The Fantasy Orchestra performed the music of Ennio Morricone to a fantastically receptive audience during the “Don’t Look Now” Cube Fundraiser in the Theatre Royal at the Bristol Old Vic on Friday 6th September.The acts were curated by Qu Junkctions.
Here’s some pictures taken by Cube volunteer Dave Taylor from his vantage point in the Garrick Box.
The Fantasy Orchestra performing “A Fist Full of Dollars” by Ennio Morricone on the Theatre Royal at the Bristol Old Vic. PIcture by Dave Taylor
The Fantasy Orchestra performing “Manic”Depression by Jimi Hendrix on the Theatre Royal at the Bristol Old Vic. PIcture by Dave Taylor
The evening was brilliantly compèred by veteran actor of stage and screen Dudley Sutton.
Dudley Sutton compèring ‘Don’t Look Now’ at the Theatre Royal, Bristol Old Vic. Picture by Sarah Bentley.
Here’s the fantastic poster for the evening designed by Rich Fox.
On Monday 11th January the Cube held a celebration of bowie-ness with a screening of Nic Roeg’s classic 1976 scifi movie The Man Who Fell to Earth – starring Bowie in his defining screen role as the nipple-less alien Thomas Newton. The wonderful Bewlay Sister deejays played golden year tunes before and after…
To introduce The Man Who Fell To Earth we put together this fan video, scavenged from various places on youtube – tracking how the schoolboy Davey Jones ended up in New Mexico playing Thomas Newton, via mime, Ziggy Stardust and the Thin White Duke… please enjoy!
and finally here’s our favourite bowie-related video (that we couldn’t fit in ) – starring his flatmate from the berlin years…
The Cube’s mysteriousbioskop headed to the Star and Shadow in Newcastle on Thursday 21st January to screen a programme we put together of artist’s film, rare documentary, and short fiction called WE ARE FAMILY.
In some ways the Cube and the Star and Shadow are sister cinemas, or at least first cousin cinemas – they’re very similar in the way they work, and share a lot of ideological and organisational DNA.
None of the bioskop had been to the Star and Shadow before, so we decided to screen each of the films in a different room – including the bar, auditorium, dark room, office, and toilets – so that we (and the audience) could get a chance to explore the building.
If you’ve ever been part of a collective (or any work organisation for the matter) you’ll know the experience is a mixture of friendship, arguments, politics, flirting, work and shirking, endless meetings, egos, emails, inspiration and disillusion (and vice versa), drinking, cleaning, boredom and fun.
Its basically like being part of a large dysfunctional family – hence the name of our programme, WE ARE FAMILY. The films we chose, as well as being films we love, were selected to reflect a bit of that of that experience… Here they are –
Girls Own Story – Jane Campion,1984
(shown in the ladies toilets)
Hells Angels take a mini-break – BBC documentary, 1973
(shown in the bar)
You can watch this short documentary on Adam Curtis’s excellent blog here. Adam writes about the film – They’re obviously not very nice people (especially as they tend to go on about Nazis). And the film has a disapproving commentary that talks about their “psychotic tendencies” and their “empty daily existence”. But as you watch the film you begin to realise that the director (or possibly the editor) was making a completely different film.
It uses the Hells Angels as a comic and exaggerated parody of the emptiness of the daily life for everyone in Britain.
Stealing Beauty – Guy Ben-Ner,2007
(shown in the office)
thanks to Al Cameron for introducing us to this film…
Downside Up – Tony Hill, 1984
(shown in the cinema)
Call of the Wild – Spartacus Chetwynd, 2007
(shown in the projection room)
Nice picture of a snowy Cube exterior and neon from John Bell of the Raiders who played at the Cube free gig on Saturday 19th Jan. Original image is at Raiders Jo’s Instagram Account. Hopefully it was slightly warmer inside …
Here’s Alice Lowe “lovingly and psychotically stroking a 35mm reel of Sightseers” during her visit to the Cube on Tuesday 8th January 2013 before doing a audience Q & A on her new film “Sightseers”.
