20th Century Flicks, Bristol

Malik is the anti-hero of this somewhat mystical mini-epic of a movie. Just turned adult, illiterate, lacking a clear-cut ethnic identity, he finds himself doing 6 years in a prison run on the inside by a violent Corsican gang with the connivance of corrupt staff. With the guidance of the ghost of a now dead inmate Malik learns not just to read and write but to deal with the power politics of gangsterhood and it is his success at the latter that allows him to emerge from prison... There is a s find out more...

AMAZING GRACE (2006)

Certification15 Our Rating

Inside this conventionally structured biopic resides an extraordinary story of an extraordinary man. William Wilberforce was the parliamentary spokesman for a group of radicalised young Evangelists (and Quakers), who despised the money politics and corruption of late 18th Century UK politics and who fought for many reformist policies, the most notable of which was the one this film annotates, the abolition of slavery, a process that took years of political skulduggery and the slow passage of find out more...

APOCALYPSE NOW (1979)

Certification18 Our Rating

The greatest movie ever made? A soldier is sent into the Heart of Darkness to retrieve a commander gone AWOL in an insane reality of tin-pot power, paranoia and inglorious killing. The horror of war is stripped naked in a surreal twilight world. The crew nearly went mad making it, Martin Sheen suffered a heart attack and Coppola flew so far beyond budget that the word 'bankrupt' was nearly redefined. See "Heart of Darkness"... find out more...

APOCALYPSE NOW REDUX (1979)

Certification18 Our Rating

The definitive 'Apocalypse Now' (as if the original wasn't pretty definitive) this has nearly an hour of extra footage fleshing out the surreal journey of our central protagonists and, though it brings the film to a whisker short of three and a half hours, much of it explains what happens to the eclectic characters we meet. The cut version of 'Apocalypse Now' stands as one of the most awesome films of modern cinema, anyone who has seen it will inevitably see it again, it's just that now you have find out more...

BLACK SNAKE MOAN (2007)

Certification15 Our Rating

Christina Ricci turns all sexy and slutty and this little temptress is the devil for embittered bluesman, yep he woke up this morning, Lazarus, who needs to pray ter god as he chains her near naked body to the radiator in order to save her soul. This is a strange mix of steam, religion and human values as individuals work together to help heal each other's damaged psyches. An up-lifting tribute to human values, with a great blues soundtrack, in this 'Southern Gothic' adaptation of George Eliot's find out more...

BOYZ N THE HOOD (1992)

Certification15 Our Rating

Tre Styles is a bright, decent kid trying to stay that way in a violent, drug-ridden neighbourhood. As he and his friends struggle with life, love and career decisions, the heat on the street is rising. A gripping, intelligent and highly moving account of urban survival. Brilliant soundtrack too.

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BREAKING AWAY (1979)

Certification12 Our Rating

Peter Yates' Oscar-winner is a heart-warming coming-of-age story that has also taken its place as the greatest sports movie about cycling ever made. Four friends graduate from high-school and find themselves looking at an uncertain future in small-town America. Dave's passion is cycling and his dream is to be a world-class champion like the Italians he idolises. His passion for cycling takes on new meaning when he and his friends face a team from the local college in the town's annual bike ra find out more...

COBAIN: MONTAGE OF HECK (2015)

Certification15 Our Rating

Following Cobain from his earliest years in Aberdeen, WA, through the height of his fame, a visceral and detailed cinematic insight of an artist at odds with his surrou find out more...

DEEP COVER (1992)

Certification18 Our Rating

Intense thriller with Fishburne as the undercover cop trying to bring down the big boys and Goldblum excellent as Fishburne's lawyer-turned-dealer partner. As Fishburne realises what a political pawn he has become, he has to re-examine his past to establish his motives. Utterly absorbing filmmaking with a hip hop soundtrack to match.

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FOXCATCHER (2014)

Certification15 Our Rating

When wealthy John du Pont invites Olympic wrestler Mark Schultz to move to his estate and help form a wrestling team for the 1988 Seoul Olympics, Mark sees a way to step out of the shadow of his charismatic and revered find out more...