Sydenham Arts Film Club

How does this sound? Unusual? Strange? Funny?

Chomet’s multi-award winning animation is all of the above and so much more. Hilariously surreal and fearlessly imaginative, with a bold, dark and edgy sense of humor Belleville Rendez-vous sounds like nothing you have ever heard, and looks like nothing you have ever seen.

Watch out for the often dirty Anti-Disney jokes (like the Mickey shaped poop in the toilet), the musical guests (music hall’s legend of the 1920s, Django Reinhardt shows up playing the guitar) and inspired cameos (General de Gaulle appears on a TV speaking about the Tour de France).

You will laugh, you will cry tears of joy, maybe sing and even dance a little.

What better way to end the season before our summer break.

Shot in live action, with real actors (Douglas Booth, Saoirse Ronan and the late, great Helen McCrory among them), it was then treated as a painted animation – each of its 65,000 frames hand painted as an oil painting on canvas, using van Gogh’s technique, created by a team of over one hundred artists.

Directed by the Polish, award wining artist and filmmaker Dorota Kobiela and her British husband, producer, writer and director Hugh Welchman, it is a breathtaking, innovating artistic and technological feat – a piece of art itself.

So you see, you do know their beats. Join us this October to also know their name at last, as we celebrate Black History Month, with this brilliant documentary about their unlikely heroic story, some special guest stars, a steel pan performance by the group Heart of Steel (starting at 7:15 pm) and a West-Indian classic 'Guinness Punch' cocktail to cheer them all!

Reviews:

“Shot and edited with the same soulful groove the band injected into the music industry, the movie features an entertaining collection of interviews, music and archival film. Director Tim MacKenzie-Smith clearly has a lot of affection for the band. And so do we after watching his film.” Rich Cline, Shadows on the Wall

“[It] takes viewers on a ride of highs, lows and everything in between when telling the story of the R&B/funk band Cymande, which is pronounced “sih-mahn-day.” If you want to know why [this] 1970s British band didn’t become as well-known as American counterparts such as Parliament-Funkadelic, this illuminating documentary tells a fascinating, heart-wrenching and informative story.” Karla Hay, Culture Mix

“The most striking moments of the film, however, remain the testimonies of the band members themselves: it is hard not to be moved seeing them interviewed now about their work, and celebrated by legions of fans of all ages.” Elena Lazic, Cineuropa

“This documentary is an education and a good-news story about the remarkable 70s British funk band Cymande (the word is a calypso term for “dove”) who should be as big as Earth Wind & Fire, but aren’t.” Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian

Groucho Marx’s favourite among his movies, and for many, Marx Brothers’ best film ever, is celebrating its 90th anniversary this year. But you couldn’t possibly tell, and anyway age is irrelevant.

A comedy masterpiece impossible to describe, is a fearless compilation of outrageously funny one-liners, wacky stunts and catchy tunes. As the Marx Brothers trio dabble in opera and high society what ensues is relentless hilarity that may take your breath away!

So join us in welcoming the New Year with big laughs, in high spirits.

Reviews:

“Comedy fans of all ages will see some of the greatest comedic moments ever put on film, including a legendary scene in which the Marx Brothers brilliantly and hilariously navigate a tiny stateroom that gets more and more crowded with people…” Neil Minow, Common Sense Media

“The film has several amazing sequences – notably the contract-tearing farrago between Groucho and Chico, and the crazy finale in which Harpo does a Tarzan act on the flyropes perfectly in time with Verdi’s music. Its level of invention is high…” Derek Malcolm, The Guardian

“This movie is hilarious. Harpo Marx remains the funniest man who ever lived, transforming the art of slapstick humor into a deeply deranged subversion that’s since been unmatched… Groucho & Chico are as impressive as ever in the circular logic of their conman wordplay, scamming the rest of the world and each other…” Brandon Ledet, Swampflix

“It’s easy to see why “A Night at the Opera” remained Groucho’s favourite film. It may not be as much of a masterpiece as their earlier films “Horse Feathers” or “Duck Soup”, but it’s guaranteed to have you giggling from one end of the musical scale to the other.” Jamie Russell, BBC – Film

Unruly, raw, uninhibited, wickedly funny, and uncompromisingly honest in both its depictions of violence and love, it unspools like a demented romantic comedy, a darkly imaginative, pedal to the metal road movie and a contemporary, unflinching western, a nightmare and a wonderful dream, all at once. The great’s, late’s, Lynch’s 5th film won the Palm D’ Or for Best Film at the 1990 Cannes Film Festival, although it was his most controversial and divisive cinematic dream. Yet 35 years after that first wild and weird ride it may well be reconsidered as his most underappreciated, ageless, ever timely one, and the most direct line to his unique mind and worldview.

There are films that come out of nowhere to sweep you off your feet.

Even though you know their creator(s) and what they are capable of.

Still.

Big little miracles that ever grow in you in weird and wonderful ways.

Like this dark, romantic comedy of misunderstandings.

