Films Discussed in 2026

About the introductions and star ratings

Double Indemnity – 26/03/26

The palpable tension in the air between the protagonists of Double Indemnity (1944), remains with me forty years or so after watching this renowned classic of film noir, probably on a late-night BBC transmission. I shared the romantically entwined plotters’ fear of discovery. Did I want them to abort the plan or go through with the desperate deed? All the ingredients of the genre are here, whipped up into a particularly rich brew by the talents involved – director Billy Wilder, who adapted the screenplay along with Raymond Chandler from the novel by James M. Cain, cameraman John F. Seitz and the trio of stars, Barbara Stanwyck, Fred MacMurray and Edward G. Robinson, all of whom were stepping outside their comfort zone and needed persuasion to take on their unaccustomed or unflattering roles. It’s more than high time for me to see this legendary crime drama again.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0036775/

https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/double_indemnity

Shine – 26/03/26

Who had heard of either David Helfgott or Geoffrey Rush before 1996? Certainly not me. The latter’s energetic but deeply touching portrayal of the former in the biopic Shine of that year brought fame to both and deservedly won the Oscar for Rush. Huge credit is also due to director Scott Hicks who conceived the project, screenwriter Jan Sardi, and Noah Taylor who plays the adolescent Helfgott. There are delightful turns by John Gielgud as the mentor who prepares the nervous young pianist for his headline performance of the notorious “Rach 3” and Lynn Redgrave as the woman who befriends him many years later. From a gloomy home atmosphere in Melbourne to London privations and glamour to mental institutions and casual performances in bars this is a turbulent ride in which we share the excitements and anguish of a talented, troubled man, while being treated of course to some glorious piano playing. I’ve found it a compelling watch both times so far.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0117631/

https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/shine

Glengarry Glen Ross – 05/03/26

Playwright David Mamet’s incisive, witty and brutally frank exposés of the American male psyche in pursuit of money, sex and the sheer satisfaction of trampling over your rival to achieve your goal, reached its zenith, or nadir in terms of the behaviour depicted, with his 1983 play set in a cut-throat real-estate office. For the film version of Glengarry Glen Ross (1992) director James Foley insisted on box-office stars to play the major roles of office manager, motivational trainer and four salesmen who fight over the leads (unwary investors to be manipulated into signing a deal) and who regale each other with their methods of achieving closure. Boy did he get his wish! Never in the history of cinema has such a modest indoor scene been the setting for such a roster of renowned actors (too many to name here) to flex their muscles and show their mettle in close-quarter combat. The distinctive personalities and conflicting agendas in Mamet’s brilliant script make for a claustrophobic drama of the highest order in this production. I’m amazed it achieved only a single Oscar nomination.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0104348/

https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/glengarry_glen_ross

Snow Cake – 05/03/26

Snow Cake (2006) is small independent film set in the snow drifts of Ontaria that might have been frozen beneath them without reaching the screen were it not for Alan Rickman accepting the leading male role and enlisting Sigourney Weaver as his co-star. No surprises in Rickman playing the decent, considerate but guilt-ridden visitor to the remote township of Wawa, but it was initially a bit of a shock to see Weaver looking so plain as the unworldly resident he has come to see. It’s a credit to the much lesser-known director Marc Evans and two scriptwriters that my growing interest in the characters and how their relations would develop soon banished the apparent bleakness of their situation. The critics seem a bit sniffy but I’m with the majority of ordinary punters in finding this a highly involving domestic drama with some original twists, a good mix of the serious and humorous, and of course beautifully acted by the two principals as well as the supporting actors. I’ve said almost nothing about the story, leaving it as virgin territory for the first-time viewer to discover.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0448124/

