An all time classic 60s movie glamourising the real life story of the Barrow gang who terrorised the American South in the early 30s. 'Reclaiming the American gangster movie, after it had been stolen by the Nouvelle Vague, Penn's film was so successful (and so imitated) that it inevitably met with some grudging devaluation. But it's still great, half comic fairytale, half brutal fact, it reflects the essential ambiguity of its heroes by treading a no man's land suspended between reality and fant 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...

Gus Van Sant's take on the shooting at Columbine High School is a masterpiece. Using a cast of unprofessional actors, he has created a unique and highly affecting film, rich in atmosphere and style. The non-linear narrative follows the experiences of the key characters, giving a different perspective of events in the short time frame (most of the events shown in the film take place in about an hour). While the tension in the film obviously comes from the impending violence, the film's strongest find out more...

PC Nicholas Angel is the best of the best, in fact he's so damn good he's making his fellow Metropolitan colleagues look inept, there's only one answer, ship him off to a sleepy West Country village. It soon becomes clear however that the market town of Sandford is a den of genteel psychotics, the number of ‘accidental' deaths reaching a frenzy that even Midsomer Norton would deem preposterous. It's time for PC Angel to take it up a gear and along for the ride is his immensely keen but dim witte find out more...

The 1960s and tradition is teetering on the edge, a group of minor public school boys can't hack it any more and rebellion brews. Discovering a cache of automatic weapons, they revolt bloodily against the establishment around them, from the rooftop they engage in a firefight with the teachers and other students, who are armed with the Army Cadet training rifles. A classic of the English cinema... rise up all teens. find out more...

Tense and engaging account of contemporary Parisian street life. The recriminations against the notorious police for an injured friend are realised by a documentary style of film making with voyeuristic undertones. Violently realistic and bitter drama. Excellent soundtrack. find out more...

Gus Van Sant's latest masterpiece is very much in a similar vein to his previous two films (Elephant and Gerry). Meditative, ambivalent and beautifully shot, Last Days is a loose retelling of the Kurt Cobain suicide. The dialogue is made up of mumbled non sequiturs and directionless enquiries. The cinematography, as in Elephant, is a mixture of pristine framing, expert use of natural light and patient static observation. Though the pace of the movie is arguably too testing for some viewers, the find out more...

Nikita is a junkie who murders a cop during a robbery and is caught. Faced with the option of a death sentence or life as a secret-service hitwoman, she becomes a ruthless killer executing without remorse or feeling, until she falls in love, that is. A stylish, dynamite and brilliant film. find out more...

Iron Giant is based upon a story that Ted Hughes told his children following the death of their mother, Sylvia Plath. Set in 1958, it is a lyrical tale about a giant metal machine that falls from the sky and frightens a small town in Maine. A lonely boy, Hogarth, befriends the kind-hearted alien and, hiding the giant from his mother, teaches him to communicate. The greatest threat, however, comes from the military who are out to destroy this metallic threat to wholesome America. The animation find out more...

One of the finest of the genre, this classic western follows two men whose initial contempt for each other's methods, one a hard man rancher, the other a naively honest lawyer, develops into respect when faced with the the town's local hoodlum. Tense, absorbing and not without wit. Superb. find out more...