Paul MacDonald-Taylor, Eden Court’s Head of Film, introduces our new cinema programme for January.
The bells have rung and there is a new year upon us. Already 2024 is shaping up to be a great year in the cinema. Throughout January we have new films from some of my favourite directors - Michael Mann (Ferrari), Yorgos Lanthimos (Poor Things), Hayao Miyazaki (The Boy and the Heron) and Sofia Coppola (Priscilla – with 35mm screenings for January). I cannot think of a better way to start a year!

Two-time Oscar winner Anthony Hopkins returns to the screen in One Life (also starring Helena Bonham Carter and Jonathan Pryce), which tells the true story of Nicholas Winton who helped save hundreds of children on the eve of World War II. It’s sure to be one of the most emotional and inspiring films of the year, definitely one to take the tissues for.
A couple of the big hits from the 2023 Inverness Film Festival are back this month. Yorgos Lanthimos’ Poor Things opens on Fri 12 Jan; it quickly sold out at the festival and is on a lot of end-of-year best films of 2023 lists. Emma Stone will almost certainly be nominated for another Oscar for her wonderful performance – definitely one to be seen on the big screen.

Also making a return is the festival's Surprise Film: Taika Waititi’s Next Goal Wins. It is the hilarious story of Michael Fassbender as a coach who takes over the struggling American Samoa football team – don’t be put off by the football; after the festival screening so many people raved about the film despite normally being put off by the sporting theme. It’s a ray of sunshine on the big screen in what will be a cold January.

I have also slipped in a one-off screening of Godzilla Minus One on Sun 7 Jan. I cannot wait to see this up on the big screen – it’s going to be a spectacular start to the year. See you at the movies!
This blog was written by: