4v291o

It was absolutely dreadful, obviously, but my Minecraft obsessed 8-year old son had one of the best experiences of his life, so - by association - I did, too..

Watched on Wednesday March 19, 2025.

Watched on Tuesday March 18, 2025.

Watched on Friday February 14, 2025.

'Drink can black out everything..' (Leo McKern as Robert Stanford)

Brief Synopsis: An alcoholic writer (Michael Redgrave) has just twenty-four hours to prove the innocence of his son (Alec McCowen) as the hangman's noose awaits..
--
Verdict: The third film Joseph Losey made in Britain after his Hollywood blacklisting - and the first where he was credited under his own name - is a flashily shot adaptation of a workaday stage play by Welsh dramatist Emlyn Williams, an author more famed for his penning of Night Must Fall and The Corn Is Green, both later adapted for the big screen. It's a 'race against time' drama with an anti-capital punishment stance, not without merit, but somewhat overwrought and pretentious - a regular Losey failing, even in his more celebrated pictures (The Servant, Accident, The Go-Between). The performances range from sublime (Redgrave) to over the top ridiculousness (McKern) - with others in the mid-range of plausibility (McCowen, Ann Todd, Peter Cushing) - and, thankfully, the story was all wrapped up in a brisk 85 minutes before I had time to get fed up with it.
--
Trivia Note: Cushing's next screen role was the career changing part of Baron Victor Frankenstein in the Hammer production of The Curse Of Frankenstein, the first of 22 movies he would go on to make for the celebrated horror studio.
--
Online Access: youtu.be/mzaiyxSV7qo?si=_TY8sbirvJnPPmY7

Watched on Tuesday February 4, 2025.

Brief Synopsis: On the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido, a stranger (Ken Takakura) arrives at a farmhouse during a thunderstorm and asks the owner (Chieko Baisho) for shelter.
--
Verdict: A quiet, gentle movie, stripped of histrionics, which still effortlessly managed to tug at my heart strings. At various times the film reminded me of such personal favourites as Shane, Whistle Down The Wind and Will Penny, which is great company to be in as far as I'm concerned. In a story as old as the hills - fugitive on the run meets lonely widow - the potential for melodrama and clichéd romance is a trap the director Yoji Yamada (sensibly) never falls into. Instead we get something more subtle, authentic and satisfying. A beautifully shot, understated gem..
--
Online Access: ok.ru/video/2051690531438

Watched on Tuesday January 28, 2025.

What are the odds on me rewatching this wonderful oddity exactly 10 years to the day since my first viewing in 2015?!

Nothing to add to my previous reviews, except to report that I love it a little more each time I watch it, despite its datedness and shortcomings..
--
Online Access: ok.ru/video/1100082907650

'Dad, please take me to see Sonic 3. You'll love it!'

I didn't love it; I endured it.
--
Verdict: Two Jim Carreys is two too many, especially at 9.30 in the morning..

The most unblockbustery blockbuster of all time?

Lackadaisical actioner from Raoul Walsh, poorly scripted by the usually reliable Borden Chase and perfunctorily acted by Rock Hudson - in his matinee idol, pre-Magnificent Obsession days - and the lovely Yvonne De Carlo, inheriting a role turned down by Joan Fontaine. Low key comes from Maxwell Reed - the first Mr. Joan Collins - and future director Bryan Forbes. It's not a bad picture 'per se'. Compensations include Ms. De Carlo looking very fetching in Technicolor, and the magnificent Hudson chest is often on display, but the story - (very) loosely adapted from a Victor Hugo novel - is just rather boring and uninvolving, with too few action sequences to stir the emotions. A bad day at the office for all concerned..
--
Online Access: ok.ru/video/7320400235068

'A good bartender lets a customer cry in his own beer..' (Audrey Totter as Sandy Tate)
--
Brief Synopsis: A newspaper reporter (Dana Andrews) find himself trapped behind the Iron Curtain as he chases down a major scoop.
--
Verdict: A routine title for a routine - though not unenjoyable - Cold War drama from actor turned editor turned director Robert Parrish, a workaday helmsman who doesn't really have a standout film on his resume. There were a whole slew of Commie-bashing flicks emerging from Hollywood studios in the early '50s and this effort from Columbia at least benefits from authentic location shooting which certainly helps in creating atmosphere. After a stellar '40s with such outstanding films as Laura, The Best Years Of Our Lives, Daisy Kenyon, and numerous others under his belt, I think it's fair to say that Andrews' career was already on the slide as the new decade began and he would seldom hit the heights again for the remainder of his career. There's a lethargy to his movements and a tiredness in his eyes which just wasn't there a few years before; I wouldn't go so far as to say his acting is 'dialled-in' but any fire burning in his belly feels close to being extinguished. Able comes from the ever wonderful Totter as Andrews' fellow journo, and George Sanders, as Dana's boss, is always good value, though - SPOILER ALERT! - I'm nearly always disappointed when he isn't playing a villain: that guy should always be a heavy!
--
Trivia Note: This was the last American film of love interest Märta Torén who sadly died at the age of 31 from a subarachnoid hemorrhage.
--
Online Access: youtu.be/df3pGg3Apkc?si=00FhPuBmllLw3qcn

You'll believe a man can cry. I certainly did.. 😭

Watched on Thursday November 28, 2024.

Watched on Thursday November 14, 2024.

Paul King's franchise hop from marmalade to chocolate is keenly felt in this perfectly serviceable threequel which, unfortunately, lacks the very special magic he brought to the first two films. It's all a little too hurried and frantic for my tastes, and the new director's background in commercials and music videos is very apparent as the film barely pauses for breath. The thin plot sees Michael Bond's titular bear and his adopted family leave London and head for the jungles of Peru on an unlikely search and rescue mission, aided and abetted/hindered by the starry duo of Olivia Colman and Antonio Banderas who, sadly, never come close to the terrific pantomime villainy of Nicole Kidman and Hugh Grant in the earlier installments. Still, it's bright and breezy and even though my pulse never raced I left the theatre entertained and mildly enthused at the prospect of the inevitable part four turning up at some time in the future..

Watched on Tuesday July 23, 2024.

Watched on Friday July 19, 2024.

Watched on Thursday July 4, 2024.

Watched on Wednesday July 3, 2024.

Watched on Tuesday July 2, 2024.

Watched on Monday July 1, 2024.

Donald Sutherland (1935-2024): A Tribute
--
When he became a star in the 1970s, Donald Sutherland's screen persona was based on his tall, gaunt figure and blank, imive face. These physical attributes - combined with his aloof attitude - were seen time and again in his portrayal of characters who were repressing some kind of inner turbulence, concealing obsessions that are not always allowed to show on the surface but which are usually the driving force of their actions. It was an ambiguous persona in that he could be villainous as well as heroic, and often he was a mixture of both in the same film. This ambiguity and his imive nature made him an actor of interest to major directors over the years, including Alan J. Pakula (Klute, as a detective so obsessed with finding a murderer despite call-girl Jane Fonda's reluctance to help that he resigns from the police force to concentrate on the job), Federico Fellini (who cast him as the most infamous sex fanatic of all time in Casanova), Bernardo Bertolucci (1900, as a fascist who is the cruel villain of the story), Robert Altman (M*A*S*H, his breakthrough role as the gangling and insubordinate Hawkeye), Nicolas Roeg (Don't Look Now, where his subconscious preoccupation with his daughter's accidental drowning eventually leads to his own demise in a wintry Venice), John Schlesinger (The Day Of The Locust, in which his obsession with Karen Black and his repressed emotions explode into the killing of a child actor and his own death at the hands of an outraged mob), and Robert Redford (Ordinary People, possibly his most affecting role as a father coming to with the disintegration of his family). Sutherland went on to have a long and fruitful career right up until the end, but it is for the roles he played in the '70s that I will him most fondly. Their intensity is burnt into my soul. RIP Donald..

