It's not seasonal goodwill that's brought the family of Vuillard together in the northwestern French town of Roubaix; matriarch Junon needs a favour, she's suffering from a genetic marrow disorder and needs one of her adult children to donate theirs. Narrative is second in this character led family comedy to the exploration of family rifts, hidden desires, past disputes, recriminations, family bitching etc. find out more...

Critically acclaimed and visually ravishing story of the unlikely tryst between a runaway art student, distressed by impending blindness and a previous romance, and an avant-garde crusty, who meet while sleeping rough on Pont-Neuf. Director Carax takes us on an enchanted journey through a Paris of streets, rivers, bridges, escalators, the Metro and art museums as the movie progresses from the gritty reality of poverty and homelessness to a flamboyant firework lit fantasy land. find out more...

Streep and MacLaine give riveting portrayals as the celebrity mother and daughter, who, more alike than they think, battle against both each other and the alcohol and drug induced haze of Hollywood. Supposedly based on the true-life traumas of actress Carrie Fisher and her mum Debbie Reynolds and adapted from Fisher's semi-autobiographical novel. 9 out of 9. 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...

Revolving around a group of teenagers, as they get to grips with the issues of race, religion, sexuality, drugs, food disorders and what constitutes a really good party, "Skins" is a well received British drama which, despite the young cast, has a distinctly raunchy and adult theme. find out more...

Episode 5, Sid; Sid's a failure. find out more...

Stop-Loss is the process by which when American soldiers terms of service come to an end they find that their contract has been compulsorily extended. In this film three blue-collar Texas boys, who've had a hard time in Iraq, return to a civilian life which they can't adjust to and, for one, being press-ganged for another tour of duty is all too much and he legs it. find out more...

Sweeping romantic drama of epic proportions. Fiennes's WWII pilot lays badly burned and in the care of an army nurse. As the unnamed, stiff-upper-lipped "English Patient" begins to recover, memories emerge of a past life as an archaeologist/cartographer in the Sahara, and a passionate affair with a married woman, Katharine. Though Anthony Minghella's adaptation of Michael Ondaatje's novel simplifies, jettisons and changes certain elements of the original story, it remains a rich, complex, entran find out more...

Newman is in Oscar winning form as a drinking, failing lawyer who insists on taking a no-hope malpractice case to trial rather than accepting a handsome out of court settlement. Castigated by those around him he seems on the road to failure, but, against all good sense, he keeps on trying and goes for broke. Convincing rather than realistic, emotive rather than analytical, this is a devastating judgement on the US judical system.

find out more...