Brassed Off (1996)

The Yorkshire mining community of Grimley is threatened when the mine risks closure. Gloria Mullins (Tara Fitzgerald) is sent there to assess the profitability on behalf of British Coal. She grew up in the village and rekindles her childhood romance with Andy Barrow (Ewan McGregor). She also joins the miners' brass band, led by Danny Ormondroyd (Pete Postlethwaite), who is clearly not well after his years working at the pit. Meanwhile, Danny's son Phil (Stephen Tompkinson) is having his own problems with his marriage and finances.

It's a tightly plotted kitchen-sink drama with flashes of comedy and a very strong political message. McGregor delivers one of his better performances, although – as usual – he never sparkles. Fortunately everyone else does. Postlethwaite is charismatic as the band leader who cares so passionately about music that he overlooks other priorities. Fitzgerald is great as the crispy, pretty outsider who turns out to be “management”. And Tompkinson is believable as a desperate man whose problems keep piling up.

I was never a fan of brass, but the music sounds potent and poignant. It takes on greater significance as the story winds towards its moving conclusion, with no easy resolution.

Sing Street (2016)

In Dublin in the mid-1980s, a boy named Conor (Ferdia Walsh-Peelo) is sent to a new school because his parents – on the brink of separating – can no longer afford to keep him at the old one. At the Synge Street school, Conor is bullied by the headmaster as well as by the kids, but finds solace with a handful of friends with whom he forms a band. Mostly, he just wants to impress Raphina (Lucy Boynton), who he sees outside the school and immediately fancies. 

Written and directed by John Carney, this has the small-town charm and romance of Gregory’s Girl. It’s funny and endearing, and has you rooting for Conor from the very start. The music is terrific, too – both the original material that Conor writes with the band and also the records that his brother Brendan (Jack Reynor) “educates” him with (The Cure, Joe Jackson and so on). 

There are some priceless scenes, such as when the family watch and discuss Duran Duran on Top of the Pops, or when the band are encouraged to wear make-up to film a video. There’s also plenty of poignancy, and some of the school cruelty sections are unbearable. But without giving way to sentimentality, it resolves into a hugely satisfying and heartwarming conclusion.

Argo (2012)

Superb thriller regarding the real-life events of the so-called “Canadian Caper”. 

In November 1979, Iranian extremists stormed the US embassy in Tehran as a result of the USA (under Jimmy Carter) granting the Shah political asylum. A total of 66 staff were taken as hostages, but six diplomats escaped and were given shelter by the Canadian ambassador. Incredibly, CIA operative Tony Mendez (played here by Ben Affleck, who also directs) travels to Tehran in an attempt to rescue the six under the premise that they are making a science-fiction film, Argo, in the region. 

It’s tense and exciting stuff. The sense of threat is built up with real expertise. The storytelling is lucid. All of the characters are portrayed brilliantly, with no weak links. Even John Goodman, who plays a prosthetics expert (alongside Alan Arkin as a film producer), is reined in enough that he cannot mess it up.

Wimbledon (2004)

Peter Colt (Paul Bettany) is a British tennis player on the way down. Then he meets and falls for up-and-coming American Lizzie Bradbury (Kirsten Dunst) and suddenly his game improves. But Lizzie’s father (Sam Neill) doesn’t want her focus changed, so tries to put a stop to the affair. 

This is a surprisingly entertaining film, with some funny lines. Bettany and Dunst have real chemistry. It’s also quite exciting and dramatic in terms of the tennis itself – even though I don’t much care for the sport. As Colt moves up through the tournament it actually gets quite exciting. I like the way we “hear” his thoughts – all his self-doubts and hopes mixed up in a chaotic interior monologue. It’s also nice to see former champions John McEnroe and Chris Evert playing themselves as commentators, and Nikolaj Coster-Waldau is likeable as Colt’s friend Dieter. 

On the downside, the thread regarding Colt’s parents (whose failing marriage is rekindled by their son’s changing fortunes) isn’t really necessary and his mum and dad (Eleanor Bron and Bernard Hill) seem silly and oddly unconvincing. 

