20th Century Flicks, Bristol

A beautiful, witty depiction of a fantastic female poet. Terence Davies gives Dickinson the treatment she deserves, exploring how her personal life and character burst onto the page in the form of beautiful, lyric poetry. Wonderfully portrayed by Cynthia Nixon with a stellar supporting cast, it's a pure joy to watch. find out more...

A MAN FOR ALL SEASONS (1966)

CertificationU Our Rating

A respectable, sincere film of Robert Bolt's literate play, with Scofield as Sir Thomas More, endorsing the divine right of the Pope over and above his King, Henry VIII, who wishes to divorce Katherine Of Aragon and marry Anne Boleyn. Watch out for Orson Welles in a marvellous cameo as Cardinal Wolsey. The film won 6 Oscars. find out more...

AGORA (2009)

Certification12 Our Rating

A wonderful tale revolving round the atheistic female mathematician, philosopher and all-round genius Hypatia, the lover she spurned and the slave who adored her; Roman authority is collapsing, the end is nigh and the Talibanesque Christians are preparing to both sack and burn the great library at Alexandria, destroying the collective scientific work of centuries, setting back science and maths a millennium, and massacre thousands (including, of course, the Jews). This is an ambitious and swe find out more...

AMADEUS (1984)

CertificationPG Our Rating

An award winning film full of baroque splendour. The talented composer Antonio Salieri found himself in competition with Mozart, a genius, and he couldn't understand why God favored such a vulgar creature to be his instrument. Salieri turned into a hate-filled monster, whose aim in life became to ruin his colleague, but he emerges as a tragic and sympathetic character. He alone could appreciate the perfection of Mozart's music and, perhaps, he speaks up for all of us whose talents fall short of find out more...

AMAZING GRACE (2006)

Certification15 Our Rating

Inside this conventionally structured biopic resides an extraordinary story of an extraordinary man. William Wilberforce was the parliamentary spokesman for a group of radicalised young Evangelists (and Quakers), who despised the money politics and corruption of late 18th Century UK politics and who fought for many reformist policies, the most notable of which was the one this film annotates, the abolition of slavery, a process that took years of political skulduggery and the slow passage of find out more...

ANDREI RUBLEV (1966)

Certification15 Our Rating

Tarkovsky's mysterious masterpiece that charts the life and times of an obscure 15th Century Russian icon painter. Rublev's character is recreated, through 8 separate chapters, as a symbol of Russian suffering at the hands of Tartar invaders. Beautifully told, a fantastic and brilliantly directed tale. find out more...

BECKET (1964)

CertificationPG Our Rating

In a move designed to subordinate the Catholic Church to the state, Henry II gave the office of the Archbishop of Canterbury to his close friend and ally Thomas Becket. With Becket now installed as his 'man on the inside' Henry could be forgiven for thinking that the church would more easily acquiesce to his bidding. Henry, however, had neither bargained on Becket's ecclesiastical fervour nor realized his zealous nature. Thus the stage was set for one of the greatest battles of supremacy between find out more...

BECOMING JANE (2007)

CertificationPG Our Rating

The young Jane Austin is a feisty, forthright young lady on the cusp of a good marriage with rich, nice Mr Wisley when the dashing, reckless, irresponsible Tom Lefroy enters her myopic world. At first repelled by his arrogance the two soon become smitten but what chance does their love have in the face of overwhelming social disdain? 'Becoming Jane' is a lush and pleasantly performed imagining of the young writer's life. Though the idea that her novels were little more than dramatized biogs of h find out more...

BOUND FOR GLORY (1976)

CertificationPG Our Rating

A gilded bio of the legendary balladeer, Woody Gutherie, and his hobo existence in 1930s depression-hit America. Beautifully shot and, as you would expect, with an amazing score, Bound For Glory is a loving recreation of Gutherie as an American icon, the people's poet bringing light and hope to the down trodden masses; a gentle, elegiac film far removed from director Hal Ashby's previous work. find out more...

BOXCAR BERTHA (1972)

Certification15 Our Rating

The story of an Arkansas farm girl who, as a young girl, witnessed the death of her father in a horrific crash and then gained revenge on his boss. On the run she hits the road in a life of crime and meets up with an assortment of characters, including a trade unionist, a black friend of his and a small-time Yankee conman. find out more...