John Nash is a brilliant, though socially awkward, mathematician and with his latest work he has achieved the acclaim that he so needed, but John is also prone to delusional behaviour, and when a mysterious stranger asks him for his help to thwart a conspiracy against the Stars and Stripes, John becomes increasingly obsessive, a state of mind that begins to push away all those he holds dear, even his loving wife. Very loosely adapted from a true story "Beautiful Mind" is the bog standard slickly find out more...

Fanis, a professor of astronomy and astrophysics, recalls his childhood growing up as a Greek boy in Istanbul and the time spent with his shopkeeper grandfather learning about life and, in particular, the art of cooking. And it was here, in his grandfather's store, that he first fell in love, with Saime. After political tensions over Cyprus in 1963 Fanis's family were deported, but his grandfather stayed in Istanbul, and it is decades later that they meet again as Fanis returns 'home', after yea find out more...

Giuseppe Tornatore directed this grand-scale portrait of life and love over several decades in the small town in Sicily where he was born. We see a number of important historical events through the eyes of young Peppino, watching the fortunes of his town and his family rise and fall. While open to accusations of nostalgia, superficiality and indulgence the film is something of a feast for the senses.
A rambunctious family saga the kind they don't, and probably shouldn't, make any more. find out more...

From the window of her New York apartment beautiful bored housewife Diane spots her beast, a mysterious masked man, and is transfixed. This it will turn out is Diane Arbus' epiphany, a portal that will take her on a journey that unleashes not just her soul but her remarkable gift as a photographer. Hirsute ‘Wolf Man' Lionel, part Elephant Man, part seductive gentleman, takes Diane into his world of outsiders and gradually wins her heart before turning into a handsome prince and disappearing in a find out more...

Stone's third, after Platoon and Born on the Fourth of July, Vietnam War offering, this time seen through the eyes of a young Vietnamese girl caught up in the horror. Tommy Lee Jones gives a sensitive performance as the soldier trying to save both her and himself. Well crafted human drama and a moving love story. find out more...

It's the off-season at the lonely Beauregard Hotel in Bournemoth, and only the long-term tenants are still in residence. Life is stirred up, however, when the beautiful Ann Shankland arrives to see her alcoholic ex-husband, John Malcolm, who is secretly engaged to Pat Cooper, the woman who runs the hotel. Meanwhile, snobbish Mrs Railton-Bell discovers that the kindly if rather doddering Major Pollock, played by David Niven, who won an Oscar for his performance, a retired officer who likes to find out more...

Talented but plagued by her owns demons Sylvia Plath's early relationship with husband and fellow poet, Ted Hughes, is dominated by Ted's ambition and success. In the early years of their marriage Sylvia lacks inspiration and her deepening depression is exacerbated by her husband's philandering. It is only towards the end, when they are separated, that Sylvia is able to truly explore the dark depths of her soul and write the searingly brilliant poetry that earned her fame. A tale of their turbul find out more...

Born in New Orleans, abandoned and adopted on the day of the end of WWI, Benjamin Button is a medical mystery. Entering life as a physically old man, over the course of his remarkable existence he rejuvenates to infancy. He has a unique, poignant, but also joyous, perspective on the world around him. Very loosely adapted from F Scott Fitzgerald's excellent short story of the same title, 'The Curious Case of Benjamin Button' is a beautifully visualised and whimsical tale that drifts through the e find out more...

Germany, 1954; teenager Michael Berg becomes ill on his way home and is helped by Hanna, a taciturn, but attractive woman twice his age. When recovered Michael returns to her apartment to thank the stranger for her kindness he swiftly finds himself involved in a furtive, impassioned affair. As this relationship intensifies Michael discovers Hanna's love of being read to. When Hanna disappears without a trace the young lad is left confused and bereft. find out more...

A brief skim over Johnny Cash's childhood in rural Arkansas and then we leap into his early career, powering along through the highs and lows until we reach 1968, a good time for the legendary balladeer and a perfect place to end a biog on a high note. Walk The Line is a film made by the two central performances of Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon. The live scenes are hypnotic and the chemistry between the two never less than utterly convincing. Like 'Ray' this is a film that smoothes over find out more...