The Prince Charles Cinema

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Heat : Director's Definitive Edition
1995 170mins USA (15) Crime
Directed by Michael Mann Starring Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, Ashley Judd, Diane Venora, Tom Sizemore, Amy Brenneman

Master criminal Neil McCauley (Robert De Niro) is trying to control the rogue actions of one of his men, while also planning one last big heist before retiring. Meanwhile, Lieutenant Hanna (Al Pacino) attempts to track down McCauley as he deals with the chaos in his own life, including the infidelity of his wife (Diane Venora) and the mental health of his stepdaughter (Natalie Portman). McCauley and Hanna discover a mutual respect, even as they try to thwart each other's plans.

The Director's Definitive Edition of HEAT, was supervised by director Michael Mann. This edition features a pristine restoration, alternate color grading, and a few minor changes compared to the original theatrical release.

The King of Comedy
1982 109mins USA (PG) Crime / Thriller
Directed by Martin Scorsese Starring Robert De Niro, Jerry Lewis, Diahnne Abbott

Rupert Pupkin (Robert De Niro) is a failure in life but a celebrity in his own mind, hosting an imaginary talk show in his mother's basement. When he meets actual talk show host Jerry Langford (Jerry Lewis), he's convinced it will provide his big break, but Langford isn't interested in the would-be comedian. Undaunted, Pupkin effectively stalks Langford -- and when that doesn't work, he kidnaps him, offering his release in exchange for a guest spot on Langford's show.

The Killing
1956 84mins USA (PG) Film Noir
Directed by Stanley Kubrick Starring Sterling Hayden, Coleen Gray, Vince Edwards

Career criminal Johnny Clay (Sterling Hayden) recruits a sharpshooter (Timothy Carey), a crooked police officer (Ted de Corsia), a bartender (Joe Sawyer) and a betting teller named George (Elisha Cook Jr.), among others, for one last job before he goes straight and marries his fiancee, Fay (Coleen Gray). But when George tells his restless wife, Sherry (Marie Windsor), about the scheme to steal millions from the racetrack where he works, she hatches a plot of her own.

In Cold Blood
1967 134mins USA (15) Crime / Thriller
Directed by Richard Brooks Starring Robert Blake, Scott Wilson, John Forsythe

Old prison buddies Dick Hickock and Perry Smith reunite in Kansas City hoping to cash-in on a tip from Hickock's former cellmate. They're to hit the Clutter farmhouse, take the $10,000 from Herbert Clutter's safe and leave no witnesses. It's set to be the perfect score, a cinch. Instead, Hickock and Smith go on the run with $42 to their name and the weight of 4 dead bodies hanging around their necks.

Thief
1981 122mins USA (18) Crime
Directed by Michael Mann Starring James Caan, Tuesday Weld, Willie Nelson

A highly skilled jewel thief, Frank (James Caan) longs to leave his dangerous trade and settle down with his girlfriend, Jessie (Tuesday Weld). Eager to make one last big score in order to begin living a legitimate life, Frank reluctantly associates with Leo (Robert Prosky), a powerful gangster. Unfortunately for Frank, Leo wants to keep him in his employ, resulting in a tense showdown when he finally tries to give up his criminal activities once and for all.

Rififi (Du rififi chez les hommes)
1955 118mins France (12) Crime
Directed by Jules Dassin Starring Jean Servais, Carl Möhner, Robert Manuel

Out of prison after a five-year stretch, jewel thief Tony (Jean Servais) turns down a quick job his friend Jo (Carl Mohner) offers him, until he discovers that his old girlfriend Mado (Marie Sabouret) has become the lover of local gangster Pierre Grutter (Marcel Lupovici) during Tony's absence. Expanding a minor smash-and-grab into a full-scale jewel heist, Tony and his crew appear to get away clean, but their actions after the job is completed threaten the lives of everyone involved.

Memories of Murder [Salinui chueok]
2003 132mins South Korea (15) Crime / Thriller
Directed by Bong Joon Ho Starring Kang-ho Song, Sang-kyung Kim, Roe-ha Kim

In 1986, Park (Song Kang-ho) and Cho (Kim Roi-ha) are two simple-minded detectives assigned to a double murder investigation in a South Korean province. But when the murderer strikes several more times with the same pattern, the detectives realize that they are chasing the country's first documented serial killer. Relying on only their basic skills and tools, Park and Jo attempt to piece together the clues and solve the case in this thriller based on true events.

