It's Kind of a Funny Story (2010)

RecommendedUSAFeature FilmDirectors: Anna Boden, Ryan FleckWriters: Anna Boden, Ryan Fleck, Ned VizziniCinematographer: Andrij ParekhComposers: Broken Social SceneCast: Keir Gilchrist, Zach Galifianakis, Emma Roberts, Viola Davis, Zoë Kravitz, Thomas Mann, Aasif Mandvi, Bernard White, Lauren Graham, Jim Gaffigan, Jeremy DaviesA 16-year-old New Yorker naïvely relates to us the story of the five days he spent in a psychiatric facility, which he entered...

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Tomorrow, When the War Began (2010)

Best AvoidedAustraliaFeature FilmDirector: Stuart BeattieWriters: Stuart Beattie, John MarsdenCinematographer: Ben NottComposers: Reinhold Heil, Johnny KlimekCast: Caitlin Stasey, Rachel Hurd-Wood, Lincoln Lewis, Deniz Akdeniz, Phoebe Tonkin, Chris Pang, Ashleigh Cummings, Andy RyanWhen seven teenaged friends return from a weekend camping trip deep in the wilderness, they discover that a foreign army has invaded their town, with all the town’s residents...

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The Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival: 100 Greatest Chinese-Language Films (2011)

A City of Sadness (1989)A Brighter Summer Day (1991)A Time to Live and a Time to Die (1985)Days of Being Wild (1990)Spring in a Small Town (1948)Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000)A One and a Two (2000)Dust in the Wind (1986)Dragon Inn (1967)In the Mood for Love (2000)The Love Eterne (1963)The Terrorizer (1986)Vive l'Amour (1994)Yellow Earth (1984)A Touch of Zen (1969)Comrades: Almost a Love Story (1996)A Better Tomorrow (1986)Infernal Affairs...

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Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit (1989)

RecommendedUKTelevision Mini-SeriesDirector: Beeban KidronWriter: Jeanette WintersonCinematographer: Ian PunterComposer: Rachel PortmanCast: Charlotte Coleman, Emily Aston, Geraldine McEwan, Kenneth Cranham, Celia Imrie, Margery Withers, Cathryn Bradshaw, Tania Rodrigues, Freda Dowie, Elizabeth SpriggsA young girl with a shock of red hair, brought up by her fanatical Pentecostal adoptive mother in a sleepy Lancashire town, struggles to find her own...

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The Day of the Triffids (1981)

RecommendedUK/AustraliaTelevision Mini-SeriesDirector: Ken HannamWriters: Douglas Livingstone, John WyndhamCinematographer: Brian ClemettComposer: Christopher GunningCast: John Duttine, Emma Relph, Maurice Colbourne, Jenny Lipman, Desmond Adams, Gary OlsenFollowing a spectacular comet shower, which has left the majority of the world’s population without sight, Bill Masen and a number of others who have remained unaffected attempt to rebuild society...

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Bored to Death (2009-)

USATelevision SeriesCreator: Jonathan AmesCast: Jason Schwartzman, Zach Galifianakis, Ted Danson, Heather Burns, John HodgmanA young writer, struggling to follow up his vaguely successful first novel, sets himself up as an unlicensed private detective, and, often in the company of his cartoonist best friend and middle-aged lothario sometimes boss, gets into various low-key scrapes and adventures, in this often hilarious, frequently outlandish, and...

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32A (2007)

Not RecommendedIreland/Germany/USAFeature FilmWriter/Director: Marian QuinnCinematographer: P.J. DillonComposer: Gerry LeonardCast: Ailish McCarthy, Sophie Jo Wasson, Orla Long, Riona Smith, Shane McDaid, Aidan Quinn, Orla Brady, Jared HarrisA 13-year-old girl with a minor obsession for bra sizes abandons her three closest friends when she starts dating a much older boy, a mistake she is soon forced to deal with, in this gentle and likable yet never...

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Boy (2010)

RecommendedNew Zealand/USAFeature FilmWriter/Director: Taika WaititiCinematographer: Adam ClarkComposers: The Phoenix FoundationCast: James Rolleston, Te Aho Aho Eketone-Whitu, Taika Waititi, Moerangi Tihore, Haze Reweti, Rajvinder Eria, Cherilee MartinBoy, an 11-year-old Michael Jackson fanatic with a vivid imagination who lives with his Nan, brother, and cousins in a dilapidated farmhouse on the east coast of New Zealand in 1984, is reunited with...

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Let Me In (2010)

RecommendedUSA/Sweden/UKFeature FilmDirector: Matt ReevesWriters: Matt Reeves, John Ajvide LindqvistCinematographer: Greig FraserComposer: Michael GiacchinoCast: Kodi Smit-McPhee, Chloë Grace Moretz, Richard Jenkins, Cara Buono, Elias Koteas, Dylan Minnette, Jimmy 'Jax' Pinchak, Nicolai DorianA lonely, bullied 12-year-old boy from a broken home, whose mother drinks herself to sleep every night, falls for the girl next door, an enigmatic creature...

