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Each week, we round up the most exciting film events happening in London over the coming week, from pop-ups and one-offs to regular film clubs, outdoor screenings and festivals. Here’s this week’s top five…
Punk London: ‘Jubilee’
To tie in with the 40 years of punk celebrations across London, the British Film Institute on the South Bank is presenting a month of movies that capture the spirit of the age. Film include Sex Pistols drama ‘Sid and Nancy’, ‘Straight to Hell’ and this Derek Jarman classic, plus retrospective docs on The Clash, The Sex Pistols and The Ramones and films about modern punks, from Pussy Riot to Sleaford Mods. In ‘Jubilee’, Britain’s official first punk movie, Jarman conceived the ingenious idea of transporting Queen Elizabeth I through time to witness the future disintegration of her kingdom as marauding girl punks roam a violent urban landscape.
BFI Southbank, Belvedere Rd, SE1 8XT. Wed Aug 3, 8.30pm. £8.35–£11.75
£1 Cinema Club: ‘Spice World: The Movie’ + party
If you hate the movie, stop reading now. But if you’re a fan, this epic night of girl power antics is for you. Not just a screening of the Spice Girls’ one and only cinematic effort, this is also a dance party, costume competition and even a tribute act – all for £1. Now that’s a spicy bargain. The film is a pseudo-documentary in which the girls attempt to make it to the Albert Hall in the face of mounting difficulties. That’s a basic plot on which to hang a series switched identities, celebrity cameos and fairly vacuous banter.
The Grand. 21–25 St John's Hill, SW11 1TT. Fri Aug 5, 7.30pm. £1.
Check the Gate: ‘OC and Stiggs’
Another in the Prince Charles Cinema’s brilliant season of classic movies on 35mm film. This time it’s the turn of beloved London institution the Duke Mitchell Film Club, who – in a step away from their usual wacko exploitation fare – have chosen Robert Altman’s bizarre studio movie. It’s a fun if seriously juvenile foray into teen anarchy, as the two pranksters of the title set about harassing Phoenix, Arizona in general, and the Schwab family (racist, materialistic and dumb) in particular.
Prince Charles Cinema, 7 Leicester Place, WC2H 7BP. Wed Aug 3, 8.45pm. £8.50.
Nicolas Winding Refn presents: ‘Body Double’
Another in ‘Drive’ director Nicolas Winding Refn’s season of hand-picked movies he probably wishes he’d made. In ‘Body Double’, director Brian De Palma combines the plots from both ‘Vertigo’ and ‘Rear Window’ into one big voyeur-fest – and pulls it off with sly efficiency. Struggling actor Craig Wasson is fired from his role as a punk vampire because of claustrophobia. While flatsitting for a friend, he spends his hours glued to the telescope watching the lady opposite. But who’s the scarred Indian coming at her with a power drill?
Picturehouse Central, 20–24 Shaftesbury Ave, W1D 7DH. Fri Aug 5, 6.30pm. £8.
Anachron Film Club: Italian Sci-Fi
A double bill of seriously ropey but massively entertaining Italian sci-fis: Antonio Margheriti’s cheeseball wonder ‘Wild, Wild Planet’ and Luigi Cozzi’s notorious ‘Star Wars’ knockoff ‘Starcrash’, in which scantily clad astro-pilot Stella Star battles the evil Count Zarth Arn. With a cast of international thespian talent including David Hasselhoff and Christopher Plummer, costumes that’d make Barbarella blush and a special effects budget of at least a tenner, ‘Starcrash’ is the pinnacle of unintentionally camp science fiction.
Muse Gallery, 269 Portobello Rd, W11 1LR. Tue Aug 2, 7pm. Free.
For the full list, go to Time Out’s film events page.