The Prince Charles Cinema

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Eyes Wide Shut
1999 159mins UK, USA (18) Thriller / Mystery
Directed by Stanley Kubrick Starring Todd Field, Tom Cruise, Nicole Kidman, Sydney Pollack

Stanley Kubrick's daring last film is many things. It is a compelling psychosexual journey. A haunting dreamscape. A riveting tale of suspense. A major milestone in the careers of stars Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman. And "a worthy final chapter to a great director's career" (Roger Ebert).

Cruise plays Dr William Hartford, who plunges into an erotic foray that threatens his marriage - and may even ensnare him in a lurid murder mystery - after his wife's (Kidman) admission of sexual longings. As the story sweeps from doubt and fear to self-discovery and reconciliation, Kubrick orchestrates it with masterful flourishes. Graceful tracking shots, controlled pacing, rich colours, startling images: bravura traits that make Kubrick a filmmaker for the ages are here to keep everyone's eyes wide shut.

Synecdoche, New York
2008 124mins USA (15) Drama
Directed by Charlie Kaufman Starring Michelle Williams, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Samantha Morton

Life is looking pretty bleak for theater director Caden Cotard (Philip Seymour Hoffman). His wife and daughter have left him, his therapist is more interested in plugging her new book than helping him with his problems, and a strange disease is causing his body to shut down. Caden leaves his home in Schenectady, N.Y., and heads to New York City, where he gathers a cast of actors and tells them to live their lives within the constructs of a mock-up of the city.

Battleship Potemkin [Bronenosets Potyomkin]
1925 75mins Soviet Union (PG) War
Directed by Sergei M. Eisenstein Starring Aleksandr Antonov, Vladimir Barsky, Grigori Aleksandrov

When they are fed rancid meat, the sailors on the Potemkin revolt against their harsh conditions. Led by Vakulinchuk (Aleksandr Antonov), the sailors kill the officers of the ship to gain their freedom. Vakulinchuk is also killed, and the people of Odessa honor him as a symbol of revolution. Tsarist soldiers arrive and massacre the civilians to quell the uprising. A squadron of ships is sent to overthrow the Potemkin, but the ships side with the revolt and refuse to attack.

The Virgin Suicides
1999 97mins USA (15) Thriller
Directed by Sofia Coppola Starring Kirsten Dunst, James Woods, Josh Hartnett

In an ordinary suburban house, on a lovely tree-lined street, in the middle of 1970s America, lived the five beautiful, dreamy Lisbon sisters, whose doomed fates indelibly marked the neighborhood boys who to this day continue to obsess over them. A story of love and repression, fantasy and terror, sex and death, memory and longing. It is at its core a mystery story: a heart-rending investigation into the impenetrable, life-altering secrets of American adolescence.

Petite Maman
2021 72mins France (U) Fantasy
Directed by Céline Sciamma Starring Joséphine Sanz, Gabrielle Sanz, Nina Meurisse, Stéphane Varupenne

Nelly has just lost her grandmother and is helping her parents clean out her mother's childhood home. She explores the house and the surrounding woods. One day she meets a girl her age building a tree-house.

Mishima : A Life in Four Chapters
1985 121mins Japan (15) Biography
Directed by Paul Schrader Starring Ken Ogata, Toshi, Kenji Sawada, Toshiyuki Nagashima, Yasosuke Bando

A fictionalized account in four chapters of the life of celebrated Japanese writer Yukio Mishima.

Jeanne Dielman, 23, quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles
1975 202mins Belgium, France (15) Drama
Directed by Chantal Akerman Starring Delphine Seyrig, January Decorte, Henri Storck

Jeanne Dielman (Delphine Seyrig), the widowed mother of a teenage son, Sylvain (Jan Decorte), ekes out a drab, repetitive existence in her tiny Brussels apartment. Jeanne's days are divided between humdrum domestic chores -- shopping, cooking, housework -- and her job as an occasional prostitute, which keeps her financially afloat. She seems perfectly resigned to her situation until a series of slight interruptions in her routine leads to unexpected and dramatic changes.

