Pardon Us (1931)

Cautiously RecommendedUSAShort Feature FilmDirector: James ParrottWriter: H.M. WalkerCinematographer: Jack StevensCast: Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy, June Marlowe, Wilfred Lucas, James Finlayson, Walter Long, Stanley J. Sanford, Otto FriesIn this sporadically entertaining though rather drawn-out and decidedly patchy Laurel and Hardy film, Stan and Ollie, freshly convicted of boot-legging, find adapting to prison life decidedly difficult, due in no small...

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The Battle of the Century (1927)

Cautiously RecommendedUSAShort FilmDirector: Clyde BruckmanWriters: Hal Roach, H.M. WalkerCinematographer: George StevensCast: Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy, Noah Young, Sam Lufkin, Charlie Hall, Anita GarvinAfter his crushing defeat to 'Thunder-Clap' Callahan, Hardy’s boxing trainer takes out an insurance policy against his fighter (Laurel), and sets out to get a return upon it by carefully placing an errant banana peel for him to slip up on – unfortunately...

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The Hoose-Gow (1929)

Cautiously RecommendedUSAShort FilmDirector: James ParrottWriters: H.M. Walker, Leo McCareyCinematographer: George StevensCast: Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy, Tiny Sandford, James FinlaysonPrison inmates Stan and Ollie, digging a ditch on work detail, cause untold havoc – including cutting down a tree housing a look-out guard and lodging a pick-axe in the radiator of a car – when the Governor and other dignitaries come to inspect their site, culminating...

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Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale (2010)

Cautiously RecommendedFinland/France/Norway/SwedenFeature FilmOriginal Title: Rare ExportsDirector: Jalmari HelanderWriters: Jalmari Helander, Petri Jokiranta, Sami Parkkinen, Juuso HelanderCinematographer: Mika OrasmaaComposers: Juri Seppä, Miska SeppäCast: Onni Tommila, Jorma Tommila, Tommi Korpela, Rauno Juvonen, Per Christian Ellefsen, Ilmari Järvenpää, Peeter JakobiWhen an American funded dig on the Russian side of the Korvatunturi Mountains...

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Putting Pants on Philip (1927)

Not RecommendedUSAShort FilmDirector: Clyde BruckmanWriters: Leo McCarey, H.M. WalkerCinematographer: George StevensCast: Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy, Sam Lufkin, Harvey Clark, Dorothy CoburnThe be-kilted, lady-killing Philip (Laurel), fresh off the boat from Scotland, draws (with his sartorial elegance) a huge crowd where ever he goes, much to the chagrin of his hugely embarrassed uncle (Hardy), who decides that the best solution to his familial problem...

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Their First Mistake (1932)

Cautiously RecommendedUSAShort FilmDirector: George MarshallCinematographer: Art LloydCast: Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy, Mae BuschWhen Mrs. Hardy warns Ollie (under the threat of leaving him) that he’s not to go out on the town with Stan any more, Stan suggests that he give her a baby to take her mind off their gadding about, which he does that very afternoon, going out with Stan to adopt one – unfortunately, on their return, they are greeted not by...

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Pack Up Your Troubles (1932)

RecommendedUSAShort Feature FilmDirectors: George Marshall, Raymond McCareyWriter: H.M. WalkerCinematographer: Art LloydCast: Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy, Donald Dillaway, Jacquie Lyn, Grady Sutton, Muriel Evans, Montague Shaw, Richard Tucker, George MarshallWhen Stan and Ollie return from the trenches of The First World War without their army buddy Eddie Smith, they determine to take his daughter from her just-in-it-for-the-money foster parents and...

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Scram! (1932)

RecommendedUSAShort FilmDirector: Ray McCareyWriter: H.M. WalkerCinematographer: Art LloydCast: Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy, Richard Cramer, Arthur Housman, Vivien OaklandWith its jails completely full, Judge Beaumont orders a pair of vagrants to leave town in lieu of the charge’s usual 180 day sentence, but instead Stan and Ollie hook up with a drunken millionaire, who offers them a place to stay for the night – cue dropped car keys, lost house keys,...

