515 posts
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Post by callum on Sept 12, 2019 6:55:06 GMT
Has anyone booked a ticket for the surprise film before? Never done it myself but I booked for this year. Although the film starts very late, what's up with that ? how does it work? nobody knows what the film is until you are inside ? Yes - head of the festival will do a mini-intro and then the film will just start. Then, at the end, often a Q&A with director/actors. Two years ago it was LADY BIRD with Greta Gerwig and Saoirse Ronan at the Q&A, and then last year GREEN BOOK with Peter Farrelly, Nick Vallelonga, Viggo Mortensen and Mahershala Ali. Don’t know the reasons for it always beibg so late - last year we didn’t get out until after midnight, but that was a Friday so we still had night tube. Wednesday is an odd choice this year.
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Post by juicy_but_terribly_drab on Sept 12, 2019 7:05:59 GMT
How quickly do things sell out? I've never been to a film festival before but I'd love to catch The Lighthouse since it's probably my most anticipated film of the year and it's on the weekend before my birthday and then I could couple that with The Last Black Man in San Francisco and maybe catch Faith, Hope and Charity at the Dorfman all in one weekend. I just kind of came up with this plan right now and I'm not sure whether I want to go through with booking as soon as tomorrow and then regret it later so I'd love to know whether I can think on it for a bit or whether I'll miss my chance to get a ticket. You’ll probably miss your chance for booking The Lighthouse and LBMISF if you don’t book today. More tickets (industry returns etc) are released in a couple of weeks though. Okay thanks for the info, I figured as much but was hoping it wasn't the case since I'll only have been back to uni for a couple of weeks and I feel like that's too early to be coming back home for a weekend. Oh well, I think I might go for it anyway.
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Post by juicy_but_terribly_drab on Sept 12, 2019 11:00:34 GMT
I got my times mixed up and it's all sold out now so I guess I'll just have to wait for a wide release. I just hate having to probably wait so many months for films like The lighthouse to properly come out when the US will get it in late October.
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6,285 posts
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Post by Jon on Sept 12, 2019 13:09:27 GMT
Got tickets for A Beautiful Day in the Neighbourhood, Knives Out was already sold out.
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4,458 posts
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Post by poster J on Sept 12, 2019 13:24:16 GMT
Got tickets for A Beautiful Day in the Neighbourhood, Knives Out was already sold out. Knives Out appeared to be sold out before the Amex presale! It's in cinemas in Nov anyway though.
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Post by gingerB on Sept 12, 2019 20:22:12 GMT
Has anyone booked a ticket for the surprise film before? Never done it myself but I booked for this year. Although the film starts very late, what's up with that ? how does it work? nobody knows what the film is until you are inside ? Yes - head of the festival will do a mini-intro and then the film will just start. Then, at the end, often a Q&A with director/actors. Two years ago it was LADY BIRD with Greta Gerwig and Saoirse Ronan at the Q&A, and then last year GREEN BOOK with Peter Farrelly, Nick Vallelonga, Viggo Mortensen and Mahershala Ali. Don’t know the reasons for it always beibg so late - last year we didn’t get out until after midnight, but that was a Friday so we still had night tube. Wednesday is an odd choice this year. Thank you.
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1,865 posts
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Post by Marwood on Sept 12, 2019 22:26:18 GMT
Got tickets for A Beautiful Day in the Neighbourhood, Knives Out was already sold out. Knives Out appeared to be sold out before the Amex presale! It's in cinemas in Nov anyway though. It sold out the morning it went on sale to BFI members: I don’t know who is going to turn up at the premiere but BFI Southbank is screening it at the end of November (it will be a damn sight cheaper)
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18 posts
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Post by londonland on Sept 13, 2019 8:54:58 GMT
Knives Out appeared to be sold out before the Amex presale! It's in cinemas in Nov anyway though. It sold out the morning it went on sale to BFI members: I don’t know who is going to turn up at the premiere but BFI Southbank is screening it at the end of November (it will be a damn sight cheaper) The Leicester Square screening was sold out the day tickets went on sale for those with the Champion membership apparently!
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6,285 posts
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Post by Jon on Sept 18, 2019 16:45:13 GMT
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4,038 posts
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Post by kathryn on Oct 2, 2019 21:01:01 GMT
So, Clemency tonight to kick the festival off. A very powerful and disturbing film about the impact of capital punishment on the people who administer it. A tough watch, but worth seeing.
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4,038 posts
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Post by kathryn on Oct 4, 2019 8:49:25 GMT
Peanut Butter Falcon last night - genuinely delightful! Seek it out, folks, you won’t be sorry.
