Films: May 6 - 12

The Lighthouse (2019)
Le Goût des merveilles (The Sense Of Wonder) (2015)
Maestro (2023) 
Benedetta (2021) 
Everything Everywhere All At Once (2022)
The Woman King (2022)
The Idea Of You (2024) ///

The Lighthouse (2019) Starkly captivating visuals bound with bracing sound design and score create deliciously off-kilter remote island for unrestrained Robert Pattinson to suffer pyschotic snap along with grim Willem Dafoe. Trading in myth, an often thin line between violent absurdism and parody.


Le Goût des merveilles (The Sense Of Wonder) (2015) Anchored by conflicted, compassionate Virginie Efira, whose struggles with family and farm after husband's death are softened by disarming stranger Benjamin Lavernhe, whimsical drama remains diverting rather than compelling. Attractive production supplies light emotion.


Maestro (2023) Told with singular visuals, fierce celebration of creativity accents disarming leads as relationship between open Bradley Cooper and vulnerable Carey Mulligan plays out over the years. Frustrating, oblique staging takes time to find rhythm; final act provides emotional and musical rush. 


Benedetta (2021) Unrepentant nun Virginie Efira provides confounding, volatile presence to realize lust for both newcomer Daphné Patakia and power in abbess Charlotte Rampling's 17th century, plague-threatened convent. Bracing themes meet provocative excess amid keenly designed visuals.


Everything Everywhere All At Once (2022) Despite twisting plot strands, blurred genres, and weighty as well as playful metaphysics and philosophies, dramatic weight belongs with relationship between dimension jumping Michelle Yeoh and nihilistic daughter Stephanie Hsu. Slickly assembled confusion.


The Woman King (2022) Smartly produced and expansively staged, involving adventure sees haunted Viola Davis lead ferocious, all-female warrior army to protect African kingdom. Bold performances sell family and political dynamics within undemanding narrative; action sequences provide pulpy visceral thrills.


The Idea Of You (2024) Easy chemistry between divorced art gallery owner Anne Hathaway and insecure boy band star Nicholas Galitzine as instinctive romance gives way to societal, family and celebrity pressures. Light comic touch and solid production values aid predictably satisfying resolve.



Best Of British - The English Roses (trailer)


See the full episode of The English Roses on YouTube at:
https://bit.ly/BOB-104-English-Roses or
https://youtu.be/s5ZAIl-Y908

Best Of British is a TV series celebrating the history of British films from the 1930s to the 1980s. Designed as entertainment for a broad audience, each episode examines a different theme or genre through extensive use of clips and minimal narration.

Narrated by John Mills and Anthony Quayle, 5 seasons of 67 episodes were produced, providing a comprehensive and unique look at the creative vitality of British film heritage.

SEASON ONE, EPSIODE FOUR – THE ENGLISH ROSES

Narrated by
Sir John Mills

During the 1940s and 50s, British films featured female stars who portrayed fiery, independent characters in distinctive settings, and stories than emanated from the events of World War II and its cultural aftermath.

Stars featured: Phyllis Calvert, Patricia Roc, Margaret Lockwood, Virginia McKenna, Deborah Kerr, Jean Simmons

Films featured: Adam And Evelyn (1949), Bank Holiday (1938), Black Narcissus (1947), The Blue Lagoon (1949), Cardboard Cavalier (1949), Carve Her Name With Pride (1958), Fanny By Gaslight (1944), Hungry Hill (1949), I See A Dark Stranger (1946), Jassy (1947), Love Story (1944), Madonna Of The Seven Moons (1944), The Magic Bow (1946), The Man In Grey (1943), Passionate Summer (1958), So Long At The Fair (1950), A Town Like Alice (1956), The Wicked Lady (1945)

Other stars featured: Dennis Price, Stewart Granger, Griffith Jones, Alan Haines, James Mason, Dermot Walsh, Bill Travers, Kathleen Byron, Dirk Bogarde

BEST OF BRITISH

Written & created by
Ashley Sidaway
Robert Sidaway
and
Maurice Sellar
Lou Jones

Produced by
Robert Sidaway
Maurice Sellar

Find out more about Best Of British:

Friendship Films website https://bit.ly/BOB-ff
Wikipedia https://bit.ly/BOB-wiki
IMDb https://imdb.to/38hwgvx

Further videos at:
Best Of British playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLEK4RsnIVzQW4fva0s2vQV7DyqdxDtkAy

Films: September 7 - 13

Young Sherlock Holmes (1985)  Speak No Evil (2024)  Drive-Away Dolls (2024)  The Runner (2026)  Den hemmelige kvinde (The Secret Woman)...