Say Anything... (1989)

The first film directed by Cameron Crowe is a highly enjoyable and satisfying romantic comedy starring a very young John Cusack.  

Following high school graduation, Lloyd pursues Diane (Ione Skye), who is cleverer and more “successful” than him. She lives with her pushy father (John Mahoney, of Frasier fame), who has strong ideas about her future. 

As a 1980s teen saga, it’s in the general vein of the films by John Hughes. But there’s far more nuance and sophistication here, with Crowe developing the father character and his complex relationship with his daughter. (In Hughes’ films, adults are merely a one-dimensional “enemy”.)

Cusack and Skye both have a lot of charm and the scenes with the two of them working out their feelings for one another are sweet and endearing. Mahoney comes across weirdly, but we later learn why that is.

The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (1974)

Extremely entertaining crime thriller directed by Joseph Sargent and adapted from the 1973 novel by Morton Freedgood.

A New York subway train is hijacked by a team of four men in hat and moustache disguises. They take 17 passengers hostage and threaten to kill them unless they are paid $1 million within an hour. 

Walter Matthau stars as the Transit Police lieutenant responsible for saving the victims and resolving the crisis. Robert Shaw plays "Mr. Blue", who is one of the deadly crooks.

It’s tense and exciting with plenty of moments of welcome humour. That said, there are also some very dodgy racist jokes.

The Hunter (1980)

Steve McQueen’s final film before his death from cancer isn’t regarded as a classic, but it ought to be.

He plays a bounty hunter whose task it is to bring in dangerous criminals. The plot is enjoyably open-ended, with several threads interwoven. McQueen acts more than usual, which makes for an enjoyable watch.

There’s also a lot of humour and some genuinely exciting scenes. I especially liked the running joke about his inability to park a car.

What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962)

Brilliantly disturbing psychological horror thriller film adapted from a novel by Henry Farrell. 

Bette Davis and Joan Crawford star as two sisters, Jane and Blanche, with a deeply troubled relationship. Davis was once the popular child star “Baby Jane” Hudson, while Crawford is a former Hollywood star who, we learn, lost the use of her legs in an accident. Jane is increasingly unhinged and begins holding Blanche prisoner in their shared house.  

Directed Robert Aldrich nicely ramps up the tension, turning a bizarre situation into a terrifying one. It's difficult to predict how the film can be resolved, but the ending is hugely satisfying.

Lake Placid (1999)

Directed by Steve Miner, this is an awkward horror-comedy that never really comes to life. 

A huge killer crocodile is on the loose in Maine. The local Fish and Game officer Jack Wells (Bill Pullman), paleontologist Kelly Scott (Bridget Fonda), sheriff (Brendon Gleeson) and an eccentric professor of mythology (Oliver Platt) try to track down the beast. 

The film can’t decide if it’s meant to be funny or scary and ends up neither. There are hints of Jaws and Crocodile Dundee in there, but with none of the ingredients that made those films so engaging.  

Fonda has a degree of charm, as always, but the script is weak and you long for wittier lines. Gleeson seems entirely miscast as the grumpy sheriff and you can only wonder exactly what the actor or character was meant to contribute to the film. There are a couple of laughs but with some tweaking it could have been so much better.

The Proposal (2009)

Romantic comedy directed by Anne Fletcher. 

High-powered businesswoman Margaret (Sandra Bullock) will be deported and lose her job at a New York publishing firm unless she gets married to an American. She forces her assistant Andrew (Ryan Reynolds) to go along with the plan. They travel to his family home in Alaska, where – in trying to convince his family and immigration agent that they’re in love – they inevitably fall in love for real. 

It sounds formulaic but there are some genuinely funny moments and the script is finely tuned enough to sparkle. 

Sandra Bullock is likeable as a hard-edged bully who slowly reveals her vulnerabilities. A ludicrous scene in which a small dog is carried off by an eagle actually works. 

The strong cast also includes Mary Steenburgen and Betty White.

