the stars look down (1940)

"If these men drown in Scupper flats no one can accuse you of murder. You'll say you were not a party to it. But what will your conscience say?"
Davey (Michael Redgrave) is a miner, from a long line of miners, who gets a scholarship to university. He's determined to graduate in order to campaign for better mine working conditions. Unfortunately he gets sidetracked by gold digger Jenny (Margaret Lockwood), and ends up back in his pit village as a school teacher humiliated. But things come to a head when he learns that an unsafe seam may be being reopened by the unscrupulous mine owner...
A campaigning drama, full of vitriol, demanding the nationalisation of the coal mines. Its lack of sophistication in the script is more than made up for in the cinematography when in the mines themselves, with its grim realism, and unhappy ending.

the meeting (1964)

A young woman (Cleo Boman) waits at an empty rural train station for a train. When it arrives she passionately greets one of the passengers (John Stokes). Then it leaves and they part, revealing he is in hand-cuffs.
A slow, brooding, but captivating short.

r-point (2004)

aka Arpointeu.
"Those that have blood on their hands will not return."
Nha-trang Vietnam, and a South Korean army base receives radio messages from a missing platoon. So Choi Tae-in (Woo-seong Kam) is dispatched to locate and rescue them. When they locate their position, all they find is a tombstone and a temple, that tells a tale of a massacre occuring there long ago...
An entertaining ghost story, spoilt slightly by the lack of grime. The platoon acting more like its on scout trip, rather than deep behind enemy territory.

the rocking horse (1962)

"Gonna wake the bastards up!"
An unnamed young rebel goes up the west end of London to pick up girls with his mate, and ends up bored and wandering with a young girl, before going back to her place.
A short but interesting slice of life. Revealing a time, pre-beatles, before London started to swing, and soho's coffee bars were where it was at, and probably shocked with its depiction of casual sex.

the pleasure girls (1965)

"I'm on the career kick, no time for love."
Sally (Francesca Annis) moves up from the country to London, determined to make it as a model. She takes a room in a house full of other aspiring young women and is soon caught up in their lives and that of the swinging London scene, meeting photographer (Ian McShane), slum landlord (Klaus Kinski), and even a gay character for good measure (Tony Tanner).
An interesting curio, and beautifully observed period piece. All bright and breezy to start, we soon find that most of these people have hidden problems.

the lady from shanghai (1947)

"Everybody is somebody's fool."
A sailor (Orson Welles) gets involved with Mrs. Bannister (Rita Hayworth), who pursuades him to work on her husband's yacht. In doing so he is thrown into a murder plot.
A taut and wonderfully directed film noir, full of memorable set pieces and the visual flair that comes with a Welles picture.

jaws - the revenge (1987)

aka Jaws IV.
"Get on with your life."
Chief Brody's widow (Lorraine Gary) decides she's had enough of living in Amity and heads off to see her son (Lance Guest), who happens to live in the Bahamas, where there are no great whites. But then a great white turns up. Surely it cannot be the same shark!
The law of deminishing returns is definately at work here. Their first mistake was spending all the budget on employing Michael Caine, rather than on a decent shark, or script.

is your honeymoon really necessary (1953)

"Wouldn't Candy love this?"
American flyboy Laurie Vining (Bonar Colleano) arrives back in England with a new wife in tow, and soon ends up getting the runaround trying to avoid his first wife Candy (Diana Dors), who maintains she is still married to him.
Old fashioned bedroom farce. It's no classic, but is enlivened by a sterling performance of Diana Dors.

the christmas tale (2005)

aka Cuento de navidad.
"I guess there will be no presents this year."
It's 1985 and five kids are enjoying the Christmas holiday when they discover someone (Maru Valdivielso) unconscious in a pit in the woods. They attempt to get her out, but then they find out she is a bank robber, and hit on the idea of keeping her there until she tells them where the money is. But like all good plans...
Like a sinister and twisted Goonies, this blends horror, and a childs eye view of the world, and shows not all kids are as innocent as they seem.

i know where i'm going (1945)

"Oh we live off the country. Rabbits, deer, a stray hiker or two."
Joan Webster (Wendy Hiller) wants to live a finer life. To this end she plans to marry Sir Robert Bellinger, a wealthy, middle-aged businessman, whom she does not love. But a spanner in the works emerges when she gets stranded on the Scotish island of Mull. There she falls for a young naval officer Torquil McNeil (Roger Livesey). But who will win out, her heart or her mind?
Finely judged and executed picture, full of beautiful set pieces and a picturesque atmosphere.

men without honour (1939)

"You've said too much or too little."
Frank Hardy (Ian Fleming) is a disgraced lawyer, having been accused of dishonesty. In his desperation for work he takes a position with a pair of stockbrokers, who turn out to be less than honest with their selling of stocks. He soon finds himself caught between the men running the company, their irate investors, and the police who are hunting for a flaw in their working practices, so they can arrest them.
A ponderous look at the dodgy practice of sharepushing and the ease with which investors can be taken in.

the great game (1953)

"Rutter would keep you out of the second division. How much is that worth to you?"
Joe Lawson (James Hayter) is the chairman of Burnville United. A rich but failing team, that seems destined for relegation. Then he learns that a star player from a rival team is moving to Burnville, and suggests to him that he ask for a transfer so Burnville can buy him. This then drops Lawson into hot water for making an illegal approach to a player.
A competent comedy drama, livened up by the prescence of Diana Dors.

the 39 steps (1935)

"There are 20 million women in this island and I get to be chained to you."
Richard Hannay (Robert Donat) gets caught up in a counterespionage plot, and ends up on the run from both the police and the spies. In the course of his journey, he ends up chained to school teacher Pamela (Madeleine Carroll).
One of Hitchcock's many masterpieces, that is as good today as it was when it first came out.
Alfred Hitchcock, British, Spy, Thriller, Gaumont,

a real friend (2006)

aka Adivina quién soy.
"She invited me to dinner."
A 12 year old loner of a girl (Nerea Inchausti) is obsessed with horror films and novels, and imagines the creatures as friends, whom she talks to. But one, the vampire (Eduard Farelo), isn't all that he seems...
An intriguing story, mixing the fertile imagination of a child, with the horrors of real life.

spectre (2006)

aka Regreso a Moira
"I am the distaff that winds your destiny."
1950's rural Spain and attractive single woman (Natalia Millán) moves into a village, and is branded a witch. 16 year old Tomas (Juan José Ballesta) is curious to see her, becomes her lover, then does her wrong...Forty years later he is drawn back to the village...
A languid, but fascinating old school ghost story.