Florence Foster Jenkins (2016)

Directed by Stephen Frears, this is the compelling true-life story of a wealthy New York heiress who was generally regarded as a terrible singer, yet who became a recording artist and even performed at Carnegie Hall because her social set encouraged and applauded her. 

Meryl Streep is excellent as Florence Foster Jenkins, singing technically challenging opera in a way that’s just about good enough to be credible but also strange enough to be surreally comic. 

Simon Helberg is ideally cast as Cosmé McMoon, a wildly talented pianist who – against his initial misgivings – agrees to work as her accompanist.

In what is perhaps his most fully rounded and satisfying role, Hugh Grant is remarkable as her lover and manager St. Clair Bayfield. The unusual nature of the couple's relationship and the depth of his feelings really came across. I was slightly wrong-footed because I thought the plot was leading to Bayfield being exposed for scamming Florence and promoting the whole "emperor's new clothes" circus around her efforts, but touchingly the film turns out to be a true love story after all.

Blown Away (1994)

Thriller. 

Ex-IRA soldier and expert bomb-maker Ryan Gaerity (Tommy Lee Jones) escapes from prison in Northern Ireland. He travels to Boston to seek revenge on his former colleague Lieutenant James “Jimmy” Dove (Jeff Bridges), who is now a hero in the bomb-disposal unit. But Dove is also ex-IRA and the secrets of his past threaten to destroy both his career and his marriage. 

Directed by Stephen Hopkins, this is a fairly average thriller with some exciting moments. Every time Jimmy has to defuse a bomb that’s about to go off, the tension increases considerably. Bridges has a certain charm, as does Forest Whitaker as Officer Anthony Franklin. But Dove’s wife Kate (Suzy Amis) and uncle Max (Lloyd Bridges) are less well drawn as characters and threaten to tip it into B-movie territory.

Stan & Ollie (2018)

Poignant account of Laurel and Hardy’s UK tour of 1953, directed by Jon S. Baird. 

The duo were very much on a decline, career-wise, but there was still enough affection for their old routines for them to be able to perform in theatres. This is set against Hardy’s declining health, and also the evolution of their long and complex relationship. 

Steve Coogan and John C. Reilly are superb in the lead roles, really nailing the mannerisms and voices. It’s touching to see how they interact after years of friendship and as a working unit. It’s also quite funny.

Vice (2018)

Punningly titled biopic of Dick Cheney, the US vice president in 2001–2009, during the period that George W. Bush was in power. 

There is a fascinating story to be told here, but director Adam McKay chooses a gimmicky, tricksy approach, breaking the fourth wall, adding text on screen and inserting surreal skits that constantly remind you you’re watching a film, rather than allowing you to become absorbed in it. There’s even a “false ending” about halfway through, with the production credits rolling up the screen. 

Cheney emerges as a complete enigma and the film cannot get inside his character enough to explain the motivations behind his various abuses of power. In reality he was an extreme figure, responsible for introducing torture, abolishing the FCC fairness doctrine (leading to the rise of biased, politicised TV news reporting), rebranding “global warming” as “climate change” to make it more palatable to the masses, and focus-grouping reactions to September 11th in order to further America’s geopolitical interests. It’s all especially relevant in the era of Donald Trump.

There’s no shortage of strong material, and the key performances by Christian Bale, Amy Adams and Steve Carell are outstanding. But Vice is hugely frustrating nonetheless.

Supernova (2020)

Stanley Tucci plays Tusker, a novelist who has early onset Alzheimer’s. Colin Firth plays his lover Sam, a pianist willing to give up everything to care for him. The pair embark on a final road trip in England as they try to come to terms with the enormity of their approaching loss. 

This compelling drama works like a play, mostly based around dialogue rather than action. There’s plenty of warm, subtle humour but it’s also very moving and it looks mortality in the face with an honesty that few films manage. The acting is top-notch, with both leads at their very best. 

The music is perfect, too. I was surprised and pleased to hear Karen Dalton on the soundtrack.

Tigerland (2000)

Excellent war drama directed by Joel Schumacher and starring Colin Farrell. 

It details the training process for soldiers who will be sent into the Vietnam War. Farrell is absolutely perfect as the rebellious Private Roland Bozz, who has a different outlook that gets him in trouble but makes his colleagues trust him. 

