Silver-celluloid

Woody Allen celebrated his 78th birthday this month, and that means it is time for Woodystock. This special event is held on Saturday 7th December at the Hackney Picturehouse cinema in London and is organised in association with the LOCO London Comedy Film Festival. Woodystock has become the annual celebration of Woody Allen's comedy and this year will be playing one of Woody Allen's classic movies, as well as live comedy from three young stand up comedians and Woody Allen-themed cocktails with live jazz. So if you are in the Hackney area, why not get yourself down there for some laughs and self-deprecating comedy? For more information, visit here .

Every state, province and country has a cinema rating system. This system is usually based around controlling the lower age limit of the audience and monitoring films so that they remain appropriate. The ratings system in most territories is self-regulatory and there is usually an independent body of people to vet each movie and make the appropriate decisions. In the UK this job falls to the British Board of Film Classification, and these decisions are mostly based on the incidence of bad language, nudity, sex and violence within each picture. However, in Sweden, some cinemas are going to introduce a new rating system alongside the one for age that will advise whether the film passes the Bechdel Test. They will be the first in the world to do this. For those who are unfamiliar with this test, it is a marker of the incidences of women on screen. The test is simple. To pass the test a film must contain a scene in which two named women have a conversation that is not about a man and do

Starring: Chloe Grace Moretz, Julianne Moore, Gabriella Wilde Director: Kimberly Peirce Genre: Horror Running time: 100 minutes Certificate: 15 In all honesty, if you have seen the 1976 Brian DePalma directed Carrie , then there is really no need to watch this remake. As remakes go it is very good, but it follows the original very closely. Where this version does stray it makes very little difference to the overall film. For those who have not seen either version Carrie tells the tale of Carrie White (Chloe Grace Moretz), a high school student in her senior year who is horribly tormented at school and lives with a maniacally religious mother. However, Carrie is starting to realise that she might be more powerful than she once thought. Carrie has a good pedigree as it is adapted from the novel of the same name by Stephen King. Moreover, this version has the acting skills of Chloe Grace Moretz as Carrie and Julianne Moore as Margaret White, Carrie's mother. Both Moretz a

Starring: Emma Thompson, Tom Hanks, Paul Giamatti Director: John Lee Hancock Genre: Drama Running time: 125 minutes Certificate: PG It seems to be habit for a lot of critics to sneer at films that are given to sentimentality but, as Alfred Hitchcock pointed out, audiences should be emoting or the film is not doing its job. Saving Mr Banks can be accused of being knowingly sentimental but this is what makes it so good. The film tells the story of P L Travers (Emma Thompson), the stern, no nonsense author of Mary Poppins . Travers has been pursued by Walt Disney (Tom Hanks) for twenty years for the rights to make the movie of her book. Horrified by the idea of letting go of her creation but desperately in need of money, Travers travels to Los Angeles to discuss the rights with Disney. This film is unexpectedly funny and captivating from the start, and the time in the screening flew as the film was totally engrossing. Emma Thompson truly shines as P L Travers, a character tha

A quick heads up: if you are in London between the 24th and 30th November, it is not too late to take in some great films at the London Feminist Film Festival. 2012 saw the first ever London Feminist Film Festival and this year looks set to follow the groundbreaking trends, with many films being premiered at the festival, along with panel discussions and even a classic or two thrown in. There are still some tickets available for the events that are taking place at Picture House in Hackney, and the awards ceremony will be held on November 30th. To take a look at the programme of events click here and for more information about the festival take a wander through this link . So, for a good film that will definitely pass the Bechdel test, why not support the festival and catch some interesting films in the process!

Starring: Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth Director: Francis Lawrence Genre: Action, adventure, sci-fi Running time: 146 minutes Certificate: 12A The Hunger Games was the runaway success of 2012 making an instant icon of Jennifer Lawrence's incarnation of the already iconic character, Katniss Everdeen. The movie of the second book in The Hunger Games series has been hotly awaited, and now it has arrived, how does it measure up? In truth it is good, but not as good as the first. As with all 'second in the series' movies it suffers a little from not being a stand-alone film, and there is a lot of plot exposition that is somewhat cumbersome. However, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire is produced to the same high quality with excellent acting from the whole cast. As expected, this movie picks up where The Hunger Games finished. Katniss (Jennifer Lawrence) and Peeta (Josh Hutcherson) are living in the Victors' Village dealing w

