Get Shorty (1995)

›
Clever mixture of crime and comedy, directed by Barry Sonnenfeld and adapted from the excellent novel by Elmore Leonard.  John Travolta play...

Apollo 18 (2011)

›
“Found footage” horror sci-fi directed by Gonzalo López-Gallego.  Three astronauts are sent on a secret Apollo mission, and the two men that...

The Happening (2008)

›
Comically bad disaster film starring Mark Wahlberg and Zooey Deschanel as a couple on the run from a mysterious airborne virus that has so...

Snake Eyes (1998)

›
Superb conspiracy thriller directed by Brian De Palma.  Nicolas Cage stars as a crooked detective at an Atlantic City boxing match when an ...

The Others (2001)

›
Deeply creepy supernatural thriller.  Nicole Kidman is a mother of two children living in Jersey in 1945. The family begin to hear strange ...

Margin Call (2012)

›
Finance thriller set at the beginning of the 2008 monetary crisis.  When a management division head ( Stanley Tucci ) is fired from a Wall S...

Gone in 60 Seconds (1974)

›
Written, produced and directed by H. B. Halicki, who also stars and serves as the stunt coordinator, this is one of the strangest films I’ve...

Michael Clayton (2007)

›
Confusing “corporate wrongdoing” thriller starring George Clooney and Tilda Swinton .  I found the plot needlessly complicated, with a few ...

The Five Pennies (1959)

›
Musical light drama based on the true-life story of Loring “Red” Nichols (Danny Kaye), a cornet player who rises to fame but has to juggle h...

Contact (1997)

›
Sci-fi directed by Robert Zemeckis , adapted from the Carl Sagan novel. A radio astronomer, Ellie ( Jodie Foster ) discovers deep-space sign...

The Mexican (2001)

›
Foolish amateur gangster Jerry ( Brad Pitt ) has to perform “one last job”, which involves transporting a legendary gun from Mexico back to...

Hereafter (2010)

›
Drama directed by Clint Eastwood .  Matt Damon stars as George Lonegan, a psychic who has chosen to no longer give readings. But then he’s ...

Pan’s Labyrinth (2006)

›
A sort of fairy tale for adults, set in 1944 just after the Spanish Civil War.  Ofelia (Ivana Baquero) and her pregnant mother live with the...

Pork Chop Hill (1959)

›
During the Korean War, Lieutenant Joe Clemons ( Gregory Peck ) leads a regiment to capture and hold Pork Chop Hill for the Americans. Casual...

My Old Lady (2014)

›
Written and directed by Israel Horovitz, who adapted this film from his own play, this is an extremely powerful drama.  Kevin Kline plays M...

Shall We Dance? (2004)

›
Romantic comedy drama.  Richard Gere plays a Chicago lawyer who feels a little jaded with life, despite his successful career and his love...

Contagion (2011)

›
A pandemic thriller made fascinating by the real-world events in the era of Covid 19.  Matt Damon ’s wife (played by Gwyneth Paltrow ) contr...

Forrest Gump (1994)

›
Masterful comedy-drama directed by Robert Zemeckis .  Tom Hanks plays a simple but kindhearted man whose life unexpectedly touches those ar...

The Monuments Men (2014)

›
A handful of military misfits go to Germany towards the end of World War II to locate and retrieve fine art stolen and hidden by the Nazis. ...

The Constant Gardener (2005)

›
Thriller adapted from the John Le Carre novel, with an emotional dimension you wouldn’t usually expect from that genre.  Ralph Fiennes play...

Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool (2017)

›
Biographical drama detailing an unlikely romance between American actress Gloria Grahame (Annette Bening) and a Liverpudlian half her age ( ...

Flood (2007)

›
Disaster film.  A storm surge causes flooding and mass destruction in London. Robert Carlyle has to save the city with the help of his estr...

Eddie the Eagle (2016)

›
Good-natured comedy-drama telling the true story of Michael “Eddie” Edwards, a British ski jumper who represented his country at the 1988 Wi...

Fame (1980)

›
Alan Parker’s engaging drama tells the story of a group of teenagers at the New York High School of Performing Arts. We follow them from the...

Crocodile Dundee (1986)

›
The internet: “A journalist travels to Australia to interview a unique crocodile poacher. When he rescues her from an attack, she invites hi...

The Princess Bride (1987)

›
Fantasy comedy romance directed by Rob Reiner presented as a fairytale story within a story. A grandfather (Peter Falk) reads a book to his...

An American in Paris (1951)

›
Musical. An American artist falls in love with a woman who is already involved with a man he knows. Meanwhile, a wealthy heiress promotes hi...

Bachelorette (2012)

›
So-called comedy that didn’t make me laugh even once. Three friends who seem to have nothing in common ( Kirsten Dunst , Lizzy Caplan and Is...

Mystic River (2003)

›
Compelling drama directed by Clint Eastwood .  Three Boston -based childhood friends are reunited in unhappy circumstances. They discover ho...

3:10 to Yuma (2007)

›
Western.  Arizona, 1884. Christian Bale plays Dan Evans, a rancher who – desperate for money – takes on a job escorting a dangerous crimina...

Slumdog Millionaire (2008)

›
The plot is a little tricky to explain, so here’s what it says on the internet: “A teenager from the slums of Mumbai becomes a contestant on...

Hidden Figures (2016)

›
Based on a true story, Hidden Figures focuses on three female mathematicians who worked for NASA during the Space Race. Despite their brill...

Salmon Fishing in the Yemen (2011)

›
Romantic comedy-drama.  A fisheries expert ( Ewan McGregor ) attempts to help a Yemeni sheikh (Amr Waked) with the expensive and improbable ...

Brassed Off (1996)

›
The Yorkshire mining community of Grimley is threatened when the mine risks closure. Gloria Mullins (Tara Fitzgerald) is sent there to asses...

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 ...

Argo (2012)

›
Superb thriller regarding the real-life events of the so-called “Canadian Caper”.  In November 1979, Iranian extremists stormed the US embas...

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 (...

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 wh...

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...

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 ...

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 right...

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 ho...

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...

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 ...

Elizabethtown (2005)

›
Slightly awkward comedy-drama directed by Cameron Crowe .  Drewe ( Orlando Bloom ) works as a designer for a shoe company and somehow manage...

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...

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...

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 o...