Magnificent Obsession (1954)

Romantic melodrama with a strong religious agenda, based on a novel by Lloyd C. Douglas (who also wrote The Robe). 

When a wealthy playboy named Bob Merrick (Rock Hudson) crashes his speedboat, he is saved by use of a resuscitator belonging to nearby Dr. Phillips. But the doctor himself requires it at the same time and dies as a result. Merrick falls in love with the doctor’s widow, Helen (Jane Wyman), and tries to change the course of his life through acts of kindness and generosity to her and others. 

There’s a strong (heavy-handed) message promoting Christianity. One character, Edward Randolph (Otto Kruger) even takes on a God-like role, offering spiritual guidance and saintly encouragement. 

It’s a strange film because the main plot thread hinges on Helen going blind and not being able to see that the kindly gent helping her is the same man who inadvertently led to her husband’s death. I thought it was working up to a big moment “reveal” of his true identity, but when it arrives that moment is thrown away and completely peters out. 

Odd as it is being sold an advert for the Christian life, it’s worth watching for the strong performances by Rock Hudson and Jane Wyman. The former in particular has charisma.

The Interpreter (2005)

An interpreter at the United Nations (Nicole Kidman) overhears a conversation that suggests the leader of an African state is to be assassinated when he arrives to make a speech. A recently widowed Secret Service agent (Sean Penn) investigates and senses that she’s not telling the full truth, but the pair are drawn together by their shared losses. 

Directed by Sydney Pollack, it’s a smart and sensitive thriller that’s very nicely shot. Kidman and Penn are both excellently drawn characters and their relationship is subtle and nuanced. Catherine Keener is great as Penn’s professional partner, but doesn’t get given enough lines. 

The plot is complicated and there might be a few loose ends. For example, the phrase that the interpreter overhears doesn’t make sense in the light of what ultimately takes place. But that doesn't spoil an excellent thriller.

Galaxy Quest (1999)

Sci-fi comedy. 

The cast of a TV show that's very similar to Star Trek find themselves in a real-life space adventure when their episodes are intercepted by aliens who regard them as “historical documents”. 

Tim Allen, Sigourney Weaver and Alan Rickman are all superb as the faded celebrity actors who are required to become their fictional counterparts. 

It works as both a satire and an example of a sci-fi story. It's silly and in places very funny.

Gremlins (1984)

Comedy-horror. 

A boy is given a small, furry creature for Christmas. But his new pet spawns further little cuties that become a lot less appealing when they then transform into mischievous, giggling little monsters. 

It’s a clever film that works as a sort of fairy tale and also as a homage to previous monster films, many of which are seen on TVs in the background of this film. 

It’s inventive how each gremlin is given its own identity, and the scene in which they take over an entire cinema is an imaginative delight. 

Plot-wise, it only works because no one ever asks what species the creatures are or seems especially surprised to see such a remarkable life-form. But it's not really about the plot. It's more of an excuse to cram as many different gremlin scenarios as possible into 106 minutes and it achieves this in a way that's hugely entertaining.

The Terminal (2004)

Baffling Steven Spielberg comedy-drama. Tom Hanks plays Viktor Navorski, an Eastern European man who ends up stuck in J.F.K. airport when his country suffers a coup and war breaks out. Unable to return there or to gain access to New York City, he begins a frustrating, surreal life within the airport itself. 

It dabbles with romantic comedy when he falls for an air hostess (Catherine Zeta-Jones). He also has to deal with the Acting Field Commissioner (Stanley Tucci), who wants to get rid of him. In the meantime he becomes a sort of celebrity among the airport staff, which include Diego Luna, Kumar Pallana and Zoë Saldaña. 

The big flaw of the film is that Stanley Tucci’s fixation with removing Viktor is never really explained. Surely a man that busy would have too many other important things to do. Another problem is that the romance plot fizzles out and a more sentimental quest to honour his father’s wishes takes over. Worse than that, there’s a big loose end relating to the way Stanley Tucci threatens to get rid of Viktor’s friends. Also, John Williams’ soupy music is too prominent. 

Despite all of this, Hanks is excellent and the premise is intriguing and unusual. It’s just a shame that Spielberg somehow lost his way in the second half.

Robocop (1987)

Brilliant satire of violence and corporate power by Paul Verhoeven, who would later direct the equally superb Starship Troopers. It’s a simple story – dead cop is brought back to life in cybernetic form to fight crime. But he also begins to recall his human life and feelings.

Peter Weller is excellent in the lead role, as is Nancy Allen as his cop partner. It's to the film's great credit that it develops the pair’s relationship without going down the obvious "romance" route.

It’s exciting, and also funny, with the blackest humour imaginable – cheerfully brutal. As the narrative evolves it becomes increasingly compassionate and surprisingly emotional.

One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975)

Masterpiece directed by Miloš Forman and adapted from Ken Kesey’s novel.