But overall it’s a charming story, excellently told.

Flags of Our Fathers (2006)

In the Battle of Iwo Jima during World War II, six American soldiers planted a US flag on the Japanese island – a symbol of victory, even while the conflict remained ongoing. This film is based on the story of the men who raised that flag and became part of an iconic photograph reproduced all around the world. 

In the aftermath of the battle, three of the survivors are paraded around as “heroes” and cruelly forced to reenact the flag-raising as celebrities, with no thought for the psychological damage they sustained in battle. These three men are played by Ryan Phillippe, Jesse Bradford and Adam Beach. The latter is especially strong as the deeply troubled, heavy-drinking Ira Hayes, who – in addition to crippling PTSD – had to endure racism because of his Native American background. 

In fact, there were two flags raised, leading to confusion about who did what. That ambiguity is at the centre of this saga. 

It’s a moving story and there are moments of great poignancy, but some of the storytelling could have been clearer. The narrative perspective keeps shifting and the use of multiple flashbacks sometimes muddies things further. We see the events of battle and the weeks afterwards, but did we really need to see the survivors in the present day as well?

I could have done without the heavy colour filter that leaves everything in a washed-out grey/green. This makes it harder to determine who’s who and even to work out what’s happening. That may well have been the point – reflecting the disorientation of battle – but it creates a sense of distance that takes you out of the film. 

It’s a shame because the core of the story is touching and profound. Seeing the shameful way these three soldiers are treated – and what it does to them – is affecting indeed. You just wish that director Clint Eastwood had taken a more linear approach to keep the focus on them, without allowing visual and narrative distractions to get in the way.

Spaceballs (1987)

Daft and sometimes very funny parody of Star Wars, written and directed by Mel Brooks. The humour is so silly that it’s difficult to resist. For example, Rick Moranis plays the Darth Vader character, but he’s so weedy that anything he does seems utterly ridiculous. There are parodies of Princess Leia (Daphne Zuniga as Princess Vespa), Han Solo (Bill Pullman as the Winnebago-driving Lone Starr), Chewbacca (John Candy as the half-man half-dog Barf) and C-3PO (Joan Rivers voicing he droid Dot Matrix). Mel Brooks himself plays the Emperor Palpatine-influenced President Skroob and the Yoda-like Yogurt. There are also references to Star Trek, Alien and Planet of the Apes

It’s extremely self-referential and post-modern. At one point the characters have to watch Spaceballs itself to find out what happens next. 

The "story" is largely irrelevant. You just wait for the gags – some of them so basic and obvious that they can’t fail.

Kingdom of Heaven (2005)

Ridley Scott is responsible for at least six great films (Alien, Blade Runner, Black Hawk Down, Body of Lies, Gladiator and Thelma & Louise), so it’s difficult to articulate just how disappointing this tepid 12th-century historical epic turns out to be. It’s a muddled account of power and politics set during the Crusades. 

Orlando Bloom underwhelms as the blacksmith hero descended from Baron Godfrey of Ibelin (Liam Neeson). After just one lesson from his dad, he becomes a master swordsman. There’s too much of him wandering around, ponderously contemplating his destiny and feeling “significant”. 

Eva Green (as Sibylla of Jerusalem) and Jeremy Irons (Raymond III of Tripoli) both try to do their best with the material, but – as with everyone in this film – their “characters” are sketchy outlines at best. They both look like they wish they were elsewhere. 

Even the visuals aren’t particularly impressive as the big battle scenes are ruined by endless slow-motion shots that take you out of the action rather than enhancing it.

Plot-wise, it’s confusing. Not only does it fail to provide any historical context about the Crusades, but it’s also completely lacking in terms of character motivations. You’re left unsure why anyone is doing whatever they are doing, and not really caring either.

The ending is a mess, too. The film peters out with very little resolved. A director’s cut adds 45 minutes that supposedly improve the film and help it to make sense, but if this standard edition wasn’t good enough it probably shouldn’t have been issued in the first place.

The Blues Brothers (1980)

Directed by John Landis, this is a remarkable blend of comedy, musical, road-trip saga, crime caper and love letter to Chicago. It’s rightly seen as a classic. There’s absolutely nothing else like it.

