Robert Downey Jnr demonstrates his prowess by giving a riveting performance as the little master. The cast delivers despite a disjointed narrative, and Chaplin's fall from grace, brought down by McCarthyism is very moving. Kevin Kline is excellent as the flamboyant Fairbanks Jnr. find out more...

Superb biopic of legendary country singer Loretta Lynn. Sissy Spacek, who incidentally has a belting voice, deservedly won the Best Actress Oscar for her moving portrayal of the naive Kentucky farm girl who became a singing superstar against all the odds, while Tommy Lee Jones is dynamite as her husband Doolittle. Beverly D'Angelo is also a revelation as Loretta's close friend, the late great Patsy Cline. An inspirational rags-to-riches story, only to be avoided if you have a strong aversion to find out more...

Detailing the turbulent life of the founder and former frontman of Joy Division, Ian Curtis, photographer Anton Corbin's debut feature Control is a tour-de-force of the rise and fall of one of the most iconic and influential bands in British musical history. A gritty un-romanticised depiction of a tortured soul with a blinding central performance from Sam Riley. find out more...

Liverpool. 1978. What starts as a vibrant affair between a legendary femme fatale, the eccentric Academy Award-winning actress Gloria Grahame (Annette Bening), and her young lover. British actor Peter Turner (Jamie Bell), quickly grows into a deeper relationship, with Turner being the person Gloria turns to for comfort.Their passion and lust for life is tested to the limits by events beyond their control.

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A reverential tribute to the wacko and anarchic master-blaster of Gonzo Journalism; from his early days as investigative reporter and writer of 'Hell's Angels', his drug-fueled 'Fear and Loathing' episodes, the '68 Chicago convention, his bid to become sheriff of Aspen, Colorado, his coverage of the 1972 George McGovern campaign and onto his eventual decline as a writer. A must see for anyone interested in finding out more about this unique character who has so enlivened us with his writings. find out more...

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Bobby Sands was the IRA member who led the 1981 Long Kesh hunger strike as part of a campaign to achieve the status of political prisoners and not that of criminals. The first section of film deals with daily prison life, the 'dirty' protest and the violence, the second is a long discussion on the meaning of life with a sympathetic priest and the third depicts the last weeks and death of a man voluntarily dying of starvation. find out more...

An intriguing premise; take Dylan's music as an inspiration and using six different actors (one a young black boy, another a woman) loosely re-enact his life from childhood to venerable and venerated troubadour of the 20th Century. The possibilities of ‘I'm Not There' going horribly wrong were always going to be high but Todd Haynes manages to pull off a fascinating, hypnotic, original tale of a living icon and while the performances, with out exception, are excellent, it is Kate Blanchett's tur find out more...

In the early seventies Venice beach California was a hairy place to go surfing, ruled by the Z-Boys, a group of hedonistic wave riders who weren't prepared to share the beach with anyone. The film follows the Z-boys pioneering transition from surfing to skateboarding, and what a cheesy sorry mess they make of things. The original documentary of a similar name is a considerably more gripping and inspiring way to pass the time, though it lacks the glossy, cliché ridden teen drama aspect of this. 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...