50th Anniversary
Easy Rider
M
USA, 1969
Genre: Drama
Language: English
Director: Dennis Hopper
Starring: Peter Fonda, Dennis Hopper, Jack Nicholson
What's it about?
A landmark counterculture film about two drop-outs (Hopper and Fonda) on motorbikes who travel the long road from Los Angeles to New Orleans for the Mardi Gras. They are searching for freedom and are thwarted by that streak of ingrained bigoted violence in the United States. They soon pull a dope-selling deal in Mexico to get the stake that is to free them.
Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice
M
USA, 1969
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Language: English
Director: Paul Mazursky
Starring: Natalie Wood, Robert Culp, Elliott Gould, Dyan Cannon
What's it about?
After returning to Los Angeles from a group therapy session, documentary filmmaker Bob Sanders and his wife, Carol, find themselves becoming vigilante couples counselors, offering unsolicited advice to their best friends, Ted and Alice Henderson. Not wanting to be rude, the Hendersons play along, but some latent sexual tension among the four soon comes bubbling to the surface, and long-buried desires don't stay buried for long.
[link title="Watch the ‘60s films that inspired Tarantino’s 'Once Upon A Time In Hollywood'" url="node/205627"]
40th Anniversary
My Brilliant Career
G
Australia, 1979
Genre: Drama, Romance
Language: English
Director: Gillian Armstrong
Starring: Judy Davis, Wendy Hughes, Sam Neill
What's it about?
Sybylla (Davis), a headstrong girl growing up in early 20th century Australia, has the opportunity of marriage to a wealthy young man whom she loves, but rejects it in order to maintain her independence, preferring to take a job as governess/housekeeper to the family of an illiterate neighbor to whom her father owes money. The debut feature from director Gilliam Armstrong (Starstruck, The Last Days of Chez Nous, High Tide, Little Women).
30th Anniversary
Pet Sematary
MA15+
US, 1989
Genre: Drama, Horror
Language: English
Director: Mary Lambert
Starring: Dale Midkiff, Fred Gwynne, Denise Crosby, Brad Greenquist
What's it about?
Dr. Louis Creed's (Midkiff) family moves into the country house of their dreams and discover a pet cemetery at the back of their property. The cursed burial ground deep in the woods brings the dead back to life - with "minor" problems. At first, only the family's cat makes the return trip, but an accident forces a heartbroken father to contemplate the unthinkable. Based on the novel by Stephen King.
25th Anniversary
Leon: The Professional
MA15+
France, 1994
Genre: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Language: English
Director: Luc Besson
Starring: Jean Reno, Natalie Portman, Gary Oldman, Danny Aiello
What's it about?
Léon (Reno) lives a lonely life in New York, working as a professional hitman for the mob. Near-silent and utterly ruthless, Léon doesn't seem to possess an ounce of humanity. But when his 12-year-old neighbour, Mathilda (Portman), arrives home to find her entire family massacred by a drug dealer (Oldman), Léon takes her in and, as per her request, teaches her the tools of his trade so that she can exact her revenge on her family's killer. From cult director Luc Besson (The Fifth Element, Nikita).
[link title="Leon: The Professional Review: An inventive and strange cult classic" url="node/5166"]
Bandit Queen
MA15+
India, 1994
Genre: Drama
Language: Hindi
Director: Shekhar Kapur
Starring: Seema Biswas, Nirmal Pandey, Manoj Bajpai
What's it about?This acclaimed Indian drama focuses on the life of Phoolan Devi, a revered criminal who eventually went on to become a politician. The film details the hardships that Phoolan faced in her youth as a female member of a lower caste. Subject to sexual abuse at the hands of numerous men, Phoolan isn't treated with respect until she falls in with a gang led by Vikram Mallah. Later, Phoolan forms her own gang and gains a remarkable level of notoriety across India.
David and Margaret review Bandit Queen (The Movie Show, Episode 02, 1995)Interview with director Shekhar Kapur and actor Seema Biswas of Bandit Queen. The Movie Show Episode 02 1995[link title="India court convicts 'bandit queen' killer" url="node/19317"]
NOTE: EXPIRES SATURDAY 31 OCTOBER AT 11:59PM
Hoop Dreams
M
USA, 1994
Genre: Documentary
Language: English
Director: Steve James
What's it about?
Follows two young African-American men through their high school years as they perfect their skills in basketball in the hopes of getting a college scholarship and eventually playing in the NBA. Regularly cited as one of the greatest documentary films ever made, and selected by renowned American film critic Roger Ebert as the best film of the 1990s.
[link title="Margaret Pomeranz reviews Hoop Dreams (The Movie Show, Episode 27, 1996)" url="node/55436"]
NOTE: EXPIRES SATURDAY 31 OCTOBER AT 1:25AM
20th Anniversary
The Straight Story
G
USA, 1999
Genre: Drama
Language: English
Director: David Lynch
Starring: Richard Farnsworth, Sissy Spacek, Harry Dean Stanton
What's it about?
A retired farmer and widower in his 70s, Alvin Straight (Farnsworth, in an Oscar-nominated performance) learns one day that his distant brother Lyle (Stanton) has suffered a stroke and may not recover. Alvin is determined to make things right with Lyle while he still can, but his brother lives in Wisconsin, while Alvin is stuck in Iowa with no car and no driver's license. Then he hits on the idea of making the trip on his old lawnmower, thus beginning a picturesque and at times deeply spiritual odyssey.
10th Anniversary
A Single Man
M
USA, 2009
Genre: Drama
Language: English
Director: Tom Ford
Starring: Colin Firth, Julianne Moore, Matthew Goode, Ginnifer Goodwin, Nicholas Hoult
What's it about?
Torn apart by the shattering impact of the death of his long-time lover, college professor George Falconer (Firth) experiences the most transformative day of his life, blending past and present, desire and despair, and discovering that love persists even after the object of love is gone. Set in a sun-drenched 1960s California coastal A Single Man marks the directorial debut of American fashion icon Tom Ford, who went on to director 2016's Nocturnal Animals.
[link title="A Single Man with many facets" url="node/2429"]
[link title="A Single Man Review" url="node/4959"]
In the Loop
MA15+
UK, 2009
Genre: Comedy
Language: English
Director: Armando Iannucci
Starring: Tom Hollander, Peter Capaldi, James Gandolfini, Gina Mckee, Anna Chlumsky
What's it about?
In the lead up to sanctioning American and British military action in the Middle East, a gaffe by a minor British government minister (Hollander) gives hope to anti-war supporters. The politician and a staffer are sent to Washington to appease Britain’s ally, but they soon become pawns in the backroom dealings that are seemingly at odds with the reality of what is about to occur. Based on the BBC series "The Thick Of It" (also starring Capaldi as the iconic Malcolm Tucker), this spin-off film was a 2010 Oscar nominee for Best Original Screenplay.
[link title="In the Loop Review: Potty-mouthed politics at its best" url="node/4933"]