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Starring: Forest Whitaker, Oprah Winfrey, David Oyelowo Director: Lee Daniels Genre: Drama Running time: 132 minutes The portrayal of oppression is always a complex and difficult subject to approach with sensitivity and accuracy on film, and this has been achieved many times. However, The Butler may be trying a little too hard and is not without its problems. As entertaining as the film is, it can feel a little like a whistle-stop tour of American history as it tells the story of Cecil Gaines (Forest Whitaker), an African-American born into near slavery on a plantation who makes his way to work as a butler at The White House for several administrations. Gaines' working life spans several decades including the turbulent years of the Civil Rights Movement and the Vietnam War. Despite some things that have been written about it, this film is genuinely moving at times. Although it is long at a running time of 132 minutes, it did not feel overlong and held the attentio

Starring: Tom Hanks, Barkhad Abdi, Barkhad Abdirahman Director: Paul Greengrass Genre: True story, action, drama Running time: 134 minutes The first thing to mention about Captain Phillips is that it is gripping; the second is that it is long. Now this is something of a personal bugbear. Films are getting increasingly long, and what would have been an entertaining 90 minute film in the 1980s has become an epic of three hours in the present. Enough already, movies are too long. However, the fact that Captain Phillips didn't feel lengthy is a true testament to how well the film has been made. In fact, with this movie the time flew. The engrossing plot was enough to keep everyone on the edge of their seat and the tension could be felt throughout the room. Familiar or not with the actual events, this film is riveting. Based on the true life story surrounding the

  White House Down can be summed up in one word: fun. Basically, if you have seen Olympus Has Fallen you know the plot of this movie. John Cale (Channing Tatum) is a Capitol Policeman who has messed up with his eleven year old daughter Emily (Joey King). Emily is really interested in politics and the President James Sawyer (Jamie Foxx) is her idol so Cale calls in a favour to get tour tickets to the White House for them both as a present. At the same time he has an interview as a Secret Service Agent protecting the President. While they are there the White House is taken over by an armed paramilitary group and Cale has to save the day. Director Roland Emerich of Independence Day fame is determined to destroy the White House again in White House Down which is big, enjoyable and full of action. This is what a silly action movie should look like. The characters are engaging and likable in a way that was missing from this year's previous White House destroyer Olympus Has Fa

Silver-celluloid often looks at the latest cinema releases but there is a film that did not enjoy a very wide release at the cinema and is now available to rent on DVD. It is a hidden gem. From the pen of Wentworth Miller, star of the 2005-2009 TV series Prison Break, Stoker stars Mia Wasikowska, Nicole Kidman and Matthew Goode. It is directed by Chan-Wook Park, director of the cult hit Old Boy, and this is an interesting pedigree that has turned out exceptionally well. Dealing with difficult subject matter, something not entirely unexpected if you are familiar with Park’s work, this is a beautifully shot, well scripted, dark, intriguing film that is well worth a watch. India Stoker (Mia Wasikowska) lives with her mother, Evie (Nicole Kidman), feeling isolated and in mourning after the unexpected death of her father. When a previously unknown and long lost uncle, Charlie (Matthew Goode) turns up, he brings with him intrigue, questions, and an unsettlin

Out this week Just a quick round up of some of the UK cinema releases this week. From Wednesday August 21 st Elysium: A new action, sci-fi drama from Neil Blomkamp, the director of District 9, starring Jodie Foster, Matt Damon From Friday August 23rd Lovelace: A drama biography of Linda Lovelace who was coerced into the porn industry by her abusive husband. Starring Amanda Seyfried, Peter Sarsgaard and James France. Directed by Rob Epstein and Jeff Friedman We're The Millers: A man hires a fake family to try and smuggle drugs in this crime comedy starring Jennifer Aniston and Emma Roberts. Directed by Rawson Marshall Thurber From Wednesday August 28th You're Next: This horror sees a family under attack from a group of killers. Starring Sharni Winson, Nicholas Tucci and A.J. Bowen. Directed by Adam Wingard From Thursday August 29th One Direction - This is Us (3D): A documentary about the music group One Direction. Starri

Sequels are usually inferior by design and Kick Ass 2 is no exception. The original Kick Ass film was a huge hit with good reason. Well scripted, funny and with its tongue in its cheek, it controversially managed to bring a bright superhero movie to an adult audience in a new way that avoided the dark and brooding Batman reboots of Christopher Nolan and the full blown bright cartoon-like elements of Scott Pilgrim Versus the World. Its humour was the root of its success and the cult following of Kick Ass has led to an eager anticipation for the second film; a success that has given it a lot to live up to. One of the reasons that the first Kick Ass movie was such a hit was the combination of screenwriters Jane Goldman and Matthew Vaughan, and the directoral talent of Matthew Vaughan. The absence of this combination was extremely noticeable. However, despite not living up to its predecessor, this movie was entertaining. The film picks