1999 Dir: Woody Allen Script: Woody Allen Cast: Sean Penn, Samantha Morton, Anthony LaPaglia, Uma Thurman Woody Allen returns to the mocumentary format he perfected in Take the Money and Run, and stretched beyond use in Zelig, with Sweet and Lowdown, the ‘life story’ of Emmett Ray (Penn), an incompetent, tactless jazz guitarist now considered…

2002 Dir: Roman Polanski Script: Ronald Harwood Cast: Adrien Brody, Thomas Kretschmann Convinced that the Second World War will soon end, radio pianist Władysław Szpilman (Brody) and his family are forced into the Warsaw Ghetto. Narrowly escaping deportation to Treblinka, Szpilman lives in hiding, relying on charity from German sympathisers. Eventually reduced to scavenging from…

2006 Dir: Mark Neveldine, Brian Taylor Script: Mark Neveldine, Brian Taylor Cast: Jason Statham, Amy Smart, Efren Ramirez, Dwight Yoakam Hitman Chev Chelios (Statham) has been injected with a unique poison that will kill him if his heart slows. Some filmmakers study the medium as one might a language, striving to understand its intricate workings.…

1991 Dir: Joel Coen Script: Joel Coen, Ethan Coen Cast: John Turturro, John Goodman, Michael Lerner, Steve Buscemi, Judy Davis Deluded, pompous New York socialist playwright Barton Fink (Torturro) undergoes personal and professional deconstruction after moving to Los Angeles to write a wrestling movie for Capitol Pictures. Barton begins to suffer from writer’s block, a…

2005 Dir: Jonathan Jakobowitz Script: Jonathan Jakobowitz Cast: Mía Maestro, Jean Paul Leroux, Ruben Blades Were you to exit Secuestro Express five minutes in, you’d be forgiven for dismissing it as Lock Stock’s impoverished South American cousin. Grainy DV longs shots diverge with flashy character introductions, with Secuestro’s downtrodden scum introduced by baseball card profiles.…

1998 Dir: Walter Salles Script: Walter Salles Cast: Fernanda Montenegro, Matheus Nachtergaele, Marília Pêra, Vinícius de Oliveira, Former teacher Dora (Montenegro) writes letters for illiterate customers in Rio de Janeiro’s Central Station, and derives great pleasure from not sending them. When a mother is killed in a road accident outside the station, Dora sells her…

2005 Dir: Rian Johnson Script: Rian Johnson Cast: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Emilie de Ravin, Nora Zehetner, Matt O’Leary, Lukas Haas, Meagan Good, Noah Fleiss, Noah Segan, Richard Roundtree After finding the body of San Clement High School student Emily (de Ravin) ex-partner Brendan Frye (Gordon-Levitt) vows to avenge her. Much like Napoleon Dynamite, Brick exists within…