Modern Family (2009-)

USATelevision SeriesCreators: Steven Levitan, Christopher LloydCast: Ed O'Neill, Sofía Vergara, Julie Bowen, Ty Burrell, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Eric Stonestreet, Rico Rodriguez, Nolan Gould, Sarah Hyland, Ariel Winter, Reid EwingUsing, though not particularly convincingly, a mockumentary format (hardly anyone ever seems to be aware of the [oft illogically] placed camera, apart from during the interview sections that occasionally punctuate the action),...

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Galaxy Quest (1999)

Cautiously RecommendedUSAFeature FilmDirector: Dean ParisotWriters: Robert Gordon, David HowardCinematographer: Jerzy ZielinskiComposer: David NewmanCast: Tim Allen, Sigourney Weaver, Alan Rickman, Tony Shalhoub, Sam Rockwell, Daryl Mitchell, Enrico Colantoni, Robin Sachs, Patrick Breen, Missi PyleThe ageing cast of a cult sci-fi TV show are mistaken for the space-exploring heroes that they used to play by a hapless bunch of aliens, who enlist them...

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The Shop Around the Corner (1940)

RecommendedUSAFeature FilmDirector: Ernst LubitschWriters: Samson Raphaelson, László MiklósCinematographer: William DanielsComposer: Werner R. HeymannCast: Margaret Sullavan, James Stewart, Frank Morgan, Joseph Schildkraut, Sara Haden, Felix Bressart, William TracyAn underutilised clerk, whose once amiable relationship with his boss has inexplicably began to sour, comes to realise that his new colleague, with whom he shares a mutual disliking, is...

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Spanish Flu: The Forgotten Fallen (2009)

RecommendedUKShort Television FilmDirector: Justin HardyWriters: Peter Harness, Peter GuinnessCinematographer: Douglas HartingtonCast: Bill Paterson, Mark Gatiss, Paul Freeman, Kenneth Cranham, Charlotte Riley, Olwen May, Jamie SpencerDr. James Niven, a Scots medical health officer in Manchester, battles manfully against the forces of politics and commerce to shut down his adopted home city to prevent the spread of the titular virus, which claimed...

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Kaboom (2010)

Not RecommendedUSA/FranceFeature FilmWriter/Director: Gregg ArakiCinematographer: Sandra Valde-HansenComposers: Robin Guthrie, Vivek MaddalaCast: Thomas Dekker, Haley Bennett, Juno Temple, Roxane Mesquida, Chris Zylka, James Duval, Andy Fischer-PriceIn the days leading up to his 19th birthday, Smith, a bi-sexual college freshman, has a number of sexual encounters with strangers and comes to learn of his place in a global conspiracy involving a supernatural,...

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Big Love (2006-2011)

USATelevision SeriesCreators: Mark V. Olsen & Will SchefferCast: Bill Paxton, Jeanne Tripplehorn, Chloë Sevigny, Ginnifer Goodwin, Douglas Smith, Amanda Seyfried, Grace Zabriskie, Matt Ross, Joel McKinnon Miller, Melora Walters, Shawn Doyle, Mary Kay Place, Harry Dean Stanton, Daveigh Chase, Bruce Dern, Mireille EnosSet in Salt Lake City, Olsen and Scheffer’s consistently entertaining if rather undemanding series follows the ups and downs of...

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Rescue Me (2004-2011)

USATelevision SeriesCreators: Denis Leary, Peter TolanCast: Denis Leary, Michael Lombardi, Steven Pasquale, Daniel Sunjata, John Scurti, Andrea Roth, Callie Thorne, James McCaffrey, Natalie Distler, Robert John Burke, Lenny Clarke, Jack McGee, Adam Ferrara, Michael Zegen, Tatum O'Neal, Larenz TateLeary and Tolan’s oft brilliant though somewhat unevenly entertaining comedy-drama follows the booze-soaked misadventures of New York fire-fighter Tommy...

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How to Make It in America (2010-)

USATelevision SeriesCreator: Ian EdelmanCast: Bryan Greenberg, Victor Rasuk, Lake Bell, Eddie Kaye Thomas, Shannyn Sossamon, Kid Cudi, Luis Guzmán, Martha PlimptonA pair of slackers pushing thirty – a fashion school drop-out and his chancer pal – try to set up a small clothing line, suffering (as they do) through the various ups and downs that fate throws at them, in Ian Edelman’s amiable and pleasingly low-key comedy-dramaSeason 1 (2010) A drama...

