20th Century Flicks, Bristol

Bobby Sands was the IRA member who led the 1981 Long Kesh hunger strike as part of a campaign to achieve the status of political prisoners and not that of criminals. The first section of film deals with daily prison life, the 'dirty' protest and the violence, the second is a long discussion on the meaning of life with a sympathetic priest and the third depicts the last weeks and death of a man voluntarily dying of starvation. find out more...

I CLAUDIUS PART 1 (1991)

Certification15 Our Rating

A caustic and often funny romp set 24 BC during the reign of Augustus Caesar, Rome's first emperor, and ending in AD 54 with Nero on the throne. Claudius (Jacobi) is Tiberius Claudius Nero Germanicus, grandson of Mark Antony, who bears witness to the ruthless ambition, shocking debauchery and murderous intrigue of his remarkable family. For the most part he escapes their evil scheming by virtue of a stutter and limp that mark him as a fool. A remarkable, ground-breaking series, with towering per find out more...

IL DIVO (2008)

Certification15 Our Rating

Far more a portrait than a biopic this stunning film dissects the later years of Giulio Andreotti, a key player in Italian politics from the 70s through till today (he still sits in the Italian Senate (2009)), implicating him as the central instigator behind 'The Strategy of Tension', a policy that involved the murders of hundreds of innocent people, and blaming 'the left/Red Brigades' so as to allow the growth of an authoritarian state. Sorrentino fingers Andreotti for many political assassinat find out more...

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 find out more...

LENNY (1974)

Certification15 Our Rating

Hoffman is outstanding, especially in the night club stand up comedy scenes, as the flawed cult NY genius Lenny Bruce, the Beat Generation kid who became a blueprint for a new kind of entertainer with his outrageous anti-establishment routine, his profanities, his attitude toward drugs, his irreverence and general anarchistic demeanour. A must for all budding stand up comedians and fans of good movies. find out more...

MILK (2008)

Certification15 Our Rating

An intelligent, thoughtful, highly engaging biopic of Harvey Milk, the San Francisco based idealist, who became the first openly gay activist to run for political office in the US. Before his assassination Milk was a leading cog in the battle for civil rights for the gay community, as in the 1978 fight against Proposition 6, which could have banned gay and lesbian individuals from teaching in schools. The story may have been a terriby tragedy, but the tone of the movie is upbeat and vibrant, Gus find out more...

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. find out more...

PIERREPOINT (2005)

Certification15 Our Rating

The tale of Albert Pierrepoint, Britain's last official executioner, a man who personally dispatched 608 men and women, including various Nazi war criminals, Timothy Evans and Ruth Ellis. Timothy Spall superbly pulls off how this rather ordinary, but distinctly odd, bloke coped emotionally and professionally with his job. An awesome period piece and a superb look into a very strange occupation. A must for anyone who liked Vera Drake. find out more...

SERAPHINE (2008)

Certification12 Our Rating

On the eve of WW1 famed German art critic Wilhelm Uhde retreated from the pressures of urban life to stay in a small village just outside Paris. Here he noticed some stunningly vibrant artwork only to discover that it was done by his somewhat cuckoo cleaning lady. Thus began an association that propelled the peasant Seraphine de Senlis to fame as an artist, but not before she'd blown her lid and been permanently incarcerated in a psychiatric hospital.
'Seraphine' deservedly swept the boar find out more...

THE BUDDY HOLLY STORY (2007)

Certification15 Our Rating

Buddy Holly laid the foundations for a generation of popular music with his groundbreaking combination of country music and rhythm and blues. This film tells his story from it's explosive beginning to its tragic end with Gary Busey giving an electrifying Oscar nominated performance as the young genius from Lubbock Texas, who changed the tune of rock 'n' roll history.

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