Jack Nicholson stars as McMurphy, who is committed to a mental hospital after faking insanity. There, he disrupts the routine maintained by the controlling Nurse Ratched (Louise Fletcher) and gives the other patients a sense of liberation through his freewheeling attitude and irreverent humour. 

It’s incredibly moving. As a human drama it is heartbreaking. It also tackles themes of power, identity and freedom, but in a subtle and sometimes darkly amusing way.

The in-mates, played by actors including Christopher Lloyd and Danny DeVito, are fully fleshed-out characters in their own right, adding real depth to the drama. Will Sampson has huge presence as the "Chief", who pretends to be deaf and dumb. Brad Dourif is superb playing the frail, stuttering Billy Bibbit, whose fears are exploited with devastating consequences. And Jack Nicholson is almost supernaturally potent in the lead role. You cannot take your eyes off him.

The Greatest Showman (2017)

This film is so different to anything I have seen before. Superficially it’s a musical biopic of the circus impresario P.T. Barnum. However it’s not really about the story at all, and there’s very little dialogue. It’s built around the songs and the spectacular choreography and lighting. It doesn’t look “realistic” and it doesn’t even try to. Instead it presents a kind of hyper reality in which the colours are more colourful and the lights are brighter and deeper. There is a fairly heavy-handed message about embracing diversity, and in that sense this film could only have been made now. With these themes there’s no way it could have been produced even 10 years ago. 

The songs are strong and it’s visually remarkable. Plus, Hugh Jackman is likeable in the central role – even if his character is given an almost Jesus-like level of idealisation. Michelle Williams is less impressive as his wife, mainly because she isn’t fleshed out as a character. You could argue that it’s emotionally shallow, but penetrating psychological drama is not what this film is about. Instead, it’s a big, loud, fast-moving in-your-face spectacle.

The Silence of the Lambs (1991)

This scared the pants off me – possibly even more so than on first viewing 30 years ago.

Adapted from the Thomas Harris novel, it’s a psychological thriller with more intelligence than your standard film from that genre. Trainee FBI agent Clarice Starling (Jodie Foster) tries to capture a serial killer nicknamed Buffalo Bill (Ted Levine) with the help of another killer, who is living out his life in prison – Hannibal “the Cannibal” Lecter (Anthony Hopkins).

Director Jonathan Demme’s masterstroke is to make it as much about the Starling/Lector relationship as it is about solving the case. He develops both characters brilliantly, sometimes filming them face-on for added intensity – without making it look like a tricksy fourth-wall device. Lector is a talented psychiatrist with the uncanny ability to get inside people’s heads, and Hopkins captures that quality with perfect menace. He plays the character as a refined gentleman who just happens to like eating people. Foster also gives the performance of a lifetime, being forced to confront the fears from her childhood alongside the very real terrors of her new job.

The climax, in which Starling is stalked by Buffalo Bill in total darkness while he wears night-vision goggles – accompanied by The Fall’s “Hip Priest” on the soundtrack – is as hypnotic and chilling as cinema ever gets.

The Jazz Singer (1980)

The 1927 film The Jazz Singer starred Al Jolson and went down in history as the first full-length “talking” motion picture. This remake casts Neil Diamond in the Al Jolson role of the synagogue cantor whose father (Laurence Olivier) wants him to follow in the family tradition of strict religious observance. Neil, however, has other plans and wants to become a rock star. He takes off to L.A., abandoning his wife (Catlin Adams) and hooking up with music agent Molly (Lucie Arnaz).

It’s a fascinating film because of the way it presents Neil Diamond. Is he credible as a rock star? Not really, but he does have undeniable on-stage charisma. It's not a musical in the Singing in the Rain sense, but it does feature lots of him singing on stage.

My DVD is incredibly grainy and low-res. Probably the film has been remastered since, but the version I have is almost unwatchable.

Ransom (1996)

Thriller in which Mel Gibson and Rene Russo star as the wealthy parents of a boy kidnapped by Gary Sinise and his gang. Rather than pay the $2 million, Gibson's character takes matters into his own hands and creates a bounty for the kidnapper. 

It’s taut if trashy, and it keeps you engaged. Russo and Sinese are watchable, as always, but Gibson is oddly overwrought. It’s partly the character – he plays a loose cannon reckless enough to take the ransom process off-piste and gamble his son’s life in the process – but it’s partly just his odd acting. 

There’s a sort of theme about macho behaviour, with the two male characters trying to dominate each other, but it’s not entirely believable. Gibson simply isn’t convincing as a dad or husband, and he has remarkably little chemistry with Russo. In fact, his character comes across as a total weirdo. (What kind of parent thinks he knows more about kidnap strategy than the FBI?) A plot thread about him having lied to his wife promised to take the film in a more interesting direction – i.e., with the criminal exploiting their divisions to play the couple off against one another – but strangely that possibility isn’t explored beyond an initial hint. Also, it fails my standard test of a film’s quality in that the minor characters are cardboard cut-outs instead of being developed and given their own motivations.  

