This is a striking stylised dramatisation of the young Beat Generation icon Allen Ginsberg, focusing particularly on the infamous 1957 obscenity trial of his seminal work ‘Howl’ during the tail end of McCarthyism. While the performances from all involved are excellent and the story an intriguing one it is the visual cool of this film that lingers longest. find out more...

Forget that this is a Scorsese movie, 'cos there's not a gangster or a grifter in sight. Stunningly shot, this is the visually breathtaking account of the early life of the 14th Dalai Lama, starting with his discovery by Buddhist monks in the northern Tibet of 1935. Meticulously detailed but well-paced, it's a rich, riveting movie with a powerfully haunting soundtrack from Philip Glass. find out more...

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. find out more...

Winner of an Oscar for "Best Documentary", this film (beautifully shot in black and white) recaptures the life and music of the late, great jazz trumpeter Chet Baker. The founder of the Californian school of "Cool Jazz" this film is in itself remarkably cool and stylish. find out more...

From Julian Schnabel,director of The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, Before Night Falls and Basquiat, comes 'Miral': the story of four women whose lives intertwine in their search for justice, hope and reconciliation. The story begins in war-torn Jerusalem in 1948 when Hind opens an orphanage for refugee children. One of the children is seventeen year old Miral, who gets assigned to teach at a refugee camp where she falls for a political activist. Better received by audiences than critics, Miral 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...

Internationally feted on release, this is the remarkable true story of a young Sardinian boy, so dominated by his father that he grew up not only an illiterate shepherd, ignorant of the outside world, but, in his long sojourn alone guarding the sheep, lost the power of speech. He returned from national service a wiser man able to liberate himself from his father's tyranny. Brilliant.

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The true story of champion boxer Jake La Motta brought to the screen by De Niro and Scorcese - probably the greatest partnership of the 1980s. De Niro watched innumerable boxing videos and gained 2 stone to put in a performance that won him an Oscar. Voted Best Film of the '80s by the critics. find out more...

An award-winning and arty biopic, adapted from his memoirs, of the great composer Dmitri Shostakovich, focusing on the period between the 30s and 60s and his deeply ambivalent relationship with Stalin. Worthy and with a resonant cinematic understanding of Shostakovich's opuses. find out more...