https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/snow_cake

King’s Game – 12/02/26

I’ve never watched a Nordic noir TV series but if any of them are as good as the Danish political thriller King’s Game (Kongekabale) (2004) I admit I’ve been seriously missing out. Rather than guns and detectives, the focus of this intelligent and gripping film is on dark intrigue in the corridors of power and a journalist who stumbles on something suspicious. With great precision and plausibility writer/director Nikolaj Arcel and his team have conjured up a fictional Watergate on a smaller scale and an investigation full of suspense and jeopardy that takes over the life of the workaday reporter who may have bitten off more than he can chew. I seem to recall that I was able to follow the twists and turns as the mystery unfolds – a rare bonus – and the pay-off in the culminating scene was fabulous. I’m not surprised that this movie swept the board in the national awards of its home country, winning the prize for best film as well as director, adapted screenplay, cinematography, editor and three other categories – thankfully sufficient domestic success for it to be released in this country. I was fortunate enough to catch it.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0378215/

https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/kings_game

Back to Black – 12/02/26

Though inhabiting the same city as the celebrated jazz/soul/R&B/pop phenomenon Amy Winehouse, she was little more than a name to me during her tragically short career and I may not have listened to any of her songs. This perhaps made me the perfect customer for Sam Taylor-Johnson’s biopic Back to Black (2024), a strong successor in my view to the director’s better received Nowhere Boy (2009) about the teenage years of John Lennon. To my fresh eyes it was an intriguing and disturbing mix that held me in its sway – the uneasy family background, a pure ambition clashing with commercial pressures, then derailed by alcohol, drugs and an all-consuming romance. The unexpected bonus was to be transported by the music itself. Finally I heard what all the fuss was about and enjoyed some of the pieces in full-length performances by the astonishing Marisa Abela, who even the knowledgeable fans agree achieves an amazing incarnation of her subject, including a stage presence and vocal mimicry founded on months of intensive training. A worthy tribute that was highly watchable for this viewer.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt21261712/

https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/back_to_black

It’s Love I’m After – 22/01/26

Of the 88 films directed by Archie Mayo, from silent shorts in 1917 to the last and perhaps weakest Marx Brothers vehicle in 1946, two stand a head clear of the rest according to their IMDb rating, partly thanks to the delicious pairing of Leslie Howard and Bette Davis at the head of the cast in both of them. Apparently the two stars did not get along on set, adding spice to their volatile relationship as a theatrical couple in It’s Love I’m After (1937). This top-class romantic comedy bordering on drawing room farce also showcases Olivia de Havilland as the adoring fan who becomes a mixed blessing for the great Basil Underwood, played by Howard with his customary debonair panache. Davis issues her withering put-downs in a more light-hearted vein than usual, competing for the limelight as Underwood’s stage partner and official lover Joyce Arden. The wryly amused observations of manservant Digges, played by Eric Blore, who often popped up in this kind of role, add to the fun. I thoroughly enjoyed this very witty frolic when I caught it at the BFI about twenty years ago.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0029058/

https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/its-love-im-after

L.A. Confidential – 22/01/26

The epitome of cool and machismo respectively, Kevin Spacey and Russell Crowe, established stars still on the rise towards the peak of their fame, take on the roles in L.A. Confidential (1997) of morally dubious cops amongst the general corruption and brutality of the Los Angeles Police Department. The acting pedigree runs deep in this cracking crime thriller directed by Curtis Hanson, with an ensemble that includes Kim Basinger, Guy Pearce and Danny De Vito. The tense relationships between the distinctive characters, the 1950s setting rendered with a winning combination of style and grit, the Oscar winning script in which the gradual revelation of a murky mystery leads to a satisfying dénouement, all contribute to the high reputation that this adaptation of James Ellroy’s 1990 potboiler enjoys. I remember nothing more of the plot, only that the movie held me in its grip as it seems to have done almost everyone else who’s seen it. With slight trepidation as to the violence that might erupt at any moment during the two and a quarter hours’ running time, I look forward to revisiting this undoubted classic of the genre.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0119488/

https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/la_confidential

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