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Roger & Val Have Just Got In (2010-)

UKTelevision SeriesCreators: Beth Kilcoyne, Emma KilcoyneCast: Alfred Molina, Dawn FrenchSisters Beth and Emma Kilcoyne’s gently funny, quietly moving, and pleasingly low-key sitcom depicts the first half-hour that the eponymous middle-aged couple spend together each night after they get home from work, listening in on their strange little conversations and rows, gradually building up a picture of their tragedy-tinged life together.Series 1 (2010)...

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CFB's Top 30 Films of 1950 (2011)

Sunset Boulevard (1950)All About Eve (1950)Los Olvidados (1950)Rashomon (1950)The Asphalt Jungle (1950)In a Lonely Place (1950)Gun Crazy (1950)Winchester ‘73 (1950)Orpheus (1950)Night and the City (1950)Harvey (1950)La Ronde (1950)D.O.A. (1950)Cinderella (1950)Stage Fright (1950)Panic in the Streets (1950)Born Yesterday (1950)Wagon Master (1950)Rabbit of Seville (1950)Saint Francis, God's Jester (1950)Un Chant d'Amour (1950)Rio Grande (1950)Les Enfants Terribles (1950)The Gunfighter (1950)Stromboli (1950)No Way Out (1950)Young Man with a Horn (1950)Caged...

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CFB's Top 20 Obscure Films of 1950 (2011)

Mirror of Holland (1950)No Man of Her Own (1950)La Beauté du Diable (1950)Guernica (1950)Dark City (1950)Harriet Craig (1950)Sunday in August (1950)The Glass Menagerie (1950)Path of Hope (1950)Devil’s Doorway (1950)Gone to Earth (1950)The Sound of Fury (1950)Madeleine (1950)Outrage (1950)The Happiest Days of Your Life (1950)Distant Journey (1950)The Breaking Point (1950)Operation Disaster (1950)Tom and Jerry in the Hollywood Bowl (1950)The Woman in Question (19...

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Shed Your Tears and Walk Away (2009)

RecommendedUKFeature DocumentaryDirector/Cinematographer: Jez LewisOver a period of 18 months, documentarian Jez Lewis returns to his seemingly idyllic hometown, the beautifully situated Hebden Bridge in West Yorkshire, catching up with his old friends – those that are still alive, that is, as many have been lost to drink, drugs, and suicide – shedding light on the self-destructive culture that has built up there, in this depressingly enlightening...

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Due Date (2010)

Cautiously RecommendedUSAFeature FilmDirector: Todd PhillipsWriters: Alan R. Cohen, Alan Freedland, Todd Phillips, Adam SztykielCinematographer: Lawrence SherComposer: Christophe BeckCast: Robert Downey Jr., Zach Galifianakis, Michelle MonaghanPeter Highman, flying back to Los Angeles for the birth of his first child, is thrown off the plane after getting into an argument with a fellow passenger, the childlike Ethan Tremblay, who is heading for Hollywood...

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Mad Dogs (2011-)

UKTelevision SeriesCreator: Cris ColeCast: John Simm, Max Beesley, Marc Warren, Philip Glenister, Ben Chaplin, María Botto, Eloise Joseph, Tomás PozziSeries 1 (2011) Four old friends, tiptoeing into middle-age, travel to the swanky Majorcan villa of a fifth friend to help celebrate his early retirement, but – just as long simmering resentments are about to come to the boil – corrupt cops, the Serbian mafia, and a vertically challenged hit-man enter...

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Butterfly Effect (2009)

Cautiously RecommendedUKShort Television FilmSeries Title: Moving On (2009-2010)Director: Richard StandevenWriter: Esther WilsonCinematographer: Len GowingComposer: Steve WrightCast: Lesley Sharp, Finn Atkins, Lisa Millett, Joanne Froggatt, Luke Bailey, Elliott TittensorWhilst helping out in a role for which she had not been trained at the hostel where she works as a cook, Sylvie Jackson has a run-in with an armed youth, which leaves her an emotional...

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Dress to Impress (2009)

Cautiously RecommendedUKShort Television FilmSeries Title: Moving On (2009-2010)Director: IllyWriter: Arthur EllisonCinematographer: Len GowingComposer: Steve WrightCast: Dervla Kirwan, Ian Hart, Jack McMullen, Neil Fitzmaurice, Ramon TikaramA teenaged boy’s cross-dressing secret threatens to tear apart his parents, when a misunderstanding over the purpose of a bag full of sexy lingerie leads to accusations of infidelity, leaving him with no choice...

