The War of the Roses (1989)

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Black comedy directed by Danny DeVito, who also plays a lawyer narrating the plot. The story deals with a couple, Oliver and Barbara Rose, w...

The Awakening (2011)

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Rebecca Hall stars as Florence Cathcart, a professional debunker of supernatural phenomena, who is sent to a school where spooky goings on h...

Miss Potter (2006)

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Directed by Chris Noonan, this is a biopic of Beatrix Potter focusing on the early part of the writer/illustrator’s career.  I enjoyed it be...

The Net (1995)

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Directed by Irwin Winkler, this is a trashy but enjoyable thriller starring Sandra Bullock as a geeky computer expert whose identity is stol...

Vera Drake (2004)

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Written and directed by Mike Leigh, this is an excellent drama about a 1950s working-class Londoner (Imelda Staunton) who illegally performs...

Career Girls (1997)

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Brilliant comedy-drama written and directed by Mike Leigh. It tells the story of two student friends, played by Katrin Cartlidge and Lynda S...

Comfort & Joy (1984)

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Gentle comedy directed by Bill Forsyth with that director's usual offbeat wit and strong sense of place.  A local radio DJ (Bill Paters...

Secrets & Lies (1996)

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Absolutely masterful drama directed by Mike Leigh. The members of a family find out things about each other that transform their lives as se...

Firefox (1982)

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A truly terrible film directed by Clint Eastwood, who stars as a military pilot tasked with stealing a thought-controlled Soviet fighter air...

Magic (1978)

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Anthony Hopkins is at his absolute best in this riveting drama about a ventriloquist, Charles “Corky” Withers, whose dummy (“Fats”) appears ...

Pollock (2000)

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Absolutely excellent biopic of Jackson Pollock, starring Ed Harris in the title role. The film examines the man’s life and work, exploring h...

A Most Violent Year (2014)

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Excellent thriller directed by J. C. Chandor and set in the early 1980s.  Oscar Isaac stars as a New Yorker whose business – selling oil – i...

Meet Me in St. Louis (1944)

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Judy Garland vehicle directed by Vincente Minnelli.  The story begins in St. Louis in the summer of 1903, and moves through the seasons befo...

The Love Punch (2013)

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Written and directed by Joel Hopkins, this is a lame comedy starring Pierce Brosnan and Emma Thompson as a divorced couple who set off on a ...

Darkest Hour (2017)

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Gary Oldman plays Winston Churchill during his early days as UK Prime Minister during World War II. It’s brilliantly acted but poorly filmed...

Crash (2004)

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An attempt by director Paul Haggis to make a multi-layered, interconnected narrative with a general theme about racism. It partially succeed...

Heathers (1989)

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The blackest of black comedies, directed by Michael Lehmann, this is an unusual film. Winona Ryder stars as one of four girls named Heather ...

Dune: Part Two (2024)

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Almost ridiculously epic and far too long, this second part of the Frank Herbert sci-fi adaptation is again directed by Denis Villeneuve. Pa...

The Thing (1982)

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Directed by John Carpenter, this is an intriguing mixture of horror, sci-fi and psychological drama. Kurt Russell stars as one of a group of...

The Mirror Has Two Faces (1996)

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Barbra Streisand directs and stars as a middle-aged academic, Rose, who begins a relationship with a fellow professor (Jeff Bridges). Both a...

The Glenn Miller Story (1954)

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Biopic of the American band-leader, directed by Anthony Mann.  In the title role, James Stewart seemingly makes very little effort to become...

White Oleander (2002)

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Absolutely superb drama directed by Peter Kosminsky. Michelle Pfeiffer is Ingrid Magnussen, who is sent to prison for murdering an unfaithfu...

The Story of Us (1999)

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Extremely well written and ultimately touching comedy drama about a couple and their marriage.  Ben and Katie (Bruce Willis and Michelle Pfe...

The Blind Side (2009)

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An intriguing drama, directed by John Lee Hancock and adapted from the 2006 book by Michael Lewis. It tells the true story of American footb...

Miss Congeniality (2000)

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So-so comedy directed by Donald Petrie.  Sandra Bullock stars as an FBI agent who goes undercover as a contestant in a beauty pageant after ...

While You Were Sleeping (1995)

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Described as a romantic comedy, this OK film directed by Jon Turteltaub isn’t really funny at all.  Sandra Bullock stars as Lucy, a Chicago ...

The Truman Show (1998)

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Jim Carrey stars as Truman Burbank, a man who doesn’t realise that his whole life has been filmed for a reality TV show broadcast to million...

Dead of Night (1945)

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Extremely unusual Ealing Studios curio. It features a series of short stories framed within one wider narrative. Each of these tales deals w...

Say Anything... (1989)

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

The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (1974)

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Extremely entertaining crime thriller directed by Joseph Sargent and adapted from the 1973 novel by Morton Freedgood. A New York subway trai...

The Hunter (1980)

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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...

The Green Man (1956)

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British black comedy directed by Robert Day.  Alastair Sim, George Cole, Terry-Thomas and Jill Adams star in this delightfully silly frivoli...

What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962)

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Brilliantly disturbing psychological horror thriller film adapted from a novel by Henry Farrell.  Bette Davis and Joan Crawford star as two ...

Lake Placid (1999)

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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 Proposal (2009)

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Romantic comedy directed by Anne Fletcher.  High-powered businesswoman Margaret (Sandra Bullock) will be deported and lose her job at a New ...

Zodiac (2007)

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David Fincher’s highly skilled dramatisation of the remarkable true story about the so-called “Zodiac killer”, who murdered at least five pe...

Madame Bovary (2014)

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Directed by Sophie Barthes, this is a superb adaptation of the 1856 novel by Gustave Flaubert.  Emma Bovary (Mia Wasikowska) finds her marri...

Instinct (1999)

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

Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason (2004)

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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...

About Elly (2009)

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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 ru...

A Separation (2011)

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Remarkable Iranian drama.  When a middle-class couple (Leila Hatami and Peyman Moaadi) split up, the daughter stays with her father and gran...

U-571 (2000)

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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 tr...

Creation (2009)

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An engaging biopic of Charles Darwin, directed by Jon Amiel.  Darwin (Paul Bettany) attempts to complete On the Origin of Species while dea...

The Railway Man (2013)

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Based on a true story from Eric Lomax's memoir.  Patricia (Nicole Kidman) meets railway enthusiast Eric (Colin Firth) and the pair quick...

Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (2017)

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A remarkable drama written, directed and co-produced by Martin McDonagh.  Frances McDormand portrays Mildred Hayes, a grieving woman drawn t...

My One and Only (2009)

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Comedy drama based on the early life of George Hamilton in the 1950s. Renée Zellweger stars. She leaves her husband (Kevin Bacon) after he c...

Adrift (2018)

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

12 Years a Slave (2013)

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Harrowing biographical drama directed by Steve McQueen and based on the 1853 memoir of Solomon Northup.  Chiwetel Ejiofor stars as Northup, ...

New in Town (2009)

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Romantic comedy directed by Jonas Elmer. Hard-edged Miami-based consultant Lucy Hill (Renée Zellweger) is sent to New Ulm, Minnesota, to ove...

The Last Legion (2007)

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