*Trolley's Retro Reviews*
--
'I ain't sorry no more, ya crazy, psalm-singing, skinny old maid!' (Humphrey Bogart as Charlie Allnut)
--
Knowing John Huston's character, the claim made by Peter Viertel in his novel White Hunter, Black Heart - itself later made into a movie by Clint Eastwood - that the eccentric director insisted on filming some of his adaptation of C.S. Forester's World War I adventure yarn on location in Uganda and the Belgian Congo simply because he fancied going on safari, is very probably true. Regardless, this decision - allied to the unlikely but inspired pairing of Bogie as a booze-addled riverboat skipper and Katharine Hepburn as a prim and proper missionary - aided and abetted him to shoot an exceptional picture, as I doubt it would have been anywhere near as effective as an entirely studio-bound project. The story takes the unlikely couple down a hazardous river as they flee from pursuing German forces, and as they make their way through perilous rapids and many hair-raising incidents, initial mutual antipathy/loathing apprehensively and slowly turns to love, and it’s believable because their shared discomfort, in a confined space, in treacherous conditions, comes across as genuine: both are forced by circumstances to adapt and make compromises in their bid for survival. There is romance, jeopardy a-plenty, exhilarating action and humour which satisfyingly evolves organically from the characters and the situations they find themselves in. Sure, the climactic assault on a German cruiser strains credulity to breaking point, and a near-death marriage proposal threatens to drown the film in sentimentality, but, really, nothing less than a happy ending would suffice after all of the previous derring-do!
--
Trivia Note: Bogie's performance bagged him his one and only Best Actor Oscar. For all you nerds out there, his victory meant that he was the last man born in the 19th century - Christmas Day 1899 to be precise! - to do so.
--
Online Access: ok.ru/video/1282617903814

The banality of Nazi evil is undoubtedly presented with ice cold and clinical proficiency - with impeccable sound design and a score to give you nightmares - but I couldn't warm to Jonathan Glazer's latest award-winning offering and my interest zoned out after about the hour mark..

'Just because we're married the love affair can't be over. It's never over! If it's over, then the marriage is over..' (Mia Farrow as Belinda)
--
Verdict: Towards the end of a career which traversed genres and peaked with a Best Director Oscar for the musical Oliver! in 1969, Carol Reed eased himself into retirement after completing a modern day Western (Flap) and this charming oddity concerning a stuffy ant (a staid Michael Jayston) who hires an eccentric investigator (a twinkly Topol) to find out if his free-spirited wife (a pixie-ish Mia Farrow) is cheating on him. However, the private dick's conspicuous inability to avoid his 'prey' immediately becoming aware of his presence leads to an unsaid understanding between the two whereby the lonely wife consents to be, in effect, stalked as she makes her way around London. This is the cue for some lovely touristy scenes exquisitely filmed by cinematographer Christopher Challis on the streets of a sunny British capital, all played out to the swooning accompaniment of another majestic John Barry score. The story - expertly opened out by Reed from Peter Shaffer's play The Public Eye - is undeniably weak and shouldn't really work but by some strange alchemy, it does! Fresh from his Oscar-nominated appearance in Fiddler On The Roof, Topol - never the most subtle of performers, as anyone who has seen his turns in Flash Gordon and For Your Eyes Only will testify to - contributes massively to the film's strange appeal with an ebullient performance. He's far from subtle but is very warm and funny, and a little melancholy, just like the film as a whole. Sadly, it made little impact on release in 1972 and now exists as nothing more than a mere footnote to Reed's remarkable career, which is a real shame because there's so much to love about his cinematic swansong..
--
Online Access: ok.ru/video/1535764531910

Watched on Sunday May 12, 2024.

'The cinema is true; a story is false..' (Jean Epstein)
--
Brief Synopsis: In the port of Marseille, an orphan (Gina Manès) is torn between her true love (Léon Mathot) and a brutish thug (Edmond van Daële).
--
Avant-garde Polish-born French director Epstein believed that the strength of movies didn't necessarily lie in employing a cohesive narrative, instead advocating the medium's possibility for impressionism. He went on to put these theories into practice in a series of well-received melodramas, including this one - arguably his most famous film - which makes up for its hackneyed 'love triangle' storyline with some exemplary, ahead of its time technique, including superimpositions, dizzyingly rapid editing and quirky close-ups of forlorn-looking leading lady Manès to rival the iconic images of Maria Falconetti in Carl Theodor Dreyer's Silent classic The ion Of Joan Of Arc (1928). Quite remarkable, really, that a picture made over a hundred years ago can come across as so strikingly modern..
--
Online Access: ok.ru/video/1659139197550

'The broth is the soul of ramen..' (Tsutomu Yamazaki as Gorô)
--
All the essential ingredients are in place for this Western-influenced Jūzō Itami banquet: a strong female character (the director's luminous wife Nobuko Miyamoto) front and centre of a buoyant satire on a particular Japanese social ritual, in this instance the art of creating and devouring the perfect bowl of noodles. Onto this simple tale of a Shane-like trucker (the wonderfully laconic Yamazaki) gathering together a motley crew of helpers to ensure that the titular Tampopo's ramen bar is the best in the business, Itami ingeniously grafts a plethora of delightful comic vignettes - the best of which is the erotic encounter between a white-suited hoodlum (Koji Yakusho), his moll (Fukumi Kuroda) and an egg - whose sole link is their focus on food. The net result is a ragged, quirky and always extremely amusing picture... with never a (noo) dull moment!
--
Sad Trivia Note: Itami died under tragic and mysterious circumstances in 1997 after leaving a suicide note claiming that 'only through death can I prove my innocence', then falling from the roof of a building just days before he was outed by a tabloid newspaper for having an affair. It is widely thought that his death actually came at the hands of a yakuza gang he had previously offended with the release of his anti-yakua satire Minbo: The Gentle Art Of Japanese Extortion (1992).
--
Online Access: ok.ru/video/2456073865926

'All the things that used to be inside of me, now they are all outside..' (Masato Hagiwara as Mamiya)
--
Brief Synopsis: Detective Takabe (Koji Yakusho) investigates a bizarre series of killings perpetrated by seemingly normal citizens who have no explanation of what drove them to commit their brutal acts.
--
Verdict: A distinctively creepy and unsettling chiller which gradually immerses you into its ominous atmosphere. I freely it my concentration wasn't at the level required to fully appreciate such a twisty journey into cinematic darkness. Kiyoshi Kurosawa's terrifying movie could easily be elevated to a higher rating if I can summon up the courage to watch it again..
--
Trivia Note: In a poll conducted by Sight and Sound magazine, Korean director Bong Joon-ho selected the film in his Top 10 of all time.
--
Online Access: ok.ru/video/2525062630054

Watched on Monday March 4, 2024.

Watched on Friday March 1, 2024.

