Dec 31st 
Road to Perdition**  
(US 2002)
Twentieth Century Fox/Dreamworks. 117m. Panavision

A hitman and his son go on the run from Irish mobsters after feudal in-fighting.
Beautifully visually evoked gangster melodrama, with strong photography and compelling performances from two generations of star actors, although only the first half really compels and convinces.

Written by: David Self, based on the novel by Max Allen Collins, Richard Piers Rayner.
Producers: Richard D. Zanuck, Dean Zanuck, Sam Mendes.
Director: Sam Mendes.
Starring: Tom Hanks, Paul Newman, Daniel Craig, Jude Law, Tyler Hoechin, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Stanley Tucci, Ciaran Hinds.
Photography: Conrad Hall.
Music: Thomas Newman

+ Paul Newman's and Conrad Hall's last film, as well as the last film to be shown at Screen One of Colchester's Crouch Street Odeon in 2002

Dec 19th  
Zero Dark Thirty**  
(US 2012)
Columbia/First Light/Annapurna. 157m.

The hunt for Osama Bin Laden, instigated by a persevering female CIA agent over the course of 8 years.
Any film connected with September 11th curiously resembles a typical fictional terrorist action thriller, and this one is no exception, with two hours of half-coherent dialogue, sadistic torture scenes and occasional striking moments of sudden violence, and as little American understanding of the environment or culture as the principal characters in the film - but the tense last hour charting the actual commando mission is worth the wait.

Written by: Mark Boal.
Producers: Kathryn Bigelow, Mark Boal, Megan Ellison.
Director: Kathryn Bigelow.
Starring: Jessica Chastain, Jason Clarke, Jennifer Ehle, Joel Edgerton, Chris Pratt, Kyle Chandler, Mark Strong, Edgar Ramirez, Stephen Dillane, James Gandolfini.
Photography: Greig Fraser.
Music: Alexandra Desplat.
Editing: Dylan Tichenor, William Goldenberg.

+ the screenplay was originally written as the failed hunt for Osama Bin Laden, then completely revised once history took over

Sep 10th
See How They Run (12A)
(Everyman Muswell Hill)

(GB 2022)
Searchlight/DJ Films. 98m.

An attempted film adaptation of Agatha Christie's The Mousetrap is prevented by actual murder in the theatre!
Sloppy murder mystery pastiche with politically correct miscasting in a semi-fantasy version of 1950s Britain. The two comedic detectives don't really gel, and some good cameos are all too short.

Written by: Mark Chappell.
Producers: Damian Jones, Gina Carter.
Director: Tom George.
Starring: Sam Rockwell, Saoirse Ronan, Adrien Brody, David Oyelowo, Ruth Wilson, Reece Shearsmith, Harris Dickinson (as Richard Attenborough), Charlie Cooper, Shirley Henderson (as Agatha Christie).
Photography: Jamie D. Ramsay.
Music: Daniel Pemberton.

Mar 9th  
Calling Paul Temple*      
(GB 1948)     
Butcher's Film Service. 92m. bw                

Retired detective and author Paul (and Mrs) Temple solve the mystery of a blackmailer murdering various glamorous women. 
Second in a series of Temple detective yarns, with certain pleasing elements of The Thin Man and others, and probably the best in the series for its cast.

w: A.R. Rawlinson, Kathleen Butler, from the radio play by Francis Durbridge
p: Ernest G. Roy
d: Maclean Rogers
s: John Bentley, Dinah Sheridan, Margaretta Scott, Abraham Sofaer, Alan Wheatley, Jack Raine, Hugh Pryse, Wally Patch, Celia Lipton
ph: Geoffrey Faithfull
md: Percival Mackey

Preceded by:
Tom and Jerry in
A Mouse in the House**
(US 1948. 8m; d: William Hanna, Joseph Barbera; p: Freq Quimby.)

 Nov 2nd  
The Terror**  
(GB 1938)                                      
ABPC. 73m. bw

A maniacal gold thief lurks within an old country house.
Enjoyably creaky mystery, with some interesting future familiar faces.

w: William Freshman, from the play by Edgar Wallace
p: Walter C. Mycroft
d: Richard Bird
s: Wilfrid Lawson, Bernard Lee, Linden Travers, Arthur Wontner, Alastair Sim, Henry Oscar, Iris Hoey, Edward Lexy, Richard Murdoch, Kathleen Harrison, Irene Handl
ph: Walter J. Harvey
m: Marr Mackie

Oct 20th  
Foul Play*   
(US 1978)              
Paramount. 116m.