Slow-motion action sequences are never a good sign in a thriller, and there are too many here. I also found the black-and-white treatment applied to the closing moments a little naff and unnecessary. 

Ron Howard is usually a dependable director, but you can’t help feeling that this one somehow got away from him.

Collateral Damage (2002)

Action thriller. Arnold Schwarzenegger stars as a fireman whose wife and son are killed by a Colombian terrorist known as The Wolf (Cliff Curtis). Inevitably, Arnie takes the law into his hands to seek revenge, travelling into the heart of the Colombian guerrilla operation and teaming up with The Wolf’s wife (Francesca Neri) and son. 

It’s sort of exciting despite never bothering much with a script or any fresh ideas. The characters are fairly one-dimensional and it’s arguably quite racist, too. There are visual and thematic hints of Apocalypse Now, but without any of the sophistication or flair of that film. And when Arnie has to show emotions – as this plot demands – not very much happens.

Erin Brockovich (2000)

Superb biographical whistleblower thriller/human drama starring Julia Roberts as the young legal clerk who took on Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) and sued them for water contamination in Hinkley, California. 

Roberts is remarkable in this role – she makes every moment of every scene count. It’s such a vivid and entirely believable performance that it's difficult to imagine anyone else doing it better. Albert Finney is excellent, too. He plays her boss, a lawyer nearing retirement, whose cynicism is challenged by Erin’s refreshingly unorthodox approach. 

Directed by Steven Soderbergh, it looks good too. He really captures the beauty of the dusty California landscapes that contain an ugly secret. It’s a long film, but every detail matters and contributes something to the unfolding drama. Character and story are kept central throughout.

To Catch a Thief (1955)

Unusual Hitchcock thriller. 

A retired jewel thief (Cary Grant) living on the French Riviera has to track down a new “cat” burglar whose crimes are being wrongly attributed to him. Grace Kelly plays the young woman he romances along the way. 

It’s not as exciting as Hitchcock’s best films, despite the rooftop drama at the climax. There’s jarringly odd lighting, too, with super-bright studio shots and less-bright location shots often clashing when edited together in the same scenes. It seems unfair to criticise these technical limitations, but the juxtaposition is striking enough to jolt you out of the narrative again and again. 

Grant and Kelly have a certain easy charm, but for some reason the whole thing seems a little lacking.

Confidence (2003)

Thriller about a group of con artists (led by Edward Burns) who get mixed up with a creepy crime boss called The King (Dustin Hoffman) and plan an elaborate banking scam. 

James Foley’s direction is flashy and a little tricksy, but the story – although complex – is a good one. Also, the acting is uniformly strong. Paul Giamatti and Rachel Weisz are both effective as members of the con team, while Andy García is convincing-but-underused as Special Agent Gunther Butan. 

The plotting can be difficult to keep up with, but it just about holds together if you don’t ask too many “But what if…” questions about timing and motivation.

Arabesque (1966)

Gregory Peck and Sophia Loren star in a silly comedy thriller about an archaeology professor thrust into a criminal adventure when tasked with decoding some ancient hieroglyphs.

It’s shot in an inventive way, with the use of mirrors and reflections, plus strange angles and vantage points. There’s a great scene in which a drugged Peck weaves in and out of motorway traffic, with the film rendering his altered perception. 

The problem is that it’s just not very entertaining. The parts played for comedy simply aren’t funny. The script is poor, and – other than Peck and Loren – the acting is woeful. Worst of all, the villain (played by a hammy Alan Badel) is absolutely awful.

Would I watch it again? Absolutely not.

Suddenly (1954)

Rather unexceptional drama about a fake FBI agent (played by Frank Sinatra) who attempts to kill the US President. He and his henchmen take over the Benson family’s house in the town of Suddenly, California, in order to aim their gun at the railway station where the President is shortly due to arrive. 

Although there’s some excitement in the ticking-clock countdown to the planned assassination at 5pm, the performances are mainly wooden and/or half-baked. Sinatra has a definite magnetism and out-performs everyone else, but there’s a B-movie feel that it cannot rise above. 

It’s mostly interesting for its attitudes. Ellen (Nancy Gates) wants to prevent her son playing with a toy gun, but her boyfriend, the sheriff (Sterling Hayden) tells her “Stop being a woman!” Shocking stuff. The “moral” seems to be that guns are great – unless a psychopath happens to get hold of one – and that masculinity is incomplete without them. 

The most remarkable aspect of the film is explained by Wikipedia: “Sinatra asked United Artists to withdraw Suddenly from circulation because he heard the rumor that Lee Harvey Oswald had seen it before shooting President Kennedy. According to Hollywood legend, Sinatra bought up all remaining copies of Suddenly and had them destroyed, but this was not true.”

Saturday Night Fever (1977)

The way John Travolta walks, talks and moves in this film is so effortlessly cool that you can only imagine the entire role was constructed around him. By day he works in a hardware shop in New York. At night, he dances in the local clubs where his astonishing moves have earned him a level of respect he cannot find in regular society, nor in his home life.  

