'Milk' - Relay for Life fundraiser, Friday 1st May 7.30pm

Hollywood icon Sean Penn's most celebrated performance is a film fundraiser for Relay for Life this Friday night in Port Fairy.

Milk chronicles the true story of Harvey Milk, the first openly gay man elected to public office in the United States. San Fransisco in the 1970s is a gay civil rights flashpoint, and Milk, who runs a camera shop, becomes an unlikely poster boy for progress.

Director Gus Van Sant (My Own Private Idaho, Good Will Hunting, Elephant) uses a mix of archival footage with intensely dramatic sequences to build a film worthy of both the subject and the gifted actor at the centre.

Josh Brolin plays his second misunderstood villain of the year - depending on where George W. Bush sits in your esteem - and has been lauded for his portrayal as Milk's disaffected colleague.

"I think it’s one of Sean Penn’s great performances," said David Stratton of ABC1's At the Movies. "I think in this he really lives - inhabits the role of Harvey Milk, who was such an interesting character anyway. Five stars."

"Quite simply, Milk is an unmissable film about a man who energised a movement," said Colin Fraser of FilmInk.

"The film is dedicated to Milk's memory, but it's Penn that most of us will remember," wrote Evan Williams in The Australian.

Milk screens this Friday 1st May at 7.30pm at Port Fairy Cinema in Bank Street. Tickets available at the door or phone 55628961.

Click below for preview:

Vicky Cristina Barcelona - Friday April 17th at 7.30pm

Woody Allen continues to fascinate audiences despite widespread scepticism - completely valid given his mediocre recent fare. A switch from New York to Europe has revitalised his later career, helped also by the enduring loyalty of A-List stars who seem to relish his oddball comic creations.

Welcome to wherever you are, Woody - in this case, stunning Barcelona. Scarlett Johansson, a regular Allen muse these days, is joined by Penelope Cruz in a four-way love triangle (would that be a quadrangle?) with Javier Bardem and Rebecca Hall. A Spanish summer is spent searching for love, creative passion and meaning.

Artist Juan Antonio (Bardem) has invited tourists Cristina (Johansson) and Vicky (Hall) to his hometown to see a favourite sculpture. Full of Spanish charm, sparks begin to fly. When his crazy ex-wife Maria Elena (Cruz), who has just tried to kill him and herself, turns up, the dynamics become even more complicated.

Steady, without the often rapid-fire wisecracking style usually associated with Woody Allen films, Vicky Cristina Barcelona is an enjoyable summer holiday. It is a delight to see Cruz (who won the Oscar for this) and Bardem, in particular, as the quintessential passionate Spanish artists. Johansson delves back to her Lost in Translation turn as the Gen X woman constantly for what she wants, but with a sultry playfulness here.

While there's still more than a hint of Allen's famously patronising attitude to women for which many can't excuse, it's a strong return to form. The pace works, the ideas are solid and the casting is spot on.

"Occasionally endearingly audacious, Woody Allen's screenplay for Vicky Cristina Barcelona is a further riff on the unique, unpredictable nature of romantic relationships among the human race," wrote Andrew L Urban of Urban Cinefiles.

"By the time Cruz appears, Vicky Cristina Barcelona has delivered on those initial good omens: it's Allen's best film in at least a decade," said Nicholas Barber of the Independent.

Vicky Cristina Barcelona screens this Friday 17th April at 7.30pm at Port Fairy Cinema in Bank Street. Memberships available at the door with free tea and coffee provided.

Click below to watch trailer: