10 - 16 DEC 2022

The build up to Christmas wouldn’t be the same without Jane Austen in there somewhere, as refreshing as a lemon sorbet, to cleanse one’s film palate. See the first entry below!
EMMA (2020) Saturday 10 December 6.35-8.35pm BBC 2                
This recent version works very well indeed. Anna Taylor Joy is delightful as the titular heroine and Bill Nighy, Rupert Graves and Miranda Hart offer splendid support.
TOUCH OF EVIL (1958) Sunday 11 December 9.00 – 10.50pm Sky Arts (Ch 11)
I hope this is the restored 108m version, but if not it still screams ‘masterpiece’ two minutes in! Charlton Heston is a Mexican narcotics agent and Janet Leigh his wife; Orson Welles directs and plays Hank Quinlan, a slimy detective; Marlene Dietrich pops up in a telling cameo appearance and Henry Mancini contributes a great score. 
Author’s note: you could gift wrap for me all the Marigold Hotel films, Quartet and Mama Mia; add Eddie the Eagle and The Phantom of the Open; throw in a bottle of Châteauneuf-du-Pape and I still would not swop you for the opening shot in this film! 
A BUNCH OF AMATEURS (2022) Tuesday 13 December 10.00-11.35pm BBC 4   P      
You might have caught a BBC news item, last month, on the Bradford Movie Makers. This delightful, and rather endearing, Storyville documentary takes us into their world of camaraderie (mostly!) and amateur film making. The club came into being in 1932 and has met every Monday since – what an amazing story!