Zodiac (2007)

David Fincher’s highly skilled dramatisation of the remarkable true story about the so-called “Zodiac killer”, who murdered at least five people in the San Francisco Bay Area in the 1960s and 1970s. 

Mark Ruffalo plays the cop investigating. Robert Downey Jr is a journalist for the San Francisco Chronicle. And Jake Gyllenhaal is Robert Graysmith, a cartoonist at the same paper who becomes obsessed with the case and intent on solving it, no matter what.

Ruffalo and Gyllenhaal are such sensitive performers that they build huge depth into their characters. Downey Jr. is less impressive. Nothing wrong with him as such, but he makes less of an impact.

I like the way the film charts the passing years, and keeps the narrative on the ongoing quest to resolve the case rather than veering off too much into the personal soap operas of the main characters' changing lives. 

Madame Bovary (2014)

Directed by Sophie Barthes, this is a superb adaptation of the 1856 novel by Gustave Flaubert. 

Emma Bovary (Mia Wasikowska) finds her marriage to a village doctor stifling and lifeless. She seeks more exciting distractions, with disastrous consequences.  

Wasikowska is excellent, as is the supporting cast. My only criticism is that Emma's character seems to change too quickly, with her downward spiral beginning rather suddenly after years of quiet restraint. This sort of character development can be handled more subtly across a novel but can seem rushed in the 118-minute running time of a film.

Instinct (1999)

Intriguing psychological drama directed by Jon Turteltaub. The credits say it was “suggested by” a novel by Daniel Quinn, which sounds like legal speak for something more ambiguous. 

Anthony Hopkins plays anthropologist Ethan Powell, who is now held in a high-security prison and refusing to speak. Earnest psychiatrist Theo Caulder (Cuba Gooding Jr) attempts to get to know Powell and uncovers the true story of what happened when he spent two years living in the jungle with gorillas. It should really have been called One Flew Over the Gorilla’s Nest or The Silence of the Lambs in the Mist, since there are hints of those Hannibal Lecter, Dianne Fossey and Randle McMurphy stories wrapped up in this narrative. 

There are interesting themes about freedom and social control, but there’s too much about the dysfunctional prison society (and inmates) and too little about Powell’s psychological development. It’s also hammy in places. Plus, the music is somewhat jarring. 

Donald Sutherland is a wasted as a professor who the plot doesn’t really require. Gooding is so-so: one-dimensional until a sudden and unexpected outpouring of emotion is unleashed at the end. But that emotion doesn’t seem warranted by what has gone before. Hopkins is as magnetically watchable as ever, even with a silly beard and even when the material is plain silly.

Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason (2004)

Shoddy sequel that’s simply not funny. The plot is a mess and it’s tonally all over the place. The worst crime, however, is that it’s simply not very funny. 

On the plus side, the three stars remain watchable no matter what – Renée Zellweger, Colin Firth and Hugh Grant all exude undeniable screen presence, but they can’t improve the wobbly script. There are long patches without any amusing lines at all. Loud music drowns out the dialogue in a few places. 

The film gets worse in the second half, seemingly just stringing out a weak premise to make up the full running time. Especially wretched was the gaggle of friends who make up the “Greek chorus” (a standard Richard Curtis tic) offering advice and commentary. Very old-fashioned gender politics, too, and we’re repeatedly told that life is worthless if you don’t have a handsome boyfriend.

About Elly (2009)

Superb Iranian drama directed by Asghar Farhadi.

A group of middle-class Iranians to go the Caspian Sea for a short holiday, staying in a run-down house on the beach.

Sepideh (Golshifteh Farahani), the organiser, has invited her daughter's nursery teacher, Elly (Taraneh Alidoosti), who she is trying to match up with one of her friends, who is also part of the group. Events take a darker turn when one of the couples' children nearly drowns. Then Elly goes missing. Has she gone home because she was so uncomfortable with the social situation, or did she get swept away by the strong tide while trying to rescue the boy?

The ensemble aspect of the film is expertly handled, offering multiple perspectives on the events. Farhadi really understands how to mine the interactions for maximum interest, while also revealing flashes of the darkest comedy.

