The only way is UPP (Ultimate Picture Palace) cinema club

If you love films or simply going to the cinema, then the new Oxford Times Film Club will hopefully whet your appetite. In partnership with the Ultimate Picture Palace (UPP), one of Oxfordshire’s foremost independent cinemas, we aim to provide fabulous, classic films to see at a knock-down price.

On the first Tuesday of every month, Oxford Times readers can attend our specially chosen movies on a two-for-one deal when they bring a copy of the paper with them to the UPP in Jeune Street, just off the Cowley Road.

The theme for the first six-month season of films is Brits Abroad and UPP owner Becky Hallsmith calls the selected films “some of Britain’s finest work and movie magic on foreign soil”.

So expect to see classics by Alfred Hitchcock, Anthony Minghella and Christopher Nolan, among others.

The Ultimate Picture Palace is Oxford’s only independent cinema. The building is more than a hundred years old and its refurbishment work is coming to an end, having restored the bar at the rear of the auditorium.

The first film shown will be The Italian Job on February 4. The Brit Abroad angle? Director Peter Collinson and lead actor Michael Caine both brought British charm to the Turin location shoots. Hollywood might have filmed a remake in 2003, but the fact remains that there’s no film quite like the original Job.

Charlie Croker (Michael Caine), freshly freed from Her Majesty’s leisure, inherits a plan to steal $4m in gold bullion from the Chinese in Turin, Italy. But before he can get going with the plan, he has to enlist the aid of Mr Bridger, played by Noël Coward in his last film role. For that, he has to break back into prison. Caine and Coward – what more could you want?

From the Minis – and what car can have a greater claim on Oxford’s love? – to Charlie’s cheeky grin, there’s not a single quirk that doesn’t ooze charm. It helps, of course, that the film is all about getting one over on the Italian Mafia, even if the famous car chase scene must have made the tourist board of Turin dance for joy. The film is rated U and runs for 99 minutes.

Ms Hallsmith said: “Everyone loves The Italian Job, but how many have seen it in the cinema? It’s a different experience watching on a big screen with an audience.”

The subsequent films are also all British directed. March’s’s film will be Alfred Hitchcock’s Rear Window. The King of Chills strikes again with a classic film and one of Hitch’s genuine crowdpleasers.

James Stewart plays Jeff, a professional photographer confined to his flat after breaking his leg. The eponymous window in his apartment gives him a view into several other homes and he spends his days spying on his neighbours. His curiosity leads him into trouble, however, when he begins to suspect his neighbour of murder.

Claustrophobia, voyeurism and intimacy collide in Jeff’s increasing obsession with what he sees. His girlfriend, Lisa, and nurse, Stella, also get wrapped up in his concerns. Grace Kelly’s performance as Lisa is unarguably one of her most captivating. Like all Hitchcock films, there’s more than meets the eye, especially in a film which twists the act of watching into unashamed voyeurism. Rated PG. 112 minutes.

In April treat yourself to Memento, directed by Christopher Nolan. Nolan and his brother, Jonathan, who wrote the short story the film is based on, provide the Brit Abroad link. Leonard Shelby suffers amnesia due to an attack by two men, one of whom raped and killed his wife. Instructing himself through notes, tattoos and photographs, Leonard attempts to track down the second attacker, whom the police do not believe exists. However, his inability to form new memories makes his every move, as well as everyone around him, unreliable.

The story is fractured into colour and black and white sequences, and while the black and white scenes run in order, the colour scenes don’t. The effect is disorienting, mind-bending and supremely powerful. The film was nominated for the Oscars for Best Original Screenplay and Editing, though it won neither – perhaps the judges couldn’t bear to remember this supremely insightful film. Rated 15. 113 minutes.

May’s movie is Fame, the movie that ordered you to remember its name (and yes, you will be singing that all day now). Brit director Alan Parker’s most famous film follows a group of artistic students at a performing arts high school in New York over the course of four years. From Leroy, the bad boy who rejects the academic side of schooling to Doris, a timid drama student with an overbearing stage mum, all teenage types are on display but with an arty twist.

But it’s the music that makes the movie. From that first “Baby, look at me,” there’s no way to stop yourself singing along with the title song. While it may feel very New York New York, it was British director Parker who brought the story to the big screen. Rated 15. 134 minutes.

In June a largely British lead cast, including Ralph Fiennes and Kristin Scott Thomas, will return to the big screen in The English Patient. Anthony Minghella’s take on Michael Ondaatje’s Booker-prize winning novel is a masterful work of emotional complexity. Hana, a nurse, is looking after a badly burned man during the final days of the Second World War when a man named David Caravaggio arrives and starts to investigate the patient’s past. A tale of love and betrayal emerges against the growing hope of the war’s end. Juliette Binoche won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for her role as Hana, while stars Ralph Fiennes and Kristin Scott Thomas were nominated for Best Actor and Actress. Indeed, at the Oscars ceremony the film won so many awards (nine in total, including best director) the winner of the Oscar for Best Song, Andrew Lloyd Webber, said “Thank goodness there wasn’t a song in The English Patient.” Rated 15. 162 minutes.

Finally, though it may feel as American as apple pie, Tony Scott’s Top Gun will round off the Brits Abroad season. Top Gun is practically synonymous with Tom Cruise, back in his pre-Scientology days, when you could indulge in the eye candy without worrying about your moral fibre. At the height of the Cold War, Maverick, a pilot with the US Navy, is sent to the Top Gun training school to hone his skills as a premier fighter pilot, alongside his best friend and radar operator Goose. There his, ahem, ‘maverick’ and reckless approach clashes with the instructors and the top student, Iceman, played by Val Kilmer, with severe consequences. His burgeoning romance with one of the instructors, Charlie (Kelly McGillis) only adds further complications.

Tony Scott, another Brit working overseas, directed a film which functions on several levels as a buddy film, an action film and a romance. On a wholly other wavelength it’s a military man’s pin-up calendar, with lingering shots of fighter planes and formations. More than any other film, it’ll make you feel the need – the need for speed. Rated 12. 110 minutes.

The Oxford Times features editor Jeremy Smith says: “I just want people to go and see great films.” Ms Hallsmith added: “I’m thrilled to be working with The Oxford Times. Promotions like this are what help the cinema. This is giving us a chance to break out of our normal programming and just put on great films purely for their aesthetic reward.”

Hallsmith bought the UPP in 2011, despite having no prior experience in running a cinema. She had retired, but the East Oxford-based former TV producer made the decision on the spur of the moment when she heard the previous owners were selling up.

To enjoy the deal, simply bring the latest copy of The Oxford Times to the cinema on the first Tuesday of every month. The promotion is only valid for the selected 9pm showing and the Ultimate Picture Palace does not show any adverts, so the film will start promptly. Tickets are £8, though there are concessions available.

For more information, please contact either Jeremy Smith (jeremy.smith@nqo.com, 01865 425435) or Becky Hallsmith (info@uppcinema.com, 01865 245288).