The Taking of Pelham One Two Three
1974 104mins USA (15) Neo Noir
Directed by Joseph Sargent Starring Walter Matthau, Robert Shaw, Martin Balsam

In New York City, a criminal gang led by the ruthless "Mr. Blue" (Robert Shaw) hijacks a subway car and threatens to start shooting one passenger per minute unless they receive a million dollars in cash from the city within an hour. On the other end of the line, crusty veteran transit policeman Zachary Garber (Walter Matthau) has his hands full dealing with the mayor's office and his hotheaded fellow cops, while also trying to deliver the ransom before the deadline expires.

Ace in the Hole
1951 111mins USA (PG) Film Noir
Directed by Billy Wilder Starring Kirk Douglas, Jan Sterling, Robert Arthur

With flaws that outweigh his talent, reporter Chuck Tatum (Kirk Douglas) has bounced across the country from job to job. Winding up in New Mexico, Tatum gets work from the local newspaper, but finds that there's not much in the way of pressing news. However, when Tatum catches wind of a treasure hunter (Richard Benedict) trapped in a mineshaft, he turns the story into a media sensation. Soon Tatum is using unscrupulous tactics to draw out the situation, an approach that comes back to haunt him.

The French Connection
1971 104mins USA (18) Neo Noir
Directed by William Friedkin Starring Roy Scheider, Gene Hackman, Fernando Rey

New York Detective "Popeye" Doyle (Gene Hackman) and his partner (Roy Scheider) chase a French heroin smuggler.

Bonnie and Clyde
1967 111mins USA (15) Thriller / Romance
Directed by Arthur Penn Starring Warren Beatty, Faye Dunaway, Michael J. Pollard

Bored waitress Bonnie Parker falls in love with an ex-con named Clyde Barrow and together they start a violent crime spree through the country, stealing cars and robbing banks.

The Friends of Eddie Coyle
1973 102mins USA (15) Crime
Directed by Peter Yates Starring Robert Mitchum, Peter Boyle, Richard Jordan

Aging Boston gunrunner Eddie Coyle (Robert Mitchum) is looking at several years of jail time for a hold-up if he doesn't funnel information to Dave Foley (Richard Jordan), an ATF agent. Eddie buys some guns from another gunrunner, Jackie Brown (Steven Keats), then gives him up to Foley, but the agent isn't satisfied. Conflicted, Eddie decides to also give up the gang of bank robbers he's been supplying, only to find that Foley already knows about them, and the mob believes Eddie snitched.

Children of Men
2006 109mins Japan, UK, USA (15) Action / Thriller
Directed by Alfonso Cuarón Starring Clive Owen, Julianne Moore, Chiwetel Ejiofor

When infertility threatens mankind with extinction and the last child born has perished, a disillusioned bureaucrat (Clive Owen) becomes the unlikely champion in the fight for the survival of Earth's population; He must face down his own demons and protect the planet's last remaining hope from danger.

BLEAK WEEK : CINEMA OF DESPAIR is co-presented by the American Cinematheque.

Army of Shadows [L'armée des ombres]
1969 144mins France, Italy (12A) Crime
Directed by Jean-Pierre Melville Starring Lino Ventura, Paul Meurisse, Jean-Pierre Cassel

This adaptation of the book by Joseph Kessel paints an understated, unglamorous portrait of the French Resistance during World World II. Betrayed by an informant, Philippe Gerbier (Lino Ventura) finds himself trapped in a torturous Nazi prison camp. Though Gerbier escapes to rejoin the Resistance in occupied Marseilles, France, and exacts his revenge on the informant, he must continue a quiet, seemingly endless battle against the Nazis in an atmosphere of tension, paranoia and distrust.

Klute
1971 113mins USA (15) Thriller / Romance
Directed by Alan J. Pakula Starring Donald Sutherland, Jane Fonda, Charles Cioffi

A small-town detective searching for a missing man has only one lead: a connection with a New York prostitute.

Cure
1997 111mins Japan (15) Horror
Directed by Kiyoshi Kurosawa Starring Kôji Yakusho, Masato Hagiwara, Tsuyoshi Ujiki

A detective starts spiraling out of control when a wave of gruesome murders with seemingly similar bizarre circumstances are sweeping Tokyo.

Pi
1998 84mins USA (15) Thriller
Directed by Darren Aronofsky Starring Sean Gullette, Mark Margolis, Ben Shenkman

The 1998 surrealist psychological thriller stars Sean Gullette as a mathematician who becomes obsessed with searching for patterns in the universe as part of a quest for meaning.

