FOR our fabulous screenings this week, we have a trio of varying forms of creative and literary icons brought to life in both extravagant and intricate ways.

From May 5 to 11, Masamune Shirow’s manga series is once again brought to life, with Scarlett Johansson at the helm as Major in this visually stunning sci-fi action flick Ghost in the Shell. In the near future, Major is the first of her kind: a human who is cyber-enhanced to be a perfect soldier devoted to stopping the world’s most dangerous criminals. As she prepares to face a new enemy, Major discovers that her life was stolen, not saved. Now she will stop at nothing to recover her past while punishing those that stole it from her.

Julian Barnes’ critically acclaimed and Booker Prize winning 2011 novel The Sense of an Ending transforms miraculously onto the big screen. Jim Broadbent is perfectly cast as protagonist Tony, an ageing Londoner who receives a mysterious letter and diary, forcing him to confront his past and relationships. We see his adolescence in flashbacks as the film voyages back to Tony’s school days, when his friendship with a brilliant classmate, Adrian and his first relationship with the wonderful Veronica obscurely unravelled.

We also have the incredible, untold story of American literary icon Emily Dickinson in A Quiet Passion, divulging her life from her early days as a young schoolgirl to her later years as a reclusive, unrecognised artist. Her childhood plays out like anyone else’s: full of fun and friends. But as she grows, we learn of her troubling, difficult life as her body deteriorates and the blunt, exhausting pain of living in one’s own head.

Finally, for the little kiddies out there, we have your very first cinema experience with Peppa Pig. Join your favourite squeaking little pig and her friends as they go on exciting adventures, including an amazing trip to London, in these never-before-seen episodes on the big screen.

Evie Myers