A Separation (2011)

Remarkable Iranian drama. 

When a middle-class couple (Leila Hatami and Peyman Moaadi) split up, the daughter stays with her father and grandfather. The latter has Alzheimer's disease, but the carer hired to look after him becomes the centre of a dispute that threatens to shatter multiple lives. 

Masterfully directed by Asghar Farhadi, the story brilliantly leads up to one key event and then examines the fall-out. It richly considers multiple perspectives and takes an impressive non-judgemental view.

The acting is highly convincing and the situation seems all too real.

U-571 (2000)

A damaged German submarine in World War II is captured by Americans in a special operation. On board is the Enigma cipher machine used to transmit code. The Americans attempt to save it and themselves while coming continually under fire from the enemy.      

Directed by Jonathan Mostow, it’s a fast-paced wartime thriller that’s full of action. Matthew McConaughey is excellent as the man who unexpectedly finds himself as captain after his boss, played by Bill Paxton, is killed. Harvey Keitel does his usual thing (as the Chief Gunner's Mate) and has some presence. In an odd casting decision, Jon Bon Jovi portrays Lieutenant Pete Emmett, but brings nothing special to a minor role that could have been played by anyone. The other major failing is that the music is loud enough to obscure the dialogue at a couple of points. 

At times you can clearly see the influence of the submarine masterpiece that is Das Boot. But where that film had long, brooding scenes that built up a claustrophobic tension, this one races from one dramatic moment to another. It does that very well, but ironically – given the subject matter – there’s a lack of depth.

Creation (2009)

An engaging biopic of Charles Darwin, directed by Jon Amiel. 

Darwin (Paul Bettany) attempts to complete On the Origin of Species while dealing with the grief of his daughter Annie’s death. He’s also semi-estranged from his wife Emma (Jennifer Connelly), and his theories about the beginnings of life on Earth are inflaming tensions in the God-fearing community. 

There are impressive scenes of nature, illustrating the idea of evolution as Darwin perceives it. 

Bettany’s compelling performance lifts the film and makes it highly watchable. Connelly brings a welcome complexity to her part as she tries to reconcile her love for her husband with her love of the God his life’s work debunks.

The Railway Man (2013)

Based on a true story from Eric Lomax's memoir. 

Patricia (Nicole Kidman) meets railway enthusiast Eric (Colin Firth) and the pair quickly fall in love and marry. But Patricia soon realises that Eric remains deeply traumatised by the suffering he experienced in a Japanese POW camp during World War II. While working on the Thai-Burma Railway he had been tortured by the Japanese military secret police, including their interpreter Takashi Nagase, and was never able to come to terms with the horrors he endured. 

It’s an emotional story, extremely well-handled. Firth and Kidman are both excellent. You can really believe they are in love, and the scene in which they first meet, on a train journey, exudes warmth and charm. I wanted more of that. You can also believe how damaged Firth is. 

The younger and older depictions of the key characters work well, and the time transitions are elegantly managed. 

The ending is unexpectedly satisfying.

Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (2017)

A remarkable drama written, directed and co-produced by Martin McDonagh. 

Frances McDormand portrays Mildred Hayes, a grieving woman drawn to increasingly extreme behaviour by her sense of loss and frustration because she feels the police gave up trying to solve the case of her daughter’s rape and murder. 

Given the subject matter, it’s remarkable how funny this film is – a dark, deadpan wit that’s full of empathy for a cast of strange and desperate individuals. Gritty and unsentimental, it refuses to offer a single ray of hope.

My One and Only (2009)

Comedy drama based on the early life of George Hamilton in the 1950s.

Renée Zellweger stars. She leaves her husband (Kevin Bacon) after he cheats on her, and takes off on a road trip with her sons. In search of a new husband and financial stability, she encounters a range of unsuitable men.

The quirky tone takes a little getting used to, but once you acclimatise, the film is highly enjoyable.

Zellweger is excellent as always – highly watchable and sympathetic.

