February

Kenneth Branagh / UK/France 2006 / 2h15m. Contains visual reference to suicide by hanging. Cast: Joseph Kaiser, Amy Carson, René Pape, Lyubov Petrova, Benjamin Jay Davis. One of Mozart’s most famous operas, reconceived for the screen by Kenneth Branagh, with a libretto in English adapted by Stephen Fry. Branagh is no stranger to bringing fresh perspectives to bear on great classics. From the timeless, fairytale world of most productions, he moves the action and familiar characters to the trenches of the First World War, amidst the horror and mud of the Western Front. Tickets £5 (£4) available online @ www.thebooth.co.uk or on the night at the VisitScotland box office counter. Tickets subject to availability. Doors open half an hour before screening.

Showcasing the very best in emerging and local musical talent, every Tuesday and Thursday evening.

Border League. Tickets £8, concessions available for OAPs, students & juniors.

Zach Helm / USA 2007 / 1h34m. Contains one use of mild language. Cast: Natalie Portman, Dustin Hoffman, Jason Bateman, Zach Mills, Paula Boudreau. Mr Magorium is 243 years old and, feeling it’s time to retire, decides that his fabulous, magical toy store will be taken over by his young assistant Molly Mahoney. When a grumpy accountant becomes involved in the transition, the shop itself seems to rebel, and stages a spectacular full-scale temper tantrum. Tickets £5 (£4).

IDEOMS Theatre Company (John Nichol, Hilary Bell and Lucy Cowan) have adopted a novel approach to Burns in their touring production of Bard on the Border. The audience is presented with a short costumed stage show illustrating, in poetry and song, some of the places and people encountered on Burns' visit to the Borders. They are then piped out of the theatre to the Tower Mill "banqueting hall" to participate in a traditional Burns Supper; good food interspersed with more poetry and song. A memorable evening guaranteed! Tickets £20 inc. Supper, available online @ www.thebooth.co.uk and on the night at the VisitScotland box office counter. Tickets subject to availability.

The Rowan Tree Theatre Company present Frederic Mohr's fascinating play telling the story of the woman who, in order to become the first female doctor, had to become another male doctor. Premiered to unanimous acclaim in the USA in1983 and subsequently seen in Scotland in a production by the Traverse Theatre, the play now receives an overdue revival, directed by John Carnegie. Tickets £8 (£7.50).

Friendly. Admission price - voluntary contributions by bucket collection during the game.

A Tale of Lights, Ships, Dreams and the power of the Imagination. Oscar, a lovable fool, takes his dream job as a lighthouse keeper on a remote island. He sets about his tasks with gusto, gets a little lonely and a wee bit crazy. A friendly hand reaches out from the past to guide him and helps him save the day when disaster strikes. A clown adventure story featuring puppetry, dance, circus skills and a little ukulele. A newcomer to the Theatre scene in Scotland, Clive Nicholas-Andrews has been joined by an internationally renowned Scottish based team to weave a magical performance. Running time: 50 minutes. For audiences of all ages from 5 years. Promoted by Scottish Borders Council Arts Development. Tickets £5, available online at www.thebooth.co.uk or on the day at the VisitScotland box office counter. Tickets subject to availability.

Jo Clifford's beautiful adaptation uses Dickens' own words to create a classic work of modern British theatre. The production will feature a live soundscape from one of Scotland's finest young composers, Dave Fennessy, an outstanding cast and all the theatricality audiences have come to expect from the company that brought you Sunset Song and Further Than the Furthest Thing. Charles Dickens' classic story of love and mystery makes terrific theatre. Pip longs to be a gentleman, but he is haunted by the memory of the mysterious Magwitch. Caught in the web of the reclusive Miss Havisham's desire for revenge against all men, Pip's love for the beautiful Estelle seems to be just another dream. Promoted by Scottish Borders Council Arts Development. Tickets £9 (£7) available online at www.thebooth.co.uk or on the night at the VisitScotland box office counter. Tickets subject to availability.

Quality home grown produce, directly from the producer.

Friendly. Admission price - voluntary contributions by bucket collection during the game.

Friendly. Admission price - voluntary contributions by bucket collection during the game.

Oliver Parker & Barnaby Thompson, UK 2007, 1h41m. Contains moderate sex references, comic violence and drug use. Cast: Rupert Everett, Colin Firth, Jodie Whittaker, Mischa Barton, Russell Brand. The infamous girls of St. Trinian’s have to fight off a twin threat to their beloved school. First, the government is sending in a ruthless Minister to reform Britain’s most anarchic, underperforming school. At the same time, the headmistress is in danger of losing the school unless she can repay £500,000 to the bank. So the girls hatch a plan to steal a valuable painting and sell it to the headmistress’ art dealer brother. Tickets £5 (£4).

Francis Lawrence, USA 2007, 1h40m. Contains strong violence and horror. Cast: Will Smith, Alice Braga, Charlie Tahan, Salli Richardson. New York, the near future. The streets are overgrown with weeds, empty except for herds of deer and Dr Robert Neville. He somehow survived a plague unleashed by an unstoppable virus, but most of the human race is dead and the rest are worse than dead – the virus turned them into subhuman, cannibalistic monsters. They roam in howling packs by night, seeking the blood and flesh of the living, while Neville searches for a cure. Tickets £5 (£4).

