Category: entertainment and leisure news

THE next film being screened by Thame Cinema 4 All, is Sing Street, Directed by John Carney, on Sunday, December 18, at The Players Theatre in Nelson Street, Thame.

Sing street is a 12A certificate and stars Lucy Boynton, Maria Doyle Kennedy, Jack Reynor, Kelly Thornton, Ferdia Walsh-Peelo, Aidan Gillen and Ben Carolan.  John Carney – director of Once and Begin Again – returns to the genre that has become his hallmark: films about the magic of making music. And this is perhaps his most enjoyable and most heart-warming film so far.

Set in early 1980s Dublin, it is the story of 15-year-old Conor and his attempts to put together a cutting-edge new romantic rock band from an unlikely assembly of misfits and loners like himself,  in part to impress the beautiful but troubled aspiring model, Raphina.  Conor’s parents are splitting up, and family finances mean that he has to move schools from the Jesuits to the Christian Brothers – much cheaper but also much more brutal.

Seeking escape, self-expression and redemption in pop music, he finds inspiration in Duran Duran, The Cure, The Jam, and other gems from the record collection of his stoner older brother, constantly re-styling his looks, his hair and his wardrobe to mimic the musical icon du jour.  There are echoes of multiple other coming of age movies: the lads’ attempt to recreate a glossy pop video are reminiscent of Son of Rambow and it shares the sentiment and exuberance of School of Rock. And, of course, The Commitments – the film makes several knowing references to that earlier story of working class Dubliners and musical escapism (including the casting of Conor’s mum).

Book on line HERE

But Sing Street stands very successfully on its own two feet – a funny, sad, joyous, nostalgic fairytale, with a great sound track. Watch the trailer HERE

OTHER Up-coming films:

An independent British comedy about two young women on a road trip to scatter the ashes of a close friend, with a stellar cast including Laura Carmichael (Lady Edith in Downton Abbey), Alison Steadman, Jane Asher, Nigel Planer, Sally Phillips and even Matthew Kelly!. The producer of the film grew up near Thame and he is coming along and will stay for a Q&A after the movie. This will be a rare chance to see the film in the cinema – it had a very limited cinema release. More details to follow.

Sun Jan 15 I Daniel Blake

Sat Jan 21 The Hunt for the Wilderpeople

Fri Jan 27 Julieta

Fri Feb 3 Bridget Jones’s Baby (charity screening for the Mayor)

Sun Feb 5 Eight Days a Week

Sat Feb 11 Queen of Katwe

THAME Friends of the Earth are holding their Christmas Green Fayre on Saturday, December 10, at Thame Town Hall, between 10am – 3pm, with lots to do, see, buy or exchange.

There will be local and Fair Trade stalls selling a variety of gifts, crafts, jewellery, clothes, produce and cakes. In addition, the organising team are providing a service to enable people to sell toys and to buy good condition second hand toys, in the run up to Christmas. So, please bring clean items in good condition to Thame Town Hall between 9am and 10 am on the day, and collect unsold items at 3pm. Friends of the Earth will keep 25% of the selling price for all items sold.

All toys must be clearly labeled with your name, telephone number and the asking price.

Friends of the Earth are earnestly campaigning for cleaner air in our towns and cities. We have been monitoring air quality in Thame and the initial results will be available at the Green Fayre. There will be a collection point for recycling of items such as unwanted stamps, foreign coins, old reading glasses, mobile phones, used batteries and empty printer cartridges.

Free Christmas activities will be on offer for children, with Christmas gardens, making cards and table top arrangements, all using recycled materials.

Entrance to the Green Fayre is free, with free lucky dip prizes for the children, and free Christmas Chee in the form of refreshments including mulled wine and mince pie for adults.

CHILDREN’S favourite, the famous Police Pup TV character, will be attending Thame’s Christmas Lights Switch-On this Friday, December 2!

Also flying in will be ‘Tink’ the Green Fairy. Both of them will be walking around the event between 4pm and 7pm, and will be available for meet and greets, and of course lots of photo opportunities.

‘Tink’ and the Police Pup are really looking forward to meeting everyone on Friday!

THE Mayor of Thame, Linda Emery, is sponsoring an Activity Day for children, to raise money for her two chosen charities, The Red Kite Childrens’ Centre and th Thame Youth cafe, on December 17, at Lord Williams Lower School Theatre. 10am to 4pm.