'The director must consider himself surrounded by enemies; what I mean is that, in a business where the taste of one man must prevail, he is surrounded by people who want to do nothing but improve their own tastes..' (Claude Autant-Lara)
--
Verdict: In a nutshell, this is the story of the seduction of an 'innocent'. The daughter of a jeweller (Hélène Robert) is attracted to her father's assistant (Fernandel) but, alas, the wet-behind-the-ears chap meets a 'fille de trottoir' (Arletty) whose unsavoury circle - which includes Michel Simon - proves irresistible to the point that he ingratiates himself into their petty criminal milieu and even begins to ape their mannerisms and dialect. The film is a comedy based on a long-running stage play and though it is probably too long and verbose to be deemed a total success, it always entertains and gets by just fine and dandy on the brio of its trio of absolutely delightful star performances from the exceptional Fernandel, Arletty and Simon.
--
Trivia Note: Though Maurice Lehmann is credited as the director and Autant-Lara is only listed as 'collaborateur technique', in actuality the latter directed practically the whole film all on his own.

'Listen, I took a failure with the charm of Tricky Dicky Nixon. I made us skyrocket..' (Anthony Hopkins as the voice of Fats)
--
Verdict: By the time Richard Attenborough got round to directing William Goldman's adaption of his own novel, the 'ventriloquist controlled by his dummy' storyline could be described as 'old chestnut' having been used as the basis for such diverse films as early sound offering The Great Gabbo (1929), Danny Kaye comedy vehicle Knock On Wood (1954) and low-budget British effort Devil Doll (1964). It had even formed the basis of two episodes of the anthology series The Twilight Zone before Attenborough - previously and latterly known for his more 'epic' offerings - attempted to breathe new life into the overly familiar scenario. And for a lot of the running time he has a magic touch, coming up with interludes of genuinely eerie suspense. The film runs out of steam towards the end as the story becomes more and more ludicrous but Dickie should be given credit for eliciting a performance from Hopkins which provides tantalising glimpses of the ambivalent depths to come in his later career, most famously in three outings as Hannibal Lecter.
--
Trivia Note: Gene Wilder was the original choice for the lead role but producer Joseph E. Levine vetoed the idea as he feared having an actor renowned for his comedic performances would be too distracting.
--
Online Access: ok.ru/video/2120661338877

Brief Synopsis: A young doctor (Vittorio De Sica) is adored by a Shakespeare-quoting orphan (Adriana Benetti) who pretends to be his sister in order to get rid of his fiancée (Irasema Dilián) and mistress (Anna Magnani).
--
Verdict: A far cry from the neo-realist masterpieces soon-to-come from De Sica, his third film as a director has no artistic pretensions at all and is much of a kind with other 'telefoni bianchi' pictures being made in Italy at the time, productions with the express aim of imitating the polished comedies churned out by the major Hollywood studios thousands of miles away in California. De Sica directs - and acts - with great finesse, creating a very enjoyable farce; a frothy and feather-light concoction which at various times reminded me of the style of Ernst Lubitsch and, weirdly, the 1955 Fred Astaire musical Daddy Long Legs. In a personable cast, look out for a feisty star-making turn from Magnani: her emotional authenticity and 'earthiness', familiar from such famous movies as Rome, Open City, Bellissima and The Rose Tattoo was, it seems, in place from the very beginning..
--
Trivia Note: Despite being less than ninety minutes in length, the film has an intermission just past the halfway mark!
--
Online Access: ok.ru/video/3783163316916

'The perfect camera technique is one that the audience doesn't even know is existing..' (John Sturges)
--
A sturdy widescreen MGM Western from that reliable old workhorse Sturges which attempts to breathe new life into a story as old as them thar hills. It's all about an ex-con-turned Marshal (Robert Taylor) who settles a debt - or so he thinks - by springing his ex-partner (Richard Widmark) from the slammer, only for the ungrateful so-and-so to show his gratitude by kidnapping the lawman's gal (Patricia Owens) to force him to return to where the loot from their final heist is buried; namely, in a ramshackle ghost town which provides a fitting backdrop for the well-staged, action-packed finale where the band of not-so-merry men (including the familiar ing faces of Henry Silva and DeForest Kelley) must defend themselves from each other and some pesky marauding Indians. Stars Taylor and Widmark play to type - the former taciturn and bland, the latter charismatic and dangerous - and it’s all highly watchable without ever threatening to enter the top tier of oaters.
--
Online Access: ok.ru/video/6975716657691

Brief Synopsis: One snowy Christmas Eve in a small French town, a case of mistaken identity threatens the beginnings of a love affair between a timid pianist (Gilbert Bécaud) and a waitress (Françoise Arnoul).
--
Verdict: Marcel Carné's 'lucky for some' thirteenth feature is a different beast to the black and white poetic realist masterpieces he shot two decades earlier upon which his critical reputation rests. For one, it's in glorious Eastmancolor and resplendently pastel-hued, as befits a bright and breezy, audience-friendly comedy, worlds apart from the likes of Le Quai Des Brumes, Le Jour Se Lève and Les Enfants Du Paradis. The story may only be a mere 'soufflé' but Carné was a master of his craft so even with the most unpromising of raw materials he was able to fashion an unpretentious delight which is undeniably lightweight but also strangely moving as it hurtles towards the happy ending I was expecting and would have felt cheated by if it hadn't occurred exactly as it plays out on screen! Carné's direction of his cast - especially that of singer and novice actor Gilbert Bécaud in a dual role - is impossible to fault, as is the diligent approach to the way the production looks in all its glowing, studio-bound glory. A film to warm the cockles of your heart on a cold winter's day and leave you with a 'Ready Brek' glow..
--
Online Access: ok.ru/video/7027807554228

Watched on Friday January 19, 2024.

'Paradise can go fuck itself..' (George Clooney as Matt King)
--
Verdict: Though not as laugh-out-loud funny, lacerating or single-minded as the other Alexander Payne movies I've had the privilege of seeing - About Schmidt, Sideways and Nebraska - this incisive Hawaii-set slow burner has serious claims to being the finest of the lot. Its Oscar-winning script is very perceptive on the subjects of familial relationships and grief while still finding time to gift the cast plenty of 'zingers' to hurl at each other as it relates the tale of a land baron (Clooney) having to deal with a tricky business deal at the same time as coping with the sad aftermath of an accident which has left his wife in a coma. Clooney excels in an atypical role, not relying on his usual effortless-looking cool and confident/cocky persona but instead creating a convincing and relatable character; a husband and father who comes to the realisation that his obsession with work has had a detrimental effect on his personal life. A picture to cherish..
--
Trivia Note: The author of the novel the film is based on - Kaui Hart Hemmings - has a small cameo role as Clooney's assistant.

'At the risk of being immodest, you’ve just been thrice fucked by the very best..' (Mark Ruffalo as Duncan Wedderburn)
--
Verdict: Gorgeous imagery switching between gothy monochrome and hyper-saturated colour, and a dissonant, unsettling score decorate the latest batshit crazy offering from Yorgos Lanthimos; a darkly hilarious spin on the Frankenstein myth, stuffed to the gills with the Greek director's trademark weirdness plus lashings of profanity and - to use the British vernacular - copious rogering. The themes of a patriarchal system and female empowerment are clearly addressed, but in truth I couldn't take any of it too seriously and just strapped myself in to enjoy the bumpy and enjoyable ride provided by a director firmly in the 'zone' and, in particular, a trio of stellar comedic performances from Ruffalo, Emma Stone and Willem Dafoe. Shiny gongs for all three should be forthcoming in awards season, methinks!

'The reason people find it so hard to be happy is that they always see the past better than it was, the present worse than it is, and the future less resolved than it will be..' (Marcel Pagnol)
--
Brief Synopsis: On the eve of World War II, a well-digger's daughter (Josette Day) threatens to bring shame on her family after her flirtatious encounters with a cocky pilot (Georges Grey) leave her pregnant.
--
Verdict:

Father/daughter relationships, family rupture followed by reconciliation... the familiar tropes of a Pagnol movie are all present and correct in this restrained melodrama of rare charm and poignancy which benefits from extensive location filming, evoking the simplicity of a bucolic Provençal. The writer/director is well served by an exceptional cast, headed by the familiar faces of Raimu and Fernandel who had both shone in earlier Pagnol works like The Baker's Wife and Angèle.

