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Lost Highway is not for people who like their films to have satisfying endings, and plots with clear beginnings, middles and ends that all work and serve one linear narrative. This movie, directed by David Lynch, is a weird, uneasy, dreamy film – a noir horror movie that morphs into something very bizarre as it […]
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It’s best to watch this outstanding, masterful film without knowing too much about it. For this reason, I’m not going to describe the plot beyond the obvious – a group of friends travelling around Texas stumble upon some really grisly people. The best thing about the film is the way it creates a harrowing, unforgettably […]
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Occasionally a film aimed at and about teenagers comes along that doesn’t feel sentimental, patronising and clichéd. 2010’s Easy A was a good example. This film, directed by Stephen Chbosky and adapted from his own novel, is a more serious work but it also fits into this rare category. It is a wonderful, feel-good film. […]
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Bette Davis was a great actor, and here she is enjoyably creepy as a Nanny who may or may not pose a threat to the little boy she is employed to take care of. He is certainly scared of her, but his parents dismiss his fears of his nanny as nonsense. This film, released in […]
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This 1996 adaptation of Jane Austen’s novel Emma (one of two adaptations of the book released that year, the other made for ITV) stars Gwyneth Paltrow as the matchmaking heroine who can’t stop meddling in the love lives of her friends. Sharply written and directed by Douglas McGrath, who worked on US TV show Saturday […]
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Oscar Wilde’s witty comedy is brought entertainingly to life by Oliver Parker, who directed the rather poor St Trinian’s movies and the 2009 Dorian Gray adaptation. Rupert Everett, Colin Firth, Frances O’Connor, Reese Witherspoon and Judi Dench all star in this tale of two bachelors (Firth and Everett) who get caught up with their own […]
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Although production on the film was notoriously difficult, The Others is one of the best ghost stories committed to screen. Set in a post-World War II Jersey, the film sees a mother (Nicole Children) trying to bring up her two light-sensitive children in an enormous mansion. The big twist in the story may be widely […]
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Stephen Frears has been responsible for some of the most interesting British films of the last half-century. Not all of his films have been successful (artistically and/or financially), but he never fails to offer the audience a range of interesting characters leading fascinating lives. This 2002 feature, co-funded by the BBC and Disney, is one […]
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Bram Stoker’s terrifying creation Dracula has appeared on screen many times, played by a vast range of actors. This enjoyably creepy Hammer horror from the 60s sees Christopher Lee in the role of the blood-sucking legend. Four British tourists stumble upon an eerily empty castle while on a travelling holiday. Because this is a horror […]
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Andrew Dominick is an impressive filmmaker. His debut film Chopper punched its way onto the film world’s radar with its sheer brutal brilliance and put Dominick on the map as a major talent to watch. The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford saw him in charge of a major, sprawling Hollywood-funded crime […]
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The late Anthony Minghella directed many wonderful films, but this is probably my favourite. It’s based on a Patricia Highsmith novel – a cold, compelling book – and turns it into a sumptuously filmed and intelligent character study of a man with a talent for pretending to be people he is not. Matt Damon is […]
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Social realism is something British cinema does well, and Wreckers is another quality example of that genre (if one can call it a genre). It is the debut feature of Dictynna Hood, and stars Benedict Cumberbatch and Claire Foy, two superb young actors, as a newly married couple David and Dawn living in a rugged […]
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This is a rather sinister stalker story, exploring what a lonely man will do to feel wanted or significant in someone else’s life. Here this man is a photo developer named Sy Parrish, played creepily by Robin Williams, who develops an obsession with a middle class family who go to his photo developing department in […]
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Similar to many comedies currently pouring into cinemas at the moment, this is ridiculously crude and potentially offensive. Dissimilar to many comedies, it’s actually funny. Sean William Scott, an actor who has talent but rarely works with good material, is hilarious as Wheeler; a guy who advertises soft drinks to young children at school assemblies […]