Bob Crane was the star of the hugely successful 1960s TV series "Hogan's Heroes", a man of fine upstanding character until he's befriended by a svengali-like video technician. Together the two men embark on an increasingly dark journey of sexual hedonism that leaves Crane increasingly estranged from reality and, ultimately, dead. Auto Focus is a fascinating film, visually atmospheric, superbly performed by the two leads and an utterly gripping account of one man's decent into addiction. find out more...

Detailing the turbulent life of the founder and former frontman of Joy Division, Ian Curtis, photographer Anton Corbin's debut feature Control is a tour-de-force of the rise and fall of one of the most iconic and influential bands in British musical history. A gritty un-romanticised depiction of a tortured soul with a blinding central performance from Sam Riley. find out more...

Employed by the apartheid South African government as prison warden to Nelson Mandela, James Gregory would seem like the ideal man for the job, white, deeply racist and yet fluent in Mandela's native tongue, the authorities seem to have found the perfect spy. What those in power failed to grasp were a man's ability to change and the irresistible personality of Mandela himself. Based on James Gregory's memoirs, 'Goodbye Bafana' is a moving dramatisation of an unlikely friendship. find out more...

Life On Mars is the smash-hit cop show starring John Simm as a detective who is involved in a car accident and wakes to find himself transported back to 1973 – a world dominated by Ford Cortinas, sheep-skin jackets, flares, silly haircuts, glam rock and very hard coppers. In his altered state of reality Sam must prove himself to his 'new boss', the hot-headed DCI Gene Hunt, all the while unsure whether he is awake or dreaming. In Episode 1 he hunts a serial killer and in Episode 2 he attempts to find out more...

Episode 3 is one of the weaker sketchs with a rather silly plot about a scab in a textiles factory getting killed. However Episode 4 is much stronger with corruption in the police force the core of the story. Which way will old-style police thug DCI Hunt swing, will he back up Simm or continue on the take? The series is now beginning to motor, the dialogue in this script is some of the smartest and the series is doing what it does at its best, parodying both 70s cop shows and the 70s themselves. find out more...

The death of a ManU fan after leaving a pub means Simm (ManU), Hunt (City) and WPC White must infiltrate a ManU pub to survey the clientele, and in a pub...what else can you do; this episode is great, has a decent script and is funny. In the second episode all three coppers end up inside the offices of the local rag as hostages in a rather drawn out siege, and in sieges everybody can get rather bored.... find out more...

Life On Mars is the smash-hit cop show starring John Simm as a detective who is involved in a car accident and wakes to find himself transported back to 1973 – a world dominated by Ford Cortina's, sheep-skin jackets and very hard coppers. In his new state of altered reality, Sam must prove himself to 'new boss', the hot-headed DCI Gene Hunt, all the while unsure whether he is awake or dreaming. find out more...

A pretty exhaustive documentary that looks back at what some have described as "the artistic crime of the century": tightrope walker Philippe Petit's death defying, utterly illegal, high-wire routine performed between New York City's World Trade Centre's twin towers in 1974. A fascinating and gripping look at a meticulously planned and breathtaking act of defiance. find out more...

find out more...

A wonderful portrait of Ian Dury - he the polio crippled lyricist and front man for punk icons The Blockheads and a self-pitying, class conscious, angry, supremely talented loud mouth - struggling to relate to his pre-teen son and familial duties.
'Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll' is a top notch drama about a real life person, warts, foul language and all, and you neither need to love his music, punk generally nor, indeed, any form of music to appreciate this gem of a film. find out more...