The story of a director, devoid of inspiration and on the verge of a nervous breakdown, trying to satisfy the anticipation surrounding his next project. Surreal, serio-comic mildly autobiographical and widely acclaimed as one of the great films about movie-making. Fellini's masterpiece. find out more...

A landmark in the history of the cinema; it was ranked Number 1 in the American Film Institute's 100 greatest films of all time in two polls (1998 and 2007) of more than 1,500 film industry movers and shakers and again by UK directors in a BFI poll. "Citizen Kane" narrates the rise and fall of a newspaper tycoon driven by a childhood obssession and is loosely based round the life of William Randolph Hurst, who tried to have it banned, but incorporates elements from the lives of other fat cats il find out more...

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...

An aspiring playwright allows his artistic integrity to crumble and quickly sees his marriage go the same way. Fritz Lang plays the earnest film director at war with a producer who has more money than taste. Brigitte Bardot is magnetic as the contemptuous wife whose respect for Piccoli withers as he's seduced by Palance's financial clout. Tres chic. find out more...

Critically maligned on its release, this tale of a twisted lens-man who lures unsuspecting female victims to their grisly death is an interesting study in the voyeuristic implications of cinema. The killer is an eternal victim whose crimes are cries of rage against his father and stepmother and, at the same time, pathetic rehearsals for his own inevitable death. A Freudian script of notable maturity teases limitless implications from this premise, while maintaining a healthy sense of humour. find out more...

Just simply the best musical ever made. Witty, inventive, brilliant, wonderful and slightly surreal; it manages to parody Hollywood without ever quite descending into self-parody, always retaining its dignity (always dignity...) A must-watch every few years or so.

find out more...

This masterpiece by Preston Sturges is perhaps the finest movie-about-a-movie ever made. Hollywood director John Sullivan, tired of churning out lightweight comedies, decides to make "O, Brother, Where Art Thou?" - a serious, socially responsible film about human suffering. After his producers point out that he knows nothing of hardship, Joel hits the road as a hobo. While on his travels the director finds the lovely Veronica Lake, and more trouble than he ever imagined. Some truly inspired set find out more...

All time classic wonderfully filmed by Wilder, featuring great performances from Holden, as a bankrupt screenwriter seeking refuge, and Swanson, a faded star in a crumbling mansion, who pins her hopeless hopes of a comeback on the writer. Deliriously dark and nightmarish masterpiece. find out more...