The Reel McCoy Film Group
Screening world cinema and forgotten gems since 1990
Screening world cinema and forgotten gems since 1990
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The Reel McCoy Film Group is a not-for-profit film society that since 1990 has been catering for people interested in cinema, particularly those who like to see timeless classics and overlooked gems at low cost. Our membership fees are:
$50 for 12 months
Membership runs from the date of joining.
$35 for 6 months $20 for 3 months
With very grateful support from
 Canberra Museum and Gallery Members of CMAG are welcome to join the Reel McCoy at a substantial discount: membership for a year for only $20. Screenings are held in the Theatre of Canberra Museum and Gallery (on the corner of London Circuit and City Square, Canberra City) at 12:30 pm on two Sundays of each month from February through November. Next screening: Sunday, 29 June 2025 at 12:30 pm
WASTE LAND
This uplifting documentary follows Brazilian artist Vik Muniz in his attempts to artistically engage a handful of recycling trash pickers. The impoverished catadores (literally collectors) are a part of the many thousands working in Rio de Janeiro's Gramacho, the world's largest landfill mountain. They're initially bemused by the eccentric, enthusiastic Muniz, but the beauty he helps generate from their garbage opens doors into their world, with all its intended, and some unintended, consequences. The director, Lucy Walker, documents the lives of these socially shunned workers with sensitivity and compassion, with the mood ably supported by a soundtrack from her occasional collaborator, Moby.
For more information, e-mail us or come along to a screening The Reel McCoy Film Group is a member of the Australian Film Societies Federation. Contact them to learn how to start and run a film society or group of your own. Programme for the middle of 2025:
Sunday 11 May 2025
GUN CRAZY USA · 1950 · 87 min. Director Joseph H. Lewis Cast Peggy Cummins, John Dall, Berry Krueger Gun Crazy follows the gun-obsessed Bart (Dall) who falls in love with Annie (Cummins), a sharpshooting carnival performer. When times become hard, the couple start committing crimes together and Bart is dragged deeper into crime and destruction, torn between his love for the bad-but-beautiful Annie and his moral compass. A forerunner to films like Bonnie and Clyde and Badlands, Gun Crazy is a landmark in film noir, blending romance, suspense, and action. It is directed by Joseph H. Lewis, a highly regarded B-movie director, and written in part by blacklisted Dalton Trumbo.
Sunday 25 May 2025
LADY WINDERMERE'S FAN USA · 1925 · 89 min. · Silent with music Director Ernst Lubitsch Cast Irene Rich, May McAvoy, Bert Lytell, Ronald Coleman Lady Windermere (McAvoy) discovers that her husband Lord Windermere (Lytell) is having an affair with the notorious Mrs. Erlynne (Rich). She leaves her husband for another man, the ardent Lord Darlington (Coleman). However, all is not what it seems and when Mrs. Erlynne finds out, she needs to move fast to prevent a scandal. Lubitsch's decision to make a silent movie out of the most famous play by Oscar Wilde without using a single line of Wilde's dialogue was called a mad stunt, but Lubitsch was able to replace verbal wit with visual wit and created an enormous hit that captures the essence of Wilde's play.
Sunday 8 June 2025
LOLITA USA · 1962 · 147 min. Director Stanley Kubrick Cast James Mason, Sue Lyon, Shelley Winters, Peter Sellers On its initial release, the film came with the tagline: How did they ever make a movie of Lolita? It was a fair question. The book concerns a literary academic who becomes obsessed with his landlady’s teenage daughter, and invites us to see the resulting tragedy from his point of view. In 1953, no reputable publisher would touch the book, but it became a bestseller anyway; and by 1962, MGM was more than eager to distribute the movie. After close collaboration between the book's author, Vladimir Nabokov, and a soon-to-be-legendary director, the material translates brilliantly to the screen, far better than could have been hoped for.
Sunday 29 June 2025
WASTE LAND Brazil / UK · 2010 · 99 min. Director Lucy Walker Cast Vik Muniz This uplifting documentary follows Brazilian artist Vik Muniz in his attempts to artistically engage a handful of recycling trash pickers. The impoverished catadores (literally collectors) are a part of the many thousands working in Rio de Janeiro's Gramacho, the world's largest landfill mountain. They're initially bemused by the eccentric, enthusiastic Muniz, but the beauty he helps generate from their garbage opens doors into their world, with all its intended, and some unintended, consequences. The director, Lucy Walker, documents the lives of these socially shunned workers with sensitivity and compassion, with the mood ably supported by a soundtrack from her occasional collaborator, Moby.
Followed by our
Sunday 13 July 2025
THE GO-BETWEEN UK · 1971 · 116 min. Director Joseph Losey Cast Julie Christie, Alan Bates, Margaret Leighton, Dominic Guard A young boy (Guard) becomes a messenger for a secret love affair between a wealthy young woman (Christie) and a farmer (Bates). This British period drama explores themes of social class, innocence, betrayal, and the impact of the past on the present. Joseph Losey is known for his collaborations with playwright Harold Pinter who wrote this screenplay. The cinematography, by another long-term collaborator Gerry Fisher, is noted for its lush portrayal of the English countryside. The musical score was composed by the well-known musician Michel Legrand. The film won the Palme d’Or at the 1971 Cannes Film Festival.
Sunday 27 July 2025
OUR LITTLE SISTER Japan · 2015 · 126 min. Director Hirokazu Kore-eda Cast Haruka Ayase, Masami Nagasawa, Kaho, Suzu Hirose Three sisters attend the funeral of their estranged father and meet their shy teenage half-sister Suzu, the daughter of the now-deceased woman who stole their father away. They quickly decide to adopt her and take her back to their seaside village. What follows is a heart-warming portrayal of grief and acceptance that explores themes of family loss and connection with quiet elegance. Kore-eda focuses on the very different characters of the four sisters and the interaction between them, portraying their everyday lives, feelings, and thoughts as the four sisters start their new life together and support each other through thick and thin.
Sunday 10 August 2025
NITRAM Australia · 2021 · 112 min. Director Justin Kurzel Cast Caleb Landry Jones, Judy Davis, Anthony La Paglia, Essie Davis This important film deliberately never mentions the name of the deeply disturbed man responsible for the Port Arthur massacre. It does not intend to be a biography of that man but to examine what's known of his life using known facts to create a psychological drama. It aims to reconstruct his journey to the point of, without depicting, the brutal finale. Caleb Landry Jones' performance in the title role earned him best actor at Cannes and the film and its extraordinary cast took out nearly all the major film awards at the 2021 Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts Awards.
Sunday 31 August 2025
BONJOUR TRISTESSE USA · 1958 · 94 min. Director Otto Preminger Cast Jean Seberg, David Niven, Deborah Kerr, Mylène Demongeot Seventeen-year-old Cécile lives an idle, luxurious, and pleasant life with her widowed father in the French Riviera. One summer they are visited by Anne, a friend of her late mother – whom Cécile sees as an intruder into their feckless Eden; so when Anne and her father appear to be falling in love, she determines to put an end to it. Cécile was conceived by novelist Françoise Sagan who was also a teenager at the time; as is Jean Seberg, the actress playing her. But it's perhaps David Niven who breathes most life into the film as Cécile’s rakish – yet genuinely loving – father. Please note that programme details are subject to change without notice
List of films screened by Reel McCoy Film Group and
Big House Film Society, |