I HAVE spent a lot of time on the fight against the supermarket on Wentworth Street car park. There was a vote on Thursday to have the planning decision decided by the full council. Sadly, two Norton councillors voted against and it was lost. However, it is not likely to impact on us here at the cinema.

The Yorkshire Cajun Zydeco Festival starts on Friday at 6pm with The Wandering Aces early evening, followed by The Little Easy. There are dance workshops, as well as musical workshops on more conventional musical instruments. Saturday has The Bluebell Cajun Dance Band at lunchtime, Front Row Zydeco in the early evening and Colin and the Crawfish late evening.

On the Sunday there will be a Mardi Gras, featuring Rough Chowder and Chanky Crank in the evening. The Cajun Festival is great event, well natured and all about the music and dancing around it.

Beer Town is a festival celebrating beer in Malton. Caroline and I were invited to the launch of the Brass Castle Brewery last Friday. There is also the Bottle Shop promoting local beers from all around Yorkshire in the same building, at the back of the Gate, in Yorkersgate.

Beer Town is being promoted by Bad Seed Brewery, also based in Malton on the York Road Industrial Estate, and Brass Castle Brewery. There will be opportunity to taste beers and listen to some fab musical acts, which is why I have an interest in it.

The acts include The Lumberjack Cowboys, The Patron Saints and The Shiznitz. Two other acts are to be announced soon.

Anyway, now on to real movies.

A new film for children comes in this week – Escape from Planet Earth (U) in the family animation genre. The summary for this film says, “Astronaut Scorch Supernova finds himself caught in a trap when he responds to an SOS from a notoriously dangerous alien planet”. Looks fun and another film to entertain at weekends.

Non Stop (12A) stars Liam Neeson and Julianne Moore.

Liam Neeson plays an air marshal who has become bored with the task, but this one day has to take control and step up to a developing situation. This seems like a real action thriller and I am looking forward to it.

The Lego Movie (U) – is still very popular with everyone and we even had a birthday party with a Lego cake. We are keeping Mr Peabody and Sherman as well as Tinkerbell and the Pirate Fairy.

The Book Thief (12A) – I have been stopped in the street to talk about this film more often than any other. The response we have had to The Book Thief has been amazing and have mirrored our own views about it.

12 Years a Slave (15) – continues to attract people, sadly we had to turn some away as it was in our smallest screen.We are trying to get some extra shows in to accommodate more people as this is a film which is running and running.

Dallas Buyers Club (15) – also continues to attract a following so we have kept it on for one more week.

The Invisible Woman (12A) – extremely good portrayal of Charles Dickens by Ralph Fiennes and Felicity Jones, who I don’t think I remember seeing before, played a very believable part as Nelly.

The story behind the Charles Dickens we now know was more involved than I had thought. The Invisible Woman brings the story of the Charles Dickens and Nelly to the big screen in a subtle and believable way.

Stage productions

War Horse, the first of the Encores, went down well. It shows how a production can be presented on the big screen with the clarity and emotion as though live in the auditorium in London.

Private Lives had its encore on Monday and was well received.

The Sleeping Beauty is live from the Royal Opera House on Wednesday, March 19, and we have (at the time of writing) three seats still available in Screen one and two.

We will be taking the live concert of Andre Rieu from his home town of Maastricht in the Netherlands. André Rieu’s 10th Anniversary 2014 Maastricht Concert is on Saturday, July 19.

We are expecting this to be busy and have opened all three screens for this one, so book early to avoid disappointment.