It tackles issues including religion, class, social mobility, gender roles and the state of New York in the 1970s, but never in a heavy-handed manner.

Both incredibly dramatic and desperately sad, in some ways it’s a New York version of the sort of stories told in Billy Liar and Saturday Night and Sunday Morning – a young man tries to rise above his background to make his way in the world while negative forces conspire to keep him down.

Some Kind of Wonderful (1987)

John Hughes teen drama that ranks as the very best example of its kind. 

Looking like a young Luke Skywalker, Eric Stolz is Keith, a sensitive artist and mechanic from a blue-collar background in suburban Los Angeles. Keith resists his father’s wishes to send him to college. Mary Stuart Masterson is Watts, his tomboy best friend who loves drumming and who has been secretly in love with Keith for years. And then there’s Lea Thompson as Amanda Jones, the girl Keith thinks he’s in love with. But nasty guy Hardy Jenns (Craig Sheffer) has other ideas about who Amanda should be dating. 

It's hugely entertaining and very charming. The storytelling is superb. The three leads are all spot-on. It’s extremely earnest and it takes itself very seriously, which seems absolutely the right approach because that’s how teenagers are too. It’s romantic and silly at the same time. The usual 1980s preoccupations with social mobility dominate, alongside some morals about being your own true self rather than being fake with others. 

Note: the names Keith, Watts and Amanda Jones are all Rolling Stones references. Presumably the drumming gimmick was also added in reference to Charlie Watts.

I haven’t enjoyed a "youth" film this much since Teen Wolf.

Presumed Innocent (1990)

Rusty Sabich (Harrison Ford) is a prosecutor who is charged with the murder of his colleague and mistress Carolyn Polhemus (Greta Scacchi).

Adapted from the novel by Scott Turow, this film is directed – slowly and unremarkably – by Alan J. Pakula. The two leads are strong but it’s a little flat overall. Worse than that, the motivation of the killer is muddled and there are loose ends that mean the plot doesn’t really work. 

There’s a greeny/brown, turgid quality to the visuals. Overall, it’s surprisingly workmanlike and unrewarding. Yet somehow it made $200 million.

Would I watch it again? No.

The Light Between Oceans (2016)

In the aftermath of World War I, Tom (Michael Fassbender) goes to work on a remote lighthouse on Janus Rock, off the coast of Australia. He marries a local woman (Alicia Vikander) but their wish to have children is thwarted when Isabel twice miscarries. Then they find a baby lost at sea and washed up on their beach. The decision to keep it and pretend it’s their own child rather than report the discovery becomes the defining moment of their lives. 

It’s a harrowing drama that’s brilliantly done. Both of the stars are entirely believable. You can feel their love for one another and their pain when things go wrong. Rachel Weisz is also excellent as the child’s actual mother. 

The landscapes look beautiful, with a special kind of light. The music, by Alexandre Desplat, is fitting for a story that’s – at various points – romantic, moving and emotional.

Before I Go to Sleep (2014)

Psychological thriller.

Nicole Kidman stars as Christine, a woman who lost her memory 10 years ago. Each morning her husband Ben (Colin Firth) has to tell her who she is and what happened to her, because she can’t remember anything from before the last time she slept. What trauma caused her to forget everything? Why is Ben concealing certain facts? And what are the motives of the neuroscientist (Mark Strong) who offers to help her without Ben’s knowledge?

It’s an intriguing premise – somewhere between Memento and Groundhog Day. Plot-wise there were some questionable aspects. Why doesn’t Christine simply keep a notebook and add information as she learns it? There’s a digital camera (supplied by the neuroscientist), but how does it get new batteries? What stops its memory from filling up? And how are the photos on the wall explained once the big twist has been revealed?

On the plus side, the English landscapes (such as Greenwich Park) look better than they usually do in films.

Outbreak (1995)

Disaster film detailing the outbreak of a deadly virus brought from Zaire to the USA by an infected monkey. Army virologist Dustin Hoffman and scientist Rene Russo play a divorced couple who team up again in their attempts to save the world. They are helped by Kevin Spacey but hindered by army generals played by Morgan Freeman and Donald Sutherland. 

It’s a fast-paced thriller that’s a little trashy but nevertheless exciting. A surprising number of helicopters feature, with James Bond-like copter chases providing some of the action. Unlike Contagion, it’s not especially illuminating in regard to the Covid-19 pandemic. The focus is more on the military response to the problem rather than individuals’ experience of it.

Script-wise it could have been stronger, but there’s so much happening, so quickly, that you don’t really notice.

The Commuter (2018)

Former New York cop Michael MacCauley (Liam Neeson) has taken the same daily train in and out of the city, morning and evening, for 10 years. On the day he loses his insurance job, he is approached by a stranger (Vera Farmiga), who recruits him to commit a crime in exchange for money. 

This is a taut action thriller directed by Jaume Collet-Serra, who also made 2014’s Non-Stop. In fact, it’s quite similar in many ways: Neeson confined to a speeding vehicle while needing to solve a mystery to save his own life – and the lives of others. 