There are hints of Woody Allen (especially his Blue Jasmine) crossed with the parent/child drama of Anywhere but Here.

Adrift (2018)

Disaster/survival film based on the true story Red Sky in Mourning by Tami Oldham Ashcraft – an account of events relating to Hurricane Raymond in the Pacific Ocean in 1983. 

Directed by Baltasar Kormákur, it’s a compelling drama that interweaves the disaster of a damaged boat, drifting at sea, with the events that led up to this happening.

Shailene Woodley and Sam Claflin star as a young couple whose romantic adventure quickly turns into a nightmare. Woodley is superb; Claflin less so.

12 Years a Slave (2013)

Harrowing biographical drama directed by Steve McQueen and based on the 1853 memoir of Solomon Northup. 

Chiwetel Ejiofor stars as Northup, delivering a remarkably potent and sensitive performance as a man trying to retain his dignity and composure as he is systematically put through hell.

Kidnapped in Washington DC and sold into slavery, Northup is transferred between cruel owners. We see him treated in an especially barbaric manner by sadistic plantation owner Edwin Epps (Michael Fassbender).

It’s difficult to endure in places – especially when Northup is forced into acts of cruelty against his fellow slaves – but Ejiofor is so compelling that you keep watching anyway.

New in Town (2009)

Romantic comedy directed by Jonas Elmer.

Hard-edged Miami-based consultant Lucy Hill (Renée Zellweger) is sent to New Ulm, Minnesota, to oversee changes at a food-manufacturing plant that will mean many redundancies. Against all her expectations, and helped by the handsome Ted (Harry Connick Jr.), Lucy eventually begins to warm to the quirky townsfolk and become sympathetic to their situation. 

For a relatively lightweight comedy it's surprisingly enjoyable. Zellweger is always a joy to watch, such is the multi-dimensional way she inhabits a character. And while there's nothing much that truly surprises in the storyline, it keeps you engaged until the end.

The Last Legion (2007)

It’s not specifically marketed at children, but this action-adventure romp directed by Doug Lefler is certainly well-suited to the younger viewer. 

Thomas Sangster plays Romulus Augustulus, who is descended from the Caesar bloodline when his parents are killed. He is taken in by the kindly Aurelianus Ambrosius (Colin Firth) and Mira (Aishwarya Rai), and guided by the wise – and oddly bearded – Ambrosinus (Ben Kingsley). 

It’s quite entertaining in a fairly silly manner. The only real criticism is that Sangster could’ve been more of a hero, instead of someone that things merely happen to. That way, you might have found yourself actually rooting for him.

Spy Game (2001)

Retiring CIA officer Nathan Muir (Robert Redford) learns that his protege Tom Bishop (Brad Pitt) is in trouble in Hong Kong. Muir’s CIA colleagues begin to dig in to his past, and the film then reveals his story in a series of flashbacks. The somewhat disjointed and bitty narrative focuses on specific incidents in Vietnam, Berlin and Beirut. 

It’s not quite the thriller you might have imagined or hoped for – mainly because Redford never gets out of the office. Somehow he is able to run rings around his CIA colleagues, even though they would’ve had the same training as him. As such, it’s an intriguing thriller that doesn’t quite work. The basic ingredients are good, and with more focus in the storytelling, it might have been more satisfying.

The Scarlet Letter (1995)

Ludicrous adaptation of the classic 1850 novel by Nathaniel Hawthorne. You can virtually hear him turning in his grave.

Demi Moore is wildly miscast as Hester Prynne, who begins an affair with the Reverend Dimsdale (Gary Oldman) in a small settlers community in 1667 Massachusetts. Hester believes her cruel and abusive husband is dead – until he shows up (in the form of Robert Duvall). 

The film unnecessarily adds a plot about a war between the settlers and natives. It also adds a quite dodgy montage scene when the couple first consummate their relationship. Moore is absolutely out of her depth as an actor.

The DVD box has some weird marketing messages on it. Two of the quotes refer to "fun". The film is many things, but fun isn't one of them.