It is a film of significant historical import as 's surrender to Nazi is documented on screen more or less as it was happening in real life, leading to a temporary suspension of filming after just a few weeks before resuming in the summer after the Vichy government had been established. This break enabled Pagnol to tweak his script to include a newly written sequence capturing the sentiment of a defeated nation as several characters gather around a radio set to listen to a speech by Marshal Pétain, head of the new collaborationist regime.

The picture is maybe overlong with a happy ending which may not be to everyone's tastes, but I found it to be a moving and delightful piece, emphasising Pagnol's great skills as a writer with a shrewd grasp and understanding of human nature. The characters are well-drawn and avoid the pitfall of falling into caricature primarily by the skills of the actors involved including the aforementioned Raimu, possibly the finest French actor of his generation, who is both emotional and intense as a father trying to balance holding on to his pride with his love for his shamed daughter, and the delightful Fernandel as a kind-hearted soul who fits this kind of setting so well.
--
Trivia Note: The film was remade seventy years later by actor Daniel Auteuil - his directorial debut - who had previously starred in Claude Berri's 1986 remake of Pagnol's penultimate film (Manon Des Sources).
--
Online Access: ok.ru/video/4082026089140

Watched on Sunday January 7, 2024.

Plastic fantastic!

Co-writer/director Paul King, no doubt buoyed by the tremendous and thoroughly deserved success of his cuddly Paddington offerings, allows his pure imagination to run wild with this - mainly - scrumdiddlyumptious confection; a fanciful and imaginative origin story for author Roald Dahl's famous 'candy man' character. Those blessed with a propensity for chocolate will no doubt gulp it down ravenously like an eager child on Easter Sunday morning, with no ill effects whatsoever, whilst others may be induced into a sugar high by an overdose of (saccharine) sweetness.

Watched on Thursday December 7, 2023.

Watched on Sunday November 19, 2023.

Watched on Wednesday November 1, 2023.

*Trolley's Retro Reviews*
--
'He's a man from outer space and we're taking him to his spaceship..' (Henry Thomas as Elliott)
--
Much, much more than a triumph of sci-fi adventure and special effects, Steven Spielberg's gargantuan '80s blockbuster is an expertly crafted picture depending as much on plot, narrative, friendship and character as it does on the vivid imaginations that brought it into being. In actuality it is - as Spielberg himself said at the time of release - a simple love story, a love story between a young boy (Thomas, who never once hits a false note) and a curious, ungainly entity from another planet, carelessly left stranded in the suburbs of California, who become best friends as they try to avoid the authorities, faceless pursuers whose menace is chillingly conveyed by hefty boots, explorative torches and jangling keys. The film is chock-a-block with enchantment, sentiment, innocence and - most importantly - wonder. It is also witty, sometimes scary, and a very touching slice of entertainment, satisfying on every level to viewers of all ages. In truth, the perfect fairy tale..
--
Trivia Note: Harrison Ford's brief cameo appearance as a headteacher, filmed from behind and in shadow so as not to reveal his face, ended up on the cutting room floor!

*Trolley's Retro Reviews*
--
Another extraordinarily lyrical picture from the Archers team of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger which proceeds from the fairly bizarre premise that during the Second World War, three modern day 'pilgrims', a land girl (Sheila Sim), a British Army Sergeant (Dennis Price) and a US counterpart (a performance of great charm by real-life soldier John Sweet), arrive by train to a small Kent village during a blackout, make friends, and become amateur detectives to solve the mystery of a 'glue man' who, under the cover of darkness, is going about pouring the sticky substance over the heads of young ladies out late at night.

Though maddeningly difficult to categorise, the film is daring, original, refreshing and immensely entertaining. It also manages to portray a sharp awareness of the tensions underlying a rural community during wartime, from local resentment to the influx of 'outsiders' to a more long-term fear of the destruction of traditional 'social orders'. Powell counterbalances these understandable fears by providing an assurance of stability and a mystical sense of historical continuity, epitomised by the enchanting sequences set in a Denham film studio-rebuilt Canterbury Cathedral, which are beyond praise. An impeccable oddity..
--
Sad Trivia Note: Margaret Mitchell - author of Gone With The Wind - was on her way to a screening of this film when she was knocked over by a drunk driver. She died a few days later without regaining consciousness.
--
Online Access: youtu.be/RMJ8lVXXNP8?si=6wgqLO54MtYyLTB9

A ranked list of all the films I've seen in which Isabelle Adjani appears.

Please note the ranking is based on the quality of the film overall rather than Isabelle's performance in particular!

1. Subway
2. The Driver
3. Possession
4. The Story of Adele H.
5. Ishtar
6. One Deadly Summer
7. Deadly Circuit

   ok.ru/video/1740073339558

8. Nosferatu the Vampyre
9. The Perfect Couple
10. Quartet

A ranked list of all the films I've seen in which Nicole Kidman makes an appearance.

Please note the ranking is based on the quality of the film overall rather than Nicole's performance in particular!

1. Eyes Wide Shut
2. Paddington
3. Birth
4. The Others
5. Cold Mountain
6. To Die For
7. Dead Calm
8. Birthday Girl
9. The Perfect Couple
10. The Stepford Wives

...plus 1 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

RIP to The King of the Mini-Series, one of my favourite actors..

Here's a ranked list of all the films I've seen in which the gentleman in question, Richard Chamberlain, appears.

Please note the ranking is based on the quality of the film overall rather than Richard's performance in particular!

Not on Letterboxd:

Island Son (TV series, 1989-90)

1. Petulia
2. The Towering Inferno
3. The Last Wave
4. The Music Lovers
5. Shōgun
6. The Thorn Birds
7. King Solomon's Mines
8. The Madwoman of Chaillot
9. The Three Musketeers
10. The Man in the Iron Mask

...plus 11 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

A list of the remaining films/performances I've still to see - mainly the recent ones! - that won its leading lady a Best Actress Oscar.

Recommendations of films/performances to prioritise are most welcome..

The Notes field will reveal the name of the actress in question.

1. 7th Heaven

   Janet Gaynor

2. Street Angel

   Janet Gaynor

3. The Divorcee

   Norma Shearer

4. Min and Bill

   Marie Dressler

5. The Sin of Madelon Claudet

   Helen Hayes

6. The Three Faces of Eve

   Joanne Woodward

7. BUtterfield 8

   Elizabeth Taylor

8. Funny Girl

   Barbra Streisand

9. The Trip to Bountiful

   Geraldine Page

10. Blue Sky

    Jessica Lange

...plus 19 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

A list of the remaining films I've still to see that won a Best Director Oscar.

Recommendations of films to prioritise are most welcome..

The Notes field will reveal the name of the director in question.

1. 7th Heaven

   Frank Borzage (Dramatic)

2. Two Arabian Knights

   Lewis Milestone (Comedy)

3. The Divine Lady

   Frank Lloyd

4. Skippy

   Norman Taurog

5. Bad Girl

   Frank Borzage

6. Cavalcade

   Frank Lloyd

7. Traffic

   Steven Soderbergh

8. A Beautiful Mind

   Ron Howard

9. The Departed

   Martin Scorsese

10. Slumdog Millionaire

    Danny Boyle

...plus 12 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

A list of the remaining Best Picture Oscar winners I've still to see: a smattering of early ones and lots of recent ones!

