Here’s a personal selection of ideas & weblinks from Vivienne at FILMBOX Community Cinema to help you continue to enjoy and explore the world of film and other arts, even though you may be at home.
HOW TO HOLD A VIRTUAL FILMBOX COMMUNITY CINEMA in your home…
- Whether you’re on your own or with the family, why not dedicate one night a week as your virtual FILMBOX Community Cinema night so you can connect with other people while watching a film?
- Pre-plan the choice and timing of a film with one or more of your friends, so that you can phone and chat or Skype/FaceTime about it afterwards.
- If you usually come to our cinema on your own, please let us know and we’ll try to put you in touch with other patrons in the same position – if you’d like to be a virtual film buddy for another patron, please let us know.
- Get your favourite drink and nibbles ready – if anyone wants to eat popcorn, please remind them that they have to hoover it up!
- Here’s where you can buy Simply ice cream if you need your Heavenly Honeycomb fix: https://www.simplyicecream.co.uk/where-to-buy/
- You can check a film’s certificate/appropriateness for you and your family using British Board of Film Classification: https://bbfc.co.uk
- There might be online video conferencing models that we can use to connect in larger numbers, but, in the meantime, the above model might serve us well.
FILMS ON TV NOW?
- Freeview TV listings guide: https://www.freeview.co.uk/tv-guide
- Talking Pictures TV – Freeview 81: https://talkingpicturestv.co.uk
- Film4 – Freeview 15: https://www.channel4.com/channel/film4
On BBCiPlayer FREE – here’s a selection that took my fancy:
- Lucky Jim (B&W) – adapted from Kingsley Amis’ satirical novel from 1954, Ian Carmichael plays a hapless junior History Professor who just can’t put a foot right – available for 15 dayshttps://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b0078rmt/lucky-jim
- The Place Beyond the Pines – Ryan Gosling (First Man, La La Land) plays a touring motorcycle stuntman who discovers he has a son, drawing him into actions that have major repercussions for them all – with Eva Mendes (Gosling’s real-life wife) and Bradley Cooper (A Star is Born, Silver Linings Playbook) – available for 22 days https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m000ggdh/the-place-beyond-the-pines
- Primary Colors – John Travolta does his best President Bill Clinton impression, ably supported by Emma Thompson in this entertaining political satire – on the money – available for 8 months https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00749zc/primary-colors
- Cat People – Cult noirish horror film from 1942 by French director Jacques Tourneur – available for over a year: https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b0078ns6/cat-people
PS: I’d give I Walked with a Zombie, A Quiet Place and Night of the Living Dead a miss at the moment if I were you! And Manchester-by-the-Sea will ‘break’ you if you haven’t already seen it – still, it could prove cathartic in the current circumstances.
Channel 4’s FREE catch-up service – my current recommendations are:
- Charlotte Gray – Cate Blanchett is superb in this WW2 tale of a resistance heroine, based on the novel by Sebastian Faulks: https://www.channel4.com/programmes/charlotte-gray – 24 days left.
- Sufragette – Cary Mulligan in a re-telling of the pre-WW1 campaign for the votes for women: https://www.channel4.com/programmes/suffragette – 16 days left.
- Our Kind of Traitor – A Le Carré adaptation, political thriller with Ewan McGregor (Trainspotting, Star Wars) and Naomi Harris (Bond’s Moneypenny) https://www.channel4.com/programmes/our-kind-of-traitor – 5 days left.
- Mary and the Witch’s Flower – Studio Ghibli, enchanting children’s animation: https://www.channel4.com/programmes/mary-and-the-witchs-flower – 15 days left.
A NEW ONLINE FILM ABOUT FILM – FREE
Mark Cousins is one of my very favourite story-tellers, as a writer and film-maker – we showed his Story of Children and Film at FILMBOX CC a few years ago and I always follow his film-making and festival exploits on Twitter https://twitter.com/markcousinsfilm enjoy his writing in Sight & Sound magazine. His momentous Channel 4 TV series and book The Story of Film was an amazing, wide-ranging and personal love letter to film and cinema.
