Hitchcock thrillers, ‘Boyz N the Hood’, Woody Allen and more great film events happening this week
Each week, we round up the most exciting film events happening in London over the coming week, from pop-ups and one-offs to regular film clubs, outdoor screenings and festivals. Here’s this week’s top five…
1. We Love the 90s: ‘Boyz N the Hood’
Cemeteries, power stations, swimming pools… outdoor screenings are popping up in all sorts of nooks this summer. Now you can add dual carriageway to the list. West London’s favourite pop-up cinema is back this weekend for its second We Love The ’90s film fest, nestled under London’s most famous flyover, the Westway in Notting Hill. The cinema is lovingly hand-crafted from recycled material, with a massive 30ft screen. For three nights a guest host will introduce a classic ’90s film, and our pick is ‘Kidulthood’ actor Femi Oyeniran with the angry and still timely ghetto tale ‘Boyz N the Hood’. Portobello Pop-Up, 3 Acklam Rd, W10 5TY. 7pm, Fri Jul 25. £5.
2. The Purple Rose of Cairo
A rare big-screen outing for one of Woody Allen’s sweetest, most upbeat films. During the Depression, downtrodden housewife Mia Farrow so inflames a film’s leading man that he climbs down from the screen and entices her into a chaotic but charming love affair. Allen’s deft script investigates every nook and cranny of the couple’s bizarre relationship, and as the star-struck couple, Farrow and Jeff Daniels work wonders with fantastic emotions. Woody’s direction invests enough care, wit and warmth to make it genuinely moving. Prince Charles Cinema, 7 Leicester Place, WC2H 7BP. 6.45pm, Mon Jul 28. £7.50, £5 concs.
3. Blackmail + live score
The Barbican takes to the road for a series of outdoor screenings, including the original silent version of this magnificent Hitchcock thriller. The film is a remarkable experiment in narrative structure: an efficient, impersonal police investigation that elides into a messy, personal story of attempted rape, murder in self-defence, blackmail and a chase to the death. The film will be introduced by soundtrack expert Neil Brand, and accompanied by music from the Forest Philharmonic Orchestra. Walthamstow Assembly Hall, Rectory Rd, E17 4SU. 7.30pm, Fri Nov 25. £12, £8.50 concs.
4. The Power of Summer: ‘Get Carter’
Another fantastic choice to watch in the industrial setting of Battersea Power Station. This was movie modernism British-style. The occasional stylistic flourishes suggest the imported influence of the New Wave, the brief bursts of sex, violence and soundtrack funk offer a trendsetting ’70s take on the gangster movie. But its prime virtue now is its depiction of a nation slowly made to face its own moral and physical dilapidation, hope and glory gone way down and out. Like the train journey opening the film, director Mike Hodges’s debut offers a tunnel vision of this landscape. He shoots it cold, sparse and ambivalent, the terse, gnomic plotting and dialogue doubtless contributing to the allure of what might otherwise be a relatively plain genre movie. Battersea Power Station, SW8 4NN. 6pm, Thu Jul 24. £16.50.
5. Touch of Evil + Citizen Kane
Sure, many of us have seen Orson Welles’s twin masterpieces before – but back-to-back on the big screen is too good an offer to pass up. ‘Touch of Evil’ is a sweaty thriller conundrum on character and corruption, justice and the law, worship and betrayal, playing havoc with moral ambiguities as self-righteous Mexican cop Heston goes up against Welles’s monumental Hank Quinlan, the old-time detective of vast and wearied experience. ‘Citizen Kane’ is… well, if you haven’t seen it, what are you waiting for? It’s perfect. Riverside Studios, Crisp Rd, W6 9RL. 6pm, Sun Jul 27. £9.50, £8.50 concs.
Find more fantastic film events in the capital this week here.