I really, really don't watch many 'new' films..

Any recommendations of films I should prioritise are most welcome..

1. The Broadway Melody
2. Cimarron
3. Cavalcade
4. A Beautiful Mind
5. Chicago
6. Crash
7. The Departed
8. Slumdog Millionaire
9. The Hurt Locker
10. The King's Speech

...plus 13 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

A list of the remaining films/performances I've still to see - mainly the recent ones! - that won a Best ing Actor Oscar.

Recommendations of films/performances to prioritise are most welcome..

The Notes field will reveal the name of the actor in question.

1. Kentucky

   Walter Brennan

2. A Thousand Clowns

   Martin Balsam

3. The Subject Was Roses

   Jack Albertson

4. The Paper Chase

   John Houseman

5. The Sunshine Boys

   George Burns

6. Glory

   Denzel Washington

7. Jerry Maguire

   Cuba Gooding, Jr.

8. The Cider House Rules

   Michael Caine

9. Traffic

   Benicio del Toro

10. Iris

    Jim Broadbent

...plus 17 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

A list of the remaining films/performances I've still to see - mainly the recent ones! - that won its leading man a Best Actor Oscar.

Recommendations of films/performances to prioritise are most welcome..

The Notes field will reveal the name of the actor in question.

1. The Way of All Flesh

   Emil Jannings

2. In Old Arizona

   Warner Baxter

3. Disraeli

   George Arliss

4. Cyrano de Bergerac

   José Ferrer

5. Charly

   Cliff Robertson

6. Shine

   Geoffrey Rush

7. Life Is Beautiful

   Roberto Benigni

8. Training Day

   Denzel Washington

9. Mystic River

   Sean Penn

10. Ray

    Jamie Foxx

...plus 16 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

A list of the remaining films I've still to see that won a Best Foreing Language Film Oscar.

Recommendations of films to prioritise are most welcome..

Note: Prior to 1956, the chosen film was an honorary award as there were no lists of nominated films.

1. Monsieur Vincent
2. The Walls of Malapaga
3. Samurai I: Musashi Miyamoto
4. Black Orpheus
5. The Shop on Main Street
6. War and Peace
7. Black and White in Color
8. Madame Rosa
9. Get Out Your Handkerchiefs
10. Moscow Does Not Believe in Tears

...plus 34 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

A list of the remaining films/performances I've still to see - mainly the recent ones! - that won a Best ing Actress Oscar.

Recommendations of films/performances to prioritise are most welcome..

The Notes field will reveal the name of the actress in question.

1. The Diary of Anne Frank

   Shelley Winters

2. A Patch of Blue

   Shelley Winters

3. Butterflies Are Free

   Eileen Heckart

4. My Cousin Vinny

   Marisa Tomei

5. Bullets Over Broadway

   Dianne Wiest

6. Mighty Aphrodite

   Mira Sorvino

7. Girl, Interrupted

   Angelina Jolie

8. Pollock

   Marcia Gay Harden

9. A Beautiful Mind

   Jennifer Connelly

10. Chicago

    Catherine Zeta-Jones

...plus 17 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

A list of all the actresses I think should have won Best Actress over the years from those women nominated, with my choices being either based on merit or personal preference.

Sometimes I agreed with the Academy, often I didn't!

The Notes field will reveal the name of my selected actress and the winner for each year (if it differs from my choice)..

1. Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans

   Janet Gaynor (t win for this performance as well as 7th Heaven and Street Angel)

2. Coquette

   Mary Pickford

3. Anna Christie

   Greta Garbo (Winner: Norma Shearer for The Divorcee)

4. Morocco

   Marlene Dietrich (Winner: Marie Dressler for Min And Bill)

5. The Sin of Madelon Claudet

   Helen Hayes

6. Morning Glory

   Katharine Hepburn

7. It Happened One Night

   Claudette Colbert

8. The Dark Angel

   Merle Oberon (Winner: Bette Davis for Dangerous)

9. My Man Godfrey

   Carole Lombard (Winner: Luise Rainer for The Great Ziegfeld)

10. The Awful Truth

    Irene Dunne (Winner: Luise Rainer for The Good Earth)

...plus 87 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

A list of all the actors I think should have won Best Actor over the years from those men nominated, with my choices being either based on merit or personal preference.

Sometimes I agreed with the Academy, often I didn't!

The Notes field will reveal the name of my selected actor and the winner for each year (if it differs from my choice)..

1. The Last Command

   Emil Jannings

2. In Old Arizona

   Warner Baxter

3. Condemned!

   Ronald Colman (Winner: George Arliss for Disraeli)

4. The Front Page

   Adolphe Menjou (Winner: Lionel Barrymore for A Free Soul)

5. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

   Fredric March

6. I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang

   Paul Muni (Winner: Charles Laughton for The Private Life Of Henry VIII)

7. It Happened One Night

   Clark Gable

8. Mutiny on the Bounty

   Charles Laughton (Winner: Victor McLaglen for The Informer)

9. My Man Godfrey

   William Powell (Winner: Paul Muni for The Story Of Louis Pasteur)

10. A Star Is Born

    Fredric March (Winner: Spencer Tracy for Captains Courageous)

...plus 87 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

A list of all the films I think should have won Best Picture over the years from those films nominated, with my choices being either based on merit or my own preference.

Sometimes I agreed with the Academy, often I didn't and the Notes field will reveal the winner for each year (if it differs from my choice)..

1. Wings
2. In Old Arizona

   Winner: The Broadway Melody

3. All Quiet on the Western Front
4. The Front Page

   Winner: Cimarron

5. Shanghai Express

   Winner: Grand Hotel

6. A Farewell to Arms

   Winner: Cavalcade

7. It Happened One Night
8. Top Hat

   Winner: Mutiny On The Bounty

9. Dodsworth

   Winner: The Great Ziegfeld

10. Lost Horizon

    Winner: The Life Of Emile Zola

...plus 87 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

A list of the remaining films I've still to see in which the recently deceased Gene Hackman makes an appearance.

Any recommendations of films I should prioritise are most welcome..

RIP, Gene..

1. Mad Dog Coll
2. First to Fight
3. A Covenant with Death
4. Banning
5. The Split
6. Riot
7. Doctors' Wives
8. The Hunting Party
9. Cisco Pike
10. Zandy's Bride

...plus 30 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

Simply, the unseen foreign language film - i.e., not in the English language - I most want to see for each year from 1930 onwards.

Recommendations of which films to prioritise are, as usual, most welcome!

1. Westfront 1918
2. The Congress Dances
3. Wooden Crosses
4. Outskirts
5. Les Affaires publiques
6. Pension Mimosas
7. By the Bluest of Seas
8. La Habanera
9. Alexander Nevsky
10. The Last Turning

...plus 85 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

The 10 most appealing films for each year of this decade that I've still to see.

Once a film has been watched it will be removed and replaced by another!

Recommendations of films to prioritize are most welcome...

1. Farewell
2. L'Âge d'or
3. Animal Crackers
4. Earth
5. Yoshie Fujiwara's Hometown
6. Journey's End
7. Little Lise
8. Min and Bill
9. Monte Carlo
10. Westfront 1918

...plus 90 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

Taking an idea that others on Letterboxd have used recently, here's the film I most want to see from each of the last hundred years.

Once I've seen a film I will replace it with another unseen film from the same year!

Recommendations of films I should prioritise are, as usual, most welcome...

