Flying tonight - February 1, 2008

It's not often we have the chance to preview a home-grown movie feature, but we do so with pleasure this month. Young Maltese director Engelbert Grech's documentary Heroes in the Sky is being screened in the cinema at St James this month between February 20 and February 29 inclusive. Using lots of archive footage Heroes tells the story of the aerial battle for control of the Maltese Islands during World War ll. This is Mr Grech's first full length documentary feature and a very promising debut it is too. The film is obviously very well researched and indeed a labour of love, the result can be seen up on the screen... don't miss it.

During the 1980s the epicentre of film-making moved a little down under, when Australian movies gained a cachet previously denied to anyone south of the equator. This month at the St James cinema, two recent Australian features will be screened. Rod Hardy's warm-hearted December Boys stars Daniel (Harry Potter) Radcliffe... complete with dodgy Ozzy accent, in a rites of passage movie set in a 1960s Australian coastal town. Mr Radcliffe, together with three other boys - played by talented young actors Christian Byers, James Fraser and Lee Cormie - discover they are being assessed for adoption, while at the same time learning about life and love.

Guy Pearce has climbed to the top of the Australian actors A-list in a series of features that have demonstrated his considerable versatility. From playing a drag queen in Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, to his current starring role as a poacher turned gamekeeper... or rather outlaw turned lawman, in the ultra-violent John Hillcoate movie The Proposition. This is a rather good film and contains a stunning performance from that superb British actor Ray Winstone.

The Russian-made feature Day Watch is the second part of the Night Watch trilogy. These vampire movies are based on the book Night Watch, by Russian novelist Sergey Lukyanenko. Directed by Timur Bekmambetov and with practically the same all Russian cast as Night Watch, this was a huge hit in Russia. However, it would be fair to say that it has been somewhat less well received in the West. Nevertheless for devotees of this genre of movie, it is a very sophisticated scare flick and is also showing at St James this month.

Both Billy Bob Thornton and Susan Sarandon would comfortably make a list of Hollywood's best technicians, when it comes to the acting profession. In Mr Woodcock, directed by Craig Gillespie, they are seen together with Sean William Scott. Mr Scott plays a young guy who discovers his mother, Ms Sarandon, is dating the teacher who constantly humiliated him at school. Again, this is a movie that has not been universally acclaimed and it would be fair to say that Mr Thornton in particular, often looks as though he's cruising through it... in second gear.

This month we also have the chance to catch Pierce Brosnan trying to get as far away as possible from his James Bond persona by playing the bad guy in the western Seraphim Falls. David Von Ancken directs Mr Brosnan, Liam Neeson and Anjelika Huston in this feature set at the end of the American Civil War. This is a pursuit movie... where the quarry is Mr Brosnan who is pursued across Nevada by Mr Neeson and four other men.

Also showing at the St James cinema this month are the Russell Crowe vehicle 3.10 To Yuma and the Julie Taymor directed Across The Universe.

All the films showing at St James this month have been distributed by KRS.