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Ten Canoes (2006)

RecommendedAustralia/ItalyFeature FilmDirectors: Rolf de Heer, Peter DjigirrWriter: Rolf de HeerCinematographer: Ian JonesCast: Crusoe Kurddal, Jamie Dayindi Gulpilil Dalaithngu, Richard Birrinbirrin, Peter Minygululu, Frances Djulibing, David Gulpilil Ridjimiraril Dalaithngu, Sonia Djarrabalminym, Cassandra Malangarri Baker, Philip GudthaykudthayA young man who covets the youngest of his elder brothers three wives is told a story of a similar situation...

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Parks and Recreation (2009-)

USATelevision SeriesCreators: Greg Daniels, Michael SchurCast: Amy Poehler, Rashida Jones, Aziz Ansari, Nick Offerman, Aubrey Plaza, Chris Pratt, Jim O'Heir, Paul Schneider, RettaUsing the same mockumentary format as their version of The Office, only with much less outlandish characters, Daniels and Schur’s warm and funny series follows the exploits of the Parks and Recreation department of the local government of a small Indiana town.Season 1 (2009)...

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CFB's Top 20 Obscure Films of 1992 (2011)

Careful (1992) Food (1992)Tribulation 99: Alien (1992)Crush (1992)Prime Suspect 2 (1992)The Dream of a Ridiculous Man (1992)Memento Mori (1992) Mona Lisa Descending a Staircase (1992)Rispondetemi (1992)Actress (1992)Medusa: Dare to Be Truthful (1992)Hyenas (1992)Once Upon a Time, Cinema (1992)Guelwaar (1992)La Course a l’Abime (1992)Bolero (1992)Omnibus (1992)The Beach (1992)The Boys of St. Vincent (1992)Monster in a Box (19...

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CFB's Top 40 Films of 1992 (2011)

Unforgiven (1992) The Player (1992)Reservoir Dogs (1992)Glengarry Glen Ross (1992)Howards End (1992)Husbands and Wives (1992)The Crying Game (1992)Malcolm X (1992)The Last of the Mohicans (1992)The Quince Tree Sun (1992)Un Coeur en Hiver (1992)One False Move (1992)Porco Rosso (1992)The Long Day Closes (1992)Leolo (1992)Lessons of Darkness (1992)The Story of Qiu Ju (1992)Light Sleeper (1992)A Few Good Men (1992)Bad Lieutenant (1992)My Cousin Vinny...

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The Office (2005-)

USATelevision SeriesDeveloper: Greg DanielsCast: Steve Carell, Rainn Wilson, John Krasinski, Jenna Fischer, B.J. Novak, Leslie David Baker, Brian Baumgartner, Angela Kinsey, Phyllis Smith, Kate Flannery, Mindy Kaling, Creed Bratton, Oscar Nuñez, Paul Lieberstein, Ed Helms, Craig RobinsonThis gently satirical and pathos-laden yet trouser-soilingly funny remake of the Gervais/Merchant BBC programme of the same title follows, in the form of a fly-on-the-wall...

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Community (2009-)

USATelevision SeriesCreator: Dan HarmonCast: Joel McHale, Gillian Jacobs, Danny Pudi, Yvette Nicole Brown, Alison Brie, Donald Glover, Chevy Chase, Ken Jeong, Jim RashAn unlikely, disparate group of people become friends at a rather rubbish community college and indulge in various pop culture-parodying high jinks, in Harmon’s inventive and frequently laugh-out-loud hilarious if slightly lightweight and occasionally vaguely sentimental sitcom.Season...

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Hattie (2011)

Cautiously RecommendedUKTelevision FilmDirector: Dan ZeffWriters: Stephen Russell, Andrew MerrimanCinematographer: Ian MossComposer: Stephen McKeonCast: Ruth Jones, Robert Bathurst, Aidan Turner, Jeany Spark, Jay Simpson, John Bell, John ReaderThis well-acted, low-key BBC drama details the slow, strange disintegration of Hattie Jacques and the impossibly nice John Le Mesurier’s marriage, which began when she took a young lover, continued when said...

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The Queen (2006)

Not RecommendedUK/France/Italy/USAFeature FilmDirector: Stephen FrearsWriter: Peter MorganCinematographer: Affonso BeatoComposer: Alexandre DesplatCast: Helen Mirren, Michael Sheen, James Cromwell, Alex Jennings, Helen McCrory, Mark Bazeley, Roger Allam, Sylvia SymsFollowing the death of her former daughter-in-law, Diana, The Queen, who merely wishes to grieve privately with her family, is gradually and reluctantly persuaded by the recently elected...

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The School of Rock (2003)

Cautiously RecommendedUSA/GermanyFeature FilmDirector: Richard LinklaterWriter: Mike WhiteCinematographer: Rogier StoffersComposer: Craig WedrenCast: Jack Black, Joan Cusack, Mike White, Sarah Silverman, Joey Gaydos Jr., Miranda Cosgrove, Kevin ClarkJust kicked out of his own band and threatened with eviction by his flatmate (at the behest of his pushy girlfriend), Dewey Finn, a rock-obsessed drifter, lucks into a substitute teaching job at an elite...

