The definitive gangster-epic; violent? Yes, but never mindless. The Jewish Mafia's coming of age on the Lower East Side in 1923, their rise to wealth during Prohibition, and their fall in 1933, provide the background to a story of friendship and betrayal, love and death. Leone's masterful cinematography evokes both the harshness of the vice-ridden decades before and after Prohibition, but also the philosophy behind it. Splendid performances by De Niro and Woods and a stupendous score by Ennio Mo find out more...

A superb modern thriller in the ultra-hardboiled Jim Thompson mould, in which a trio of criminals, wanted for a brutally murderous drugs heist, converge on a small, quiet Arkansas township where the local cop, treated with contempt by the LA officers in charge of the case, looks forward to a High Noon-style showdown. The asides on racial and sexual inequality are made subtly and succinctly; the performances and pacing are nigh perfect; the violence is explicit, disturbing but never gratuitous; a find out more...

A fantastic looking film with a very pregnant atmosphere. Based on a true story of three girls disappearing on a school outing (only one was found and she remembered nothing). The film transforms this into an allegory for the loss of innocence that is associated with virginity and childhood. find out more...

Arnie is the leader of a tough bunch of professional soldiers down in Central America sorting out a little problem for Uncle Sam. An unexpected hitch is the hunter, an alien sportsman who'd like Arnie's head for his trophy wall! A great action movie - Alien meets Rambo!!! find out more...

An extremely funny teen comedy as a rich American adolescent is left in charge of his parents' home for a weekend. Everything starts to go wrong after he invites a young prostitute over. He's literally up a creek without a paddle and gets further there by the minute. find out more...

An archetypal classic Western, since remade countless times, with Alan Ladd superb as the world-weary gunslinger who rides into town and finds himself as the 'good guy' protecting the innocent from powerful malevolent forces. In this case the innocent are squatters determined to fight for their rights against a rancher and his gunmen; in one way this is the evolution of the west from lawlessness to settlement, in another the battle between big and small business. For Shane the options are clear, find out more...

The true story of Karen Silkwood, a worker at the Kerr-McGee nuclear plant in Cimarron, Oklahoma, who becomes aware of cover-ups about the dangers to her and her fellow workers and gets immersed in fighting her bosses for safety rights. The film very effectively mixes her personal life, ex-hubby, boyfriend, lesbian mate, child custody, heart to hearts, and her political struggle. Eventually she discovers she has a highly radioactive fridge and they are out to get her. Meryl Streep is again brill find out more...

Olivier is an aristocrat and a player of games who has lost his wife to nouveau-riche hairdresser Caine, and who relentlessly draws Caine into an intense battle of wits to exact his revenge. An intricate plot with delightful scam and counter-scam - not to be missed! find out more...

One of the truily great adventure movies, the type that Star Wars paid tribute to, and an example of what the large studios could produce. Glorious colour, sumptuos sets, and a brilliantly choreographed climatic sword fight between Flynn and Rathbone. find out more...

A group of ex-campus radicals from the sixties are reunited when one of their group commits suicide. Over an emotional weekend they renew old passions and look at the current state of their lives. A funny, provoking and emotional look at disillusion and the yuppie generation. Brilliant! find out more...