1. Variety
2. The Winning of Barbara Worth
3. Napoleon
4. The Italian Straw Hat
5. Woman in the Moon
6. Westfront 1918
7. The Congress Dances
8. Wooden Crosses
9. Man's Castle
10. Les Affaires publiques

...plus 90 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

These are the films, listed chronologically, which are absolute priority watches for me and ones that I have been having difficulty sourcing.

When a film is watched I will remove it from the list and replace it with another!

Comments/recommendations regarding films on the list welcomed, as are any ideas of how to access them!!

1. The Italian Straw Hat

   ok.ru/video/1670986402414

2. The Congress Dances
3. Marius

   ok.ru/video/1092295658140

4. Fanny

   ok.ru/video/1615658617454

5. Pension Mimosas
6. By the Bluest of Seas
7. The Strange Monsieur Victor
8. The Trump Card

   ok.ru/video/5060012739252

9. The Eternal Return
10. Wild Flower

...plus 40 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

A ranked list of all the films I've seen in which Michèle Morgan appears.

Please note the ranking is based on the quality of the film overall rather than Michèle's performance in particular!

1. Port of Shadows
2. The Fallen Idol
3. The Proud and the Beautiful
4. Pastoral Symphony
5. Stormy Waters

   AKA Remorques

6. There's Always a Price Tag
7. age to Marseille
8. The Chase
9. Law of the North

   ok.ru/video/9497779505844

10. The Grand Manoeuvre

...plus 1 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

These are the 10 films, listed chronologically, which are absolute priority watches for me and ones that I have been having difficulty sourcing.

Comments/recommendations regarding films on the list welcomed, as are any ideas of how to access them!!

1. The Congress Dances
2. Pension Mimosas
3. The Strange Monsieur Victor
4. The Trump Card

   ok.ru/video/5060012739252

5. The Little World of Don Camillo
6. When You Read This Letter
7. Abandoned
8. Pioneers in Ingolstadt
9. A Room in Town
10. Welcome to Veraz

A ranked list of all the films I've seen in which Charles Vanel makes an appearance.

Please note the ranking is based on the quality of the film overall rather than Vanel's performance in particular!

1. The Wages of Fear
2. Diabolique
3. The Great Game
4. Magnet of Doom
5. To Catch a Thief
6. The Woman Who Dared
7. They Were Five
8. Law of the North

A list of the films I'd most like to see in which the exquisite Michèle Morgan makes an appearance.

Recommendations of which films to prioritise are most welcome!

1. Gribouille
2. Orage
3. Coral Reefs
4. In the Eyes of Memory
5. Fabiola
6. The Naked Heart
7. The Strange Madame X
8. The Moment of Truth
9. Obsession

   ok.ru/video/2952723565166

10. Marguerite of the Night

...plus 9 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

A ranked list of all the films I've seen directed by Jacques Feyder.

1. The Great Game
2. Carnival in Flanders
3. Knight Without Armour
4. Faces of Children
5. Law of the North
6. The Kiss

A list of my favourite films from the 1930s which I have rated 3.5 or 4 stars in roughly chronological order.

Those films from this decade rated higher are listed elsewhere!

1. All Quiet on the Western Front
2. Anna Christie
3. The Blue Angel
4. City Girl
5. The Dawn Patrol
6. Feet First
7. I Flunked, But...
8. King of Jazz
9. Morocco
10. People on Sunday

...plus 194 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

Simply, a chronological listing of every film from the '30s I've rated worthy of a 3.5 or 4-star rating that has either non-English intertitles (Silent films) or is not in the English language (Talkies).

I have a separate list of foreign language Masterpieces or near-Masterpieces (rated 4.5 or 5-stars) listed elsewhere..

1. The Blue Angel
2. I Flunked, But...
3. People on Sunday
4. Under the Roofs of Paris
5. Berlin-Alexanderplatz: The Story of Franz Biberkopf
6. La Chienne
7. Emil and the Detectives
8. Flunky, Work Hard!
9. Mädchen in Uniform
10. Le Million

...plus 43 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

A ranked list of my favourite films from this great decade in French cinema, sure to change once new discoveries are made!

1. Port of Shadows
2. The Rules of the Game
3. Toni
4. Grand Illusion
5. The Great Game
6. L'Atalante
7. Pépé le Moko
8. Daybreak
9. La Bête Humaine
10. Hôtel du Nord

...plus 30 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

In roughly chronological order, an ever expanding list of my favourite French films or films in the French language or with French intertitles.

Each film is worthy of at least a 3.5-Star rating.

This list will undoubtedly change over time as there are so many more films to see..

Results Table by Director (with more than one film on the list):

Jean Renoir – 12 films (La Chienne, Boudu Saved From Drowning, Night At The Crossroads, The Crime Of Monsieur Lange, Toni, The Lower Depths, Grand Illusion, La Bête Humaine, The Rules Of The Game, A Day In The Country, The Golden Coach, French Cancan)

Robert Bresson – 12 films (Angels Of Sin, Les Dames Du Bois De Boulogne, Diary Of A Country Priest, A Man Escaped, Pickpocket, The Trial Of Joan Of Arc, Au Hasard Balthazar, Mouchette, Une Femme Douce, Four Nights Of A Dreamer, Lancelot Du Lac, L’argent)

Jean-Pierre Melville – 11 films (Le Silence De La Mer, Bob Le Flambeur, Two Men In Manhattan, Léon Morin, Priest, Le Doulos, An Honorable Young Man, Le Deuxieme Soufflé, Le Samouraï, Army Of Shadows, Le Cercle Rouge, Un Flic)

François Truffaut – 11 films (The 400 Blows, Shoot The Piano Player, Jules And Jim, The Soft Skin, The Bride Wore Black, Mississippi Mermaid, The Wild Child, Day For Night, The Story Of Adele H., Small Change, The Last Metro)

Marcel Carné – 10 films (Drôle De Drame, Hôtel Du Nord, Port Of Shadows, Le Jour Se Lève, The Devil’s Envoys, Children Of Paradise, Gates Of The Night, Marie Of The Port, Thérèse Raquin, The Country I Come From)

Claude Chabrol – 10 films (Le Beau Serge, Les Cousins, À Double Tour, Les Bonnes Femmes, The Third Lover, Les Biches, This Man Must Die, The Unfaithful Wife, The Butcher, Just Before Nightfall)

Éric Rohmer – 8 films (The Bakery Girl Of Manceau, La Collectionneuse, My Night At Maud’s, Claire’s Knee, Love In The Afternoon, Pauline At The Beach, The Green Ray, A Tale Of Winter)

Jacques Becker – 8 films (It Happened At The Inn, Paris Frills, Antoine And Antoinette, Edward And Caroline, Casque d’Or, Touchez Pas Au Grisbi, The Lovers Of Montparnasse, Le Trou)

Claude Autant-Lara - 7 films (Fric-Frac, The Marriage Of Chiffon, Douce, Devil In The Flesh, Keep An Eye On Amelia, The Red Inn, Four Bags Full)

Julien Duvivier – 6 films (La Bandera, They Were Five, Dance Programme, Pépé Le Moko, La Fin Du Jour, Panic)

René Clément – 6 films (La Bataille Du Rail, The Glass Castle, Forbidden Games, Gervaise, Purple Noon, Rider On The Rain)

Jacques Tati – 6 films (School For Postmen, Jour De Fête, M. Hulot’s Holiday, Mon Oncle, Playtime, Trafic)

Henri-Georges Clouzot – 6 films (The Murderer Lives At Number 21, Le Corbeau, Quai Des Orfèvres, Manon, The Wages Of Fear, Les Diaboliques)

