Maria Full of Grace (2004)

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A superb Spanish-language drama written and directed by Joshua Marston.  Maria (Catalina Sandino Moreno) is a 17-year-old Colombian girl who...

Gangs of New York (2002)

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One of Martin Scorsese's lesser works. As a fan, I found this a big disappointment. Fragmented and unfocused, it tells the story of the ...

Days of Wine and Roses (1962)

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Directed by Blake Edwards and adapted from a teleplay, this is an excellent portrayal of alcoholism and its destructive role on a couple’s r...

Custody (2017)

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Award-winning French drama about the fallout of marital separation on an 11-year-old child (Thomas Gioria). It's brilliant but thoroughl...

Anatomy of a Murder (1959)

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Superb courtroom drama directed by Otto Preminger.  James Stewart plays a brilliant but unconventional former district attorney, who acts as...

Christine (1983)

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John Carpenter's superb adaptation of the classic Stephen King novel about a haunted car. It also functions as a teen drama. It's sc...

Finding Neverland (2004)

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Intriguing (partial) biopic of the writer J.M. Barrie.  Barrie is played unexpectedly well by Johnny Depp. Kate Winslet plays Sylvia Llewely...

Evolution (2001)

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Comedy sci-fi directed by Ivan Reitman.  Arizona college professor (David Duchovny) and his geologist pal (Orlando Jones) investigate the si...

The Wings of the Dove (1997)

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Historical drama adapted from the 1902 Henry James novel and directed by Iain Softley.  The wealthy American heiress Milly (Alison Elliott) ...

Nowhere Boy (2009)

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Biopic of the teenage John Lennon, directed by artist Sam Taylor-Wood. Growing up in Liverpool in the 1950s, Lennon (Aaron Johnson) is torn ...

House at the End of the Street (2012)

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Directed by Mark Tonderai, this is a psychological thriller with suggestions of the supernatural. A teenage girl (Jennifer Lawrence) and her...

Hide and Seek (2005)

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Psychological thriller directed by John Polson. New York psychologist Dr. David Callaway (Robert De Niro) finds his wife dead in the bathtub...

The Help (2011)

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Historical drama set in Mississippi in 1963.  Skeeter (Emma Stone), an aspiring author, decides to write a book on African-American maids an...

Suspect (1987)

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American legal mystery thriller. Cher stars as lawyer Kathleen Riley. Liam Neeson plays Carl Wayne Anderson, a homeless Vietnam vet who she ...

Best in Show (2000)

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Absolutely hilarious and finely drawn mockumentary about the Mayflower Kennel Club Dog Show and the fairly extreme dog-owners who are drawn ...

Doubt (2008)

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Compelling drama adapted from the stage play by John Patrick Shanley.  It’s 1964. At a catholic school, the priest, Father Brendan Flynn (Ph...

Last Orders (2001)

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Written and directed by Fred Schepisi, this is a disappointing adaptation of Graeme Swift‘s Booker Prize-winning novel.  When Alex (Michael ...

Space Cowboys (2000)

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Four elderly test pilots are brought out of retirement to save the world from an armed Russian satellite. This unlikely premise unites Clint...

The Deer Hunter (1978)

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A gripping and disturbing war drama directed by Michael Cimino. Three Slavic-American friends (Robert De Niro, Christopher Walken and John S...

Black Swan (2010)

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Brilliant, engaging drama about a young ballet dancer (Natalie Portman), who gets the lead role in a new production of  Swan Lake . Her mani...

The Lady in the Van (2015)

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Nicholas Hytner’s adaptation of Alan Bennett’s memoir about an eccentric old lady who takes up residence on his Camden Town driveway.  Alex ...

Open Range (2003)

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Awkward and stilted western directed by and starring Kevin Costner.  Costner and Robert Duvall play a pair of nomadic cowboys known as “free...

Love Is All You Need (2012)

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Light romantic drama from Denmark, directed by Susanne Bier.  Philip (Pierce Brosnan) is a hard-hearted businessman. Ida (Trine Dyrholm) is ...

Blood Work (2002)

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Enjoyable thriller starring and directed by Clint Eastwood.  The plot features a retired FBI agent attempting to catch a killer. The twist i...