Men of Honour (2000)

Cuba Gooding Jr plays a black son of a Kentucky sharecropper, whose father has urged him to pursue his dreams. He joins the US Navy and attempts to become a navy diver, but encounters racism at every turn. His training officer (played by Robert De Niro) wants to inhibit his progress, but slowly develops respect for him over time. 

Inspired by real-world figure of Master Chief Petty Officer Carl Brashear, this is a mostly well-made film. There are some dramatic sequences showing the dangers of the divers' underwater assignments. At times it seems a little sappy, perhaps because of the choice of music, but the storytelling and acting lift it above average status. The two male leads are both excellent, and they make their characters suitably convincing to bring this true story to life.

Jane Eyre (2011)

Compelling and powerful adaptation of Charlotte Brontë’s 1847 novel, directed by Cary Fukunaga. 

Mia Wasikowska stars in the title role, while Rochester is played by Michael Fassbender. Both of them are absolutely at the top of their game, delivering subtle and nuanced performances. 

There’s something highly believable about it – a gritty realism that’s often lost when revered classics are filmed.

The Raid (2011)

Indonesian action thriller written and directed by Gareth Evans.

An Indonesian National Police tactical squad attempts a raid on a deadly drug lord's apartment block.

It's incredibly violent – almost certainly the most violent film I've ever seen. The action is relentless. There's endless hunting, fighting and killing that ultimately becomes numbing. The film is extremely well choreographed, shot and edited, but its unrelenting quality makes it both disturbing and difficult to watch.

Shining Through (1992)

Ludicrous wartime thriller written and directed by David Seltzer, and based on a novel by Susan Isaacs. 

A secretary with a major law firm (Melanie Griffith) falls in love with a spy (Michael Douglas) and takes on her own spy mission in Berlin. Her only qualification is that she speaks fluent German (although, unlike the other actors, she doesn’t even try to put on a German accent) and has learned about intelligence work from enjoying films at the cinema. On this ridiculous premise, the film wobbles along in a highly entertaining manner. 

Liam Neeson isn’t too bad as the Nazi officer General Franze-Otto Dietrich. John Gielgud isn’t very well used as the agent “Sunflower”. And Joely Richardson is fairly watchable as the double agent Margrete von Eberstein. 

There are plenty of implausible moments but the film does have a few things in its favour. There are a few exciting sequences and Douglas and Griffith both have charm. But it’s so far-fetched and silly (with several unintentionally funny moments) that you wonder if it would’ve been better played as a comedy.

Jumpin' Jack Flash (1986)

Comedy spy thriller directed by Penny Marshall, and very much in the style of Beverly Hills Cop. 

Whoopi Goldberg plays a bank worker who gets involved in international intrigue after her office computer is hacked into.

There are a few funny bits, but not nearly enough. One amusing scene has Whoopi trying to make out the words to the title song by the Rolling Stones and not being able to make sense of Mick Jagger’s phrasing.

The most interesting aspect is seeing what state-of-the-art office computing looked like in 1986.

The Fault in Our Stars (2014)

Adapted from the novel by John Green and directed by Josh Boone, this is a romance about two teens with terminal cancer. It’s more watchable than that description might suggest. 

Shailene Woodley and Ansel Elgort star as the main couple, Hazel and Gus, and both are fairly compelling. Since it’s very much from a teen perspective, the adults are oddly marginalised. Laura Dern just about has a role as Hazel’s mother, but Sam Trammell is a complete nothing of a character as her father.

Another interesting aspect is Hazel’s (dying) wish to seek out an obscure author whose work she admires (played by Willem Dafoe). When she eventually meets him, in Amsterdam, he’s a disappointingly unpleasant alcoholic. It’s a slightly odd plot – especially when he shows up again, and surprisingly hasn’t been humbled or redeemed by his encounters with the innocently adoring fan.

An unusual affair all round, but it certainly makes you think.

Half Nelson (2006)

Excellent drama directed by Ryan Fleck.

Ryan Gosling stars as a troubled New York school teacher. When one of his young students (Shareeka Epps) discovers him taking drugs in the bathroom, the pair form an unusual relationship. 

