An occasional series of films presented in the FeckenOdeon’s new digital theatre.

We hope to present interesting, amusing and challenging movies that simply wouldn’t fit into our main theatre programme. The new cinema can seat 40 people in comfort and has a bar.

These are public performances - anyone can attend - but there are reduced prices and priority booking for existing FeckenOdeon subscribers.

He’s not the Messiah - he’s just a very naughty boy!

What a fuss this caused when it hit Britain’s screens in 1979. It was branded as blasphemous, heretic and.... funny. The latter seemed to be the worse sin to those who take life so seriously that they can’t see the wood for the lumberjacks...

Brian is mistaken for the Messiah. He says he’s not the Messiah. His Mum says he’s not the Messiah. But a hysterical mob say he’s the Messiah... And poor Brian is crucified... Hey ho - Always look on the bright side...

The surprising thing is how well this holds up. Much of the Python phenomenon now looks tired and dated but this has a story and a message - the latter being applicable to our own times where a mere rumour in a newspaper can cause panic on the financial markets..

Brian was picketed against and preached against. The film was banned in many places merely on its reputation - it was even banned in towns where there was no cinema. Aberystwyth only lifted its ban in 2009 - probably influenced by the fact that the town’s mayor Sue Jones-Davis had played Judas Iscariot in the film..

Perhaps, now the fuss has mostly died down, we can enjoy it for its clever humour and inventiveness - and as a memorial to a time when it was still possible to make a very, very silly movie and get it shown throughout the world.

NEXT SHOW

It’s tempting to describe this film as “charming” - but that would do it an injustice. It has charm, without a doubt but this is charm with a great deal of humour - and very sharp teeth!

A waitress in a Parisian café, Amélie (Audrey Tautou) sees it as her mission in life to right wrongs and improve the lives of her customers. But she proves rather less successful at bettering her own lot, despite falling for a handsome loner with his own bizarre quest. The real delight is the army of oddballs that rotate around the gamine Miss Tautou. Hypochondriac tobacconists, tyrannical grocers, kindly strippers, failed writers, all human life is here.

Released in France as "Le Fabuleux Destin d'Amélie Poulain", this utterly beguiling fable from one half of the team behind "Delicatessen" and "The City of Lost Children" whipped up a storm of controversy across the Channel, with some commentators arguing its nostalgic whimsy brushed the realities of modern multicultural Paris under the carpet. Audiences didn't seem to mind though, over seven million people have saw it in its first weeks , and the film earned accolades from both Prime Minister Lionel Jospin and President Jacques Chirac.

Amélie won best film at the European Film Awards; it won four César Awards (including Best Film and Best Director), two BAFTA Awards (including Best Original Screenplay), and was nominated for five Academy Awards

"Le Fabuleux Destin d'Amélie Poulain" (2001) - Dir Jean-Pierre Jeunet - 2hrs 2 mins

Tickets £4.50 (Members £3.50)

To book online just click the button!

All major credit/debit cards accepted.

You can also buy tickets at The Village Shop and The Rose & Crown, Feckenham

Roseanna’s not well. She might die at any moment. She tells Marcello, her devoted husband, that she must be buried in the village churchyard and Marcello promises that he will honour her wish. But.. there’s a problem. There are only four plots left... and after the local trapeze artist has a momentary lapse in concentration... there are soon only three. Marcello, a bar owner, devotes most of his time to making sure that nobody else dies.. And then there’s the Mafia...and the philandering bank manager and the skeletons on several closets and the body in the freezer....

You’d be justified in thinking that this is an Italian black comedy. It’s stylish, set in Italy and has the ring of authenticity about it... but the character’s all speak in accented English and there’s something strangely familiar about it.... and then Trevor Peacock appears and the penny drops. Trevor is an English actor who plays Jim Trott (Yes, yes, yes, yes..no!) in The Vicar of Dibley. This is a British film. Most of the cast and crew are British and the director spent most of his career creating things like “Blackadder” and Mr Bean”... And yet it still seems convincingly Italian - and very black and very funny - a paradox if ever there was....

For Roseanna - 1997 - Dir.: Paul Weilland - 1hr 38mins