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Duck Soup (1927)

RecommendedUSAShort FilmDirector: Fred GuiolWriters: H.M. Walker, Arthur J. JeffersonCast: Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy, James Marcus, Stuart Holmes, Madeline Hurlock, William Austin, Bob KortmanAttempting to avoid the attentions of a press-ganging forest ranger looking to recruit fire-fighters to battle a large blaze, Hives and Maltravers (Laurel and Hardy), a pair of dishevelled but well-spoken down-and-outs spy an opportunity to stay in a holidaying...

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The Second Hundred Years (1927)

RecommendedUSAShort FilmDirector: Fred GuiolWriters: Leo McCarey, H.M. WalkerCinematographer: George StevensCast: Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy, James Finlayson, Stanley Sanford, Frank Brownlee, Otto Fries, Bob O'Conor, Ellinor Van der VeerAfter their first escape attempt resulted only in them tunnelling up into the Warden’s office, Big Goofy and Little Goofy (Laurel and Hardy) grab the opportunity to pose as painters and walk out of the front gate,...

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Call of the Cuckoo (1927)

Cautiously RecommendedUSAShort FilmDirector: Clyde BruckmanWriter: H.M. WalkerCinematographer: Floyd JackmanCast: Max Davidson, "Spec" O'Donnell, Lillian Elliott, Leo Willis, Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy, Charley Chase, James FinlaysonDesperate to sell their home to get away from their sanity-challenged neighbours – the residents of an asylum: Messrs Laurel, Hardy, Chase, and Finlayson – the Gimplewarts accept an offer for a house swap, based on photographic...

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45 Minutes from Hollywood (1926)

Cautiously RecommendedUSAShort FilmDirector: Fred Guiol Writers: Hal Roach, H.M. WalkerCast: Glenn Tryon, Charlotte Mineau, Rube Clifford, Oliver Hardy, Edna Murphy, Stan LaurelA country rube, in Hollywood to pay off a debt, gets mixed-up with a cross-dressing bank robber, whom he believes to be a movie star, soon finding himself in drag as well and inadvertently coming between a hotel detective and his insanely jealous wife – chaos ensues, in this...

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Night Owls (1930)

RecommendedUSAShort FilmDirector: James ParrottWriter: H.M. WalkerCinematographer: George StevensCast: Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy, Edgar Kennedy, James Finlayson, Anders RandolfWhen the Chief of Police admonishes him for his abysmal arrest record, Officer Kennedy convinces a pair of vagrants (Stan and Ollie) to help him stage a robbery at the chief’s house in order for him to intervene and save the day – which is easier said than done when the likes...

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The Turning Gate (2002)

Essential ViewingSouth KoreaFeature FilmOriginal Title: 생활의 발견Writer/Director: Hong Sang-sooCinematographer: Choi Yeong-taekComposer: Il WonCast: Kim Sang-kyung, Kim Hak-sun, Ye Ji-won, Chu Sang-miFeaturing some exquisitely composed images and a number of affecting performances, Hong’s restrained and deliberate yet gently funny and hugely moving film depicts the misadventures of a struggling actor, following him as he takes a trip to see an old friend...

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In the Cut (2003)

RecommendedUSA/UKFeature FilmDirector: Jane CampionWriters: Jane Campion, Susanna Moore, Stavros KazantzidisCinematographer: Dion BeebeComposer: Hilmar Örn HilmarssonCast: Meg Ryan, Mark Ruffalo, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Nick Damici, Kevin Bacon, Sharrieff PughA writer, who splits her time between researching for her new book and teaching English, begins a sexual relationship with a homicide detective, who is investigating a murder in her neighbourhood,...

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Scenes from the Suburbs (2011)

RecommendedUSA/CanadaShort FilmDirector: Spike JonzeWriters: Will Butler, Win Butler, Spike JonzeCinematographer: Greig FraserComposers: Arcade FireCast: Sam Dillon, Zoe Graham, Zeke Jarmon, Paul Pluymen, Ashlin WilliamsonSpike Jonze’s stylishly melancholy collaboration with Canadian band Arcade Fire, inspired by their acclaimed 2010 album The Suburbs, enigmatically and affectingly paints a portrait – against the backdrop of a town under martial...