The Dream Team Creative Workshop, led by Jennifer Veal star of Disney’s Jessie & Descendents, and Livvy Nichole Singer/Songwriter, is open to children between 10 and 18 years-old,  and will feature singing, performance skills and audition techniques. Each student will need bring lunch and drinks and wear work clothes and suitable closed shoes. Tuition fees for this theatre arts workshop are £45. Class size is limited, so early registration is recommended. Contact: jv@jenniferveal.com for further details.

The Red Kite Centre plays an essential role in giving children and families the early support they need. They are open to our whole community on a regular basis. They work in partnership with other agencies such as health visitors, midwives and local schools.

Thame Youth Cafe provides young people with a vibrant and safe environment where they can access the latest skills, personal development and opportunities. The cafe has been set up by the local community and developed by local partners who share a number of core values. They meet Wednesdays at Christchurch, Thame and Thursdays at the Co-op Café.

THE Christmas season in Thame begins in earnest  on Friday, December 2, when the town stages its annual street festival of crafts, gifts, food and drink stalls in the town centre, and the official turning on of the Christmas lights.

From 3pm there will be live entertainment and music on the High Street and in the Upper Chamber of the town hall and Masonic Hall, a Santa’s Grotto, Go-Karts and Donkey Rides, as well as a Lantern Parade showcasing the beautiful lanterns hand-made by the pupils of Thame’s Primary Schools and Chilworth House School.

As usual there is much speculation about the identity of the celebrity who will be turning on the Christmas lights!

Remember to keep searching high and low around Thame’s shops and town centre buildings for all 24 Go-Kart Santas in the Santa Circuit, to be in with a chance to help the Star guest turn on Thame’s Christmas Lights this year!

SHOWING this Saturday November 12, 8pm USA, 2016, 97 minutes, 15 certificate – Directed by Rebecca Miller, starring Greta Gerwig, Ethan Hawke, Julianne Moore, Maya Rudolph, Bill Hader.

GRETA Gerwig is Maggie, a slightly batty bookish New Yorker who enjoys a successful career as an arts facilitator but who is unlucky in love. A bit of a control freak, she has decided to become a mother with or without a partner, and has a carefully mapped out plan to conceive using sperm donated by an erstwhile school friend who is now a pickle magnate. Meanwhile, she meets Hawke’s John – “one of the bad boys of ficto-critical anthropology” if you please – unhappily married in mid-life crisis and struggling to complete his first novel. His wife is the terrifyingly glacial Georgette, a formidable intellectual who ‘has tenure at Colombia’ – a superciliously hilarious turn from Julianne Moore who steals every scene she’s in. Maggie becomes John’s confidante and muse and, as they say, one thing leads to another.

When things turn out not quite as Maggie had dreamed, she sets out to re-engineer her life and everyone else’s with the help of her erstwhile adversary, Georgette. What ensues is a story about the messiness of love and fate and our attempts to control them, a contemporary metropolitan configuration of the screwball comedy: witty, very funny, erudite and razor-sharp but also very sweet, which will have you rooting for its flawed heroine and her haphazard attempts to get what she wants. Don’t miss it.

Film tickets are available on the door or online- Click here

Note: The capacity of the theatre is 130 seats. 100 seats are allocated for pre-booking online, and 30 reserved for those who prefer to buy on the door.

Doors open half an hour before films start, admission £5, licensed bar – www.thamecinema.org.uk

THE Forget Me Knot Café in Chinnor will be hosting another great morning with Music for Health, lots of singing, listening to music, and playing instruments.

The session, on Monday, November 14, will begin at 10.30am with a welcoming cup of tea, biscuit and chat. Warm up exercises before a visiting expert will entertain the audience for an hour. The session will finish with parachute games, flat football, seated balloon volleyball, beanbags and juggling or some other fun game, and at the end of the session a member of the group will give either a poem or a reading.

The Monday morning cafe is to provide information, support and fun activities which are aimed to help with coordination, brain stimulation and general health and well being for people suffering with dementia, mental health issues, old age or isolation. The cafe meets twice monthly 10.30am to 12.30 at The Chinnor Village Centre every Monday morning. All are welcome. A small donation of £2.50 per person is appreciated.

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