Oxford Phoenix's Cinema

What's on

Tuesday 22 April
Happy-Go-Lucky (15): 13:30, 16:00, 18:30, 21:00
Redacted (15): 17:00
The Conformist (Re) (18): 14:30, 21:10
Water Lilies (15): 19:00

Wednesday 23 April
Big Scream: Happy-Go-Lucky (15): Big Scream 11:30
Happy-Go-Lucky (15): 16:00, 18:30, 21:00
Redacted (15): 17:00
The Conformist (Re) (18): 14:30, 21:10
Water Lilies (15): 19:00

Thursday 24 April
Happy-Go-Lucky (15): 13:30, 16:00, 18:30, 21:00
Redacted (15): 17:00
The Conformist (Re) (18): 14:30, 21:10
Water Lilies (15): 19:00

Friday 25 April
Happy-Go-Lucky (15): Silver Screen 13:30, 16:00, 18:30, 21:00
Persepolis (12A): Silver Screen 14:00, 16:15, 18:40, 20:45
Silver Screen: HAPPY-GO-LUCKY at 13.30 or PERSEPOLIS at 14.00 are just £3.50 for the over-60s.

Saturday 26 April
Future Shorts - April 2008 (No certificate): 23:30
Happy-Go-Lucky (15): 13:30, 16:00, 21:00
Met. Opera: La Fille du Régiment (): 18:30
Opera Programme (U): 21:06
Persepolis (12A): 15:45, 18:40, 21:45
The Ugly Duckling and Me (U): Kids' Club 13:30
Kids' Club: THE UGLY DUCKLING AND ME (U) at 13.30, activities before at 12.45. Please note unaccompanied adults are not admitted to Kids' Club and children under 8 must be accompanied by an adult.

Sunday 27 April
Asterix at the Olympic Games (PG): 11:00
Happy-Go-Lucky (15): 13:30, 16:00, 18:30, 21:00
I'm Not There (15): 11:10
Persepolis (12A): 14:00, 16:15, 18:40, 20:45

Monday 28 April
Happy-Go-Lucky (15): Silver Screen 13:30, 16:00, 18:30, 21:00
Persepolis (12A): Silver Screen 14:00, 16:15, 18:40, 20:45
Silver Screen: HAPPY-GO-LUCKY at 13.30 or PERSEPOLIS at 14.00 are just £3.50 for the over-60s.

Tuesday 29 April
Happy-Go-Lucky (15): 13:30, 16:00, 18:30, 21:00
Persepolis (12A): 14:00, 16:15, 18:40, 20:45

Wednesday 30 April
Big Scream: Persepolis (12A): Big Scream 11:30
Happy-Go-Lucky (15): 13:30, 16:00, 18:30, 21:00
Persepolis (12A): 14:00, 16:15, 18:40, 20:45
Big Scream: Exclusive screening for parents with babies under 1 year old. PERSEPOLIS at 11.30am with doors opening at 11.00am. Membership required, available on the door. Buggy parking and nappy changing facilities available.

Thursday 1 May
Happy-Go-Lucky (15): 13:30, 16:00, 18:30, 21:00
Persepolis (12A): 14:00, 16:15, 18:40, 20:45

Asterix at the Olympic Games (PG)
Director: Frederic Forestier Origin: France Year: 2007 Duration: 117m Starring: Gerard Depardieu, Alain Delon, Clovis Cornillac
Audacious young Gaul Alafolix falls head over heels in love with Greek Princess Irina. With the help of Astérix, Obelix and their druid's magic potion, he travels to Greece to win the Olympic Games and Irina's heart. There, he finds himself in competition with Caesar's treacherous son Brutus, who is feverishly plotting his father's downfall. As everybody knows, magic potions are banned at the Olympics. Luckily, Astérix has a plan...
Note: this film is subtitled

Future Shorts - April 2008 (No certificate)
Director: Various #NULL# Year: 2008 Duration: 90m
O Som e o restoDir: André Lavaquial / Brazil / 2007
Jair, a virtuous drummer, belongs to an evangelist music band. One day, after defying his priest, he is expelled from church and finds himself wandering through the streets of Rio de Janeiro in an existential voyage into his music.
Made Up Love Song (by The Guillemots)Dir: Nia Vaughan / UK / 2006
Fall in love by the sea with 'The Guillemots'
The Last FarmDir. Runar Runarrason / Iceland / 2004
In a remote valley in Iceland, all the farms except one have been abandoned. The landscape is beautiful but deserted and somewhat desolate. When his daughter decides that he should be moved to a seniors' care home in town, an old farmer decides that his destiny and dignity should be in his own hands.
Peter and BenDir: Pinny Grylls / UK / 2007
The touching and quirky story of how two drop outs found friendship in a hostile world.
Shadow of a DoubtDir: Esben Tønnese / Denmark / 2006
Choosing to love another person, to confront your inner doubts and fears, is a lonesome and frightening task. Often it is easier to simply run away...
YiDir: Keyi Huang, Zhuo Chen / China / 2006
An adaptation of a Chinese folk tale
SurpriseDir: Ben Dodd / UK / 2006
A Hitchcockian short noir where a romantic murder is not as it seems.
The Lunch DateDir: Adam Davidson / USA / 1989
In a cafe, a white woman walks away from her table to get silverware. When she returns, she sees a black man eating her lunch...

