Lexi Cinema London

National Theatre Live will broadcast Manchester International Festival’s electrifying production of Macbeth, with Kenneth Branagh (My Week With Marilyn, Hamlet) in his first Shakespeare performance in over a decade as Macbeth, and Alex Kingston (Doctor Who, ER) as Lady Macbeth.

Directed by Olivier and Tony Award-winner Rob Ashford (Anna Christie at the Donmar Warehouse, Thoroughly Modern Millie on Broadway) and BAFTA Award-winner Kenneth Branagh, this unique production of Shakespeare’s tragic tale of ambition and treachery unfolds within the walls of an intimate deconsecrated Manchester church.

Kenneth Branagh has long been lauded as one of the great Shakespearean interpreters. His skills as a writer, director and actor have garnered international acclaim across the disciplines of stage, film and television, and he is the only man to be nominated in five different categories for an Academy Award. He last performed Shakespeare when he played Richard III at the Sheffield Crucible in 2002.

National Theatre Live will broadcast the Donmar Warehouse’s production of Coriolanus, Shakespeare’s searing tragedy of political manipulation and revenge, with Tom Hiddleston (WAR HORSE, BBC’s The Hollow Crown) in the title role and Mark Gatiss (BBC’s Sherlock) as Menenius, directed by the Donmar’s Artistic Director Josie Rourke.

When an old adversary threatens Rome, the city calls once more on her hero and defender: Coriolanus. But he has enemies at home too. Famine threatens the city, the citizens’ hunger swells to an appetite for change, and on returning from the field he must confront the march of realpolitik and the voice of an angry people.

The Silver Screen by way of Kensal Green, tickets £5 on-line or on the door.

This hip, super-stylized action film unfurls in a dystopian near-future, when various gangs control New York City. “Walter Hill’s vibrant 1979 adaptation of Sol Yurick’s 1965 novel – based loosely on an ancient Greek story called “Anabasis” – is a classic cinematic record of New York City circa 1979.” (colesmithey.com)  Come out to play…

The Silver Screen by way of Kensal Green, tickets on-line or at the door, £5.

Hard-hitting and stylish, GoodFellas is a gangster classic — and arguably the high point of Martin Scorsese’s career. He explores the life of organized crime with this gritty, kinetic adaptation of Nicolas Pileggi’s best-selling Wiseguy, the true-life account of mobster and FBI informant Henry Hill.  Set to a true-to-period rock soundtrack, the story details the rise and fall of Hill, a half-Irish, half-Sicilian New York kid who grows up idolizing the “wise guys” in his impoverished Brooklyn neighborhood.  Goodfellas was rewarded with six Academy Award nominations including Best Picture; Joe Pesci would walk away with Best Supporting Actor for his work.

The Silver Screen by way of Kensal Green, tickets £5 on-line or on the door.

We wrap up our New York-themed residency at the Paradise with this enduring favourite.    Curiously, although there is much that is raw and painful in the film it is John Travolta’s white-suited King of Disco that is most memorable.    And then there’s that sound track…

Kids Club, 8 June £5

Director/writer Peter Hedges brings enchantment to the screen with The Odd Life of Timothy Green, an inspiring, magical story about a happily married couple, Cindy and Jim Green (Jennifer Garner and Joel Edgerton), who can’t wait to start a family but can only dream about what their child would be like. When young Timothy (CJ Adams) shows up on their doorstep one stormy night, Cindy and Jim — and their small town of Stanleyville — learn that sometimes the unexpected can bring some of life’s greatest gifts.

Kids Club,  15 June, £5

Disneynature’s newest True Life Adventure introduces Oscar, a baby chimp whose playful curiosity and zest for discovery light up the African forest until a twist of fate leaves Oscar to fend for himself with a little help from an unexpected ally.

Chimpanzee often anthropomorphises its subjects, but it’s a beautifully filmed, remarkably intimate look at the lives of a family of primates.

Kids Club, 22 June £5 – a Wallace and Gromit double doozer!

The second short film to feature the claymation antics of eccentric inventor Wallace and his dog Gromit, The Wrong Trousers sees the duo become unwitting accomplices to a jewel theft. The trouble begins when, struggling to make ends meet, Wallace decides to take in a boarder – a mysterious penguin. At first, Wallace and his new tenant get along famously; indeed, the penguin forces Gromit out of his room and into the doghouse, literally. However, the bird is not what he seems, Gromit discovers …

A Close Shave finds the inventor and his dog with a new business, new friends, and a new adversary.

A DocHouse presentation, followed by a live Q&A with Beatrice Mtetwa herself and director Lorie Conway.

Beatrice Mtetwa and the Rule of Law documentary features one of the bravest lawyers in Africa — Beatrice Mtetwa in Zimbabwe. In spite of harassment and beatings by police, she has courageously defended those jailed by the Mugabe government—peace activists, journalists, opposition candidates, farmers who had their land confiscated, and ordinary citizens who had the courage to speak up. Despite multiple arrests herself (most recently in March 2013, pictured right) she continues to fight to uphold the rule of law which she believes in passionately.

Through interviews with Mtetwa and some of her defendants, the film tells the story of what happens when rulers place themselves above the law, and why defence of the rule of law is a crucial step in the building of a civil society.   As Zimbabwe faces a presidential election in 2013, the filmmakers hope that Beatrice Mtetwa and the Rule of Law will spark dialogue and change in the country and throughout Africa, while also bringing the story of this inspiring woman to the attention of the rest of the world.

Although her arena is Zimbabwe, Mtetwa’s message and bravery are universal!

DocHouse is a year-round festival of weekly international documentary screenings in UK cinemas. Established for over ten years through events, masterclasses, festivals and education outreach, DocHouse has achieved a high profile within the documentary community and beyond, raising public awareness of documentary across the UK. For information on all our screenings, visit our website www.dochouse.org

Kids Club, 29 June £5

The film sees two young friends recruiting a dance crew and staging a talent show in a bid to save their much loved youth club from demolition.  But it’s not all plain sailing!