It’s both silly and exciting, and it keeps you guessing to the end. Sam Neill is underused as a police chief, and Elizabeth McGovern is underused as MacCauley’s wife.

 Neeson looks really old. He was about 65 at the time, and seems increasingly unlikely as an action hero by this point. But he does have charisma and there’s something compelling about watching him yet again work his way out of a fix.

As Good as It Gets (1997)

Superb comedy about a bitter romantic novelist named Melvin Udall (Jack Nicholson), who insults everyone he meets. He also lives with OCD, avoiding the cracks in the pavements and disposing of soap bars after a single use. When he’s forced to look after a neighbour’s dog, his compassionate side slowly begins to emerge. A lesser film would have made the most of that and gone no further than a simple man-with-pet comedy, but this complex character study evolves into something deeper and goes a lot further into exploring human behaviour. 

Helen Hunt is absolutely superb as the cafe waitress that Nicholson falls in love with but is unable to articulate his feelings towards. Her three-dimensional character seems entirely real. Less convincingly Greg Kinnear plays Melvin’s gay artist neighbour, who Melvin slowly begins to accept and like – despite all his prejudices. 

It’s an intelligent film with no easy answers. It works as a romantic comedy, but it’s the least formulaic example of that genre I can imagine. 

It leaves you with a lot to think about, not least whether the OCD community think it’s a fair portrayal of that condition.

Love Actually (2003)

Comedy-drama written and directed by Richard Curtis. Utilising an all-star cast, it weaves together several narrative threads with a common theme of love set in the days leading up to Christmas. Some of them work better than others, but the problem with having so many stories running in parallel is that they all get merely superficial treatment. 

I would have liked more detail on the plots involving Colin Firth/Lúcia Moniz (couple fall in love but speak different languages), Hugh Grant/Martine McCutcheon (Prime Minister falls for junior member of staff) and Alan Rickman/Emma Thompson (married managing director is tempted by his secretary). The Bill Nighy story (past-his-prime rocker attempts comeback) is silly but occasionally amusing. However, the threads concerning Keira Knightley (new husband’s best friend is in love with her), Martin Freeman (acts in nude scenes with a girl but becomes paradoxically shy when asking her out) and Kris Marshall (goes to America to find a female who’ll sleep with him) could all have been ditched entirely to let the other parts breathe a little. 

The worst segments involve Liam Neeson’s precocious stepchild – a horribly self-conscious little know-all played by Thomas Sangster. This child is apparently unruffled by the recent death of his mother, but lectures his stepdad on the nature of relationships. There’s also a daft airport scene in which his antics would have probably got him shot by anti-terrorist security guards. 

It was also baffling that the same song (“Love Is All Around”) had to be revived from an earlier Richard Curtis film: Four Weddings and a Funeral. Maybe it was a self-referential joke, but couldn't they just have come up with another love song? There’s no shortage. 

I admire the ambition, and there were some genuinely funny moments, but it ended up being a sprawling mess. Woody Allen could have done much more with the raw material and handled the complex storytelling with greater skill.

Gloria (1999)

A brilliant hybrid of crime thriller and human drama. 

Sharon Stone plays a woman who has just got out of prison and returned to see her gangster boyfriend (Jeremy Northam) in New York. But one of his henchmen has just shot dead a family, leaving only a seven-year-old boy alive. Gloria grows attached to the child and tries to save him – and herself – from a life of crime. 

It’s a touching and funny story. Both Gloria and the boy have a brash, smart-talking exterior that masks their true vulnerability, and they bring out the best in each other. 

Directed by Sidney Lumet, it’s lively and exciting but also full of unsentimental warmth and charm. The script is sharp, and Stone gets some witty lines. She’s magnetic and highly convincing. Jean-Luke Figueroa is superb for a child actor, too, simultaneously expressing toughness and fragility.

Gloria lost money and was critically panned – perhaps because people were more fond of the 1980 film it remade. It deserves more credit, though, as it’s hugely enjoyable.

Lucy (2014)

Generally entertaining but extremely silly sci-fi thriller. 

Lucy (Scarlett Johansson) gains extraordinary mental and physical abilities when the full capacity of her brain is unleashed by a wonder drug. Unfortunately, a bunch of South Korean gangsters want to kill her. Morgan Freeman, meanwhile, plays a well-meaning scientist who tries to help her. 

The plot, which includes dinosaurs and time travel, only works if you go along with the premise that unlocking brain power would essentially make you a superhero. And as with superhero films, it suffers from a problem – that is, once anything is possible, nothing really works as drama. Someone who can do anything is no longer a protagonist you can relate to. 

The main draw is the visual flair that director Luc Besson brings. It looks imaginative and psychedelic even if it makes little real sense. There’s also a lot of violence that we could probably have done without. 

A far stronger film on a similar topic is Limitless (2011), which not only keeps to its own “rules” but also creates engaging characters you can actually relate to.

