Fear rises like gas from a corpse in Armando Iannucci’s brilliant horror-satire The Death Of Stalin. It’s a sulphurous black comedy about backstairs Kremlin intrigue following the death of Joseph Stalin in 1953.

The Death Of Stalin is superbly cast, and acted with icy and ruthless force by an A-list lineup. There are no weak links. Each has a plum role; each squeezes every gorgeous horrible drop.

Michael Palin is outstanding as Molotov, the pathetic functionary with the kindly, unhappy face who has long since sacrificed his marriage and self-respect on the altar of Stalinism; Steve Buscemi is a nervy Khrushchev, who morphs from uneasy court jester into a Soprano-esque player; Andrea Riseborough is compelling as Stalin’s wan daughter Svetlana, driven to a borderline-Ophelia state of trauma and dread. Jeffrey Tambor is hilarious as the vain and preposterous Malenkov, and so is Rupert Friend as Stalin’s deadbeat boozer son, Vasily. Jason Isaacs gets sledgehammer laughs as the truculent war hero Zhukov, to whom he gives a muscular northern accent: a down-to-earth man of action who is to carry out the film’s final, brutal coup.

Read more: www.theguardian.com  IMDB rating 7.5  

Ferdinand is a young bull who escapes from a training camp in rural Spain after his father never returns from a showdown with a matador. Adopted by a girl who lives on a farm, Ferdinand's peaceful existence comes crashing down when the authorities return him to his former captors. With help from a wisecracking goat and three hedgehogs, the giant but gentle bovine must find a way to break free before he squares off against El Primero, the famous bullfighter who never loses.

IMDB Rating: 6.7  

John and Lewis return to the Hall for their annual music event.
Tickets will go on sale nearer the time. £12 in advance, £14 on the door.

Please note this event usually sells out so get your tickets early.

OSCAR WINNER: Best Animated Feature Film 2018
Despite his family's generations-old ban on music, young Miguel dreams of becoming an accomplished musician like his idol Ernesto de la Cruz. Desperate to prove his talent, Miguel finds himself in the stunning and colorful Land of the Dead. After meeting a charming trickster named Héctor, the two new friends embark on an extraordinary journey to unlock the real story behind Miguel's family history.
IMDB Rating 8.5

OSCAR WINNER: Best Motion Picture of the Year 2018
Elisa is a mute, isolated woman who works as a cleaning lady in a hidden, high-security government laboratory in 1962 Baltimore. Her life changes forever when she discovers the lab's classified secret -- a mysterious, scaled creature from South America that lives in a water tank. As Elisa develops a unique bond with her new friend, she soon learns that its fate and very survival lies in the hands of a hostile government agent and a marine biologist.
IMDB Rating 7.5