THIS week sees a whole new programme of wonderful films on offer to Ilkley Cinema goers.

In April 2015, four elderly men burgled almost £200 million from the Hatton Garden Safe Deposit Company in London. The Hatton Garden job has since been labelled the ‘largest burglary in English legal History’. King of Thieves is the third feature in the past three years to be made about the heist, but looks set to excite audiences with an assembled cast of award winning actors, from the Producers of The Darkest Hour and held together with a script written by one of Britain’s most exciting stage/screen writers, Joe Penhall (Blue/Orange & Netflix’s Mind Hunter). Nearly 50 years after the Italian Job, Michael Caine is back at it again and if anyone knows how to pull off a heist film, you wouldn’t be far off putting your money on the 85 years old British film icon.

Harry Dean Stanton, a Hollywood great known for many films including The Godfather II, Cool Hand Luke, Alien and The Green Mile, died in September 15th 2017, at the age of 91. But not before starring in perhaps his greatest role as an actor. Lucky is an Award-Winning Dramedy about a 90-year-old cowboy (Stanton) searching for enlightenment. This profound film looks to be a fitting curtain call for one of America’s greatest character actors.

Another profound feature of self-discovery comes in the form of Sony Pictures’ Puzzle. Based on the 2010 Argentinian film of the same name, it follows a suburban wife and mother (Kelly McDonald, No Country for Old Men) as she discovers for an interest in puzzles and jigsaws that, with the help of her Puzzle partner (Irrfan Khan, Jurassic World) leads her to self-actualization.

To finish the trio of films about self-discovery comes the coming of age picture, The Miseducation of Cameron Post. Based on Emily Danforth’s novel of the same name, the adaptation pulls, similarly to Lucky and Puzzle, a career best performance from its lead actor but this time an actress at the opposite end of the age scale, with Chloë Grace Moretz (Kick Ass, Bad Neighbours: 2), still only 21, returning a nuanced and mature performance. Set in 1993 after teenage Cameron (Moretz) is caught in the backseat of a car with the prom queen, she is sent away to a treatment centre in a remote area called God’s Promise. This film is targeted at young adults that will identify with its realistic tone and content.

After last week’s Kids Club showing of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, this week’s Kid Club follows on with another Roald Dahl classic James and the Giant Peach. The original 1996 stop motion / live action feature is total triumph.

- Philip Duguid-McQuillan