Other Clubs and Societies in Priors Marston

This section of our web site will provide details of the events being held by the various clubs and societies within the village.

We currently have details of The Priors Marston & Hardwick W.I. and Moving Pictures;  Priors Marston's own cinema.

To find out more about what's going on click the underlined links on the left.

Email:          gaye.barber@yahoo.co.uk

Friday, 18^th January 2008 @ 7,30pm

ATONEMENT

Ian McEwan's acclaimed novel Atonement arrives with stately grandeur on the big screen, keeping that same sense of dreamy otherworldliness and unsettling nervous energy. It's a boldly unconventional period melodrama and a stunning showcase for director Joe Wright who, after his crash-zoom take on Pride & Prejudice, draws another memorable performance out of Keira Knightley.

Knightley plays Cecilia, a reluctant heroine forced to suffer the consequences of a child's lie. Her fate is sealed on one lazy day on the family estate in 1935 when little sister Briony (Saoirse Ronan) sees her near-naked by a fountain with gardener Robbie (James McAvoy). A couple of miscommunications later and Briony - crucially described by Cecilia as "an unreliable witness" - accuses Robbie of molesting her cousin. Cecilia is inconsolable, all at once realising her feelings for Robbie and watching as he's hauled away to jail. A few years later he's shipped off to war, still mourning what could have been.

"RAW POWER"

Like a previous adaptation of McEwan's work, Enduring Love, the story is impossible to categorise, although both probe the mindset of remorse. The uncertainty of how events will unfold is also riveting. Wright plays it up with beautifully composed scenes tipped slightly off-kilter - figures looming out of velvet darkness, or a face caught in peripheral vision. The effect is haunting as are the fractured pieces of the past, which slowly build to one last shocking revelation. It's a tenuous conclusion, working better on the page than it does on screen, but there's no denying the film's raw power. Flourishes of 'hyper-reality' are grounded by sterling performances from Knightley (defined by a strong and elegantly poised backbone), Romola Garai as the 18-year-old Briony and, above all, James McAvoy. He exudes the essence of humanity in a truly soulful picture.

Saturday, 19^th Jan 2008 @ 10.30am

TRANSFORMERS

Was there ever so perfect a partnership of filmmaker and film as Michael Bay and Transformers? Bay, a man whose enthusiasm for destroying automobiles verges on the pathological (perhaps he was run over as a child) is surely the only director for a movie about giant car robots bashing each other's wingnuts off. Caught in the middle of this clanging metalstorm, the best that stars Shia LaBeouf and Megan Fox can do is keep their pretty heads well down.

Since Transformers is based on a toy franchise, it's no surprise that the story is preposterous. There are good trannies (Autobots) and bad trannies (Decepticons). The good trannies are led by a dignified lorry called Optimus Prime, and they've come to Earth from planet Cybertron to find an all-powerful cube thingy that could destroy humanity forever. Seriously, though, don't worry about it. The movie builds momentum slowly, following teenager LaBeouf's engaging attempts to bond with Bumblebee, a trannie disguised as a beat-up Camaro. Meanwhile, somewhere in Quatar US forces wage high-tech war with the grumpy Decepticons, a sequence shot in the bombastic, burnished style of a military recruitment commercial. Or, you know, a Michael Bay movie.

"OUTRAGEOUS, STUPID FUN"

The transformers themselves are charming creations, rendered in astonishing CGI and given soulful voice by, among others, Matrix star Hugo Weaving. And the action? Fear not, tran-fans: at around the two-thirds mark, the film becomes an explosive orgy of giant, fetishised weaponry, grinding metal and spraying lubricant - an automotive video nasty with a Fort Knox-sized budget. It's outrageous, stupid fun and you should see it on the biggest screen you can find.

£2 pay at the door
Refreshments

£2 (adults), £1 (under 16), Refreshments