Brothers Jake (John Belushi) and Elwood (Dan Ackroyd) need to raise money to save an orphanage, so they plan to get their old band together – the Blues Brothers – to play a fundraising gig. The problem is that they are being pursued by the police, a country band, a bunch of Nazis and Jake’s angry girlfriend (Carrie Fisher). 

The action sequences are astonishing, with a huge number of police cars being trashed in the chase scenes. 

It’s especially notable for the song performances by jazz, soul and blues stars James Brown, Cab Calloway, Ray Charles, John Lee Hooker and Chaka Khan. There are also acting roles and brief cameos for John Candy, Frank Oz, Steven Spielberg and – bafflingly – Twiggy. 

It’s so good-natured and silly that it quickly wins you over. You end up rooting for these two daft men “on a mission from God” despite the inevitability that they are heading for disaster.

Planes, Trains and Automobiles (1987)

Uneven comedy directed by John Hughes and starring Steve Martin and John Candy.

Martin plays a tense marketing executive hoping to get home for Thanksgiving. He finds his efforts thwarted by severe weather, plane cancellations, traffic chaos and other frustrations. Candy, who travels with him, is a salesman who means well but has annoying habits. The film explores their strained relationship as Martin slowly becomes more tolerant and accepting of his companion. There’s also a class thing going on, with the well-to-do Martin sneering at someone who has less than him yet who is more in touch with his emotions. 

There are some very funny moments, but other parts don’t work – such as an aggressive scene in which Martin swears at a woman in a car-rental company. This really jars and stands out as a misjudgement. 

Kevin Bacon has a baffling cameo as a New Yorker running for a cab. Because he’s a famous actor I expected him to pop up again later, but he never did.

The Boat That Rocked (2009)

Highly entertaining ensemble comedy written and directed by Richard Curtis.

It focuses on a North Sea pirate radio station, Radio Rock, and the DJs and other characters aboard it. Their adventures are juxtaposed against the government’s attempts to make pirate radio illegal and shut down the whole operation. 

The all-star cast includes Gemma Arterton, Kenneth Branagh, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Rhys Ifans, Bill Nighy, Katherine Parkinson and Emma Thompson, but the film is told from the perspective of a teenager, Carl (Tom Sturridge), who joins the floating team and gains the sense of family and identity that he’s been missing. There’s also a thread about him seeking his father, who he’s led to believe is on the boat. 

There are plenty of laughs but there are poignant moments too. And each of the characters is extremely well drawn, so you feel you get to know them all. 

The music is fantastic as you might expect for a film set in 1966–1967. Warm yet unsentimental, it works towards a dramatic and satisfying conclusion.

Jersey Boys (2014)

Clint Eastwood proves he can do pretty much anything by directing the film of the musical about the lives and careers of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons.

It’s an extremely well-told story, with the characters breaking the fourth wall to narrate their history as it’s happening. John Lloyd Young, who was also in the popular stage show, manages to sing with Valli’s distinctive falsetto – a voice that’s both iconic and a little ridiculous. Vincent Piazza plays tough-guy bandmate Tommy DeVito, while Christopher Walken is their gangster friend Gyp DeCarlo – a somewhat romanticised portrait in that you never get to see him do anything nasty (this isn’t a Scorsese film, even if it occasionally reminds you of one). 

It rightly puts the music to the fore, and you are left singing classics such as “Sherry”, “Walk Like a Man” and “December, 1963 (Oh What a Night!)”. The final dancing-in-the-street sequence appears to emulate the curtain-call section of the musical, and is a blast of good-natured cheer.

Elizabethtown (2005)

Slightly awkward comedy-drama directed by Cameron Crowe

Drewe (Orlando Bloom) works as a designer for a shoe company and somehow manages to lose them nearly a billion dollars. His boss (Alec Baldwin) fires him. About to commit suicide, Drew learns that his father has died. He travels to Elizabethtown, Kentucky, to arrange the funeral, and reconnects with friends and family. He also meets and falls in love with Claire (Kirsten Dunst), who gives him a reason to live. 