Chinese Roulette
1976 86mins Germany (15) Drama
Directed by Rainer Werner Fassbinder Starring Ulli Lommel, Margit Carstensen, Brigitte Mira, Anna Karina

A husband and wife lie to each other about their weekend travel plans, only to both show up at the family's country house with their lovers.

Take Out
2004 88mins USA (15) Drama
Directed by Shih-Ching Tsou|Sean Baker Starring Charles Jang, Jeng-Hua Yu, Justin Wan, Wang-Thye Lee

The American dream has rarely seemed so far away as in Sean Baker and Shih-Ching Tsou's raw, vérité Take Out, an immersion in the life of an undocumented Chinese immigrant struggling to get by on the margins of post-9/11 New York City. Facing violent retaliation from a loan shark, restaurant deliveryman Ming Ding has until nightfall to pay back the money he owes, and he encounters both crushing setbacks and moments of unexpected humanity as he races against time to earn enough in tips over the course of a frantic day. From this simple setup, Baker and Tsou fashion a kind of neorealist survival thriller of the everyday, shedding compassionate light on the too often overlooked lives and labor that keep New York running.

Prince of Broadway
2008 102mins USA (18) Drama
Directed by Sean Baker Starring Prince Adu, Karren Karagulian, Aiden Noesi

Staking out territory on the cold winter streets of midtown Manhattan, West African immigrant Lucky (Prince Adu) uses the gift of gab and a hustler's shrewdness to peddle designer knockoffs for Lebanese store owner Levon (Karren Karagulian). One day, a long-forgotten ex named Linda (Kat Sanchez) delivers shocking news: years ago she had Lucky's baby (Aiden Noesi) and now needs him to tend the toddler for several weeks—though Lucky suspects she's using him to completely abdicate her parental responsibilities. Now Lucky must figure out how to become a father overnight without losing his girlfriend, Karina (Keyali Mayaga), or his edge in the counterfeit-merch game. Directed, photographed, edited, coproduced, and cowritten by Sean Baker, Prince of Broadway scintillates with the live-wire energy of its mostly nonprofessional cast and the authenticity of its documentarylike production, shot on location in New York City. With this marvel of shoestring-budget guerrilla filmmaking, Baker deftly combines the streetwise and the heartfelt, proving himself one of the contemporary masters of American independent cinema.

The Florida Project
2017 107mins USA (15) Drama
Directed by Sean Baker Starring Prince, Brooklynn Prince, Willem Dafoe, Bria Vinaite

Warm, winning, and gloriously alive, Sean Baker's The Florida Project is a deeply moving and unforgettably poignant look at childhood. Set on a stretch of highway just outside the imagined utopia of Disney World, The Florida Project follows six-year-old Moonee (Brooklynn Prince in a stunning breakout turn) and her rebellious mother Halley (Bria Vinaite, another major discovery) over the course of a single summer. The two live week to week at “The Magic Castle,” a budget motel managed by Bobby (a career-best Willem Dafoe), whose stern exterior hides a deep reservoir of kindness and compassion. Despite her harsh surroundings, the precocious and ebullient Moonee has no trouble making each day a celebration of life, her endless afternoons overflowing with mischief and grand adventure as she and her ragtag playmates—including Jancey, a new arrival to the area who quickly becomes Moonee's best friend—fearlessly explore the utterly unique world into which they've been thrown. Unbeknownst to Moonee, however, her delicate fantasy is supported by the toil and sacrifice of Halley, who is forced to explore increasingly dangerous possibilities in order to provide for her daughter.

Anora
2024 139mins (18) Crime/Comedy
Directed by Sean Baker Starring Mikey Madison, Mark Eydelshteyn, Karren Karagulian

5 Academy Award Wins – Best Picture, Best Director, Best Screenplay (Original), Best Editing, Best Actress

Anora, a young sex worker from Brooklyn, gets her chance at a Cinderella story when she meets and impulsively marries the son of an oligarch. Once the news reaches Russia, her fairytale is threatened as the parents set out for New York to get the marriage annulled.