Today's idea - The Infidel starring Omid Djalili

Today at the Duke of York's The Infidel is playing. Starring British-Iranian comedian Omid Djalili the film covers a full-scale Islamic and Jewish identity crisis.

Here's the trailer:



The plot:

"Meet Mahmud Nasir, loving husband, doting father and something of a 'relaxed' Muslim.
Does the 'F' word occasionally pass his lips? It's hardly worth mentioning.
Does he say his prayers five times a day? Of course! Well, usually..
Does he fast every day of Ramadan? Who's counting anyway? Mahmud may not be the most observant, but in his heart he is as Muslim as it gets.
But after his mother's death a discovery turns his world upside down.
He finds his birth certificate, which reveals that not only was he adopted at birth..
but he's Jewish, and his real name is Solly Shimshillewitz! As Mahmud tumbles headlong into a full-scale identity crisis, the only person he can turn to is Lenny, a drunken Jewish cabbie who agrees to give him lessons in Jewishness, which start with how to dance like Topol.
Oy vey."

And here's a bit of his stand-up:



Oy vey indeed. It's 104 minutes, starts at 9pm (or on Fri 28 May at 11:30pm) and costs £7.50for adults and £6.50 for students. You can buy tickets in advance here.

Today's idea - The Moving Image Exhibiton

Today, "See movement and time unfold" at Hove Museum in their new exhibition which opened last week. The exhibition, The Moving Image, contrasts how movement is shown in both photography and art, and whilst aimed at families, children, and students, it looks set to be interesting for all human beings.

"Eadweard Muybridge was a 19th century photographer who was the first to develop photographic sequences of moving objects. Placing studies in his famous series Animal Locomotion alongside paintings, engravings and drawings selected from Brighton & Hove Museums’ Fine Art Collection, reveals how artists can represent movement even within a static image.

Muybridge’s studies – including cats, horses and elephants – show his understanding of motion as an event taking place in a sequence of phases. Traditionally in fine art, however, movement is communicated through a single significant moment. The Moving Image illustrates the many ways in which we can ‘see’ movement and time unfold."

The Moving Image will be accompanied by activities for families, such as the creation of flicker-books and optical toys.

Moving Images is free and runs until September the 1st. Find it on the top floor of the Hove Museum, and find it on the map here.

Today's idea - Psycho at the Duke of York's

Our hundredth post today! Mother's Day visits the lovely Duke of York's Picturehouse in the form of a re-release of Psycho today. Noted as "perhaps the most influential of all horror films," Hitchcock's famous tale of gruesome murders and sly verbal sparring at the Bates Motel is added to with Bernard Hitchcock's famed all-strings score. It provides some of the most famous music in cinema history, with innovative, nerve-jangling, violent 'screams' alongside the infamous murder scene. One to take your Mum to.

It's on at 6pm today. Find the Duke of York's here, and a map here.

Today's idea - Banff Mountain Film Festival

This comes to you in the afternoon because Beth Jeans Houghton was very good last night. Tonight for fans of adventure and mountains the Banff Mountain Film Festival comes to town at Komedia. Photos look fantastic, dramatic and beautiful. Official blurb says this:

"The tour is a collection of extraordinary short films from the worlds most prestigious mountain film festival. Traveling from remote landscapes and cultures, to up close and personal with adrenaline-packed action sports, the collection of films will inspire and exhilarate you."

There's prize giveaways too during the evening, but with the tour getting in sold out audiences, it sounds like a good film evening to head to.

Tickets cost £10 from Komedia, and it starts at 7:30.

Catch the last day of the Cinecity Festival

The Cinecity festival has been taking place at art houses, theatres and film bars since November and today sees its last day. The festival's full of documentaries and world film, (some amateur and some not) which I'd be a bit wary of recommending without having seen. Perhaps I just have a fear of amateur documentaries.

Anyway, one film stands out quite a bit and plays today at The Duke of York picturehouse. 'Prophet' comes from Cannes Film Festival with ravings, a shiny award called the Grand Prize, and it's been likened to Scarface and The Godfather. So if like me, you're an unadventurous film buff this may be your thing. If you're already into Artsy Worldly cinema, then it may be of some use to mention that it comes from the Director of 'The Beat That My Heart Skipped', Jacques Audiard, and ex-convicts were brought in for choreography.

"Winner of the Grand Prix at Cannes, blistering crime drama A Prophet demonstrates Audiard's (The Beat That My Heart Skipped) ability to rise beyond a genre to exceptional heights of emotional intensity. Malik (Tarik Rahim) lands himself in jail at 19. After a violent crash course in the ways of the ruling gang, he slowly begins, through his self-education, to challenge the prison power structures. And as the long years of his sentence roll on, he uses his ruthless cunning to establish himself as a major new player. A Prophet moves fluidly from art-house subtlety to genre pyrotechnics in an endlessly powerful and absorbing tapestry of criminal life, which has all the epic human drama of such classics as Scarface and The Godfather."

It shows at 6:39pm with adult tickets costing £7.20 and students at £6.20. The Duke of York serves alcohol (which may or may not influence your decision).

You can find the trailer here.