It’s all very odd. There’s a strong performance from Susan Sarandon (as Drew’s mother), who brings the family together with a funny and moving speech at the funeral, but Bloom himself is weak and cannot carry the lead role. Unable to convince you that he’s suicidal, he’s extremely dull to watch – a problematic vacuum at the very centre of the film. Dunst is as magnetic and charming as ever, and it’s worth watching just to see her, but it was difficult to understand what her sparkly character would like about someone so featureless. 

Some of the humour falls a little flat. Also, there’s too much music (a lot of it by Tom Petty) as almost every scene seems to be punctuated by a “moody” rock song. That worked in Almost Famous, because it was about the music world, but it’s merely intrusive here. Sometimes less is more. 

Roger Ebert claims that Claire is actually an angel and not to be taken too literally. Certainly the story is a salvation saga and there are themes of life/death, being doomed/redeemed and so on. Maybe that’s the case, but this additional layer doesn’t make the film more vital or entertaining. It needs more laughs and a credible male lead. Plus, the whole business about the shoe company seems random and misjudged. There are no insights into that industry nor why Drew might have been working in it.

An actor who looks like Loudon Wainwright turns out to be the actual Loudon Wainwright.

Taken (2008)

Former CIA operative Bryan Mills (Liam Neeson) has to track down his teenage daughter (Maggie Grace) after she’s kidnapped by Albanians in Paris. (She’d gone to follow U2 on tour around Europe.)

There’s not a great deal more to it, beyond a lot of fighting and shooting. Director Luc Besson prioritises violent action over everything else. Fast edits and jumpy cuts give it a visual energy, but those effects soon become wearisome. Likewise, there’s something blunt and one-dimensional about the whole thing compared to the Bourne or Bond thrillers. It’s not subtle or sophisticated and it’s probably not intended to be. 

Neeson has a certain unlikely charisma, but his character – a tough thug who loves his little girl – isn’t very well developed. 

It’s arguably quite racist, and it’s morally all over the place, with Mills engaged in torturing villains while still being portrayed as one of the good guys. 

Two sequels followed but I’m not sure I need to see them. Then again, if I find them in another three-DVDs-for-£1 offer I might just be tempted.

The American (2010)

Stylish and refreshingly different thriller directed by Anton Corbijn, who brings his photographer’s eye to every scene with the effect that the film looks stunning. 

George Clooney plays Edward, a hitman who moves from Sweden to an Italian village after his cover is blown. Taking on a new job, he’s then commissioned to build a specialist gun by an assassin named Mathilde (Thekla Reuten). While working on the weapon, he develops a relationship with a prostitute named Clara (Violante Placido). He also gets to know the local priest (Paolo Bonacelli) and begins a process of redemption. But dangerous people are out to kill him and he’s unsure who he can trust. 

It’s a little slow, initially, but you are encouraged to luxuriate in the beautiful shots Corbijn sets up until the narrative starts pulling you in. By the final third, it’s edge-of-the-seat stuff. 

Clooney is at his very best as an amoral man who begins to discover new depths in himself and starts to hope for a better life.  

There’s a lack of cliché, with enough twists that the ending cannot be predicted.

No Time to Die (2021)


Famously much-delayed by the Coronavirus pandemic, the 25th James Bond film finally hit cinemas in September 2021 – five years after work on it first began. There was a lot of additional baggage because we knew in advance that it would be the final episode starring Daniel Craig. With plenty of threads to tie up, there was a lot it had to achieve to be a truly satisfying finale. Unfortunately, despite plenty of striking moments, it doesn’t quite deliver. 

On the downside there’s a somewhat muddled plot that lacks the graceful coherence of the storylines in Skyfall and Spectre. Some of the gimmicks are tired, too: a secret base on a remote island really wasn’t very original. And while it’s nice to see the familiar gang back together – with welcome returns for Jeffrey Wright (as Felix), Ralph Fiennes (M), Ben Whishaw (Q) and Rory Kinnear (Tanner), all of whom suddenly look a lot older – it’s odd that the roles of Moneypenny (Naomie Harris) and Blofeld (Christoph Waltz) seem to have been minimised. Other limitations include a silly Russian scientist played by David Dencik and a hammy main villain played by Rami Malek. The latter was unconvincing as Freddie Mercury in Bohemian Rhapsody and is just as unconvincing here – especially when delivering his ponderous speeches. The whole film seems a little underwritten, and even a rival “00” agent (Lashana Lynch as Nomi) doesn’t quite come to life as a character. 

