Flash Fiction: Zero Dark Thirty

This week's flash fiction was written by Stewart Derry to accompany the tense drama Zero Dark Thirty. Here it is!


Hollywood loves the epic. It is a place where everything is supersized and on a grander scale than real life could ever be. And the stage is set fair with an impressive title.

Numbers are always a good choice, especially with a rousing adjective in tow -
 The Magnificent Seven
 The Dirty Dozen
 The Roaring Twenties

More recently the numbers alone have done all the talking -
 Se7en - Brad Pitt and Morgan Freeman as detectives on the trail of serial killer.
 300 - The legendary last stand of the Spartans at the battle of Thermopylae.

The title of this film, Zero Dark Thirty, raises the bar even higher -
 Zero – a number, the number, simply oozing with tragic foreboding.
 Dark – a brooding and troubled adjective, suggesting an epic encounter between the forces of good and evil.
 Thirty – here the badass showdown doesn’t just happen at midnight; it’s a whole thirty
   minutes afterwards! Gulp!! Or, viewed another way, thirty = zero + dark magnified to the power of thirty. Woah! Seriously badass!

My friends strap yourselves into your seats and enjoy the ride.
This is no ordinary place. It is Hollywood. Will you not be entertained?

In the frame

If you come into our foyer this week to pick up some tickets from the box office, you may notice the new additions now adorning the walls!

 

It was customary for cinemas in the 1930s and 40s to display black and white headshots of the actors and actresses which you might have expected to see on the screen inside. We've updated this tradition, including actors and actresses from the last 100 years of cinema.

Next time you pop in, see if you can name them all! Some are more difficult than others...

Flash Fiction: A Good Day to Die Hard

This week's Flash Fiction piece ran alongside the new Bruce Willis action film, 'A Good Day to Die Hard'. It was written by Garrie Fletcher.

Two friends enter a cinema, much like the one you’re in now, sit down and wait for the film to start.

Andy: So, he's saving the world again then?

Brian: No, he doesn't save the world, he does what needs to be done, you know, things the average person can't do, stuff we can only dream of.

Andy: Huh? You think I want to go round indiscriminately killing people?

Brian: No, not at all. Look, our lives are pretty dull...

Andy: Speak for yourself.

Brian: In comparison to McClane, Mr Willis.

Andy: Yes?

Brian: Well, we all need a bit of excitement, something fantastical...

Andy: Ridiculous.

Brian: If you like, but something we can lose ourselves in and forget about all this...

Andy: What? This cinema?

Brian: No. Life, the day to day.

Andy: So you're saying  that whilst I'm going about life, working like a nutter, stressing over this , that and the other I don't really want to be thinking about my job or how to be a good dad, what I really want to be doing is blowing up skyscrapers, aeroplanes and assorted European bad guys?

Brian: Well, aren't you?

Andy: Hell yeah!

Flash Fiction: Hitchcock

The second of our flash fiction pieces is also written by Stewart Derry, and accompanied the thriller 'Hitchcock', a film about the making of the famous film 'Psycho'.

Good evening ladies and gentlemen. My name is Alfred Hitchcock. The film you are about to see is based on actual events in my life.

 

‘What?’ I hear you say. ‘Hitch, as the leading man?’

 

Yes! I was due a part after so many cameo appearances. You will also be introduced to a new leading lady - Alma Reville. She will, quite literally, take your breath away. She hasn’t a blonde hair on her head!

Surprised, are we? Choking on your popcorn? The master of suspense . . . losing his touch? We seem to have some film buffs in the audience. When you have made as many films as I have, it can sometimes be frightfully delicious to break the rules and confound all expectations.

I haven’t seen the film yet, but I’m sure I’ll follow most of the action. After all, I played the role quite superbly many years ago.

There will, of course, be a MacGuffin. I won’t spoil your pleasure by revealing it.

By the way, if you happen to be sitting next to a pain in the asterix, be careful not to annoy them too much. They may have murder on their mind.

Enjoy!

Quotability!

If you've been up the stairs to our exhibition space recently, you'll have noticed a new addition on the staircase. These fantastic wall quotes were chosen and voted for by our fabulous facebook fans, and they're a brilliant mixture from the classics like the Wizard of Oz all the way to modern words of wisdom from The Hunger Games.

 

We've still got some more space left on the walls and we'd love to fill it with more of your favourite words from the world of film. Do you have a favourite film quote you'd like us to put up alongside 'There's no place like home' and 'Frankly my dear, I don't give damn'?

Let us know!

Flash Fiction: Sammy's Great Escape

Welcome to the first of our specially written pieces from the flash fiction film project. This piece accompanied Sammy's Great Escape, one of our family films which was screened during the Easter holiday, and was written by Stewart Derry.

A magic story space can be many things: a Punch and Judy booth; a circus ring; a shadow puppet show; or an intimate theatre setting, such as this glorious cinema in Tenbury Wells.

The Regal is a rare jewel in a rather rough and tumble cinema landscape, managing to survive both a flood and the wrecking ball. Suitable film suggestions on these themes anyone? Perhaps one day someone will make a film about The Regal, with all the tears, heartache and love that have gone into making it such an inspiring setting.

It puts me in mind of the great British classic, The Smallest Show on Earth, where the old projectionist, Percy Quill, played by a heavily made up Peter Sellers, works in a battered ruin of a cinema, longing for the good old days to return. I’m glad to say The Regal has fared much better than the one in the movie.

The film you are about to see is full of fantasy and adventure; 90 minutes of ocean hokum to entertain the whole family. We all have great memories of visiting the cinema. We hope your visit today adds to them. And here’s wishing you many more!

Remember, if you'd like to write a flash fiction yourself, do get in touch, we'd love to hear from you.

Volunteering Profiles

We're going to be starting a new series on the blog, featuring some of our fantastic volunteer opporunities here at the Regal. From front of house to behind the scenes, there's so much to do to keep a place like the Regal running smoothly and we'd love to tell you all about it!

So, is there a job you'd like to know more about?

Ushers, projectionist, lighting technicians... whatever it is you'd like to know more about, let us know, and we'll track down one of our volunteers and get them to tell us about what it's like to do it here at the Regal.