Maurice Pialat - 6 films (Naked Childhood, We Won't Grow Old Together, The Mouth Agape, Loulou, À Nos Amours, Police)

René Clair – 5 films (Under The Roofs Of Paris, À Nous La Liberté, Le Million, July 14, The Grand Maneuver)

Jean Grémillon – 5 films (Lady Killer, Remorques, Lumière d’Été/AKA Summer Light, The Woman Who Dared, The Love Of A Woman)

Max Ophüls – 5 films (Yoshiwara, La Ronde, Le Plaisir, The Earrings of Madame De..., Lola Montès)

Alain Resnais – 5 films (Night And Fog, Hiroshima Mon Amour, Last Year At Marienbad, Muriel, Or The Time Of Return, The War Is Over)

Louis Malle – 5 films (Elevator To The Gallows, The Lovers, The Fire Within, Lacombe, Lucien, Au Revoir Les Enfants)

Jean-Luc Godard – 5 films (Breathless, A Woman Is A Woman, Vivre Sa Vie, Band Of Outsiders, Pierrot Le Fou)

Jacques Demy – 5 films (Lola, Bay Of Angels, The Umbrellas Of Cherbourg, The Young Girls Of Rochefort, Donkey Skin)

Jacques Feyder – 4 films (Faces Of Children, The Great Game, Carnival In Flanders, Law Of The North)

Krzystof Kieślowski – 4 films (The Double Life of Véronique, The Three Colors Trilogy)
Marcel Pagnol - 3 films (Harvest, The Baker's Wife, The Well-Digger's Daughter)

Jacques Rivette – 3 films (Le Coup Du Berger, Paris Belongs To Us, Céline And Julie Go Boating)

Georges Franju - 3 films (Head Against The Wall, Eyes Without A Face, Therese)

Luis Buñuel – 3 films (Diary Of A Chambermaid, Belle De Jour, The Discreet Charm Of The Bourgeoisie)

Claude Berri – 3 films (The Two Of Us, Jean De Florette, Manon Of The Spring)

Dimitri Kirsanoff - 2 films (Ménilmontant, The Kidnapping)

Jean Cocteau – 2 films (Beauty And The Beast, Oprheus)

Yves Allégret - 2 films (Dédée d’Anvers, The Proud And The Beautiful)

Albert Lamorisse – 2 films (White Mane, The Red Balloon)

Denys de La Patellière - 2 films (There's Always A Price Tag, The Upper Hand)

Agnès Varda - 2 films (Cléo From 5 To 7, Le Bonheur)

Henri Verneuil - 2 films (A Monkey In Winter, Any Number Can) Win)

Philippe de Broca – 2 films (That Man From Rio, The Magnificent One)

Gérard Oury - 2 films (Don’t Look Now: We’re Being Shot At, The Brain)

Claude Lelouch - 2 films (A Man And A Woman, Rendezvous)

Bertrand Tavernier - 2 films (The Watchmaker Of St. Paul, A Journey Through French Cinema)

Chantal Akerman – 2 films (Jeanne Dielman, 23, Quai Du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles, Je, Tu, Il, Elle)

Gaspar Noé - 2 films (Irreversible, Enter The Void)

1. Cœur fidèle
2. Faces of Children
3. Ménilmontant
4. L'Argent
5. The ion of Joan of Arc
6. Under the Roofs of Paris
7. À Nous la Liberté
8. La Chienne
9. Le Million
10. Boudu Saved from Drowning

...plus 237 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

The list title says it all!

1. Cœur fidèle
2. Entr'acte
3. Faces of Children
4. L'Argent
5. The Little Match Girl
6. The ion of Joan of Arc
7. Un Chien Andalou
8. À propos de Nice
9. Under the Roofs of Paris
10. À Nous la Liberté

...plus 309 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

A ranked list of all the films I've seen in which Lee Grant makes an appearance.

Please note the ranking is based on the quality of the film overall rather than Lee's performance in particular!

1. Middle of the Night
2. In the Heat of the Night
3. Shampoo
4. Mulholland Drive
5. Detective Story
6. There Was a Crooked Man...
7. Valley of the Dolls
8. Damien - Omen II
9. Marooned
10. The Internecine Project

...plus 4 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

A ranked list of all the films I've seen in which Sylvia Sidney appears.

Please note the ranking is based on the quality of the film overall rather than Sylvia's performance in particular!

1. You and Me
2. Dead End
3. Street Scene
4. Sabotage
5. Violent Saturday
6. Fury
7. You Only Live Once
8. An American Tragedy
9. Damien - Omen II
10. The Wagons Roll at Night

...plus 3 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

A ranked list of all the films I've seen in which Lew Ayres appears.

Please note the ranking is based on the quality of the film overall rather than Lew's performance in particular!

1. Johnny Belinda
2. Holiday
3. All Quiet on the Western Front
4. The Kiss
5. Salem's Lot
6. The Dark Mirror
7. Damien - Omen II
8. Battlestar Galactica
9. Battle for the Planet of the Apes

A ranked list of all the films I've seen in which Joan Plowright makes an appearance.

Please note the ranking is based on the quality of the film overall rather than Joan's performance in particular!

1. Equus
2. The Entertainer
3. Avalon
4. Time Without Pity
5. Revolution
6. Drowning by Numbers

A ranked list of all the films I've seen in which Leo McKern makes an appearance.

Please note the ranking is based on the quality of the film overall rather than McKern's performance in particular!

1. The Omen
2. A Man for All Seasons
3. Ryan's Daughter
4. Help!
5. Damien - Omen II
6. Time Without Pity
7. King and Country
8. The French Lieutenant's Woman
9. Massacre in Rome
10. The Day the Earth Caught Fire

...plus 2 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

A ranked list of all the films I've seen in which Peter Cushing appears.

Please note the ranking is based on the quality of the film overall rather than Peter's performance in particular!

1. Star Wars
2. Hamlet
3. The Naked Edge
4. Dracula
5. Top Secret!
6. The Ghoul
7. The Curse of Frankenstein
8. Vigil in the Night
9. The Abominable Snowman
10. Time Without Pity

...plus 3 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

A ranked list of all the films I've seen in which Ann Todd makes an appearance.

Please note the ranking is based on the quality of the film overall rather than Ann's performance in particular!

1. The ionate Friends
2. The Seventh Veil
3. Madeleine
4. The Paradine Case
5. Things to Come
6. Time Without Pity
7. The Sound Barrier
8. Perfect Strangers

A ranked list of all the films I've seen in which Michael Redgrave appears.

Please note the ranking is based on the quality of the film overall rather than Michael's performance in particular!

1. The Innocents
2. The Lady Vanishes
3. Mourning Becomes Electra
4. The Night My Number Came Up
5. The Go-Between
6. The Quiet American
7. Dead of Night
8. The Stars Look Down
9. The Heroes of Telemark
10. The Dam Busters

...plus 15 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

A ranked list of all the films I've seen directed by Joseph Losey.

1. The Servant
2. Accident
3. The Go-Between
4. Secret Ceremony
5. Eva
6. Time Without Pity
7. King and Country
8. The Romantic Englishwoman
9. The Criminal
10. Boom!

A chronological list of my favourite films either directed or co-directed by a female.

The Notes field will reveal the names of the chosen directors..

