Movies Now Course: Your Movie Club

Film. Focus on cinema.

COVID-19 update: arrangement of our courses

We are now delivering courses online and in-person. Please check the delivery format of each class before enrolling.

Please note that course materials (excluding prescribed texts) are shared electronically within 48 hours of course commencement. Printing is not available.

This unique and popular movie appreciation course is like having your own private movie club. In its 17th year, Movies Now offers you ‘private movie premieres’ prior to their commercial release with each featured movie specially selected by the presenter and popular film critic, Andrew L Urban. The selected movies remain a secret until their screening to ensure that you approach each film on its own merits, uncompromised by outside opinions.

Following each screening, a special guest will join the group for a discussion designed to help explore the background of each film whilst analysing the themes and cinematic elements. Where possible, the special guests will include the filmmakers themselves. You will also be given access to the production notes of each film, providing background information about the film and the filmmakers.

Outcomes

By the end of this course, you should be able to:

• appreciate and discuss films with a broader cinematic vocabulary
• recognise the importance of the many elements that make up a film, from the screenplay (story, subtext, context) to casting and performances, the direction, cinematography, design and music.

Content

You will experience a range of cinematic styles and genres, including foreign language films, exploring the whole spectrum of the human condition as conveyed on screen. Each movie is chosen to engage and challenge, to stimulate discussion and to explore how different filmmakers tell their stories.

A past featured movie

The Father (2020)

Screened 16 December 2020; commercial release 1 April, 2021.

A man refuses all assistance from his daughter as he ages. As he tries to make sense of his changing circumstances, he begins to doubt his loved ones, his own mind and even the fabric of his reality.

• Directed by Florian Zeller
• Writing credits: Christopher Hampton, Florian Zeller (based on a play by Florian Zeller)
• Stars: Anthony Hopkins, Olivia Colman, Mark Gatiss, Olivia Williams, Imogen Poots, Rufus Sewell
• Music by Ludovico Einaudi
• Cinematography by Ben Smithard
• Film editing by Yorgos Lamprinos
• Production design by Peter Francis
• 2021 awards: Oscars for Best Actor: Anthony Hopkins & Best Adapted Screenplay by Hampton & Zeller (plus 4 Oscar nominations); total 27 award wins and 140 nominations

Prerequisites

You must be 18 years of age or over.

Delivery style

Face-to-face screenings delivered weekly, held at Dendy Cinemas Newtown.

Materials

Course notes are distributed electronically after each week.