An award winning film full of baroque splendour. The talented composer Antonio Salieri found himself in competition with Mozart, a genius, and he couldn't understand why God favored such a vulgar creature to be his instrument. Salieri turned into a hate-filled monster, whose aim in life became to ruin his colleague, but he emerges as a tragic and sympathetic character. He alone could appreciate the perfection of Mozart's music and, perhaps, he speaks up for all of us whose talents fall short of find out more...

In a move designed to subordinate the Catholic Church to the state, Henry II gave the office of the Archbishop of Canterbury to his close friend and ally Thomas Becket. With Becket now installed as his 'man on the inside' Henry could be forgiven for thinking that the church would more easily acquiesce to his bidding. Henry, however, had neither bargained on Becket's ecclesiastical fervour nor realized his zealous nature. Thus the stage was set for one of the greatest battles of supremacy between find out more...

Robert Crumb, a nerd from a totally dysfunctional family, became, thru' Fritz the Cat, Mr Natural and Keep on Truckin' et al, the leading subversive cartoonist of the '60s underground generation. Here, through interviews with him, family, friends and critics, you can put together a portrait of his personality and be introduced to his work. find out more...

It's 1794 and Depardieu plays Danton the revolutionary, who returns to Paris from self-imposed exile confident in the peoples' support and that he can help bring peace to the revolutionary turmoil and stop The Terror. But first he must confront his former ally Robespierre, who is intent on victory and soon rounds up Danton and his followers, tries them before a revolutionary tribunal and dipatches them to the guillotine. Bye bye Danton. find out more...

A masterpiece of Soviet Socialist Realism. In 1547, Ivan IV (1530-1584), archduke of Moscow, crowns himself Tsar of Russia and sets about reclaiming lost Russian territory. In scenes of his coronation, his wedding to Anastasia, his campaign against the Tartars in Kazan, his illness when all think he will die, recovery, campaigns in the Baltic and Crimea, self-imposed exile in Alexandrov, and the petition of Muscovites that he return, his enemies among the boyars threaten his success. Chief among find out more...

Ivan takes on the boyars in a battle for power in the second part of Eisenstein's projected trilogy. This was not released till 1958 as Stalin sensed its critical nature, especially its depictation of the secret police. Eisenstein's untimely death robbed us of the chance to see the final part. A Classic. find out more...

Gus Van Sant's latest masterpiece is very much in a similar vein to his previous two films (Elephant and Gerry). Meditative, ambivalent and beautifully shot, Last Days is a loose retelling of the Kurt Cobain suicide. The dialogue is made up of mumbled non sequiturs and directionless enquiries. The cinematography, as in Elephant, is a mixture of pristine framing, expert use of natural light and patient static observation. Though the pace of the movie is arguably too testing for some viewers, the find out more...

A truly epic epic and winner of 7 Academy Awards. Lawrence serves British colonial interests during the First World War by uniting the Arabs against the fast collapsing Ottoman Empire. Stupendous cinemascope drama with a cast of thousands and some of cinema's most famous shots; Sheik Ali's emergence from the desert haze and the storming of Aquaba for example. This is the director's cut, a more coherent version than the original cinema release. find out more...

A fascinating biopic of Francis Bacon, concentrating on his relationship with George Dyer, a burglar whom he caught in his house and promptly seduced, whose amorality and innocence he found attractive and whom he introduced to his Soho pals. Dyer's bouts with depression, his drinking, pill popping and nightmares strain the relationship in this clash between the arty, boozy Soho set and the East End criminal fraternity, as does his pain with Bacon's casual infidelities. Bacon paints and talks wit find out more...

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...