Selma

[kevinknapman]

Saw this earlier this afternoon as part of the screenings held across the UK to mark Martin Luther King Jr Day.
An incredibly powerful, moving and inspirational film with an extraordinary lead performance from David Oyelowo.
Equally adept at portraying the impressive orator and the private family man, he is supported by an equally strong cast which includes Carmen Ejogo, Tom Wilkinson, Common, Wendell Pierce, Lorraine Toussaint, Oprah Winfrey, Giovanni Ribisi and Tim Roth amongst others.
As the reference to Ferguson in the end credits Oscar-nominated song Glory shows, the film's message of continued peaceful protest in the fight to gain equal rights for all is sadly still relevant 50 years on. And speaking of the Oscars, yes, the absence of both Oyelowo and director Ava DuVernay is a baffling oversight.
Essential viewing.

[RAZORBACK]

This turned out to be a thought provoking viewing experience and it certainly seemed to be a reasonably accurate representation of what occurred back in 1965.

David Oyelowo was really rather excellent in the central role (he can be added to the list of actors robbed of an Oscar nomination by Bradley Cooper) and was surrounded by a talented supporting cast. Consequently it was very easy indeed to get caught up, emotionally speaking, in the events that were being recreated on screen.

Overall this was a very decent historical drama and one that more than deserved an 8/10 from me...

[prettyxcool]

Saw this at the BUFF (British Urban Film Festival) screening at the Genesis Cinema a couple of days ago, second BUFF event I have been to, and not as well organised as the first, "Mum, Dad, Meet Sam".

What a lot of fuss, a black dress code, arriving early, no admittance if late etc. But the organisers were late! People were arriving half an hour or even more after the screening started, but still let in, well, they were the Q&A panel. Half the cinema's seats had reserved signs on them, but no one told anyone if we were having pre-drinks upstairs, we could sit there, but we went there anyway, as the seats at the back were pretty full and all the reserved seats were empty!

The pre-drinks were a glass of cranberry juice in a plastic champagne flute and some peanuts. We were given a Selma Survival goody bag (for the long walk to voting rights presumably) containing a Jacob's Club, a Wether's Original, a pen, a sample face and body scrub, a satsuma, and a peace symbol bracelet marked "For the Boys". There were after drinks but you had to p*y for a voucher to get a drink in a plastic cup! Nah!

It was a very boring start to the film. Very lengthy dialogue. It took a long time to get anywhere and then when it did it was heartbreaking, and I cried. The violence is really graphic especially during the first march. Shame it was not as powerful as it should be with such an important issue in American history and Martin Luther King. It seemed rather flat.

Not sure if David Oyelowo is the right person for the part. Felt there was something missing. I always felt MLK as a very strong character but here he is portrayed less so and very ordinary, but as the Q&A explained, he was shown the human side with flaws. But David Oyelowo did grow on me, being a British actor and having met him, I so wanted him do well, so by the end he did win me over, and he was MLK for a few minutes. In contrast to this, Carmen Ejogo as his wife was very well cast and she was really good. Tom Wilkinson played President Johnson, I have never heard of this president, but having looked him up now, not sure how accurate his part has been portrayed, and again, I did not feel the casting was right here. Oprah Winfrey who co-produced with Brad Pitt, has a small part in it.

The acting was fine but not brilliant. I thought, it was a good film but lacked that punch, and definitely not Oscar worthy. 7/10

Emmanuel, founder of BUFF introduced the Q&A Panel of film critics and activists. He told us that Lee Jasper could not join the panel because the nature of his work meant he was called away on an emergency. I found out later he is the Equalities Advisor to the Mayor of London. Aml Ameen (Alby in Maze Runner) was in the audience and spoke during the Q&A urging people to go and p*y to see the film again, so that stories like these can be told, and received a round of applause.

Lovely to see vealster, tsoiboy and missgotty there.

The film will be released in the UK from 6 February 2015 by Pathe UK.

[Yinster]

From http://www.thefilmspace.org/newsletter-january-2015/

SCHOOL SCREENINGS OF SELMA
Picturehouse Education and Pathe are delighted to announce exclusive school screenings of Selma this February. The film tells the story of the historic struggle to secure voting rights for African-Americans. Schools attending will be able to see the film in the first week of release at the discounted rate of £3.50 per student.

Henley Regal – Mon 9 Feb, 10am
London Greenwich Picturehouse – Tue 10 Feb at 10am
Edinburgh Cameo – Tue 10 Feb at 10am
Oxford Phoenix Picturehouse – Tue 10 Feb at 10am
Brighton Dukes at Komedia – Tue 10 Feb at 10am
Exeter Picturehouse – Wed 11 Feb at 10am
London Brixton Ritzy – Thur 12 Feb at 10am

BOOKING INFORMATION

Price: £3.50 per student (with accompanying teachers attending free)

To book places for your school or college group please contact Lucy Orr on 07961 295846 or email lucy.o@picturehouses.co.uk. Alternatively you can request places online HERE.

[neechofish]

Just received an email from showfilmfirst stating:


We regret to inform you that due to circumstances beyond our control, the our ticket allocation for Selma has been cancelled and your ticket will not be valid.

We do apologise for this and we will ensure that you are priority alert for the next available preview.

SFF

[akh43]

Just checked and I have received a cancellation email as well, glad now I went yesterday instead. Strange the ticket still shows as an active ticket in my tickets booked on SFF website and gives the option to print had I been at work today I would not have known this was cancelled as no access to this email address at work and usually go straight to the cinema from work.

[elski]

yes I got the email too, although the ticket link still works (or did last time I checked)

[woody505]

tonights previews have been cancelled yet link and pin number still works?

[elski]

could do with the thread in general discussion here viewtopic.php?f=10&t=31014 being merged into this one

[superhero]

Have all the screenings been cancelled or just certain screenings?