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Getting On (2009-)

UKTelevision SeriesCreators: Jo Brand, Vicki Pepperdine, Joanna ScanlanCast: Jo Brand, Vicki Pepperdine, Joanna Scanlan, Ricky Grover, Peter CapaldiSet on a female geriatric ward of an NHS hospital, filled with superbugs, bureaucracy, and faecal matter, this (relatively) grittily realistic yet frequently lough-out-loud funny sitcom expertly combines incisive writing and probing direction with some beautifully naturalistic performances.Series 1 (2009)...

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Marchlands (2011)

RecommendedUK/USATelevision Mini-SeriesDirector: James KentWriters: Stephen Greenhorn, David SchulnerCinematographer: Lukas StrebelComposer: John LunnCast: Denis Lawson, Jodie Whittaker, Dean Andrews, Alex Kingston, Tessa Peake-Jones, Jamie Thomas King, Elliot Cowan, Shelley Conn, Ethan Griffin, Sydney Wade, Elizabeth Rider, Sophie Stone, Anne ReidThe tragic, unexplained drowning of an eight-year-old girl in 1967 not only deeply affects her family,...

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Freefall (2009)

RecommendedUKTelevision FilmWriter/Director: Dominic SavageCinematographer: Ben SmithardComposer: Rupert Gregson WilliamsCast: Dominic Cooper, Aidan Gillen, Joseph Mawle, Anna Maxwell Martin, Rosamund Pike, Riz Ahmed, Alfie Allen, Sarah Harding, Charlie Creed-MilesSavage’s thoughtful, sensuous, and terribly moving BBC drama takes a mournful look at the credit crunch through the eyes of three disparate men: Gus, a doleful investment banker whose life...

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The Ape (2009)

Highly RecommendedSwedenFeature FilmOriginal Title: ApanWriter/Director: Jesper GanslandtCinematographer: Fredrik WenzelComposer: Erik EnockssonCast: Olle Sarri, Françoise Joyce, Niclas Gillis, Sean Pietrulewicz, Lennart AnderssonA man awakens on a bathroom floor, covered in someone else’s blood, and – once washed and dressed, with Bluetooth earpiece inserted – sets off for work, only gradually coming to realise what he might have done the night...

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Get Him to the Greek (2010)

Cautiously RecommendedUSAFeature FilmWriter/Director: Nicholas StollerCinematographer: Robert D. YeomanComposer: Lyle WorkmanCast: Russell Brand, Jonah Hill, Sean Combs, Elisabeth Moss, Rose Byrne, Colm MeaneyAaron Green, a record company schlub who has hit a sticky patch in his relationship with his long-term girlfriend, is entrusted with the task of accompanying a fading British rock star from London to Los Angeles for a big anniversary concert,...

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East Bound & Down (2009-)

USATelevision SeriesCreators: Ben Best, Jody Hill, Danny McBrideCast: Danny McBride, Steve Little, Katy Mixon, Andrew Daly, John Hawkes, Ben Best, Jennifer Irwin, Ana de la Reguera, Efren Ramirez, Marco RodríguezKenny Powers, an uncouth, once promising pitcher whose baseball career fizzled out after years of physical self-abuse, still dreams of returning to the big-time, despite his lack of conditioning and the fact that he managed to alienate just...

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The Lady and the Duke (2001)

RecommendedFrance/GermanyFeature FilmOriginal Title: L'anglaise et le ducDirector: Eric RohmerWriters: Eric Rohmer, Grace ElliottCinematographer: Diane BaratierCast: Lucy Russell, Jean-Claude Dreyfus, Alain Libolt, Charlotte Véry, Rosette, Léonard Cobiant, François Marthouret, Caroline MorinA wealthy Scotswoman, who several years earlier had adopted France as her home, struggles to survive the French Revolution without compromising her principles,...

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Whip It (2009)

Cautiously RecommendedUSAFeature FilmDirector: Drew BarrymoreWriters: Shauna CrossCinematographer: Robert YeomanComposers: The Section QuartetCast: Ellen Page, Alia Shawkat, Marcia Gay Harden, Eulala Scheel, Kristen Wiig, Drew Barrymore, Juliette Lewis, Jimmy FallonBliss, a 17-year-old small-town girl, fed-up with her mother’s pageant obsession, discovers Roller Derby, a violent roller skate-based sport, and becomes an instant star, finally finding...

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This Movie Is Broken (2010)

RecommendedCanadaFeature Film/Concert FilmDirector: Bruce McDonaldWriters: Don McKellar, Kevin Drew, Bruce McDonaldCinematographer: John PriceCast: Greg Calderone, Georgina Reilly, Kerr Hewitt, Broken Social SceneAfter sleeping together for the first time, Bruno and Caroline, who have been friends since childhood, spend their last night together (before she is due to return to Paris) at a large, free, open-air concert, thrown by local band Broken...

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