At 23:05  on Wednesday (12/1)  Film4 has  Sexy Beast (2000). It’s our Film of the Week. Jonathan Glazer’s Costa del Sol gangster flick. Ray Winstone, in what he acknowledges was a departure for him, plays Gal, a reformed ex-con now living in Spain with his wife Dede (Amanda Redman) and two friends Jackie (Julianne White) and Aitch (Cavan Kendall).… [continues]

Mike Leigh’s first venture into the musical and out-and-out costume drama, this is the story of how playwright W. S. Gilbert (Jim Broadbent) and composer Arthur Sullivan (Allan Corduner) created The Mikado (1885), the comic opera that saved their careers. It brings to life the nature of creative partnerships, the world of musical theatre, and the wider… [continues]

 Blue Velvet, which is on Sunday at 23:15 on Film4, is David Lynch’s early, eerie masterpiece. It is the story of a young man (Kyle McLachlan, who was later to appear in Twin Peaks) who becomes obsessed with a nightclub singer (Isabella Rossellini), who is herself in the grip of a gang of criminals who have kidnapped… [continues]

There is no doubt about my Film of the Week. Not only is Satyajit Ray’s Charulata (1964) profoundly beautiful, it also happens to be hard to find at at a time when cinematic art has become a commodity to pile high and sell cheap. It’s on Channel Four on Friday (19/11) at 03:00. Set your… [continues]

Dune (2021). Directed by Denis Villeneuve. English. 155m. Showing all over. There’s a whole story to be told about the various attempts at making films of Frank Herbert’s epic space opera, but I won’t go into that. Denis Villefranche is a good filmmaker, who has made some interesting films. But this is not one of… [continues]

Don’t Look Now (1973). Directed by Nicholas Roeg, English, 110 minutes. BBC4, Thursday (28/10),  21:00. Situation Vacant: Favourite Film. For 40 years I’ve been telling people that my favourite film is Nic Roeg’s Don’t Look Now. Well, I watched it again the other night, and it is still an extraordinary piece of cinema, but I’m… [continues]

The Guildhall had three barely-publicised showings of the Egyptian film Souad (2021), so I went across to have a look. It proved to be a very engaging and worthwhile feature, by the courageous female director Ayten Amin, who came to prominence with Tahrir 2011: The Good, The Bad and the Politician (2011), a documentary made… [continues]

The Mother (2003), directed by Roger Michell. English. 111 minutes. Tuesday (12/10), 21:00, BBC4. Not available elsewhere. It’s a pleasure to be able to recommend a film that you won’t be able to stream or download. I was able to track it down eventually, on a Russian pirate site, but I wouldn’t particularly encourage anyone… [continues]

The Truth (2019), directed by Hirokazu Kore-eda. French and English with subtitles. Saturday (2/10), 21:00, BBC4. Also available on subscription or to rent or buy. Or, if you are a Cheltenham Film Society member, you can see it at the Bacon Theatre on 2 November. Catherine Deneuve and Juliette Binoche appear together on screen for… [continues]

Monos (2019). Directed by Alejandro Landes. Thursday (30/9), 23:25, Film4. Rent from Rakuten (cheapest), Amazon, Google, YouTube, BFI Player and Curzon. Buy from Amazon, Google, Sky Store, YouTube and Rakuten. With echoes of Lord of the Flies (1963) and Apocalypse Now (1979), Monos follows a group of child soldiers, the Monos, in the Colombian mountains… [continues]

Under The Skin (2013). Directed by Jonathan Glazer. Friday (1/10), 01:30, Film4. Stream from BFI or BFI Player on Amazon. Rent or buy from Apple. Anyone with a fantasy about alien abduction should definitely see Under The Skin – or, then again, maybe not. That is only if you would like to be seduced by… [continues]