Ian McKellan stars as James Whale, the avowed homosexual and eccentric director famed for his monster movies of the 1930s. Concentrating on a fictionalised version of the latter years of Whale's life, the film explores an unusual but close relationship he develops with a gardener (a muscle-laden Brendan Fraser). His loving maid (Lynn Redgrave) remains convinced he is doomed to hell for his openly sexual lifestyle and tries in vain to change his behaviour. Memorable performances from all the lead
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GOOD NIGHT, AND GOOD LUCK (2005)
CertificationPG Our Rating
Goodnight And Good Luck takes place during the early days of broadcast journalism in 1950s America, chronicling the real-life conflict between television newsman Edward R Murrow and Senator Joseph McCarthy, head of the House Un-American Activities Committee. Murrow, his news team and, indeed, CBS itself made a defiant and impassioned stand against McCarthy's increasingly delusional, corrupt and fear-fueled rants and this, George Clooney's second turn in the director's chair, is a beautifully suc
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HONEYDRIPPER (2007)
CertificationPG Our Rating
1950, rural Alabama; times are hard for 'The Honeydripper' a club where traditional blues music doesn't pull the crowds, the young cotton pickers and army boys prefering a rival bar with its juke-box, but help may arrive in the help of handsome young Sonny, his electric guitar and rock'n'roll. A lovely piece of independent cinema from the maestro John Sayles; a movie about myth, about family, about change and, above all, about music.
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INTIMATE ENEMIES (2007)
Certification15 Our Rating
An underrated story from the viewpoint of French soldiers caught up in the Algerian war. Idealistic Lieutenant Terrien forswears and forbids torture, napalm and massacre, but finds himself drawn into the desperate events that war produces. Algerians find themselves on both sides of the conflict and battle-hardened NCOs crack up under the pressure. Meanwhile back in France it's holiday time.
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JULIE AND JULIA (2009)
Certification12 Our Rating
'Julie and Julia' tells the story of 2 women; Julia Childs, who wrote 'Mastering the Art of French Cooking' and 'My Life in France', the latter of which is adapted for one half of this film, and Julie Powell, a present day New Yorker who, to escape the tedium of her own life, decided to cook her way through Julia's 524 recipes and writes a blog about doing so. The parallels and the differences between their two lives are highlighted.
In the more interesting of the 2 stories Meryl Streep contin
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KATYN (2007)
Certification15 Our Rating
Based on the novel 'Post Mortem: The Story of Katyn' by Andrzej Mularczyk this film tells the horrific story of the 1940 Soviet NKVD's massacre, and subsequent cover-up, of an estimated 22,000, mainly Polish, military officers, police and intellectuals. Rarely does a film about the horrors of organised genocide achieve in its representation such an honest and harrowing account of crimes against humanity.
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LA CONFIDENTIAL (1997)
Certification18 Our Rating
Stunning adaptation of James Ellroy's stylishly sinister 50s crime novel, cruelly robbed of its just desserts by a sinking ship at the Academy Awards farce. An awesomely authentic 1953 Los Angeles provides the backdrop, while the story focuses on a dodgy trio of LA's not-so-finest, united by mutual loathing, and all up to their necks in nefarious goings-on. Kim Basinger deservedly bagged the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her sultry Veronica Lake lookalike hooker, but all the performances are
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LET HIM HAVE IT (1992)
Certification15 Our Rating
The shocking and tragic true story of Derek Bentley, hanged for a murder he didn't commit, after a trial that shamed the British justice system. Powerful and moving performances and a brilliant recreation of the 50s by the director of "The Krays" in this truly disturbing and riveting drama.
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MY LEFT FOOT (1988)
Certification15 Our Rating
Christy Brown was an Irish cerebal palsy victim who overcame his severe handicap to become a talented painter and author with just the use of his left foot. Daniel Day Lewis is totally and utterly convincing as Brown - using method acting he became Brown and his thoroughness makes the film a great one.
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MY LIFE AS A DOG (1985)
CertificationPG Our Rating
Ingmar is a mischievous boy growing up in Sweden in the 1950s. Life for him doesn't improve when his mother becomes bedridden and he is farmed out to rural relatives, but, by using his imagination, he successfully learns to cope with his quirky, open-eyed optimism intact. A witty, touching and perceptive rites of passage movie.
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