It’s a more even and satisfying Vietnam training film than Full Metal Jacket.

Bitter & Twisted (2008)

Written, directed by and starring Christopher Weekes, this is a brilliant Australian drama with flashes of comedy. 

A couple struggle to come to terms with the death of their son, whose brother and ex-lover have also been profoundly changed by the bereavement. 

It’s terribly sad: you see a family trying and failing to make sense of the inexplicable, losing themselves in overeating and off-the-rails behaviour. It’s a low-budget affair that works brilliantly because the script is so sharp. 

The acting is superb. The only thing that doesn't quite work is the title, which somehow isn't right.

Three Mothers (2006)

Directed by Dina Zvi-Riklis, this is an engrossing Israeli drama about the lives of three sisters – Rose, Flora and Yasmeen – who grew up in a prosperous family in Egypt before moving to Tel Aviv. They look back on their lives and the various challenges that came their way, and in doing so reveal the secrets behind their relationships. 

There’s strong acting, and the singing by Rose (Miri Mesika) is particularly good. The plot has a few holes, or rather moments that risk tipping it into “trashy soap-opera” territory. For example, it’s hinted that a death was actually a murder, but then the plot continues as if nothing especially unusual has happened.

On the plus side, the modern day vs. flashback elements are handled extremely well, with both timelines sustaining equal interest. This isn’t usually the case in now-and-then film scenarios.

The Missing (2003)

Ron Howard directs this rather slow drama set in 19th-century New Mexico. 

Samuel Jones (Tommy Lee Jones) tries to reconcile with his estranged daughter Maggie (Cate Blanchett), who resists his efforts. But when Maggie’s daughter is abducted, she allows her father to help her rescue the girl.

The main two leads are excellent, with a degree of chemistry, and the scenery looks stunning. But it could’ve been better. It’s workmanlike where it should have sparkled. Long, too. It dabbles with a watered-down mysticism but doesn’t really deliver on that front. Also, the main villain is comical and silly rather than terrifying and the ending seems oddly abrupt. The alternative endings on the DVD make more sense, suggesting that something went a little askew in the edit.

Gran Torino (2008)

Excellent drama directed and produced by Clint Eastwood, who stars as Walt Kowalski, a grumpy, racist old Korean War veteran who slowly begins to confront his prejudices. 

Eastwood is ideal in this role, which is perfectly tuned to his career-long preoccupations with violence, machismo and protocol. 

Bee Vang and Ahney Her are excellent as the Hmong teenagers living next door to him in Michigan. There’s humour and compassion in the way that Kowalski first clashes with them and ultimately wants to defend them from the forces of oppression that he sees taking over America.

The Tree of Life (2011)

An amazing film directed by Terence Malick. On one level it’s a story of an American family and how they deal with a bereavement. But the film is also designed as a work of art, constructed to operate on multiple levels of symbolism and philosophical exploration. 

Early on it detours into a history of life on Earth (perhaps influenced by 2001), showing dinosaurs and the meteorite that forced their extinction. It then returns to the story of the family. Brad Pitt and Jessica Chastain play the parents of three boys, while Sean Penn plays one of those boys as an adult in the present day and struggling to come to terms with his past. 

There are so many impressionistic elements that you’re often unsure what to think and what, if anything, is actually happening in narrative terms. That can be frustrating if you are expecting anything close to a regular drama. Indeed, the dinosaur segment borders on the ludicrous. 

If the job of the film is to take you on an emotional journey, then it’s too muddled to succeed. But if you embrace the sheer ambition of the project – in terms of its visuals, music, editing techniques and production – it’s unlike anything else you will see.

The Enforcer (1976)

The third Dirty Harry film sees Clint Eastwood once again working as a San Francisco cop. This time he’s trying to catch some rather ludicrous hippy terrorists who go under the name of the People's Revolutionary Strike Force. 

Tyne Daly of Cagney & Lacey fame plays Inspector Kate Moore and is wonderful in the role. She endures sexism and scepticism from Harry before eventually winning his respect. 

Directed by James Fargo, the film is very nicely shot, with clever, well-judged framing of scenes making for satisfying visuals throughout. The villains seem unnecessarily hammy and one-dimensional, but the real theme of the film is Harry’s developing relationship with Kate and that more than makes up for it.