Ang Lee, USA/China/Taiwan/Hong Kong 2007, 2h38m, Mandarin with English subtitles. Contains strong sex. Cast: Tony Leung, Tang Wei, Joan Chen, Wang Lee-Hom, Tou Chung Hua. Ang Lee’s sumptuous and sensual adaptation of a story by Chinese writer Eileen Chang. Japanese-occupied Shanghai, 1942: Mak Tai-tai is the beautiful and exquisitely dressed wife of a successful Hong Kong businessman. In a flashback to 1938, we discover that Mak Taitai is in fact the false identity of a college student, conscripted by the leader of a rebel group to seduce Yee, a collaborator with the occupying Japanese army, and lure him to his death. Tickets £5 (£4).

Kevin Lima, USA 2007, 1h47m. Contains mild scary scenes and innuendo. Cast: Amy Adams, Patrick Dempsey, James Marsden, Timothy Spall, Rachel Covey, Susan Sarandon. This ebullient, irreverent and utterly charming musical from the Disney studios plucks a fairytale princess from her animated kingdom and plunks her down in a place where ‘there are no happy endings’ – the mean, live-action streets of New York City. There she’s reluctantly rescued by Robert, a glum divorce lawyer with a young daughter named Morgan, who becomes besotted (as does the audience) with this otherworldly redhead. Tickets £5 (£4).

James Gray, USA 2007, 1h57m. Contains strong language, bloody violence and drug use. Cast: Joaquin Phoenix, Mark Wahlberg, Robert Duvall, Eva Mendes. In 1988 New York City, Joseph Grusinky is a decorated cop whose father, Burt, is the city’s deputy police chief. Joseph’s brother, Bobby, is the family outcast – while Joseph and Burt are leading the charge to take back the streets, Bobby, who hides his family ties from his friends and business associates, manages a Russianowned nightclub in Brooklyn that also serves as unofficial headquarters for a major drugs kingpin. Tickets £5 (£4).

Marc Forster, USA 2007, 2h8m, English, Dari, Pashtu, Urdu and Russian with English subtitles. Contains strong language and infrequent strong violence. Cast: Khalid Abdalla, Ehsan Aman, Vsevolod Bardashev, Ismail Bashey, Larry Brown. A moving morality tale of friendship and betrayal, set against the backdrop of Afghanistan’s tumultuous politics, past and present. Life is good before the Soviet invasion in 1979, especially for young Amir, whose father is a wealthy merchant. Amir’s best friend is their servant’s son Hassan, a minority Sh’ia Muslim, but Amir fails to stand by his friend when he is attacked. The episode haunts him for years, even after emigrating to America. Tickets £5 (£4).

Tim Hill, USA 2007, 1h31m. Contains no material likely to offend or harm. Cast: Jason Lee, David Cross, Cameron Richardson, Jany Lynch. When their home becomes a Christmas tree, some chipmunks move in with the unwitting Dave, a struggling songwriter whose career is on the skids. But when the pests who’ve ransacked his kitchen start talking, and then singing, Dave has an idea – these critters could be popstars. And soon they are, but will fame and fortune corrupt their innocence? And will Dave save them from being led astray by a sinister record producer? Tickets £5 (£4).

Mike Nichols, USA 2007, 1h42m. Contains strong language. Cast: Tom Hanks, Julia Roberts, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Amy Adams. In this scathing comedy, based on a true story, Tom Hanks plays a Texan congressman who covertly funds Afghan resistance against the invading USSR. His indignation at the plight of refugees, brutally displaced by the Soviets in the 80s, is matched only by his lust for women and booze. War has rarely been this much fun, but director Mike Nichols is careful to offset the mischief with a poignant reminder of the days that lay ahead. Tickets £5 (£4).

Joel Coen & Ethan Coen, USA 20007, 2h2m. Contains strong bloody violence. Cast: Tommy Lee Jones, Javier Bardem, Josh Brolin, Woody Harrelson, Kelly Macdonald. Texas, 1980. Out hunting antelope, Lewellyn Moss stumbles upon the gory aftermath of a drug deal and decides to make off with the cash. The decision transforms his life into a nightmare of pursuit, as he is hunted across country by the local sheriff and remorseless assassin Anton Chigurh. Adapted from the novel by Cormac McCarthy, No Country For Old Men is both a searing thriller and an elegy for a collapsing society. Tickets £5 (£4).

Several centuries might have passed since the reivers within the Turnbull family stirred things up around the Borders, but a local group are aiming to stir things up again in Hawick on Saturday, 9th February. On this occasion it will only be teaspoons that they’ll be wielding at the Coffee Morning they are staging at Hawick Burns Club. It’s all in aid of the ‘Turn-the-Bull’ statue which is planned to be sculpted and placed on the civic space at Hawick Heritage Hub during 2009. Legend has it that William of Roule saved the life of Robert the Bruce by wrestling a charging bull to the ground and following this act of bravery the King decreed that William should thereafter be known as Turn-e-bull. It has been estimated that there are around 800,000 Turnbulls throughout the World who are directly descended from the Kings hero and the six-foot high statue, which will cost in excess of £100,000, is planned as a commemoration of the Border surname of Turnbull. A very high proportion of people in Hawick today are descended from William Turn-e-bull, either in their parental or maternal ancestry. As such, everyone is invited to the Coffee Morning from 10am on Saturday, 9th February to discover what the Turnbull Clan are doing to commemorate their famous heritage.