On the plus side, the action sequences are vivid and exciting, and Hans Zimmer’s musical score maximises the drama. Daniel Craig has a magnetic charm, if a little less sparkle than usual. And Léa Seydoux is fully believable as Bond’s on/off lover Madeleine Swann. The introduction of a child character (Madeleine’s daughter) also adds a new dimension to the series. The most entertaining section features an evening-gowned Cuban agent named Paloma (Ana de Armas), who briefly assists Bond with martial-arts kicks and a cheery energy that’s otherwise lacking in a rather dour 163 minutes. 

The shock ending – really not what I expected – raises some big questions about the future of the franchise. I wish the film hadn’t concluded the way it does, but we are assured that somehow or other James Bond will return.

Enemy at the Gates (2001)

An expert Russian sniper, Vasily Zaytsev (Jude Law) plays a cat-and-mouse game with German sniper Major König (Ed Harris) during the Battle of Stalingrad in 1942. Vasily, who becomes a national hero, is aided by his lover Tania (Rachel Weisz), his friend Danilov (Joseph Fiennes) and Nikita Khrushchev (Bob Hoskins), who realises the marksman's value in terms of propaganda. 

Some of the sets don’t look especially realistic (not sure if that’s because it’s early CGI or whether it’s something to do with the models they used), but the scenes of soldiers being shot down in their hundreds look all too plausible. 

The relationships between the key characters are convincing, and Law and Weisz in particular create a strong chemistry together. 

It’s one of the more compelling war films because it makes you care about the characters and understand their motivations – including those of the villain. And while the love story is touching, the overall narrative never gives way to sentimentality.

I’m Not There (2007)

Impressionistic sort-of biopic of Bob Dylan starring six different actors, each representing different aspects of Bob’s personality. 

Fragments of Dylan lyrics and interviews are interwoven into the dialogue in a way that’s sometimes cryptic, sometimes obvious. 

It’s clearly meant to be as slippery and chameleonic as Dylan himself, but somehow it doesn’t come together. The Cate Blanchett sections are compelling enough that you wish director Todd Haynes had made an entire film with her as Dylan (he directed her again in Carol), but the passages with Richard Gere are baffling and rather dull. 

Christian Bale is the only other “Dylan” that works. I was less impressed by Marcus Carl Franklin, Heath Ledger and Ben Whishaw. One other highlight is Julianne Moore as Alice Fabian, a “folksinger and activist” presumably based on Joan Baez. 

It confirmed two things about Bob Dylan I already knew:

• He’s complex and difficult to pin down

• He wrote some great songs

But beyond that it told me very little.

The Virgin Queen (1955)

Bette Davis stars as Queen Elizabeth I of England, juggling royal duties and protocols with her own hopes and passions. 

The film focuses on her relationship with Sir Walter Raleigh (a wooden Richard Todd). Joan Collins plays one of the queen’s ladies in waiting, who Raleigh falls in love with against Elizabeth’s wishes. 

It’s a highly enjoyable romp, if you don’t mind the wobbly sets and the ridiculousness of the Welsh and Irish accents. Bette Davis speaks in a fascinatingly odd manner. For example, she says “my girl” as “me gell”. The Hollywood sunshine doesn’t represent the English weather very convincingly, either. 

Bette Davis has a huge and commanding presence that puts Cate Blanchett’s version of Elizabeth to shame. (By the way, you wonder how much Miranda Richardson was influenced by Davis when she played the same queen in Blackadder 2.) It has to be said that Clive Owen’s Raleigh was far better (and even that was muddled). 