Happy-Go-Lucky (15)
Director: Mike Leigh Origin: United Kingdom Year: 2008 Duration: 118m Starring: Eddie Marsan, Sally Hawkins
Poppy (Hawkins) is an irrepressible 30-something enjoying her life in Camden. Whether out on her bike, preparing lessons for her primary school class, or drinking with friends in the local, she keeps a smile on her face and a joke on her lips. She is happy with her life and determined to get the most out of every day. When her bicycle is stolen, she decides to invest in driving lessons, which will bring her face-to-face with a character and a world view quite unlike her own. Compared with Leigh's previous works, HAPPY-GO-LUCKY presents a calmer, more optimistic take on contemporary Britain, where individualism and the pursuit of happiness define the lives of a generation, but where old-fashioned notions of community and selflessness still exist.

I'm Not There (15)
Director: Todd Haynes Origin: United States Year: 2007 Duration: 136m Starring: Heath Ledger, Christian Bale, Cate Blanchett, Richard Gere, Ben Whishaw
An inspired journey into the life and times of Bob Dylan, I'M NOT THERE features six actors portraying Dylan as a series of shifting personae, encompassing the public, the private and the fantastical. Among the figures of Dylan are eleven-year-old Woody (Franklin); Jack (Bale), the Greenwich Village singer whose success as the figurehead of the protest movement is followed by disappearance; Robbie (Ledger), who rides motorcycles, loves women and rises to counter-cultural fame in a 1965 biopic of the vanished Jack; and Jude (Blanchett), who surrenders body and soul to a full-throttle, fully amplified assault on his folk music following. Irreverent, playful and yet also deeply rooted in a knowledge of Dylan's biography, this is cinema at its most sublime.

Met. Opera: La Fille du Régiment ()
Duration: 145m
Experience the "exceedingly yummy operatic cake" that was called "the operatic show of the season" by The Times when it opened at Covent Garden last winter. Audiences were dazzled by Natalie Dessay's fearless coloratura and impeccable comic timing and by Juan Diego Flórez's remarkable musicality -- complete with the famous high Cs. Dessay and Flórez are an "operatic coupling made in heaven," raved the Financial Times. Directed by Laurent Pelly, the production also boasts stage legend and four-time Tony Award® winner Zoe Caldwell as the Duchess of Krakenthorp.
Conductor: Marco Armiliato. Production: Laurent Pelly. Natalie Dessay, Felicity Palmer, Juan Diego Flórez, Alessandro Corbelli, Zoe Caldwell.
Note: this film is subtitled

Persepolis (12A*)
Director: Marjane Satrapi, Vincent Paronnaud Origin: France Year: 2007 Duration: 96m Starring: Catherine Deneuve, Sean Penn, Chiara Mastroianni, Iggy Pop
An expressionistic animation stunningly drawn in black and white, PERSEPOLIS is a touching coming-of-age story about an intelligent, outspoken girl growing up during the Iranian revolution. Paronnaud and Satrapi's debut feature tells of how fundamentalists seized power, forced the veil on women and imprisoned thousands of dissidents. The film is based on Satrapi's series of graphic novels and her childhood experiences in Iran, where she survived traumatic encounters with schoolteachers bent on denying her expression, policemen determined to deny her freedom and Iraqi bombs intended to take her life. Dedicated to the people of Iran, PERSEPOLIS is a moving, universally appealing story of one woman's struggle against oppression that deservedly shared the jury prize at Cannes in 2007.
*Contains moderate violence, drugs and one use of strong language

The Ugly Duckling and Me (U)
Director: Michael Hegner Origin: Germany, United Kingdom Year: 2008 Duration: 88m
Based on the much-loved fairy tale, The Ugly Duckling by Hans Christian Andersen, THE UGLY DUCKLING AND ME! tells the story of Ratso, a wheeler dealer city rat, and Ugly, a duckling with a most striking appearance. Filmmakers Hegner and Kiilerich deliver top-notch 3D animation in this rollicking, lightning-paced story full of visual humour, witticism, and snappy dialogue that will delight the whole family.

Redacted (15*)
Director: Brian Palma Origin: Canada, United States Year: 2007 Duration: 91m
Director Brian De Palma turns his lens on the Iraq war with this "fictional documentary" about the experience of U.S. soldiers involved in the conflict. Based on a news item about the rape of an Iraqi schoolgirl by wayward grunts assigned to patrol a checkpoint, the film depicts a scenario not unlike the one De Palma covered in CASUALTIES OF WAR. Shot on high-definition video, REDACTED also addresses the ever-evolving manner in which war is covered by the media by focusing on such journalistic innovations as blog coverage and web reporting.
*Contains a scene of rape, strong violence and very strong language

The Conformist (Re) (18)
Director: Bernardo Bertolucci Origin: Italy Year: 1970 Duration: 110m Starring: Jean-Louis Trintignant, Stefania Sandrelli, Gastone Moschin, Enzo Tarascio
Interestingly, director Bernardo Bertolucci saw a parallel between his own life and that of the main character, which lent the film added relevance and potency. The film's visual style is legendary and due in large part to the immaculate cinematography of Vittorio Storaro. THE CONFORMIST, still not available on DVD, remains thankfully beholden to the domain of the big screen.
Note: this film is subtitled

Water Lilies (15*)
Director: Celine Sciamma Origin: France Year: 2007 Duration: 85m Starring: Adele Haenel, Pauline Acquart, Louise Blachère
A coming-of-age tale set in the world of synchronised swimming, in which three 15-year-old girls explore their burgeoning sexuality. It is summer in an anonymous Paris suburb, and Marie (Acquart) is hoping to make her local synchronised swimming team captained by Floriane (Haenel), a big hit with all the boys. Tagging along with Floriane, Marie finds herself becoming her accomplice in a series of assignations with her boyfriend François, but Marie's best friend Anne (Blachère) has also set her sights on him. The triangle of love and desire between the girls triggers a series of power struggles. Sciamma's sensitive debut, from which adults are almost completely absent, is the kind of quality French drama we almost take for granted.
Note: this film is subtitled
*Contains moderate sex and nudity