Films shown at WFS since its relaunch in 2014, all of which are now available for loan from the library. Approval ratings are based on a score of 2 for Good, 1 for OK and 0 for poor, irrespective of audience numbers. Most recent shown first, then 2014-19.
Friday 25 November: 1917
98% Another near-unanimous approval for a great film – and with the bonus of members not having stayed at home to watch a dismal England performance in the World Cup!
Friday 28 October: The Guilty
91% ‘Best film ever’, said one member. ‘Really tense throughout’, said another and there was an audible gasp when the twist came.
Friday 30 September: Babette’s Feast
91% Another popular reaction to this 1988 Oscar winner for Best Foreign Film, a endearing, simple tale, set in a strict 19th century Danish religious community that takes in a French refugee from the Franco-Prussian War as a servant to the late pastor’s daughters.
Friday 26 August: Capernaum
98% Near unanimous acclaim for the heart-breaking but ultimately uplifting story of a resilient 12-year-old in the slums of Beirut, performed by a remarkable child actor, himself a refugee from Syria, who takes care of a toddler when his mother goes missing.
Friday 29 July: Calvary
67% Not one of WFS’s most successful screenings, a black, black comedy (!) in which the good priest played by Brendan Gleeson confronts every sin known to mankind among his Sligo parishioners. Members praised the award-winning star, but the tough ending left little room for uplifting hearts. Point taken.
Friday 24 June: Whisky Galore
100% Unanimous praise for the the 1949 classic starring Basil Radford, Gordon Jackson, James Robertson Justice and Joan Greenwood at the first WFS Nostalgia Night. Rather appropriately it was shown on the day of election shocks for the government as it was based on a real incident when a ship ran aground in the Hebrides. Its Name? SS Politician!
Friday 27 May: Free solo
89% Alex Honnold tries to become the first person ever to climb El Capitan with nothing but his boots and bare hands. ‘I practise the moves over and over again until it’s just not scary anymore,’ he said. Not scary for him maybe but jaw-dropping to watch. 2019 Best Documentary Oscar winner.
Friday 29 April: Belfast
95% The Kenneth Branagh film, winner of the Best Screenplay Oscar, of his own childhood in Northern Ireland during the time of troubles. Starring Judi Dench, Jamie Dornan and Jude Hill, age 10, (left) who won the LA Critics’ Award for best newcomer as the young Branagh.
Friday 25 March: Birds of Paradise
80% During the marijuana bonanza, a violent decade that saw the origins of drug trafficking in Colombia, an indigenous family get involved in a war to control the business that ends up destroying their lives. With striking scenes of a culture under threat.
Friday 28 February: The Death of Stalin
78% When the dictator dies, who will succeed to the throne, who will be added to the death list? Armando Iannucci’s dark comedy with resonance for Russia today.
Friday 28 January: Official secrets
100% The true story of GCHQ spy Katharine Gun who blew the whistle on US/UK attempts to blackmail UN Security Council delegates into voting for the second Iraq war. Extra feature – watch an interview with the real Katherine Gun here: bit.ly/Winchfilmsecrets
2021:
Friday 26 November: The Guardians
88% Orphan Francine falls in love with soldier Georges when he returns to his farm from WW1, with dramatic consequences. A beautifully-shot, poignant drama.
Friday 29 October: Judy
An Oscar-winning performance by Renée Zellweger as the disintegrating star Judy Garland on her final tour of the UK. Rating not available for this film.
2020: Average 88% (of three).
Friday 28 February: Cold War
94% A love story between two people mismatched, yet irrevocably drawn to each other. Set against the background of the Cold War in the 1950s in Poland, Berlin, Yugoslavia and Paris.
Friday 31 January: Timbuktu
75% A cattle herder and his family living in the dunes of Timbuktu find their quiet lives abruptly disturbed when Jihadists arrive. A vivid and moving portrait of lives controlled by extremists.
Friday 3 January: Can you ever forgive me?
95% Lee Israel (Melissa McCarthy) made her living profiling the likes of Katharine Hepburn and Estee Lauder but when she falls out of fashion, she turns to forgery, abetted by her loyal friend Jack (Richard E Grant).
Previous years audience ratings %
2014: Average 86.9%. Audience favourite – Oranges and sunshine and Untouchable 97%
97 Early January: Untouchable
89.5 Late January: A hijacking
80 February: The angel’s share
95.5 March: Wadjda
66.6 April: Bicycle thieves
97 May: Oranges and sunshine
95.5 June: The well-digger’s daughter
86 September: The secret in their eyes
83 October: Searching for Sugarman
79 November: The white ribbon
2015: Average 85.8%. Audience favourite – I’ve loved you so long 98%
98 Early January: I’ve loved you so long
87 Late January: Some like it hot
92 February: The hunt
78 March: The lunch box
89.5 April: London river
86 May: Two days one night
94.5 June: Jean de Florette
78 September: Ida
72.5 October: About Elly
82.5 November: A good woman
2016: Average 91%. Audience favourite – Manon des Sources 98%
96 January bonus: Little Miss Sunshine
97 Late January: Man on wire
91.5 February: In a better world
88 March: Selma
78.5 April: Wild Tales
95.5 May: Pride
81 June: The artist
94.5 September: Philomena
86.5 October: Argo
98 November: Manon des Sources
94.5 December: Woman in gold
2017: Average 79.8%. Audience favourite – Like father like son 97%
96.5 January: What we did on our holidays
69 February: Locke
97 March: Like father like son
50 April: Carol
88 May: Night train to Lisbon
95 June: Le concert
66 September: 45 years
83 October: Human capital
74 November: Love is strange
2018: Average 87.9%. Audience favourite – A united kingdom 99%
98 January bonus: Sully
73 Late January: Love and friendship
62.5 February: Mother
95.5 March: I, Daniel Blake
93 April: Eye in the sky
86.5 May: Barbara
99 June: A United Kingdom
95 September: Tangerines
93.5 October: Midnight in Paris
83.3 November: Of time and the city
n/a December: Paddington 2
2019: Average 91.1%. Audience favourites – The fencer and Hidden figures 100%
96.1 January bonus: Lion
100 Late January: The fencer
90.8 February: Loving Vincent
100 March: Hidden figures
n/a April: Julieta
62 May: Film stars don’t die in Liverpool
n/a June: Fargo
n/a July: Rebelove (Rebels)
n/a August: Run Lola, run
97 September: The light between oceans
93.9 October: Blackkklansman
88.7 November: Land of mine
n/a December: The man who invented Christmas
Winchcombe Film Society 