A Bridge Too Far (1977)

Alternative title: An Hour Too Long. 

During World War II, Operation Market Garden was an Allied operation that took place in September 1944. It aimed to secure key river crossings, enabling a route from the Netherlands into northern Germany – culminating with the strategically vital Arnhem bridge. 

That real-life saga is brought to life with mixed results. Unfortunately, at nearly three hours it’s excessively drawn out. The film gets off to a very slow start, too, and it’s a full 52 minutes until the first shot is fired. There are a lot of characters and plenty of time is used up introducing them and generally setting the scene. It’s an extreme example of the all-star cast, cramming in key roles for Dirk Bogarde, James Caan, Michael Caine, Sean Connery, Denholm Elliott, Edward Fox, Elliott Gould, Gene Hackman, Anthony Hopkins, Ryan O'Neal, Laurence Olivier and Robert Redford. The ensemble approach works reasonably enough and it adds scope, but it does mean you don’t get to know – or care about – any particular individual very well. 

Despite the jaunty music at times and the sense that for the posh Brits it’s all just a jolly jape, there’s a strong message about the brutality of war and the film doesn’t hold back from showing the realities of injury and death. 

It’s superior to the likes of The Great Escape and The Longest Day, although still oddly unsatisfying. It fails to convey why these battles are so important or to provide a wider context of how they fit into the war.

Get Shorty (1995)

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

John Travolta plays Chili Palmer, a loan shark from Miami who starts getting involved in the film world after going to L.A. on a job. He meets a horror director (Gene Hackman), a famous Hollywood star (Danny DeVito) and a glamorous B-movie actor (Rene Russo). But unfortunately there are gangsters out to get him (Dennis Farina, Delroy Lindo and James Gandolfini). 

It’s punchy and witty, with the twists and turns of Leonard’s plot captured well. Travolta is perfect in the lead role, and Russo has an easy charm. They both add to the appealing quirkiness.

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 land on the lunar surface find evidence of sinister alien life. 

Even though the aliens are essentially rock creatures, the film never turns silly. There’s a lot of threat and tension, made more extreme by the “authentically” fuzzy, distressed footage. 

It’s a little like a cross between The Blair Witch Project and Alien, but it's refreshingly different too.

The only criticism is that it’s never explained how the footage is recovered.

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 something to do with wind and trees. 

The logic doesn’t really make sense. There’s a theme about planet Earth being angry at the way we’ve treated it. But the story can’t seem to tell the difference between the chemistry of trees and the weather that causes the wind that makes them move. 

The two stars are poorly directed and end up seeming laughable. It’s a shame because the premise – people in parks inexplicably kill themselves – could have been an interesting one. 

Somehow, The Happening grossed $163 million worldwide.

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 assassination of the Defence Secretary takes place. He’s there with his best friend – a U.S. Navy Commander (played by Gary Sinise), who knows more about the killing than he initially lets on. Carla Gugino plays an analyst who gets mixed up in the drama. 

It’s brilliantly and flamboyantly directed, from the long, uninterrupted opening shot to the overhead views looking down into the hotel rooms. It’s flashily done, but never at the expense of lucid storytelling. The multiple viewpoint shots used to revisit the crime scene and reveal what really happened were also a nice touch. 

Cage is incredibly magnetic and hugely watchable. There’s so much going on in every moment of his performance that it's really quite remarkable.

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 noises and see odd things in their large old house. They are joined by a new housekeeper, a gardener and a mute girl, and the inexplicable happenings become more frequent. It’s difficult to say more without spoil the film, which all hinges on one massive plot twist. 

Kidman is superb as a woman on the edge, driven by love for her children and a profound sense of loss after her husband failed to return from the war. Fionnula Flanagan is perfect as the housekeeper Bertha Mills – an initially reassuring and later fairly unsettling presence. The suspense is built up expertly, with added tension coming from the reactions of the children to the way events unfold. 

Music by writer/director Alejandro Amenábar adds to the sense of threat, and the uncanny atmosphere – big, dark echoing spaces, the persistently swirling mist outside – is sustained well.

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 Street investment bank, he passes a memory stick to a junior banker (Zachary Quinto). It turns out that he has uncovered the perilous state of the company. The matter is escalated up through the ranks of bosses played by Paul Bettany, Kevin Spacey, Demi Moore and Jeremy Irons. 

Set in a 24-hour period, the film builds its drama from the human situation alone. There are no car chases or guns, no explosions or fights. It examines the ethical issues of the company selling off worthless packages in order to save its own privileged few. 

Spacey is brilliant as seemingly the only employee with a conscience, not coincidentally making him the one character you can emphasise with. Bettany is highly watchable as the (possibly suicidal) head of credit trading.

It’s very nicely shot, too: lush and stylish in a way that really understands the faceless aesthetics of the corporate world.

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 ever seen. In many ways, it's not really a film at all. In places it merely seems like raw camera footage.

