Phyllis Dietrichson is trapped in a loveless marriage to a man who inspires in her nothing but contempt, but rather than leave him Phyllis decides to kill him and collect on the insurance policy she's had set up with the help of her lover, and naive partner in crime, insurance salesman Walter Neff. The only flaws in their plan are the company's reluctance to pay out so much, the diligence of Neff's increasingly suspicious colleague, (and his 'little man'), and the exemplary ruthlessness of Ph find out more...

A psychotic American commander worried about the subversive effects of water fluoridisation on his "vital bodily fluids" starts off an attack on the Soviet Union. No-one can stop the fighters and no-one, as yet, knows about the failsafe Doomsday Machine. Brilliant black comedy. find out more...

There's a lot you can say about Michael Moore. He's sentimental. He massages the truth to fit the points he's making. His reliance on comedy when making serious points sometimes defeats his objectives (more suited to his excellent TV Nation series). He is a propagandist. But in a world dominated by right-wing media conglomerates, neo-conservative thinktanks and war profiteers thirsty for new conflicts, you can easily forgive his mawkish foibles. Fahrenheit 9/11 is an excellent feature in it's co find out more...

Goodnight And Good Luck takes place during the early days of broadcast journalism in 1950s America, chronicling the real-life conflict between television newsman Edward R Murrow and Senator Joseph McCarthy, head of the House Un-American Activities Committee. Murrow, his news team and, indeed, CBS itself made a defiant and impassioned stand against McCarthy's increasingly delusional, corrupt and fear-fueled rants and this, George Clooney's second turn in the director's chair, is a beautifully suc find out more...

This is a documentary about the conflicting attitudes of the opponents of the Vietnam war using archival footage as well as their own film and interviews. A key theme is how the attitudes of American racism and self-righteous militarism helped to create and prolong this bloody conflict. The film also endeavours to give voice to the Vietnamese people and makes clear their basic humanity. Winner of the Best Documentary Feature at the 1974 Academy Awards. find out more...

I Am Cuba is an epic poem to Communist kitsch - a dramatic journey though the decadence of Batista Havana set against the grinding poverty and oppression of the Cuban people. find out more...

Set during the 1920s in West Virginia, Matewan is a small mining town whose workers have responded with a strike to the coal company's announcement of a wage cut. The bosses reply to this act of defiance but bringing black and Italian workers to take over their jobs. A lone stranger (a Union organiser) arrives in town to unite the locals against the tooled-up heavies and, as the tension escalates, a violent end to the standoff seems inevitable. Sayles' powerful gripping movie never compromises i find out more...

Rossellini's masterpiece of neo-realist cinema. Based on the life of a priest who serves in the Resistance movement, it's triumph is to show the Resistance against a backdrop of everyday wartime life in Rome. The realism is enhanced by the camerawork and locations. A truly remarkable film. find out more...

Based on the Marquis de Sade's novel, 120 days of Sodom, and transposed to Fascist Italy circa 1944, this is Pasolini's most controversial work. Pasolini observes with unflinching gaze the systematic humiliation and torture of beautiful young boys and girls, herded into a palatial villa by various jaded, sadistic members of the wealthy upper classes. According to the director, the story was meant to be a metaphor for Fascism, but the revolting excesses shown on screen coupled with the fact that find out more...

Arthur Seaton is a factory worker who lives for women and booze and doesn't give a damn for the consequences. He is two-timing with Doreen whilst Brenda is pregnant and forced to face his responsibilities without losing his fighting spirit. 'Don't let the bastards grind you down'. A classic early 1960s angry young men neo-realist drama.

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