An attractive librarian is embroiled in an assassination plot in San Francisco.
Engaging Hitchcock pastiche of thriller and comedy elements, although flimsy in both respects, in spite of a frantic finale.

Written and Directed by: Colin Higgins.
Producers: Edward K. Milkis, Thomas L. Miller.
Starring: Goldie Hawn, Chevy Chase, Dudley Moore, Burgess Meredith, Brian Dennehy, Rachel Roberts, Marc Lawrence, Eugene Roach, Billy Barty.
Photography: David M. Walsh.
Music: Charles Fox.

Preceded by:
Dust* 
(GB 2012. 8m.; w,d: Ben Ockrent, Jake Russell; s: Alan Rickman, Jodie Whittaker, Lola Albert.)                 

Sep 23rd
And Then There Were None*  
aka: Ten Little Indians  

(GB/Ita/Fra/WG/Spa 1974)                 
EMI/Filibuster. 98m.

Ten people with guilty consciences are invited to an isolated hotel by a mysterious host who proceeds to murder each one of them.
Unattractive version of a famous whodunnit, taking its revised plot from the stage adaptation and the 1945 original Rene Clair film, that contrived a less bleak ending. An international cast gives a varying degree of conviction to an already implausible story.

Written by: Peter Welbeck (Harry Alan Towers), based on the novel by Agatha Christie.
Producers: Harry Alan Towers.
Director: Peter Collinson.
Starring: Oliver Reed, Elke Sommer, Richard Attenborough, Herbert Lom, Gert Frobe, Stephane Audran, Adolfo Celi, Charles Aznavour, Maria Rohm, Alberto de Mendoza, Orson Welles (voice only).
Photography: Fernando Arribas.
Music: Bruno Nicolai.

Jul 23rd  
Jackie Brown**  
(US 1997)                                     
Miramax/A Band Apart/Mighty Mighty Afrodite. 154m.

A California air hostess gets her revenge on her racketeer boss by playing off between him and FBI agents.
One of the best of the Tarantino cycle, a smooth blend of his style and the author's together with added homages to Spaghetti Westerns and the blaxploitation era. Long but perfectly paced with a leisurely soundtrack and an impressive cast.

Written and Directed by: Quentin Tarantino, from the novel "Rum Punch" by Elmore Leonard.
Producer: Lawrence Bender.
Starring: Pam Grier, Samuel L. Jackson, Robert Forster, Michael Keaton, Robert De Niro, Bridget Fonda, Chris Tucker, Sid Haig.
Photography: Guillermo Navarro.
Music Coordinators: Ann Carlin, John Katovsich.

Jul 13th    
The Small Voice* 
(GB 1948)                       
British Lion/Constellation. 85m. bw

Three escaped Dartmoor convicts besiege a disillusioned couple's house in Wales, but also wind up with a child who is dying of meningitis.
More reserved British variation on The Desperate Hours, with an interesting cast in sometimes rather restrained form.

w: George Barraud, Derek Neame, Julian Orde
p: Anthony Havelock-Allan
d: Fergus McDonnell
s: Valerie Hobson, James Donald, Howard Keel (film debut), Joan Young, David Greene, Michael Balfour
ph: Stan Pavey
m: Stanley Black

Jun 11th  
The Capture    
(US 1950)                             
RKO. 91m. bw

An oil worker hunts down a wrongly accused thief, feels guilt and ends up being hunted himself in pursuit of the real culprit.
Fairly passable minor league thriller, with a not entirely convincing plot.

w, p: Niven Busch
d: John Sturges
s: Lew Ayres, Teresa Wright, Victor Jory, Barry Kelley, Jacqueline White, Jimmy Hunt
ph: Edward Cronjager
m: Daniele Amfitheatrof

May 24th  
The Lost Weekend***  
(US 1945)     
Paramount. 99m. bw

An alcoholic writer fives up almost everything one lonely weekend in his New York apartment to feed his addiction.                       
Horribly dated now (especially in its overuse of music) with an unconvincing optimistic ending, but for its time this is a vivid study of alcoholism (still a relevant problem at the time after Prohibition), with some nightmarish sequences, and a greater than usual visual approach taken by this director.