This brand new film 40 Days to Learn Film is a little bit magical and his lovely soft-sounding voice always makes me feel instantly more relaxed:
SHORT FILMS
I’m currently working on finding sources of FREE short films so I can curate some especially for FILMBOX Community Cinema – do let me know if you have any recommendations.
HERE IS MY PERSONAL SELECTION OF WEBSITES, COURSES AND SERVICES THAT YOU MIGHT ENJOY – PLEASE DO FEEL FREE TO SHARE THEM AS WIDELY AS YOU WISH:
FREE ONLINE NEWSPAPER
The Guardian – No paywall, fewer annoying ads and pop-ups than most:
- Guardian Culture – film, TV, art, literature, music etc: https://www.theguardian.com/uk/culture
- Guardian Lifestyle – food, fashion, recipes, health & fitness, gardening, relationships etc: https://www.theguardian.com/uk/lifeandstyle
RADIO – ALL FREE
- Classic FM has a weekly programme dedicated to film music Saturday Night at the Movies with Andrew Collins (5-7pm) – film music has become the new popular classical music of our times; de-stress from the news by listening to the work of some of the most famous film composers each week: https://www.classicfm.com/radio/shows-presenters/saturday-night-movies/
- BBC Radio 3 – Sound of Cinema Matthew Sweet’s recent and extensive series, now available as an archive/podcasts etc: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b03bzf92
- BBC Radio 4 – The Film Programme Thursdays at 4pm (repeated Sunday at 11pm) – https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006r5jt – a large archive of previous programmes, as well as some quizzes.
- BBC Radio 5Live – Mark Kermode and Simon Mayo’s Film Review Saturdays at 9pm https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00lvdrj – a large archive of previous programmes and lots of film industry interviews, podcasts etc.
FILM EDUCATION
- https://www.intofilm.org/films – Into Film matches films to topics and themes that young people of all ages might find useful, plus it encourages industry involvement and young film critics – please share with any parents and young people you know as it’ll give them ideas of what films to watch and what they can learn from them. FREE
- Into Film Competition – for 7-12 year olds to celebrate 80 years of Puffin Books! Deadline: 3 August 2020 https://www.intofilm.org/news-and-views/articles/puffin-big-dreams-on-screen-competition
- Learn About Film – https://learnaboutfilm.com This is an excellent FREE site for everyone who wants to learn how to make and edit your own digital films – most people’s smart phones now have superb video cameras and editing basics. Get the kids busy or have a go yourself.
ONLINE FILM PAID SUBSCRIPTION SERVICES – NOT FREE
- BFI iPlayer from the British Film Institute available via several digital TV apps/laptop/tablet etc and has a wealth of classic and recent British and World cinema films
- Here’s a list of the 50 most watched films by BFI iPlayer subscribers: https://www.bfi.org.uk/news-opinion/news-bfi/lists/top-50-most-watched-films-bfi-player-so-far-2018 (you could use this list to see what takes your fancy before subscribing)
- Mubi and Curzon Home Cinema also have online subscription services and special offers.
OTHER ARTS & CULTURE
Clearly the current situation has blind-sided the live performing arts and their holding pages show their deep shock and mourning, but expect them to recover their composure soon and look at how best to roll out MORE online content to engage and retain their audiences – keep checking.
Already some theatre, ballet, opera and live music are going online, in some cases FREE for a limited time:
- https://www.theguardian.com/music/2020/mar/21/home-listening-classical-music-online-livestream-at-home-coronavirus – includes links to some online classic concerts, Berlin Philharmonic etc
- Time Out (now called Time In!) has a quick guide to theatre online: https://www.timeout.com/london/theatre/home-stage-five-ways-you-can-still-watch-plays-while-our-theatres-are-shut
- London Theatre News – https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/theatre-news/west-end-features/theatre-streaming-services-west-end-broadway-musicals
- What’s On Stage – https://www.whatsonstage.com/london-theatre/news/stage-shows-musicals-opera-free-stream-online_51198.html
Vivienne Clark – 22/3/2020
