Tirza (2010)
Eye Of The Needle (1981)
Thunder Birds (1942)
How To Murder Your Wife (1965)
Oliver Twist (1948)
The Gift (2015)
Cherry 2000 (1988)
The Patriot (2000)
The Two-Headed Spy (1958)
Anything Goes (2021) ///
Eye Of The Needle (1981) Produced with suitable grit and a deliberate, involving pace, vicious German spy Donald Sutherland is on the run with a vital secret, while lonely Kate Nelligan is the last person in his way on a remote Scottish island. Propulsive, romantic Rózsa score. Patchy narrative.
Thunder Birds (1942) Gorgeous, burnished Technicolor design and impressively scaled aerial sequences mask rudimentary romantic drama with Gene Tierney pursued by unsure Brit John Sutton and confident US instructor Preston Foster. Unsurprising propaganda beats unify allied forces.
How To Murder Your Wife (1965) Confirmed bachelor cartoonist Jack Lemmon finds marriage when Virna Lisi bursts out of a cake. Terry-Thomas is his outraged butler. Canny mix of verbal and physical comedy, chauvinistic battle of the sexes skewered with the gloppitta-gloppitta machine.
Oliver Twist (1948) Exciting blend of evocative visuals, narrative twists and incisive characters, equal parts dark and eccentric as Oliver navigates desperate London streets. Taut construction highlights Alec Guinness' devious Fagin and Robert Newton's brutal Sykes. Crafted with artful emotion.
The Gift (2015) Controlled visuals frame carefully built characters and relationships with a narrative construction that gradually burrows beneath the surface of the past. Confident Jason Bateman and brittle Rebecca Hall face ominous Joel Edgerton. Performances sell dark surprises.
Cherry 2000 (1988) Awkward mix of future society satire and dystopian action thrills with no-nonsense Melanie Griffith the hired hand to find a female android in the wastelands. Production values as varied as plot development, lack of visual identity results in anodyne drama.
The Patriot (2000) Blunt historical revisionism features simplistic reading of American heroics as principled Mel Gibson is provoked to take revenge on barbaric British, especially evil Jason Isaacs, to gain independence. Luminous images and impressive scale feature much blood, little empathy.
The Two-Headed Spy (1958) Subdued, enclosed spy drama with a typically strong Jack Hawkins in the heart of World War II German command, spreading internal sabotage when communication with Britain is cut off. A startling torture scene and tragic relationship with Gia Scala adds heft.
Anything Goes (2021) Sublime, buoyant Gershwin songs and joyful Sutton Foster energise flimsy framework of comic coincidence on a 20s transatlantic voyage. Barbican production delivers builds momentum through Act One and includes wry Robert Lindsay. Irresistible smiles.