The Jane Austen Book Club (2007)

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Light drama adapted from the novel by Karen Joy Fowler. A group of women (and one man) congregate monthly to discuss the novels of Jane Aust...

A Room with a View (1985)

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Produced by the Merchant Ivory team, this adaptation of E.M. Forster's 1908 novel is arguably the ultimate costumer. A young woman named...

Prisoners (2013)

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A gripping and terrifying thriller directed by Denis Villeneuve.  In Conyers, Pennsylvania, two girls go missing – believed to be abducted. ...

Jackie (2016)

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Directed by Pablo Larraín, this is a sort of biopic about the wife of John F. Kennedy in the days before and after his assassination.  Like...

The Mission (1986)

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A remarkable drama directed by Roland Joffé and written by Robert Bolt. Plot (borrowed from online): "18th century Spanish Jesuits try ...

Viceroy's House (2017)

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A not especially compelling historical drama, set at the time of India’s handover from Britain, and the partitioning of India and Pakistan. ...

The Mercy (2017)

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Directed by James Marsh and based on the true story, this is an account of the amateur sailor Donald Crowhurst, who entered the 1968 Sunday ...

The Mountain Between Us (2017)

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Disaster/survival story that’s also a romance.  A surgeon (Idris Elba) and Guardian journalist (Kate Winslet) survive a plane crash in the ...

Case 39 (2009)

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Genuinely chilling supernatural thriller.  A social worker (the always likeable Renée Zellweger) applies for custody of a girl she believes ...

Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (1991)

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Utterly ridiculous and extremely weak retelling of the standard myth. This film made $390.5 million, but it’s difficult to see why.  Kevin C...

Beyond the Sea (2004)

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Intriguing but flawed biopic of Bobby Darin, written and directed by Kevin Spacey, who also stars as the singer.  It’s a baffling film. The ...

The Weatherman (2005)

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Extremely downbeat drama with flashes of comedy.  Nicolas Cage plays a TV weatherman having problems with his dying father (Michael Caine), ...

The Cutting Edge (1992)

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A sort of romantic comedy, although there could have been a lot more comedy, directed by Paul Michael Glaser.  Prima-donna figure-skater Kat...

The Birds (1963)

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Following Rebecca (1940), this was another Daphne du Maurier adaptation by Alfred Hitchcock. It’s a sort of horror story, set in Bodega Bay...

My Cousin Rachel (2017)

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Superb historical drama adapted from the novel by Daphne du Maurier.  A young man in Cornwall (Sam Claflin) meets his older cousin’s widow (...

The Two Faces of January (2014)

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Directed by Hossein Amini, this is an absolutely stunning thriller adapted from the 1964 novel by Patricia Highsmith.  It’s 1962. American c...

All That Jazz (1979)

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An autobiographical musical drama directed by Bob Fosse. It’s a noble failure – high on ambition, low on satisfaction.  The “story”, what th...

Music and Lyrics (2007)

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Enjoyable romantic comedy directed by Marc Lawrence.  A 1980s pop idol named Alex (Hugh Grant) is tasked with writing a song for a Shakira-l...

The Bridge at Remagen (1969)

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A merely OK war film based on the true story of the Germans and the Allies fighting for control of a strategically vital bridge over the Rh...

The Wolf of Wall Street (2013)

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The curiously featureless face of Leonardo Di Caprio works perfectly to represent the banality of ultra-greed in Martin Scorsese’s audacious...

The Vanishing (1988)

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Hypnotic Dutch thriller.  A man and his wife are holidaying in France when the wife, Saskia (Johanna ter Steege), suddenly goes missing. The...

Seven (1995)

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Atmospheric thriller directed by David Fincher.  A serial killer embarks on a sequence of murders, each of which marks one of the seven dead...

Million Dollar Baby (2004)

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  Clint Eastwood directed, co-produced and scored the music for what may be the greatest film he’s ever been associated with. This is an inc...

Tamara Drewe (2010)

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Skilfully directed by Stephen Frears, this is a comedy-drama adapted from the comic strip by Posy Simmonds, which itself was loosely based o...

Joe Kidd (1972)

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Western written by Elmore Leonard.  Clint Eastwood stars as a former bounty hunter who helps a landowner (Robert Duvall) track down the Mexi...