Funny Games
1997 109mins Austria (18) Psychological Thriller
Directed by Michael Haneke Starring Susanne Lothar, Ulrich Mühe, Arno Frisch

Two violent young men take a mother, father, and son hostage in their vacation cabin and force them to play sadistic "games" with one another for their own amusement.

Le Cercle Rouge
1970 140mins France, Italy (PG) Crime
Directed by Jean-Pierre Melville Starring Alain Delon, Bourvil, Gian Maria Volontè

After leaving prison, master thief Corey crosses paths with a notorious escapee and an alcoholic former policeman. The trio proceed to plot an elaborate heist.

Rear Window
1954 111mins USA (PG) Thriller / Mystery
Directed by Alfred Hitchcock Starring James Stewart, Grace Kelly, Wendell Corey

A wheelchair-bound photographer spies on his neighbors from his Greenwich Village courtyard apartment window and, despite the skepticism of his fashion-model girlfriend, becomes convinced one of them has committed murder.

Seven
1995 127mins USA (18) Crime / Thriller
Directed by David Fincher Starring Morgan Freeman, Brad Pitt, John Doe

GLUTTONY. GREED. SLOTH. WRATH. PRIDE. LUST. ENVY. 

Two cops (Brad Pitt and Morgan Freeman) track a brilliant and elusive killer who orchestrates a string of horrific murders, each kill targeting a practitioner of one of the Seven Deadly Sins. Gwyneth Paltrow also stars in this acclaimed thriller set in a dour, drizzly city sick with pain and blight. David Fincher (Fight Club, Zodiac, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button) guides the action - physical, mental and spiritual - with a sure understanding of what terrifies us, right up to a stunning denouement that will rip the scar tissue off the most hardened soul.

The 4K restoration of “Se7en” was completed at Warner Bros. Discovery’s Motion Picture Imaging and sourced from the original camera negative. The restoration was overseen by David Fincher. 

Vertigo
1958 128mins USA (PG) Thriller/Suspense
Directed by Alfred Hitchcock Starring James Stewart, Kim Novak, Barbara Bel Geddes

A former San Francisco police detective juggles wrestling with his personal demons and becoming obsessed with the hauntingly beautiful woman he has been hired to trail, who may be deeply disturbed.

A Cop [Un flic]
1972 100mins France, Italy (15) Crime
Directed by Jean-Pierre Melville Starring Alain Delon, Richard Crenna, Catherine Deneuve

A Parisian police chief has an affair, but unbeknownst to him, the boyfriend of the woman he's having an affair with is a bank robber planning a heist.

The Sting
1973 129mins (PG) Comedy/Crime
Directed by George Roy Hill Starring Paul Newman, Robert Redford, Robert Shaw

A novice con man teams up with an acknowledged master to avenge the murder of a mutual friend by pulling off the ultimate big con and swindling a fortune from a big-time mobster.

Hard Eight [aka Sydney]
1996 102mins USA (18) Crime
Directed by Paul Thomas Anderson Starring John C. Reilly, Philip Baker Hall, Gwyneth Paltrow

Veteran gambler Sydney befriends a young man named John, transforming into a Las Vegas casino champion. John falls for a prostitute, and the couple soon finds themselves in need of Sydney's help.

Inherent Vice
2014 148mins USA (15) Neo-Noir / Stoner Comedy
Directed by Paul Thomas Anderson Starring Joaquin Phoenix, Owen Wilson, Katherine Waterston, Josh Brolin

In a California beach community, private detective Larry "Doc" Sportello (Joaquin Phoenix) tends to work his cases through a smoky haze of marijuana. One day, Shasta, a former lover, arrives out of the blue to plead for Doc's help; it seems that Shasta's current beau, rich real-estate tycoon Mickey Wolfmann, has a wife who may be plotting to commit him to a mental hospital. When Mickey and Shasta both disappear, Doc navigates a psychedelic world of surfers, stoners and cops to solve the case.

Heat
1995 171mins USA (15) Crime
Directed by Michael Mann Starring Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, Val Kilmer

A group of high-end professional thieves start to feel the heat from the LAPD when they unknowingly leave a verbal clue at their latest heist.

Original Cut from a 35mm print. 

True Romance
1993 119mins USA (18) Crime / Romance
Directed by Tony Scott Starring Christian Slater, Patricia Arquette, Dennis Hopper

A comic-book nerd and Elvis fanatic Clarence (Christian Slater) and a prostitute named Alabama (Patricia Arquette) fall in love. Clarence breaks the news to her pimp and ends up killing him. He grabs a suitcase of cocaine on his way out thinking it is Alabama's clothing. The two hit the road for California hoping to sell the cocaine, but the mob is soon after them.