A raw bunch of Soviet conscripts are drilled into shape on the training ground and dropped into the thick of it in Afghanistan. A big box office hit in Russia this may, like films about the American invasion of Vietnam, be politically naive, but as a war drama it pulls no punchs and, with the possible exception of a silly, poorly edited final battle scene, delivers the goods in superb fashion. find out more...

Giuseppe Tornatore directed this grand-scale portrait of life and love over several decades in the small town in Sicily where he was born. We see a number of important historical events through the eyes of young Peppino, watching the fortunes of his town and his family rise and fall. While open to accusations of nostalgia, superficiality and indulgence the film is something of a feast for the senses.
A rambunctious family saga the kind they don't, and probably shouldn't, make any more. find out more...

Charlie Wilson is a fairly unorthodox congressman, devoted as he is more to having a good time than the machinations of politics, but much to his surprise, and with a sharp shove from a past love, Charlie finds a passion that doesn't involve his own pleasure; helping Afghanistan fight the invading Russians through covert American funding. Considering the present situation in Afghanistan and the light hearted nature of this film Charlie Wilson's War would seem a doomed enterprise but the script i find out more...

In 1985, Sergei Gregoriev, a Soviet colonel, wants to force his nation to reform, so he leaks secret information to the West. He picks an unlikely contact, a Pierre Froment, French nebbish in the diplomatic corps. Gregoriev keeps a lot of balls in the air - a marriage, a teen son he's trying to bond with, a mistress who's a colleague at work; his tradecraft is equally reckless. Meanwhile, Froment keeps his spy work secret from his Russian wife, and Mitterrand uses Gregoriev's information to m find out more...

Eleven-year-old Chava lives a hand-to-mouth existence with his destitute family in a shanty town caught in the middle of the Salvadorian civil war and he is old enough to be turned into a child soldier by the army.
Powerful, touching, charming and tragic 'Innocent Voices' is based on the experiences of co-screenwriter Oscar Torres and provides an emotional reminder of the terrible fates that the rich can force on the poor. find out more...

The entire film takes place inside a tank occupied by four inexperienced Israeli conscripts and the occasional interloper, a dead Israeli soldier, a wounded Syrian POW, a higher ranking officer and a Lebanese Falangist, during the 1982 Israeli invasion of the Lebanon.
'Lebanon' relates a series of episodes, based on the young director's own experiences, and very effectively relates both claustrophobia and a tank's eye view of the world.
Tense and engaging. find out more...

In a peaceful classroom, students see paratroopers land on the varsity football field: the invasion of the United States has begun! find out more...

A Russian KGB agent is sent to Africa to kill an anti-Communist black revolutionary. However, he has a change of heart when he sees how the Russians and their Cuban allies are killing and repressing the locals, so he switches sides and helps the rebels. Typical fare from 1980s Hollywood, terrified of the Red Threat jumping on every chance they had to show the world what a corrupt bunch of demonic killers they are. Satisyingly high body count mind. find out more...

True story of a British soldier (David Thewlis), who is left behind in the Falklands after the war with Argentina. He travels on a journey from the Falkland Islands, to his army barracks in England where he is severely beaten and ostracised by his fellow soldiers...

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An insightful, witty and thought provoking glimpse of life as a member of the US army, from the perspective of a woman. Another cut above documentary from Nick Broomfield. find out more...