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Dolphin Boy (2011)

RecommendedIsrael/France/UKFeature DocumentaryOriginal Title: דולפיןWriter/Directors: Dani Menkin, Yonatan NirCinematographers: Uri Ackerman, Yoav Kleinman, Yaron Levison, Yonatan NirComposer: Issar ShulmanDespite an occasionally intrusive and manipulative score and the rather hackneyed sight of a doctor sat at his computer typing away (superimpositions and all) as he explains the case to us, Menkin and Nir’s film proves to be an affecting and uplifting...

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I Killed My Mother (2009)

RecommendedCanadaFeature FilmOriginal Title: J'ai tué ma mereWriter/Director: Xavier DolanCinematographer: Stéphanie Weber-BironComposer: Nicholas Savard-L'HerbierCast: Xavier Dolan, Anne Dorval, François Arnaud, Suzanne Clément, Patricia Tulasne, Niels SchneiderWith its striking photography and unusual mise en scène, 19-year-old Dolan’s consummately crafted semi-autobiographical directorial debut proves itself to be an assured and stylish work of...

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Perrier's Bounty (2009)

Cautiously RecommendedIreland/UKFeature FilmDirector: Ian FitzgibbonWriter: Mark O'RoweCinematographer: Seamus DeasyComposer: David HolmesCast: Cillian Murphy, Jodie Whittaker, Jim Broadbent, Brendan Gleeson, Michael McElhatton, Don Wycherley, Liam Cunningham, Brendan Coyle, Padraic Delaney, Conleth Hill, Gabriel ByrneHaving missed the deadline to repay the €1,000 that he owes to a vicious local gangster, Michael, chased down by two of his thugs,...

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The Invisible Woman (2009)

Cautiously RecommendedBrazilFeature FilmOriginal title: A Mulher InvisívelDirector: Cláudio TorresWriters: Cláudio Torres, Adriana Falcão, Maria Luísa Mendonça, Cláudio PaivaCinematographer: Ralph StrelowComposers: Luca Raele, Maurício TagliariCast: Selton Mello, Maria Manoella, Vladimir Brichta, Luana Piovani, Fernanda TorresWhen his wife leaves him for a German millionaire, Pedro, a thirty-something Rio traffic operator, re-enters the dating pool,...

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Phenomena (1985)

Not RecommendedItalyFeature Filmaka CreepersDirector: Dario ArgentoWriters: Dario Argento, Franco FerriniCinematographer: Romano AlbaniComposers: GoblinCast: Jennifer Connelly, Daria Nicolodi, Dalila Di Lazzaro, Patrick Bauchau, Donald Pleasence, Fiore Argento, Federica MastroianniThe teenaged daughter of a famous American actor struggles to fit in at an elite Swiss boarding school, when it becomes known that she has a strange fondness for (and an...

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The Miners' Hymns (2010)

RecommendedUKShort DocumentaryDirector: Bill MorrisonComposer: Jóhann JóhannssonAccompanied by Jóhannsson’s mournful brass and cathedral organ score, made-up entirely – but for a bookending contemporary helicopter shot – of archive footage (from the likes of Mitchel and Kenyon at the turn of the century to miners-shot footage of police brutality during the 1984 strike) Morrison’s elegiac cinepoem elegantly paints a portrait of coalminers and coalmining...

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Accidental Hero (1992)

Cautiously RecommendedUSAFeature FilmOriginal Title: HeroDirector: Stephen FrearsWriters: David Webb Peoples, Alvin Sargent, Laura ZiskinCinematographer: Oliver StapletonComposer: George FentonCast: Dustin Hoffman, Geena Davis, Andy Garcia, Joan Cusack, James Madio, Chevy Chase, Kevin J. O'ConnorA cynical small-time crook, about to be sentenced for the receiving of stolen goods, reluctantly saves the lives of 54 people from an aeroplane that crashes...

