRAILER:

LINKS:
IMDb – The Nile Hilton Incident
Rotten Tomatoes – The Nile Hilton Incident

AUDIENCE REACTION:

The Nile Hilton Incident was very well received scoring

  • 19 Excellent
  • 10 Very Good
  • 2 Good

With an overall scoring of 88.7%

COMMENTS:

  • Real portrayal of corruption
  • Superb.  Great thriller but also a fascinating social document.  The best film of the season
  • Such a bleak portrayal of a man trapped in a corrupt system.  Compelling thriller
  • Good thriller.  Interesting politics
  • Very compelling.  Kept one gripped to the end
  • Corruption with a capital ‘C’ – very believable characters living in moral mayhem – moody music provided good support

Audience Response

Audience Reaction: A Fantastic Woman

The Pontardawe Film Club audience rated A Fantastic Woman (Una Mujer Fantastica) as follows:

AUDIENCE REACTION:

  • 13 excellent
  • 11 very good
  • 2 good
  • 2 average
  • 1 poor

Giving an overall rating of 78%

COMMENTS:

  • Compassionate film about being transgender and prejudice – lovely voice
  • Brilliant, tragic, ugly, sordid, beautiful
  • A passionate and powerful resistance to prejudice
  • Fab film, nice venue, staff welcoming
  • Brilliant performance by Daniela Vega
  • Wonderful film and riveting performance by Daniela Vega. Stunning!
  • Parts moved me unbelievably other parts left me cold
  • An intriguing and moving film not as gripping as I had expected but I enjoyed the upbeat ending
  • A very powerful film  good music and use of lighting
  • Very engaging and sympathetic protagonist – put spotlight on prejudices and raised valuable questions
  • Performance was good, cinematography good , too long! Bored!
  • I wanted more from this film than I feel it ultimately delivered
Audience Response

Audience Reaction: The Shape of Water

The PontardaweFilm Club audice rated The Shape of Water as follows

AUDIENCE REACTION:

  • Excellent              31
  • Very Good          18
  • Good                     6
  • Average               3
  • Poor                      3

Giving an overall rating of 79%

COMMENTS:

  • Expensively made twaddle
  • Long and tedious.  Not really see the point…
  • Absolutely beautiful film
  • Interesting that the Russian spy becomes heroic
  • Not as amazing as Pans Labarinth but engaging adult fairy tale and quite beautiful imagery throughout– loved the homage to classic film
  • Beautifully done – took me through many emotions – a strange story but gorgeous despite the gory bits.
  • Really enjoyed it
  • Very well done – a real modern fairytale.
  • The grey selkie all over again.  Fab!
  • Deserving of the Oscar
  • A strange but good film
  • To my great surprise I loved it
  • Marvellous.  A great love story on many levels
  • Very enjoyable!  Very imaginative.  Very dramatic
  • Splash Noir!  Beautiful visual metaphoe and a classic Chekov’s gun
  • Seen and loved all his movies
Audience Response

Audience Reaction: The Florida Project

The Pontardawe Film Club audience reaction to The Florida Project was as follows:

AUDIENCE REACTION:

The Florida Project failed to hit the mark for film club

  • Excellent              8
  • Very Good          12
  • Good                     8
  • Average               3
  • Poor                      9

Giving an overall rating of 54%

COMMENTS:

  • Interesting.  Excellent performances from the cast.  Very engaging
  • The divide
  • Very good but very depressing
  • Very well acted
  • In a word – ‘WOW!’
  • Not the ‘We are poor but make our own fun’ film I was expecting
  • Easy to judge the mother for bringing up her child as a friend, but , who knows what background she had that ill-prepared her for motherhood
  • Brilliant film about awful people living in the most awful country in the world
  • Hell of a message and very dull in parts.  Desperate film about desperate situation
  • Engaging from start to the staggering finish – surely destined to be a classic!  More of this please
  • Random story line.  All over the place.  Irrelevant end!
  • Hard to see what the point of this film was – and impossible to tell what they were talking about most of the time.
  • Confusing finale
  • Too long, bored at times, moving at end
  • Awful end