May 28th
Pretty Woman**
US 1990. Touchstone. 119m.

A multi-billionaire falls for a novice Los Angeles hooker with a heart.
Long and talky but engaging smash hit romantic comedy with vague allusions to Frank Capra and Pygmalion. The latter element has slightly dated, and some of the seedier elements are glossed over, but the underused supporting cast is good, the drama element is surprisingly interesting, and the central teaming helped to secure the megastardom of the emerging Julia Roberts. With hindsight, an interesting historical item too, a sign of the materialistic 1980s making way for the friendlier 1990s.

Written by: J.F. Lawton.
Producers: Arnon Milchan, Steven Reuther.
Director: Garry Marshall.
Starring: Richard Gere, Julia Roberts, Ralph Bellamy, Laura San Giacomo, Jason Alexander, Hector Elizondo, Alex Hyde-White, Amy Yasbeck.
Photography: Charles Minsky.
Music: James Newton Howard.

May 15th
The Assassination of Richard Nixon*
US/Mexico 2004. Anhelo/Appian Way. 95m.

In 1974 an office furniture salesman on the skids loses control of his life and decides to take the ultimate revenge on the American establishment.
Uncomfortable study of a nobody (based in part on a true incident), harking back to the days of 70s dramas such as Taxi Driver as well as the more recent Falling Down, where the central character is already pretty unhinged from the beginning and goes further downhill from there. Character development is therefore a little waning, but the star's performance is predictably unsettling.

Written by: Kevin Kennedy, Niels Muller.
Producers: Alfonso Cuaron, Jorge Vergara.
Director: Niels Muller.
Starring: Sean Penn, Naomi Watts, Don Cheadle, Jack Thompson, Michael Wincott, Mykelti Williamson.
Photography: Emmanuel Lubezki.
Music: Steven M. Stern.

+ initially conceived in 1998 as a fictional drama, the producers subsequently discovered the remarkably similar true-life story of Samuel Byck, who attempted to hijack a jumbo jet and fly it into The White House - an eerie precedent of September 11th.

May 7th
The Theory of Flight**
GB 1998. Distant Horizon/BBC Films. 101m.

An amateur aviator and a sufferer from Motor Neurome disease help to sort out each other's lives on a journey of self-discovery.
Quite a modern take on potential old-hat tearjerking material, with two high-profile names in the lead roles. It remains interesting because of its refreshingly politically incorrect view about disability, and only really veers towards sentiment at the climax (emulating the Wright brothers).

Written by: Richard Hawkins.
Producers: Helena Spring, Ruth Caleb.
Director: Paul Greengrass.
Starring: Kenneth Branagh, Helena Bonham Carter, Gemma Jones, Holly Aird, Ray Stevenson.
Photography: Ivan Strasburg.
Music: Rolfe Kent.

May 6thQuatermass 2** GB 1957. Hammer. 85m. bw

Professor Quatermass discovers that his aborted Moon project is being developed on Earth by a sinister alien power.
Gripping, efficient adaptation of the second of Nigel Kneale's chilling TV series, with some good use of locations and some Orwellian/Body Snatchers-style paranoia, in spite of a stiff central performance and a slightly rushed climax.

Written by: Val Guest, Nigel Kneale, from his TV series.
Producer: Anthony Hinds.
Director: Val Guest.
Starring: Brian Donlevy, John Longden, William Franklyn, Bryan Forbes, Sidney James, Percy Herbert, Vera Day, Charles Lloyd Pack, Tom Chatto, John Van Eyssen.
Photography: Gerald Gibbs.
Music: James Bernard.

May 7th   
The Theory of Flight**       
GB 1998. Distant Horizon/BBC Films. 101m.                             

An amateur aviator and a sufferer from Motor Neurome disease befriend each other on a journey of self-discovery.
Refreshingly modern slant on potentially old-hat tearjerking material, which only veers into sentiment at the climax (emulating the Wright brothers.) Most of the talents concerned are in commendable but not outstanding form.

Written by: Richard Hawkins.
Producers: Helena Spring, Ruth Caleb.
Director: Paul Greengrass.
Starring: Kenneth Branagh, Helena Bonham Carter, Gemma Jones, Holly Aird, Ray Stevenson.
Photography: Ivan Strasburg.
Music: Rolfe Kent.