It’s a powerful and gritty story, subtly written and brilliantly acted. As well as the two leads, there’s Anthony Mackie as Frank, a local drug dealer who has his own problems. 

It could have become sentimental and trite, but there are no easy resolutions offered and it remains disturbing and  depressing. 

The music is by Canadian band Broken Social Scene.

Persuasion (2007)

Excellent television adaptation of the 1817 novel by Jane Austen. Directed by Adrian Shergold, it transcends the usual limitations of TV drama.

There’s something very fresh and even raw about it – both visually and emotionally – and this makes it feel much more real. 

Sally Hawkins is superb as Anne Elliot, conveying a huge range of emotions with her face alone. Rupert Penry-Jones is fine as Captain Wentworth, but less impressive overall.

It's nice to see the familiar Bath city locations as well as a very cold-looking Lyme Regis.

The Peacemaker (1997)

Excellent thriller directed by Mimi Leder. 

George Clooney and Nicole Kidman have to save the world after 10 nuclear weapons are stolen by Russians.

It’s genuinely exciting, with some particularly strong scenes – one set on a bridge and another in the streets of New York City. It’s the sort of film you wish the 1990s James Bond instalments had been, with strong characters, credible geopolitics, tight plotting, and a convincing scenario. The Pierce Brosnan films, sadly, had none of those things.

Kidman impresses more than usual as a senior member of the National Security Council turned action hero.

Belle (2013)

Somewhat stilted period drama directed by Amma Asante. 

The premise is intriguing enough – the upbringing of an illegitimate girl is entrusted to William Murray, Earl of Mansfield, the Lord Chief Justice (Tom Wilkinson), who lives in Kenwood House, Hampstead. The girl's mixed-race background is a cause of controversy within the Earl's social standing.

This is based on a true story inspired by the 1779 painting of Dido Elizabeth Belle, but – frustratingly – events have been changed and fictionalised for the purposes of this film. Why invent parts of the plot when the truth is more interesting? 

The older actors are impressive – Penelope Wilton, Emily Watson and Tom Wilkinson – but the two would-be sisters Gugu Mbatha-Raw and Sarah Gadon, are surprisingly flat for such important roles. And annoyingly, it wasn't even filmed at Kenwood.

Allied (2016)

Entertaining wartime thriller directed by Robert Zemeckis. 

Brad Pitt and Marion Cotillard star as a Canadian intelligence officer and French resistance fighter. They fall in love, while pretending to be a married couple for a military mission in Casablanca. They move to London as the war continues, but is everything as it seems? 

Zemeckis brings his usual high quality of storytelling, and the narrative keeps you guessing until the end. Pitt is OK rather than spectacular (as usual), but Cotillard steals the show with a much more impressive, nuanced and well-rounded performance.

The Matrix (1999)

Written and directed by the Wachowskis, this much hyped sci-fi thriller turns out to be a huge disappointment. It's dull and vacuous, as well as tonally all over the place. 

The dialogue is trite, preventing any development of the characters (weakly portrayed by Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne and Carrie-Anne Moss). There's an ugly aesthetic, too. The plot isn’t explained very well and there's not even much action – just a lot of “enigmatic” non-conversations that go nowhere. You get no sense whatsoever of the wider world or the notion that humanity is in peril. 

I really couldn’t see what all the fuss was about.

Dying of the Light (2014)

Simplistic, one-dimensional thriller that was disowned by writer/director Paul Schrader and some of the cast. 

Nicolas Cage plays a CIA man intent on revenge after he was tortured by a terrorist 22 years previously. The unusual twist is that he is suffering from a form of dementia, which affects not only his memory, but also his moods and behaviour.

It has a low-budget feel and there’s very little action. It seems like a cut-price attempt to make a Jason Bourne film, but without Paul Greengrass’s directorial energy and skill. 

The dementia angle is surprisingly low-key in the plot. I was expecting it to be used as a rationale for all sorts of odd outbursts from Cage.