Not the pop culture staple The Nightmare Before Christmas (directed by Henry Selick,as he was simultaneously busy with Batman Returns) is, Tim Burton’s The Corpse Bride is still unmistakably his and still a masterpiece. His 12th feature film and his first stop motion animation as a (co)director, it celebrates its 20th anniversary this year, and features prominently in the Design Museum’s brilliant exhibition The World of Tim Burton, which just got extended to May.

Oscar nominated for Best Animated film, it is a marvel of the art of stop motion, as it used innovative techniques to bring its story to (cinematic) life. Using neither of the industry standards of replaceable heads or replaceable mouths for its unusually tall (23-28 cm) puppets, but instead precision crafted clockwork heads, painstakingly adjusted by hidden keys, it achieved unprecedented, haunting subtlety.

Above all however, this is one of those films that come out of nowhere

to sweep us off our feet.

A big little miracle.

Tickets @ https://sydenhamarts.seatlab.com/events/27-03-2025-19-30-film-corpse-bride

Both films explore different modes of perceiving the world, adopting points of view of people that don’t quite fit, but seem to possess some kind of world changing, redemptive, distinctive, yet self-effacing superpower.

And both films are blessed with 2 of the best finales that ever graced the big screen – unexpected but absolutely earned, inspired and inspiring, as jaw-dropping and exhilarating as a just discovered hidden treasure you didn’t go searching for and never knew you needed.

Reviews:

“A compelling, thought-provoking, hardly groundbreaking but lovingly crafted film.” Caroline Rees, Empire

“Australian director John Duigan’s best films have dealt with the passage from childhood to adolescence, and here, in his first US film (from British producer Duncan Four Weddings Kenworthy), he maintains an atmosphere where dream is a short step from nightmare. Quirkily haunting.” DW, TimeOut

“Artistically speaking, John Duigan’s entirely U.S.-lensed drama about a privileged 10-year-old Kentucky girl’s odd friendship with a working-class young man is something of a mixed bag, with its blend of child’s fantasy, class politics, stylized social satire and startling… Intelligent and well acted, this new effort from hot British producer Duncan Kenworthy (“Four Weddings and a Funeral”) will attract a certain following among serious audiences.” Todd McCarthy, Variety

“Lawn Dogs is the greatest movie you’ve never seen. [It] is essentially a drama, although it contains a healthy dose of many other film genres. There’s some great comedic moments, adventure, father-son relationships, and even some crude (but funny) toilet humor. The film is clearly set in the “real world”, but some fantasy elements creep in at the most unexpected times, and the surprise twist ending is particularly chilling and inspirational” ReelReviesChicago

Yes, this is our uplifting pick to celebrate this June’s AKA Pride Month’s 56th Stonewall Riots (a cornerstone of LGBTQ history) anniversary and theme “Activism & Social Change”, that will feed your thoughts and fill your heart to the brim.

It is also our unconventional tribute to the late, great Gene Hackman, shining here in one of his rare comedic roles, opposite the legend of comedic genius that Robin Williams was, is and always will be.

And yes, sure, this is the Oscar nominated, American remake (one of the best ever, according to The Guardian) of the hit French farce, La Cage Aux Folles, with a stellar, Screen Actors Guild winning, cast that also include the incomparable Nathan Lane, Dianne Wiest, Hank Azaria and Christine Baranski.

But the one thing you really need to know about this film? It is hilarious.

And we mean crying out, breathless, thick tears, stomach aching, funny.

Reviews:

“What’s impressive is how relatively progressive The Birdcage still feels, within the context of mainstream cinema … Indeed, even if it was made by a straight director and a big studio, [it] remains a pillar in the landscape of queer cinema. As the film draws to a close… all the film’s gay characters are still breathing. Not only that: they’re laughing. [29] years later, the characters’ laughter, and the laughter they inspire, is a sound of joy and relief that remains a force of healing for LGBTQ+ viewers.” Emily Maskell, BBC Culture

“… The Birdcage is extremely ahead of its time as a queer film… [It] is not a film driven by plot. Instead, its central focus is on the characters and that’s why the performances of Lane, Williams and Hank Azaria specifically have shined through into pop culture immortality… The use of comedy, star performances and representations of nontraditional families (at the time queer representations in film were still largely stigmatized and sexualized) make this film fun while also doing very important work… [introducing us to] the joy of gay culture” Grace LaNasa, The Film Dispatch

“Remakes don’t get much better than Mike Nichols’s The Birdcage… [It] is a satire so subversive that audiences willingly laughed at many of their most sacred cows, including marriage, politics, sexism, homophobia, and the traditional family itself.” Andrea Thompson, Reader

“What makes Mike Nichols‘ version more than just a retread is good casting in the key roles, and a wicked screenplay by Elaine May, who keeps the original story but adds little zingers here and there (“Live on Fisher Island and get buried in Palm Beach – that way you’ll get the best of Florida!”).” Roger Ebert, RogerEbert.com