The “plot” – what there is of one – focuses on a group of thieves who need to steal 48 different cars in just a few days. The lengthy set-up is muddled and poorly done, with almost zero drama in terms of the human interactions. The thread about insurance isn't properly explained, and a thread about discovering bags of heroin is needlessly thrown away. 

It's unusual on a technical level, too. The basic production values are shoddy and amateur-ish, as if it’s a home-made film or school art project. Camera work is blurred, framing is poor and the “dialogue” (much of it not even scripted) is difficult to hear. The sound of a creaking chair, meanwhile, is all too audible.

Where the film redeems itself is with the 40-minute car chase that fills the second half. Suddenly Halicki reveals himself to have a real talent for action sequences. The Mustang car named Eleanor evades police and other pursuers in increasingly improbable and remarkable ways, while becoming progressively more battered and ruined. 

Because Halicki was essentially just “winging it”, many of the extras are real people doing real things in real places. (Halicki’s wife introduces the film and explains that actual policemen, fireman and members of the public were included.) That gives the film an extra value – it's like peering into 1974 and seeing what it was actually like, without the usual artifice Hollywood serves up. 

Michael Clayton (2007)

Confusing “corporate wrongdoing” thriller starring George Clooney and Tilda Swinton. 

I found the plot needlessly complicated, with a few loose ends, and the “four days earlier” contrivance made that worse.

Clooney is always highly watchable, even if his perfect, unruffled hair looks too good to be true. Tom Wilkinson is compelling as an attorney in the middle of a mental meltdown.

But storytelling that loses you so early on can be frustrating to play catch-up with, and for that reason I never felt fully engrossed.

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 his career with his responsibilities to his wife (Barbara Bel Geddes of “Miss Ellie from Dallas” fame) and daughter (played by both Susan Gordon and Tuesday Weld). The Dixieland jazz is lively and entertaining, and Louis Armstrong (appearing as himself) is a delight.

The human drama material is slightly less convincing, with Bel Geddes seeming oddly stiff and inanimate – the very opposite of Danny Kaye. You wish they’d hired Doris Day instead for that part, but perhaps they wanted someone who wouldn’t upstage the main star. 

It’s vividly colourful and there’s a lot of charm. In some ways it’s similar to Young Man with a Horn. 

Danny Kaye is a treat to watch, and genuinely funny too.

Contact (1997)

Sci-fi directed by Robert Zemeckis, adapted from the Carl Sagan novel.

A radio astronomer, Ellie (Jodie Foster) discovers deep-space signals of intelligent life. These turn out to include instructions on how to visit their distant system. 

The slow build-up is interesting. I like the way that political and religious interests get in the way of the pure science that Ellie represents, as this seems quite “real” in terms of how people might react to this sort of news. 

The “space” content of the film occupies only a few minutes of the lengthy running time. In some ways that’s disappointing, and what you actually see feels like a cop-out, but really this is a story about humans’ reactions to learning we are not alone in the universe – rather than a saga about aliens. 

Foster is highly convincing in the lead role. Cameos from John Hurt and Rob Lowe don’t add a great deal, but James Woods is always enjoyable to watch. Matthew McConaughey is OK as Foster’s love interest, a Christian whose spiritual leanings meet in the middle with Foster’s scientific rationality.

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 the USA. Predictably, nothing goes to plan. Events are further complicated when his girlfriend (Julia Roberts) is kidnapped by another gangster (James Gandolfini) and the pair develop a strange friendship. 

This is a comedy thriller with an unusual tone. It flits between tense moments and genuinely funny ones – a tricky balancing act that director Gore Verbinski pulls off with skill. 

Brad Pitt is better than usual because he’s playing an idiot and therefore doesn’t need to seem credible. Roberts is terrific – vividly full of life and personality – and her evolving relationship with Gandolfini provides the heart of the film. 

Gene Hackman has a cameo. Plus, there’s a nice sub-plot about a ferocious dog.

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 brought into contact with a French journalist (Cécile de France) and a London schoolboy (played by the twins Frankie and George McLaren), both of whom have had close brushes with death. 

It’s an extremely unusual film that’s in no way typical of Clint Eastwood’s usual themes or narrative style. The three threads take a long time to join up. For most of the time we follow their stories in parallel, wondering how they can possibly come together. It’s oddly lit, too. Some of that is down to the poor English weather, but even the sections in San Francisco seem strangely washed out. It’s not clear if this was an aesthetic choice or some kind of technical failing.

Bryce Dallas Howard appears as a possible love interest for Matt Damon, while Derek Jacobi has a surprise cameo as himself doing a reading at the London Book Fair in Alexandra Palace. 

It’s strange and quirky, with neat details. Matt Damon is a Charles Dickens fan. Best of all, it doesn’t try to explain or glorify the supernatural gift. Instead, it’s a fact of life that Lonegan feels burdened by. And that makes it all so much more believable.

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 sadistic and psychopathic Captain Vidal (Sergi López), who is locked in combat with the local resistance fighters. Ofelia finds herself drawn into a strange fantasy world by a faun who assigns her three challenges. 