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Weeds (2005-)

USATelevision SeriesCreator: Jenji KohanCast: Mary-Louise Parker, Hunter Parrish, Alexander Gould, Kevin Nealon, Justin Kirk, Elizabeth Perkins, Allie Grant, Andy Milder, Romany Malco, Tonye Patano, Demián Bichir, Enrique CastilloKohan’s hilarious, unpredictable, and increasingly outrageous series follows the ups and downs of Nancy Botwin (Parker, excellent), a widowed suburban housewife who turns to small-time drug dealing in order to continue to...

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Sherlock (2010-)

UK/USATelevision SeriesCreators: Mark Gatiss, Steven MoffatCast: Benedict Cumberbatch, Martin Freeman, Una Stubbs, Loo Brealey, Rupert Graves, Zoe Telford, Vinette Robinson, Mark Gatiss, Andrew ScottGatiss and Moffat’s updating of the characters and stories of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle – bringing together Sherlock Holmes, a brilliant but socially inept consulting detective, and John Watson, a former military doctor, to solve the crimes that no one else...

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Cape Fear (1991)

RecommendedUSAFeature FilmDirector: Martin ScorseseWriters: Wesley Strick, James R. Webb, John D. MacDonaldCinematographer: Freddie FrancisCast: Robert De Niro, Nick Nolte, Jessica Lange, Juliette Lewis, Joe Don Baker, Robert Mitchum, Gregory PeckAfter completing a fourteen-year sentence for battery, Max Cady, a muscle-bound, be-inked psychopath, with his mind set upon revenge, relocates to the hometown of his former lawyer, whom he believes (with...

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NY-Lon (2004)

RecommendedUKTelevision Mini-SeriesDirectors: Otto Bathurst, Keith Boak, Anya CamilleriWriters: Simon Burke, Anya CamilleriCinematographers: Dick Dodd, Kevin Rowley, Peter SinclairComposer: Hal LindesCast: Rashida Jones, Stephen Moyer, Rachel Miner, Navin Chowdhry, David Clayton Rogers, Emily Corrie, Christine Adams, James BirdTwo mismatched young lovers – he, an unpredictable investment banker from a south London working class family, with a set...

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Iron Man (2008)

Not RecommendedUSA/CanadaFeature FilmDirector: Jon FavreauWriters: Mark Fergus, Matt Holloway, Art Marcum, Hawk Ostby, Hawk Ostby, Jack Kirby, Stan Lee, Larry LieberCinematographer: Matthew LibatiqueComposer: Ramin DjawadiCast: Robert Downey Jr., Terrence Howard, Jeff Bridges, Gwyneth Paltrow, Leslie Bibb, Shaun Toub, Faran TahirThe wealthy playboy head of an arms manufacturing company, kidnapped by a group of terrorists whilst on a trip to Afghanistan,...

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Tarnation (2003)

RecommendedUSAFeature DocumentaryWriter/Director/Cinematographer: Jonathan CaouetteComposers: John Califra, Max Avery LichtensteinFeaturing: Jonathan Caouette, Renee Leblanc, Rosemary Davis, Adolph DavisJonathan Caouette's film presents a dazzling, visceral, and painfully honest piece of self-portraiture (albeit, one told in the third person), which chronicles his life – through a wealth of archive, self-shot footage – from his troubled beginnings...

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In Comparison (2009)

RecommendedGermany/AustriaFeature DocumentaryOriginal Title: Zum VergleichDirector: Harun FarockiWriters: Harun Farocki, Matthias RajmannCinematographer: Ingo KratischStarting in Burkina Faso, before moving on to India, and then Germany, Austria, and Switzerland, and composed of a number of a long, static shots, Farocki’s fascinating, understated documentary examines the making, carrying, and laying of bricks across the world, which, as it moves...

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The Blind Side (2009)

Cautiously RecommendedUSAFeature FilmDirector: John Lee HancockWriters: John Lee Hancock, Michael LewisCinematographer: Alar KiviloComposer: Carter BurwellCast: Quinton Aaron, Sandra Bullock, Tim McGraw, Jae Head, Lily Collins, Ray McKinnon, Kim Dickens, Adriane Lenox, Kathy BatesA homeless Memphis teenager, as big, strong, and loving as he is poor and hopeless, gets taken in a by a rich family whose children go to the same school, and goes onto...

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Last Days (2005)

Essential ViewingUSAFeature FilmWriter/Director: Gus Van SantCinematographer: Harris SavidesComposer: Rodrigo LoprestCast: Michael Pitt, Lukas Haas, Asia Argento, Scott Green, Nicole Vicius, Ricky Jay, Ryan OrionBased (in part, at least) on the final few days of grunge rocker Kurt Cobain’s life, Van Sant’s sensually unhurried, bizarrely humorous, and decidedly moving portrait follows the dishevelled Blake (Pitt, painfully good) as he stumbles around...

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