Another curious thing about this film is how quickly everything happens. The scenes rattle along. The dialogue whizzes past. Even the edits between scenes happen at an accelerated speed. Sometimes (a sword fight, a chase on horseback), the film itself even seems to have been slightly speeded up. It’s as if they were in a mad rush to get it over with.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011)

Adapted from the Swedish bestseller by Stieg Larsson, this is a surprisingly disappointing thriller. I wanted to see what all the fuss was about, and couldn’t. 

1. The plot is made complicated by poor storytelling but is actually very simple: a journalist (Daniel Craig) and a young, troubled computer hacker (Rooney Mara) investigate a girl’s disappearance from 40 years ago, uncovering the secrets of a wealthy family. 

2. It’s highly stylised, but the aesthetic seems deliberately ugly. 

3. It’s unnecessarily violent: the scenes with Mara and her abusive social worker seem completely gratuitous. She could have filled in her backstory as dialogue. Did we really need to see it?

4. Something about the story doesn’t ring true. I never believed in the characters or the main relationship between Craig and Mara. In fact, there’s no chemistry between anyone. 

5. The film seemed too impressed with its own tech. There are way too many shots of laptops being typed into. There are also too many shots of Mara riding a motorbike. 

6. It’s unevenly paced. One unexciting scene in which Mara researches in a library seems to go on forever. But then the “action” (and there’s very little of it), is oddly rushed. 

On the plus side, Daniel Craig is always watchable. But unfortunately that isn’t enough. Maybe the original Swedish film from 2009 is better.

Misery (1990)

Brilliant adaptation of the Stephen King novel. 

A writer (James Caan) crashes his car in a snowstorm and is rescued by his “number-one fan” (Kathy Bates), who unfortunately turns out to be a psychopath. She keeps him in her home against his will and forces him to write another book, while regularly having violent episodes and taking out her anger on him. 

The real genius of this tightly plotted film is the bleakly humorous thread running through it. Director Rob Reiner somehow makes this terrifying saga into a black comedy. Kathy Bates is cartoonishly scary, and judges it just right. 

The suspense is almost unbearable – especially when Caan is exploring the empty house as Bates is driving back to it – and there are a couple of absolutely unforgettable scenes.

Duel (1971)

The first film directed by Steven Spielberg is a masterpiece of suspense and horror. The story is incredibly simple and there’s hardly any dialogue. A man driving his car is pursued and harassed by a petrol tanker whose driver is barely seen and never identified.

The genius of the film is that it keeps you guessing to the end. There’s nothing as trite as an explanation for the unrelenting determination of a psychopath to kill another man. 

Dennis Weaver is the only real character. He plays a businessman whose plans to drive to a meeting become an effort to simply stay alive. 

It’s tense and claustrophobic, shot in such a way that enhances the drama. The downbeat ending satisfies, too.

Yentl (1983)

Musical romantic drama starring and directed by Barbra Streisand, based on a story by Isaac Bashevis Singer. 

Poland. 1904. Barbra wants to study Talmud but it’s forbidden for women. So she poses as a young man and joins a religious school to study in disguise. She befriends a fellow student called Avigdor (Mandy Patinkin), who she connects with both academically and emotionally. She falls in love with him, even though he believes she’s a boy. Plus, he’s engaged to marry a woman (Amy Irving). 

Unsurprisingly, the situation soon gets messy. There are comic elements, which escalate as the love triangle becomes increasingly complex. The ending disappoints because it seems to be a cop out. Why does Yentl have to choose between love and her studies? If she’s as forward-thinking, intelligent and passionately in love as the film suggests, can’t she find a way to have both? Also, although the film hints at Avigdor’s confused feelings as he becomes increasingly fond of his “male” study companion, it dodges having to deal with the homosexual sub-text. Likewise, when Avigdor’s fiance ends up falling in love with and actually marrying Yentl the film has to juggle lesbianism as well, but coyly backs away from the topic.

The most unusual aspect is the music. Unlike in a standard musical, most of the songs are simply overlaid on top of the action. Only rarely do you see them actually being sung, and even then it’s only Streisand who performs. Maybe it was deliberate, to keep the focus on Barbra, but preventing anyone else from singing serves to compound the fact that none of the other characters can express their inner feelings. As for the music itself, the soundtrack lacks a true “belter” or classic. Not one of the songs stays in your head afterwards.