1. Mädchen in Uniform

   Leontine Sagan

2. The Blue Light

   Leni Riefenstahl

3. Merrily We Go to Hell

   Dorothy Arzner

4. Death Is a Caress

   Edith Carlmar

5. Olivia

   Jacqueline Audry

6. The Hitch-Hiker

   Ida Lupino

7. Love Letter

   Kinuyo Tanaka

8. Cléo from 5 to 7

   Agnès Varda

9. Sparrows Can't Sing

   Joan Littlewood

10. Le Bonheur

    Agnès Varda

...plus 52 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

A selection of my single favourite film for as many countries as I can think of!

The notes field will reveal the name of the country in question..

*WORK IN PROGRESS, TO BE UPDATED*

1. The House of the Angel

   Argentina

2. Wake in Fright

   Australia

3. Funny Games

   Austria

4. Jeanne Dielman, 23, quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles

   Belgium

5. The Peach Thief

   Bulgaria

6. Mon oncle Antoine

   Canada

7. Spring in a Small Town

   China

8. Memories of Underdevelopment

   Cuba

9. The Firemen's Ball

   Czechoslovakia

10. Day of Wrath

    Denmark

...plus 29 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

A ranked list of all the films I've seen in which Billy Crystal makes an appearance.

Please note the ranking is based on the quality of the film overall rather than Billy's performance in particular!

1. This Is Spinal Tap
2. When Harry Met Sally...
3. City Slickers
4. The Princess Bride
5. Throw Momma from the Train
6. Analyze This
7. Monsters, Inc.
8. Enola Gay: The Men, the Mission, the Atomic Bomb
9. The Adventures of Rocky & Bullwinkle
10. Monsters University

A ranked list of all the films I've seen directed by Steven Spielberg.

1. Jaws
2. Raiders of the Lost Ark
3. E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
4. Schindler's List
5. A.I. Artificial Intelligence
6. Close Encounters of the Third Kind
7. Saving Private Ryan
8. Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
9. The Color Purple
10. Minority Report

...plus 16 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

A ranked list of all the films I've seen in which Jim Carrey appears.

Please note the ranking is based on the quality of the film overall rather than Jim's performance in particular!

1. The Truman Show
2. The Majestic
3. Peggy Sue Got Married
4. Man on the Moon
5. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
6. The Cable Guy
7. The Mask
8. Dumb and Dumber
9. Batman Forever
10. How the Grinch Stole Christmas

...plus 4 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

A ranked list of all the films I've seen in which Clark Gable appears.

Please note the ranking is based on the quality of the film overall rather than Gable's performance in particular!

1. It Happened One Night

   Oscar winning performance.

2. Gone with the Wind
3. The Misfits
4. Strange Cargo
5. The Hucksters
6. Mutiny on the Bounty
7. Band of Angels
8. Night Nurse
9. Any Number Can Play
10. The King and Four Queens

...plus 37 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

A ranked list of all the films I've seen in which Ken Takakura makes an appearance.

Please note the ranking is based on the quality of the film overall rather than Takakura's performance in particular!

1. A Fugitive from the Past
2. A Distant Cry from Spring
3. The Yakuza
4. Too Late the Hero
5. Black Rain

Simply, a ranked list of my favourite 10 films for each year from 1980 to 1989, sure to change once more films are seen..

1. Gregory's Girl
2. The Elephant Man
3. Heaven's Gate
4. Raging Bull
5. The Empire Strikes Back
6. Kagemusha
7. A Distant Cry from Spring
8. Berlin Alexanderplatz
9. Bad Timing
10. Flash Gordon

...plus 90 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

My favourite films from this decade in chronological order.

I expect this list to change considerably over time as there are so many more great films from the ’80’s that I’ve not got round to watching yet...

Results Table (by director with more than one film on the list):

David Lynch 2 films (The Elephant Man, Blue Velvet)
Akira Kurosawa - 2 films (Kagemusha, Ran)
Bill Forsyth - 2 films (Gregory's Girl, Local Hero)
Miloš Forman - 2 films (Ragtime, Amadeus)
Steven Spielberg - 2 films (Raiders Of The Lost Ark, E.T. The Extra Terrestrial)
Claude Berri - 2 films (Jean De Florette, Manon Of The Spring)
Rob Reiner - 2 films (This Is Spinal Tap, Stand By Me)

1. Bad Timing
2. Berlin Alexanderplatz
3. A Distant Cry from Spring
4. The Elephant Man
5. The Empire Strikes Back
6. Flash Gordon
7. Gregory's Girl
8. Heaven's Gate
9. Kagemusha
10. Raging Bull

...plus 40 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

A chronological listing of the films I've rated 4.5 stars, ones that came up tantalisingly just short of 5-star Masterpiece status!

Who knows, maybe some of these will be elevated after a re-watch?!

1. The Gold Rush
2. 3 Bad Men
3. Metropolis
4. The Unknown
5. The Crowd
6. The Last Command
7. Spies
8. Diary of a Lost Girl
9. Lucky Star
10. À Nous la Liberté

...plus 263 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

My favourite 100 Japanese films are dominated by Kurosawa, Mizoughi and Ozu (almost 50 per cent!), arguably the most famous Japanese Directors from the Golden Age of classic Japanese cinema (roughly the '30's to the mid-'60's).

So I thought it would be interesting (for me at least!) to see what a list would look like WITHOUT those three!

I'll start with 50 (in chronological order) and maybe expand to 100 later..

1. Humanity and Paper Balloons
2. The Ball at the Anjo House
3. Snow Trail
4. Ginza Cosmetics
5. Repast
6. Where Chimneys Are Seen
7. Wife
8. The Wild Geese
9. An Inn at Osaka
10. Late Chrysanthemums

...plus 40 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

This list is roughly chronological and I’ve decided to include films that were not made and/or financed in Japan, but are primarily in the Japanese language, e.g. Schrader’s Mishima: A Life In Four Chapters and Eastwood’s Letters From Iwo Jima..

Results Table (by director with more than one film on the list):

Yasujirō Ozu - 37 films

Kenji Mizoguchi - 32 films

Mikio Naruse - 31 films

Akira Kurosawa - 30 films

Yasuzô Masumura - 18 films

Kon Ichikawa - 17 films

Masaki Kobayashi - 10 films

Masahiro Shinoda - 8 films

Hiroshi Shimizu - 6 films
Keisuke Kinoshita - 6 films
Yuzo Kawashima - 6 films
Yoshishige Yoshida - 6 films

Kaneto Shindô - 5 films

Heinosuke Gosho - 4 films
Kōzaburō Yoshimura - 4 films
Shirō Toyoda- 4 films

Sadao Yamanaka - 3 films
Tomu Uchida - 3 films
Hiroshi Teshigahara - 3 films
Shohei Imamura - 3 films
Seijun Suzuki - 3 films
Nagisha Oshima - 3 films
Hirokazu Koreeda - 3 films

Teinosuke Kinugasa - 2 films
Keigo Kimura - 2 films
Tadashi Imai - 2 films
Kenji Misumi - 2 films
Toshiya Fujita - 2 films
Hayao Miyazaki - 2 films
Sion Sono - 2 films

1. Song of Home
2. A Page of Madness
3. Days of Youth
4. Fighting Friends
5. I Graduated, But...
6. The Morning Sun Shines
7. A Straightforward Boy
8. Tokyo March
9. I Flunked, But...
10. Mistress of a Foreigner

...plus 278 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

A ranked list of all the films I've seen in which Nastassja Kinski makes an appearance.

Please note the ranking is based on the quality of the film overall rather than Nastassja's performance in particular!

1. Paris, Texas
2. One from the Heart
3. Tess
4. Maria's Lovers
5. Town & Country
6. Boarding School
7. Wrong Move
8. Unfaithfully Yours
9. Revolution