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4,458 posts
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Post by poster J on Oct 5, 2019 14:05:28 GMT
The Personal History of David Copperfield for me today. As wacky as you would expect, and it didn't quite gel for me, but very entertaining in parts.
Dev Patel is excellent, and Tilda Swindon and Gwendoline Christie each steal every scene they're in.
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1,865 posts
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Post by Marwood on Oct 5, 2019 20:31:31 GMT
I saw Jojo Rabbit tonight and loved it: I can see why some people might sneer at it and think it takes a flippant attitude to Hitler and the events of the Second World War but I thought it had a lot of heart and soul, and I’ll admit I welled up at the music playing at the end: I thought this was infinitely preferable to Joker which I went to see yesterday and thought was just a dreadful, soulless, cynical waste of time and money (I left well before the end of it because of a mixture of these feelings about the film and probably the worst, ignorant crowd of people it’s been my misfortune to be sat in a cinema with.)
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53 posts
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Post by nialld on Oct 6, 2019 9:34:09 GMT
I have a concession ticket for 'Marriage Story' to sell for the sold out 11.15am screening tomorrow. £7.50. DM me if interested!
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2,520 posts
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Post by n1david on Oct 6, 2019 10:06:03 GMT
Saw three films at Curzon Mayfair yesterday - nothing spectacular but an enjoyable day. Best was Francois Ozon's "By the Grace of God", an efficient and powerful (true) story of fighting pedophilia in the French Catholic Church.
What was annoying though was that two of the films had Q&As and the Curzon cut the credits as the speakers were arriving on stage - while the cast lists were still running, to replace it with the LFF slide.
In most cinemas they would cut the sound from the credits but keep them rolling, so that those of us who want to see music credits, any location details etc., can still watch them until the credits end and then the LFF slide goes up.
Assume this is a Curzon Mayfair decision, and not an LFF policy change - seems terribly disrespectful to the filmmakers. Have commented to BFI and complained to Curzon this morning via Twitter, but no responses yet.
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4,458 posts
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Post by poster J on Oct 6, 2019 21:19:41 GMT
Saw three films at Curzon Mayfair yesterday - nothing spectacular but an enjoyable day. Best was Francois Ozon's "By the Grace of God", an efficient and powerful (true) story of fighting pedophilia in the French Catholic Church. What was annoying though was that two of the films had Q&As and the Curzon cut the credits as the speakers were arriving on stage - while the cast lists were still running, to replace it with the LFF slide. In most cinemas they would cut the sound from the credits but keep them rolling, so that those of us who want to see music credits, any location details etc., can still watch them until the credits end and then the LFF slide goes up. Assume this is a Curzon Mayfair decision, and not an LFF policy change - seems terribly disrespectful to the filmmakers. Have commented to BFI and complained to Curzon this morning via Twitter, but no responses yet. Curzon Mayfair were letting the credits run for Mr Jones tonight - I had to dash off as it had started late but they were still running as I left and the filmmakers hadn't even come on stage yet for the Q&A. My complaint to the cinema would be about the utter chaos before though - they had a corner of the bar blocked for press photos as James Norton was there, which meant there was no room for everyone else, and barely any room to get to the bar. Plus they inexplicably didn't let anyone in until 5 mins before the advertised time, which was just stupid. Nice to see Mr Norton staying to watch though! Very interesting and sobering subject matter and some decent acting performances let down by a huge amount of over-stylising in terms of the camera angles, close ups and filler shots (plus accompanying music). It made me feel almost dizzy and a little nauseous at times there was so much spinning and so many out of focus shots. Hammering the points home through styling too much and too obviously for me.
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2,345 posts
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Post by zahidf on Oct 6, 2019 21:56:41 GMT
Really enjoyed David Copperfield. And the report was an excellent political thriller.
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3,471 posts
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Post by showgirl on Oct 7, 2019 4:01:32 GMT
poster J I do notice that during special events like the LFF, the regular, paying customers are sidelined. I was at Curzon Mayfair for the 12 noon performance of Judy on Saturday so it wasn't too bad at that time, but even then, what with all the special guests and LFF staff in the foyer, I felt like an inconvenience to be shunted aside.
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1,465 posts
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Post by foxa on Oct 7, 2019 15:48:28 GMT
Seeing my first LFF film of this year tonight - Bad Education. Will report back.
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1,465 posts
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Post by foxa on Oct 8, 2019 8:13:31 GMT
Bad Education was excellent: terrific script of a facinating right-up-my-alley story that was previously unknown to me; one of my favourite ever performances from Hugh Jackman; Alison Janney also good; beautifully edited.