The Shawshank Redemption (1994)

Moving drama based on the story by Stephen King. An innocent man (Tim Robbins) is imprisoned for a double murder he did not commit. In jail he has a profound effect on those around him – in particular, his friend Red (Morgan Freeman). But the ongoing brutality and corruption of the staff means that he’s intent on finding his freedom.

I like the way it’s deliberately paced slowly to mirror the slowness of prison life. You can feel the decades dripping past, but it’s never boring. I also like the way it’s uplifting without being trite or sentimental. Indeed, there’s plenty of violence to balance any cuteness.

Tim Robbins has a quiet magnetism about him. He says little but he makes every word count. 

I also like the way that the escape itself makes up only a tiny part of the overall drama. The real story is about incarceration and friendship.

It Follows (2014)

Rotten Tomatoes: “After carefree teenager Jay (Maika Monroe) sleeps with her new boyfriend, Hugh (Jake Weary), for the first time, she learns that she is the latest recipient of a fatal curse that is passed from victim to victim via sexual intercourse. Death, Jay learns, will creep inexorably toward her as either a friend or a stranger. Jay's friends don't believe her seemingly paranoid ravings, until they too begin to see the phantom assassins and band together to help her flee or defend herself.”

Monroe is excellent as the doomed 19-year-old who is constantly pursued by a supernatural being, having suddenly discovered that her life has become a terrifying nightmare.

The idea of a malignant entity forever edging towards you is deeply unsettling, and it’s to the credit of director David Robert Mitchell that the film sets out its “rules” and keeps to them. The premise is faithfully explored and not messed around with for the convenience of the storytelling. It’s clever, too: you begin to spot various walking individuals planted in certain shots who may or may not merely be ordinary people. The film makes you question everyone and everything.

You could see “it” as being a metaphor for sexually transmitted disease, or even for sex itself. Or you can just accept it as a horror film.

Slow panning shots add to the suspense and all-round creepy feel.

Parenthood (1989)

Brilliant mixture of comedy and drama on the subject of family relationships, directed by the always-reliable Ron Howard

Steve Martin and Mary Steenburgen are superb as a couple with three children, one of whom is suffering emotional problems. Meanwhile Dianne Wiest is a single mother struggling with two teenage children and her daughter’s relationship with the hopeless Keanu Reeves. Rick Moranis plays a father trying to raise his young daughter as a genius. Jason Robards (who plays Steve Martin’s dad) has to face up to the fact that his other son is addicted to gambling. 

A superbly written script dovetails these characters’ fates and elegantly weaves together multiple narrative threads without letting them get too tangled. 

Some of the scenes are genuinely moving, and there’s no doubting the truth of their insights into human experience, but crucially Parenthood is very funny as well.

Hacksaw Ridge (2016)

War film directed by Mel Gibson. It tells the true story of Desmond Doss, a conscientious objector who served as a medic in World War II. A Seventh-day Adventist Christian, Doss saved 75 lives during the Battle of Okinawa by returning again and again to tend to wounded US soldiers abandoned where they had fallen.

Andrew Garfield is sympathetic as the religious young man who will not compromise his principles by picking up a gun. Teresa Palmer and Hugo Weaving are watchable as Doss’s wife Dorothy and his troubled, alcoholic father. 

It’s compelling stuff. The battle scenes are brutal and all-too-convincingly real-looking. If there’s a flaw it’s that the Japanese are generally treated as a faceless enemy, although the film eventually addresses this by showing Doss helping victims on the other side as well. It’s not morally simplistic, either. The story addresses the irony that despite the strength of his principles, his life is nevertheless saved by men using guns. 

I didn't like the introduction of real interview footage at the very end. Either dramatise the story or make a documentary about it. Why blend the two? The same trick was used to equally jarring effect in Downfall. Also, on reading up on the story I was a little disappointed to learn that a key scene in which the young Doss nearly kills his father never actually happened. The facts are remarkable enough that there was no need to make things up.