It’s deeply strange, working on the level of political allegory as well as being a sort of horror story full of symbolism that invites multiple interpretations. 

I don’t usually enjoy “magical” or fantasy stories, but it’s so unusual and imaginative that it draws you in. Plus, there’s some pretty strong stuff – torture, maiming, close-range shootings and constant threat.

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. Casualties are heavy and supplies are dwindling. Meanwhile, ceasefire negotiations are underway and the battle may be called off – despite all those men apparently dying for nothing.

Peck has a compelling authority, as always, but overall the film is low on dramatic tension. There’s a lack of context that means questions go unanswered about the strategic value of the battle. In some ways that’s the point – it may be an entirely insignificant conflict that cost so many lives. 

George Peppard and Harry Dean Stanton appear in minor roles, although I didn’t even recognise the former.

Disappointing all round.

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 Mathias, an American who travels to Paris to claim an apartment his father has left him in his will. But he finds living there the 92-year-old Mathilde (Maggie Smith), who – because of a “viager” arrangement – is legally entitled to live there for the rest of her life while being paid a monthly fee to do so. Things become more complicated when Mathias meets her daughter Chloé (Kristin Scott Thomas) and he begins to learn more about their pasts. 

There are comic moments throughout, but the film becomes more serious and poignant as it progresses. All three leads are superb and it’s striking how “real” it all seems, with the emotions and pain seeming entirely convincing. The characters grow deeper as the plot moves along. 

The only aspect that I didn’t really like was the slightly clichéd “French” music on the soundtrack. But that aside, it’s pretty much flawless.

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 lovely wife (Susan Sarandon). He secretly takes up dancing, inspired by a moody-looking dance instructor (Jennifer Lopez) he sees from his train window while commuting. He’s also encouraged by his work colleague (Stanley Tucci), who reassures him (and presumably the male viewers) that it’s “OK” for straight men to dance. 

It’s a lightweight piece of fluff with plenty of charm. Director Peter Chelsom handles the dance scenes extremely well. The script is adequate-to-good, with the best lines going to Sarandon. She memorably describes love as the idea of bearing witness to a life that might otherwise go unnoticed. 

Only Lopez lets the side down. She acts “troubled” but – other than being able to dance – brings little depth to the role.

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) contracts a mysterious virus and is quickly dead. From this initial beginning spin off a variety of threads and characters as we see the virus spread around the globe, accompanied by panic and social disorder.

The narrative perspective shifts across an ensemble cast also featuring Marion Cotillard, Laurence Fishburne, Jude Law, Kate Winslet, Bryan Cranston, Jennifer Ehle and Sanaa Lathan. Director Steven Soderbergh just about holds it all together. 

Knowing what we now know, it’s almost uncanny to watch scenes in which the “R” number is explained. It also deals with the conspiracy theorists – in this case, Jude Law, who’s told “Blogging is not writing, it’s graffiti with punctuation” – who try to scare people from taking the vaccine.

Forrest Gump (1994)

Masterful comedy-drama directed by Robert Zemeckis. 

Tom Hanks plays a simple but kindhearted man whose life unexpectedly touches those around him. He also finds himself accidentally woven into key moments in American history of the 1960s and 1970s. 

It’s sweet and touching, romantic and sad. Hanks is perfect in the role – he keeps it on the right side of the endearing/annoying divide. 

As in Back to the Future, Zemeckis handles the storytelling with almost supernatural empathy and skill. The pacing is spot on and there’s not a moment of filler nor a line out of place. He also handles the changes in tone superbly well, so comedy can turn to poignancy without jarring – and vice-versa. 

Robin Wright and Gary Sinise are excellent as the love of his life and his former Vietnam lieutenant and long-standing friend, while Sally Field is wonderful as his wise, caring mother. 

The shaggy-dog story takes in his spell in the army, his time as a table-tennis champion, working on a shrimp boat, and his three years of running across America. 

There’s a message about kindness being more important than anything else, which is hard to disagree with, and a great soundtrack, too.

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. (In reality, there were 300 such people working on this project, but the film doesn’t acknowledge that.)

George Clooney stars, writes and directs but unfortunately can’t decide if he’s making a comedy or a drama. It falls somewhere in the middle – neither very funny nor very exciting, with too much rather stilted sitting around. The all-star cast seems underused, with Matt Damon, Bill Murray and the dreaded John Goodman in underdeveloped roles and not really getting a chance to shine. Only Cate Blanchett (a sympathetic curator with an inconsistent French accent) comes out of it unscathed. 

The tone is all over the place. The film flits between trying to make serious points at certain times and seeming like Dad’s Army at others, with “jaunty” music that’s especially jarring. Even the central message – art is so important that it might be worth dying for – is watered down by the way it’s something we’re repeatedly told rather than meaningfully shown. 

The final scene – a modern-day glimpse of Clooney’s Lieutenant as an elderly man appreciating Michelangelo in a gallery with his grandson – is particularly awkward and naff.