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Back in December we held a free all day/all night event called Microcosm that aimed to showcase the array of talent that is/was/will be the Cube, and raise awareness for the buying the building campaign via a public debate (which was filmed and will, one day, make it to a blog post I hope [not going to happen, but available internally to any interested vols – Ed]).
Many of the current volunteers were particularly moved by a message that was received from Hannah G, formerly of this parish and now living in Canada, so I was delighted when she agreed to let us use an excerpt for this month’s podcast, which you can hopefully find here – Hannah’s message begins at 19 mins and 40 seconds. Enjoy!
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While employing some advanced google searching to try and find evidence of the early and influential “Film Jam” events The Cube did, basically to prove we were always well head of the curve – in the previous century in fact – given the “Bring Your Beamer” event at Spike soon, I instead happened across this : http://microplex.cubecinema.com/newcubewebsite/about/ . . . possibly interesting to some!
At the recent Kino Climates meeting in Bruxells I developed an idea to address differences and common ground alliances between the participating venues and groups.
It emmerged that an enduring committment to Film, that is the medium, the material of Celluloid, has a defining significance for many orgnisations and for many complex overlapping reasons. I am developing this logo or glyph idea which is shown below.
The basic idea is for venues to display the version of the logo (there are several) which displays the film/celluloid format which they can present, here for example 35 16 and 8 mm. The shape with the numbers inside is a perforation, a KS perforation which is the standard shape for all 35mm films. The shape above it is another type of perforation, a BH perforation which is the standard hole for 35mm negative film, ie film used in production. Numbers in here would represent the celluloid formats which the venue or organisation can WORK with, in a Lab, production or artisanal sense.
This then is attempt to draw connection between the brilliant Lab movement in Europe and the Cinema movement. As well as mobilise support of Film behind the term Celluloid which although not correct for modern film material (which is either polyester, acetate or estar) actually emerges as the most essentially unmistakeable term for all these things. Film by contrast now means almost anything. Celluloid is now in crisis and Cinemas like ours have a new role in the actual preservation of film based moving images alongside the archives and film museums.
Below is a picture of something that has really inspired me.
It is Cinema Nova’s entire programme Archive. Cinema Nova is in Bruxells and is perhaps our closest sister Cinema project, in terms of its ethos, style, spirit, local status and history. If you are interested in the Cube Cinema you should really take time to study Nova.
Their Archive is a feat of classic paperwork organisation. A sadly diminishing art nowadays as our whole life and even aspects of our afterlife become become more and more the property of Americans. (Most of the Cubes doesnt of course thanks to the brilliantly radical existence of Sparror)
They print about 12 – 16 thousand programmes and actually mail out, thats snail-mail, physically post about 5 thousand to about 15 different countries.
They regard this world of paper information as a large, dispersed historic record of their activities that would remain intact and dignified even after Novas demise.
Taking a leaf out of their book I am planning on setting up a similar system at the Cube Cinema, Bristol, England. There is a sample in the office, on the new shelves on the right. It would be nice to hear what people think.
The programme Archive is a considerable document. Each one reads like a blueprint of what is possible and what has been done. Each one records a moment and a praxis. But more radically its the ‘missing’ information that perhaps might be the most inspiring and mission-critical to the Cube. Thats the responsive data, the critical reviews, the comments, the feedback, the financial imprint, the statistics, the reasons, the thinking and the lessons. Each monthly programme almost needs a counter-programme, a mirror copy whose negative shape is defined by the positive output of the delivered events.
Id like to propose an experimental attempt at this for January 2013 programme. Anyone want to help?
Here is a picture of the Cinema space in Nova.
In case you were in any doubt about the pleasant Civil nature of Bruxells heres is a photo of phone booths at the station (note the lack of stickers, graffiti, vandalism and failed maintainance) and these dinky little electric cars that you can rent.