Written by: Charles Brackett, Billy Wilder, from the novel by Charles R. Jackson.
Producer: Charles Brackett.
Director: Billy Wilder.
Starring: Ray Milland, Jane Wyman, Philip Terry, Howard da Silva, Frank Faylen, Mary Young.
Photography: John F. Seitz.
Music: Miklos Rozsa.

+ Wilder's motivation for making the film was as a testimony to his troubled relationship working with the alcoholic Raymond Chandler during the making of Double Indemnity

Mar 27th 
Ghost Ship  
(GB 1952)
Anglo Amalgamated. 74m. bw

A young couple decide to take ownership of an allegedly haunted steamer yacht with a chequered past.
Tame programme filler mystery with none of the suspense of atmosphere of the later Hammer horror series.

w, p, d: Vernon Sewell
s: Dermot Walsh, Hazel Court, Hugh Burden, John Robinson, Hugh Latimer, Joss Ambler, Ian Carmichael
ph: Stanley Grant
m: Eric Spear

Feb 14th  
A Fish Called Wanda**    
(US/GB 1988)                   
MGM. 109m.

Anglo-American jewel thieves double-cross each other, including the femme fatale who falls in love with their defending barrister.
Critically lauded but rather sadistic and excessive heist caper farce with some funny moments, mainly aimed at the American market which it achieved to a high degree of success.

Written by: John Cleese, Charles Crichton.
Producer: Michael Shamberg.
Director: Charles Crichton.
Starring: John Cleese, Jamie Lee Curtis, Kevin Kline, Michael Palin, Tom Georgeson, Maria Aitken, Patricia Hayes, Geoffrey Palmer, Stephen Fry.
Photography: Alan Hume.
Music: John Du Prez.

Preceded by:
Tom and Jerry in
Part Time Pal*
(US 1947. 6m.; d:William Hanna, Joseph Barbera; p: Fred Quimby.)

Dec 31st  
Amazon Women on the Moon
(US 1986 - released 1987)                                                 
Universal. 85m.

Painfully unfunny series of satirical spoof sketches around TV in the video age(an unofficial sequel to Kentucky Fried Movie): some occasional good moments of movie pastiche - at other times one wonders what the cast and makers were thinking of.

Written by: Michael Barrie, Jim Mulholland.
Producer: Robert K. Weiss.
Directors: Joe Dante, Carl Gottlieb, Peter Horton, John Landis, Robert K. Weiss.
Starring: Arsenio Hall; Lou Jacobi; Michelle Pfeiffer, Griffin Dunne, Peter Horton; Steve Forrest, Sybil Danning, Joey Travolta, Forrest J. Ackerman; David Alan Grier, B.B. King; Rosanna Arquette, Steve Guttenberg; Henry Silva; Archie Hahn, Belinda Balaski, Robert Picardo; William Marshall; Ed Eegley Jnr; Matt Adler, Kelly Preston, Ralph Bellamy; Marc McClure, Russ Meyer; Carrie Fisher, Paul Bartel, and others.
Photography: Daniel Pearl.
Music: Ira Newborn.

Preceded by:
The Assassin
(GB TVM 2015. 2m.; d, ph: Neil Rowe; s: Peregrine Maturin-Baird, Jordan Calver.)

Dec 29th 
Knives Out** (12A) 
(Vue Romford) 

(US 2019)                                 
Lionsgate/Media Rights Capital/T-Street. 130m.

A murder mystery writer dies after disinheriting his family; the chief culprit is known but the family all try to exploit her for their own ends.
Entertaining pastiche murder mystery (set for once in the present day, with one or two socio-political observations) with its director's familiar trait for turning genre conventions on their head, but still commendably Gothic, and as ever, keeping audiences guessing.

Written and Directed by: Rian Johnson.
Producers: Ron Bergman, Rian Johnson.
Starring: Daniel Craig, Christopher Plummer, Ana de Armas, Chris Evans, Jamie Lee Curtis, Don Johnson, Michael Shannon, Toni Collette, Katherine Langford, Frank Oz, M. Emmet Walsh.
Photography: Steve Yedlin.
Music: Nathan Johnson.
Production Design: David Crank.

Dec 18th  
The Old Man and the Gun**

(US 2018)                                           
Fox Searchlight/Endgame Entertainment/Conde Nast Entertainment/Sailor Bear/Identity Films. 93m. ws

Adventures of a gentleman thief and multiple bank robber, based on lifelong criminal Forrest Silva Tucker, tailored into a splendidly assured vehicle for the octogenarian Robert Redford with a few nods to his most famous early role in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. While the film is leisurely and overlooks some of its edgier side, it nonetheless comes across as a gloriously matured vintage (in an authentic period 1980s style), and a more benevolent variation on Bonnie and Clyde.

