The Kitchen Stove Film Series starts its season with the comedy A Trip to Italy.
Michael Winterbottom’s (A Mighty Heart, 24HR Party People) largely improvised 2010 film, The Trip, took comedians Steve Coogan (Philomena) and Rob Brydon — or semifictionalized versions thereof — on a restaurant tour around northern England. In this witty and incisive follow-up, Winterbottom reunites the pair for a new culinary road trip, retracing the steps of the Romantic poets’ grand tour of Italy and indulging in some sparkling banter and impersonation-offs.
Rewhetting movie-goers palates from the earlier film, the characters enjoy mouthwatering meals in gorgeous settings from Liguria to Capri while riffing on subjects as varied as Batman’s vocal register, the artistic merits of Jagged Little Pill, and compete to see who can do the best Michael Caine impersonation.
He trains his camera to capture the idyllic Italian landscape and the gastronomic treasures being prepared and consumed while keeping the film centered on the crackling chemistry between the two leads.
The Trip to Italy effortlessly melds the brilliant comic interplay between Coogan and Brydon into quieter moments of self-reflection, letting audiences into their insightful ruminations on the nuances of friendship and the juggling of family and career.
The result is a biting portrait of modern-day masculinity.
A Trip to Italy plays on Sept. 25 at the Landmark 7 Cinema in Penticton. It is unrated.
Also featured this season at the Kitchen Stove Film Festival is the darkly funny and moving mystery Calvary. This film will screen on Oct. 16 and focuses on local parish priest Father James (Brendan Gleeson), who, after receiving a death threat from one of his parishioners during confession, spends what he believes to be the last week of his life pondering whether he’s made any difference at all to his community.
The true story of a British soldier who endured gruelling conditions as a forced labourer on the infamous Death Railway is told in Railway Man. The film features Nicole Kidman and Collin Firth and will be shown on Nov. 13. The Hundred Year-Old Man is anticipated to be shown on Jan. 22, 2015 and is the unlikely story of a centenarian who decides it’s not too late to start over (this movie will screen subject to availability).
Tickets will be sold at the Penticton Art Gallery at 199 Marina Way (250-493-2928) and The Book Shop, 242 Main St.
Limited single tickets $15 may be available at the door. No refunds or exchanges.
Series tickets are $38 for members and students, $44 for non-members. Pre-purchased single tickets are $13 each.
The Kitchen Stove Film Series is an income development initiative of the Penticton Art Gallery and aims to inspire, challenge, educate and entertain while showcasing excellence in the cinematic arts. They have partnered with the Toronto International Film Festival Circuit Group.
