My local cinema – taken 20 years ago and still hanging on

2025 proved to be my most restricted year’s viewing in terms of cinema visits with only twelve films seen. The bulk of my viewing was therefore only via streamers and physical home media. My few cinema visits were simply a result of the restrictions on my travel opportunities and being away from the house for more than a few hours. As a result, five of the films I saw were at my local cinema. Two of those visits were to American films that have been widely praised (A Real Pain and One Battle After Another) but which I didn’t like that much.  Here’s a list of films which are certainly worth seeing and which I enjoyed. They are not in any particular order:

1. Santosh (UK-India-France-Germany 2024) – seen at the cinema, one of three India independents seen over the last 18 months.

2. Palestine 36 (Palestine-UK and many other countries 2025) – also seen at the cinema but not yet posted on the blog. A stunning achievement I think.

3. Girls Will Be Girls (India-France 2024) – seen on BFI Player and taught on a Day School as an example of an unusual ‘coming of age film’

4. Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere (US 2025) – seen at my local cinema and much better than I thought it would be. I really enjoyed it.

5. La signora di tutti (Italy 1934) – screened as part of an event looking at the work of Max Ophüls and proving to be a film far ahead of its time in both its exploration of celebrity and its aesthetic daring.

6. My Brilliant Career (Australia 1979) and 7. The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith (Australia 1978). Both these films were viewed on Blu-rays as part of preparation for a study day on New Australian Cinema of the 1970s. Both have aged well and stand as impressive contributions to a film movement perhaps not remembered outside Australia as much as it should be.

8. A Special Day (Italy-Canada 1977) – part of a Sophia Loren mini-season on BFI Player. This excellent film by Ettore Scola presents the meeting of Loren’s over-burdened housewife and Marcel Mastroianni’s gay radio announcer during Hitler’s visit to Italy in 1938 when everyone else is watching the parade. This and the other Loren films on BFI Player prove how big a star and how talented an actor she is.

9. Blue Lights (UK 2023 – 2027) – I don’t watch much TV drama, but I listened to recommendations and watched all three seasons of this 15 part police procedural set in Belfast in a week and found it be the most compelling TV I’ve watched for a long time. I might also add a mention of Crá (Ireland-UK 2024) another TV procedural-melodrama set in Co. Donegal and produced with input from companies based in Galway and Belfast.

10. Cottontail (UK-Japan 2023) – not necessarily a ‘great’ film but one I found very moving and an interesting presentation of two cultures coming together. It follows a Japanese man who fulfils his dead wife’s wish to have her ashes scattered in the English Lake District. The title refers to her first encounter with the books of Beatrix Potter. I was pleased to see this in the cinema.

There are plenty of other titles I could have mentioned and it’s a surprise to me that no French films appear in the list since France remains probably the most consistent source of the films I want to watch. I did see several French films this year and enjoyed most of them so there wasn’t a fall-off as such. This past year I switched from MUBI to BFI Player as my only subscription service. Other than that I think the output of high quality restorations packaged by Blu-ray labels Powerhouse/Indicator and Radiance is the main new source of improvement in my viewing experience this past year and I look forward to watching more restorations in 2026. Having said that, I seem to have accumulated a long list of draft posts that I really should complete so I must try to finish a few more before expanding my viewing. I have to face the realisation that the way cinemas are going with so-called luxury seating in ‘recliners’ holds few pleasures for me. My favourite cinemas have traditional seats. I’m also not happy with some of the distribution and exhibition practices which mean more ‘specialised’ films have limited screening opportunities with little rhyme or reason as to when and how they are shown.

The long lists of what is coming up during 2026 do suggest some films I will certainly try to find alongside the restorations on Blu-ray, so here’s to another year of diverse viewing pleasures!