Written and Directed by: David Lowery.
Producers: James D. Stern, David Ostroff, Jeremy Steckler, Anthony Mastromauro, Bill Holderman, Toby Halbrooks, James M. Johnston, Robert Redford.
Starring: Robert Redford, Sissy Spacek, Casey Affleck, Danny Glover, Tom Waits, Tika Sumpter, Elizabeth Moss, Keith Carradine.
Photography: Joe Anderson.
Music: David Hart.

Preceded by:
Happiness*
(GB 2017. 4m.; The rat race (literally) in animation form, not very subtle but gets its point across with good moments of style.; d: Steve Cutts.)

Nov 27th  
Gattaca**    
(US 1997)       
Columbia/Jersey Films. 106m.

In a genetic society of the future, a naturally born man tries to take the identity of a perfect being in order to leave the planet for the main moon of Saturn, but risks his cover being blown when he is implicated in a murder plot.
Intriguing science fiction where style on this occasion is actually more pleasing than content, with a largely implausible plot, but sensitively handled and with performances likewise.

Written and Directed by: Andrew Niccol.
Producers: Danny De Vito, Michael Shamberg, Stacey Sher, Gail Lyon.
Starring: Ethan Hawke, Uma Thurman, Jude Law, Alan Arkin, Loren Dean, Gore Vidal, Xander Berkeley, Elias Koteas, Ernest Borgnine, Tony Shalhoub.
Photography: Slawomir Idziak,
Music: Michael Nyman.

Oct 31st   
The Return of Doctor X 
(US 1939)                                                       
Warner Bros. 62m. bw

A resurrected doctor hunts for victims in his blood group to keep himself alive.
Uneven Warners quickie, better in production values than might be expected, but content-wise an uncertain mixture of crime drama, romantic comedy and horror. Bogart is not so horrendous as the crook-cum-vampire as might be expected, but he would probably have been wiser to defer to Peter Lorre.

Written by: Lee Katz, based on the story "The Doctor's Secret" by William J. Makin.
Producers: Hal B. Wallis, Bryan Foy.
Director: Vincent Sherman.
Starring: Humphrey Bogart, Wayne Morris, Dennis Morgan, John Litel, Rosemary Lane, Lya Lys.
Photography: Sid Hickox.
Music: Bernhard Kaun.

THE RETURN OF DOCTOR X. Humphrey Bogart as a vampire!? You'd better believe it.

Oct 24th
Official Secrets** (15)     
(Curzon Colchester)           

(GB/US 2018)
EOne/Screen Yorkshire/GS Media/Chessfield/Clear Pictures. 112m. ws

In 2003 a GCHQ worker realises the Americans and British are bullying UN nations into approving the Iraq War, and risks her own life when the story breaks to the Press.
Accessibly told present-day thriller about still relevant issues, in the manner of Defence of the Realm and All the President's Men. The star is as usual more attractive than her real-life counterpart, but looks suitably concerned and paranoid as the interweaving drama develops.

Written by: Gregory Bernstein, Sara Bernstein, Gavin Hood, based on the book "The Spy Who Tried to Stop a War".
Producers: Ged Doherty, Elizabeth Fowler, Melissa Shiyu Zuo.
Director: Gavin Hood.
Starring: Keira Knightley, Matt Smith, Ralph Fiennes, Adam Bakri, Matthew Goode, Rhys Ifans, Jeremy Northam,. Kenneth Cranham.
Photography: Florian Hoffmeister.
Music: Paul Hepker, Mark Kilian.

Oct 5th  
I Confess**   
(US 1953)                         
Warner Bros. 94m. bw

A priest hears a murderer's confession but cannot break the seal, even though he himself is chief suspect.
Somehow not always convincing (with a slightly unnecessary flashback sequence), but typically well filmed Hitchcock thriller, making good use of locations in Quebec.

Written by: George Tabori, William Archibald, from the play "Our Two Consciences" by Paul Anthelme.
Producer/Director: Alfred Hitchcock.
Starring: Montgomery Clift, Anne Baxter, Karl Malden, Brian Aherne, O.E. Hasse, Dolly Haas, Roger Dann.
Photography: Robert Burks.
Music: Dmitri Tiomkin.