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Sexy Beast(2000) Ray Winstone plays an ex crim living a peaceful retirement in Spain, whose tranquillity is shattered by the arrival of a gangster (Ben Kingsley) trying to persuade him to take part in a robbery back in England. This film is mainly remembered for the two main actors playing against type with Kingsley exuding terror while Winstone is often fearful.Both are excellent(maybe Winstone's best performance), Ian McShane gives a self contained, chilling support role and Amanda Redman is good as Winstone's wife. The script is intelligent, but accessible and often witty and quotable. Director Jonathan Glazer brings his music video experience to the film and it shows in the excellent framing and camerawork, and the use of flashbacks is superb too. A film without a wasted minute in its hour and a half running time. Also starring James Fox,Cavan Kendall, Julianne White and Alvaro Monje. 8.5/10

Return of the Vampire(1944)

A pretty interesting take on the vampire genre from director Lew Landers.Set in London during the Blitz.It stars Béla Lugosi,ever watchable as a vampire using a werewolf to do his bidding.The wolf make up is very good and Matt Willis plays it convincingly.With a good turn from Nina Froch as the object of Lugosi's desires.

7/10

CHIPS (2017)

Starring Dax Shepherd (who also writes & directs) & Michael Pena
2 Californian highway patrol men, one a rookie, the other a undercover FBI officer, hunt for a gang of crooked cops who are staging robberies.
Apart from the name of one of the characters, this film has nothing in common with the 80's TV show of the same name, though the original Ponch has a cameo role as a paramedic.
8.5/10

Under Siege Uncut

Starring Steven "Am Just A Cook" Seagal classic movie.

North By Northwest (1959) The Hitchcock thriller in which Cary Grant plays an advertising executive who, in typical Hitch style, is a victim of mistaken identity,and is then pursued by both enemy agents and the police. The overriding storyline doesn't stand up to much scrutiny, its just the device for several excellent set pieces, including the famous 'crop dusting' scene and the climax on Mount Rushmore, various plot twists and some fine performances from Grant, Eva Marie Saint, Leo. G. Carroll, Jessie Royce Landis with James Mason and Martin Landau as the villains. The script is witty though some of innuendo feels dated. Also starring Adam Williams. 8/10

Rasp(2017)

A really creepy,short,three minute horror film with a few effective jumps





7/10

The Skin I Live In (2011) Directed by Pedro Almodovar, the story of an obsessive plastic surgeon(Antonio Banderas) who creates a strong synthetic skin for his subject(Elena Anaya). A film that works well when the two above characters(two fine performances) are on screen, and has an excellent classical soundtrack, and is interestingly filmed. However, it rather loses its effect and appeal in the scenes involving various other characters. Also starring Jan Cornet,Marisa Paredes and Blanca Suarez. 5.5/10

The Greed Of William Hart(1948)

A horror/crime film from director Oswald Mitchell based on the characters of Burke and Hare.Set in Edinburgh during the early 1800s,two Irish immigrants take to murder and bodysnatching in order to earn money by selling the bodies of their victims to a local medical school headed by an immoral doctor.Although the legitimate Burk and Hare films are superior to this,there's plenty to enjoy here,with good lead performances from Tod Slaughter as Mr Hart and Henry Oscar as Mr Moore and decent dialogue from screenplay writer John Gilling.

6.5/10

kingsman the secret service: 8/10 it is funny. the action is good, great cast, the only thing I would have done better was the stunt doubles when the likes of firth had to fight. Taron Egerton could one day be the new james bond.

The girl on the train (2013) 7/10 not to be confused with the 2016 film of the same which is based on the 2015 book of the same name. the 2013 film is a film noir type about a documentary maker filming an elderly couple who were at the concentration camps during WWII who fell in love across from each other (this is based on a true life story) meets a mysterious woman on a train. it jumps from the present being the interrogation room to the build up of how he ended up there. the script can come over has pompous. I picked this up at a cex (no I have not misspelt sex) shop thinking it was the 2016 film and was pleasantly surprised how much I liked it. the 2 lead characters are from 2 CW shows for one of them you need to know the show inside out to recognise them. The detective is the blind man from don't breath again he was great in this as he was in don't breath.

the girl on the train 2016 8/10

The Connection(2014) In Marseilles in the mid 1970s onwards a judge aims to bring down the man behind the city's thriving drug trade and exporting. Covering a similar subject as the French Connection films but the French side and later on, this is a detailed, fairly complex,but engrossing film with two rich, strong central performances from Jean Dujardin as Judge Michel and Gilles Lelloche as the drugs baron Tany Zampa, matched by Celine Sallette as the judge's wife. The action/killing sequences are slickly but realistically filmed with a fine soundtrack too. Also starring Melanie Doutey, Benoit Magimel and Cyril Lecomte. 7.5/10