There was a lot of faffing about with barricades, waiting in the rain, bag searches, late start - about 30 minutes of that despite being told doors opened at 8.30. Enough that I began to think never again - certainly not for a late screening, when I have cold, but then I ended up enjoying it. None of the actors were there, but the director, writer and two of the producers gave a little pre-show talk. The writer was from the town where the incident that is the focus of the film took place and said that the student journalist's bedroom was his childhood bedroom - with added pink wallpaper.
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4,458 posts
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Post by poster J on Oct 8, 2019 9:40:39 GMT
Embankment Garden was chaotic for The Aeronauts last night as well - they inexplicably didn't open the auditorium until less than 15 mins before the advertised start time, despite the bar area not being anywhere near large enough to hold the audience.
And so when they started on time there were still a lot of people being shown to their seats while the filmmakers were speaking, which was unfortunate. Luckily Eddie Redmayne's rambling story about their near-death experience while filming gave everyone enough time to sit down! He and Felicity Jones were charming, as was the film. Light and almost a sheen of fantasy in many ways but it did capture some of the perils of the adventure, mostly through the excellent Jones. However, the often clunky dialogue and some of the effects did cause a few laughs where I suspect none were intended, which rather ruined the moment!
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87 posts
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Post by greenswan on Oct 8, 2019 12:29:17 GMT
Done for this year but overall quite happy with my selection. Had at least the director at all screenings plus some actors.
Strongly recommend Arab Blues - very strong with only one minor blip related to a Freudian road trip. Great main character and I really enjoyed colours/light in this one.
Axone and And then we danced are also recommended. Good showings both.
The sky is pink was ok - especially if one enjoys a relentless focus on positivity in the face of adversity. Will be on Netflix anyway.
The only thing I wasn’t so keen on was audiences- one of my reasons for going to LFF outside of the films/Q&As is the great atmosphere and proper behaviour. Lots of chatting, rustling and late arrivals this time.
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4,038 posts
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Post by kathryn on Oct 8, 2019 14:12:33 GMT
Really enjoyed The Perfect Candidate last night - it was worth getting home late on a monday night for!
Little Monsters tonight.
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4,038 posts
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Post by kathryn on Oct 8, 2019 20:17:06 GMT
Had an absolute hoot at Little Monsters - laughed our heads off. As a zombie comedy it won’t be to everyone’s taste, mind!
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1,865 posts
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Post by Marwood on Oct 8, 2019 21:32:18 GMT
Saw Guest Of Honour earlier: wasn’t impressed, got to the end and just felt ‘what was the point?’: people doing stupid things like willingly getting jailed for sexual offences that they weren’t guilty of just to make a statement about their father (who goes around planting rabbit sh*t in the toilets of a restaurant to blackmail the owner and threatens to close another one down that is serving deep fried rabbit ears up to customers: yes, THAT kind of film 😝)
That’s me done for the festival this year, I didn’t bother with Color Out Of Space in the end: Jojo Rabbit I would happily pay money to watch again, this was one to forget about.
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1,465 posts
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Post by foxa on Oct 9, 2019 12:29:50 GMT
I forgot to mention one weird thing when we were waiting to get into the movie at the Odeon Luxe Leicester Square. Mr Foxa had a small unopened bottle of red wine in his bag and at the bag check they made him open it and take a sip from it to prove it wasn't acid. So that was new.
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515 posts
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Post by callum on Oct 10, 2019 10:21:00 GMT
I forgot to mention one weird thing when we were waiting to get into the movie at the Odeon Luxe Leicester Square. Mr Foxa had a small unopened bottle of red wine in his bag and at the bag check they made him open it and take a sip from it to prove it wasn't acid. So that was new. Yep I had the same with my coffee - I could’ve still scalded someone with it though!!
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1,465 posts
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Post by foxa on Oct 10, 2019 11:06:08 GMT
Going to the Surprise Film this afternoon. At same location. So will be careful of my liquids. (I think I know what the Surprise Film is - I had gambled on it being something else, but this should be interesting. However it is looooonnnnnggg and I have tickets for a play this evening, so may be cutting it fine.)
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Post by gingerB on Oct 10, 2019 16:57:24 GMT
Going to the Surprise Film this afternoon. At same location. So will be careful of my liquids. (I think I know what the Surprise Film is - I had gambled on it being something else, but this should be interesting. However it is looooonnnnnggg and I have tickets for a play this evening, so may be cutting it fine.) isn't it the surprise film the same as last nite's ?
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1,865 posts
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Post by Marwood on Oct 10, 2019 22:30:19 GMT
What was it? I saw Birdman when it was the surprise film but the ones since that have not exactly made me jealous of the people who booked tickets.
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