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12:08 East of Bucharest (2006)

RecommendedRomaniaFeature FilmOriginal Title: A fost sau n-a fost?Writer/Director: Corneliu PorumboiuCinematographer: Marius PanduruComposers: RotariaCast: Mircea Andreescu, Teodor Corban, Ion SăpdaruOn the 16th anniversary of The Romanian Revolution of 1989, a small town television presenter (accompanied by two self-professed revolutionaries) asks the question, “did the revolution happen in our town, or did its residents only take to the streets...

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Win Win (2011)

Cautiously RecommendedUSAFeature FilmDirector: Tom McCarthyWriters: Tom McCarthy, Joe TiboniCinematographer: Oliver BokelbergComposer: Lyle WorkmanCast: Paul Giamatti, Amy Ryan, Alex Shaffer, Bobby Cannavale, Jeffrey Tambor, Burt Young, Melanie Lynskey, Margo Martindale, David ThompsonA financially struggling lawyer (and part-time high school wrestling coach) dishonestly takes on the guardianship of a client in the early stages of dementia in order...

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Last Night (1998)

RecommendedCanada/FranceFeature FilmWriter/Director: Don McKellarCinematographer: Douglas KochComposers: Alexina Louie, Alex PaukCast: Don McKellar, Sandra Oh, Callum Keith Rennie, Geneviève Bujold, David Cronenberg, Roberta Maxwell, Robin Gammell, Sarah Polley, Trent McMullen, Michael McMurtryWith his world already feeling like it had ended a few months earlier with the death of his wife, Patrick Wheeler wants nothing more than to sit alone and...

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Adieu Philippine (1962)

RecommendedFrance/ItalyFeature FilmDirector: Jacques RozierWriters: Michèle O'Glor, Jacques RozierCinematographer: René MathelinComposers: Jacques Denjean, Paul Mattei, Maxime SauryCast: Jean-Claude Aimini, Stefania Sabatini, Yveline Céry, Daniel Descamps, Vittorio Caprioli, David TonelliAbout to be shipped off to fight in the Algerian War, Michel, a young television camera technician, meets two attractive young girls, whom he begins to pal around...

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The Martins (2001)

Cautiously RecommendedUK/USAFeature FilmWriter/Director: Tony GroundsCinematographer: David JohnsonComposer: Richard HartleyCast: Lee Evans, Kathy Burke, Linda Bassett, Eric Byrne, Terri Dumont, Lennie James, Paddy ConsidineWhen he fails to win the holiday of his dreams in a competition run by the local newspaper – the latest in a series of life’s disappointments – long-term unemployed Hatfield resident Robert, married with two children, snaps, imprisons...

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This Filthy Earth (2001)

Essential ViewingUKFeature FilmDirector: Andrew KöttingWriters: Andrew Kötting, Sean Lock, Émile ZolaCinematographer: Nick Gordon SmithComposer: David BurnandCast: Rebecca R. Palmer, Shane Attwooll, Demelza Randall, Xavier Tchili, Dudley Sutton, Ina Clough, Peter-Hugo DalyAdapted (with the aid of comedian Sean Lock) from Émile Zola’s 1887 novel La Terre, Kötting’s formally audacious, intensely visceral, and blackly humorous misanthropic masterpiece...

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Troll Hunter (2010)

RecommendedNorwayFeature FilmOriginal Title: TrolljegerenWriter/Director: André ØvredalCinematographer: Hallvard BræinCast: Otto Jespersen, Glenn Erland Tosterud, Johanna Mørck, Tomas Alf Larsen, Hans Morten HansenThree student film-makers, out in the Norwegian countryside investigating bear poaching, happen upon a world-weary hunter, the titular character, who (fed-up with his unglamorous [secret] lifestyle) introduces them to a world of trolls,...

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102 Boulevard Haussmann (1990)

RecommendedUKTelevision FilmSeries Title: Screen Two (1985-1994)Director: Udayan PrasadWriter: Alan BennettCinematographer: John HooperCast: Alan Bates, Janet McTeer, Paul Rhys, Philip McGough, Jonathan Coy, Philip Rham, Michael Wilcox, Peter Geeves, Michael Grandage, Lesley NightingaleOn a rare trip out to a concert performance, the asthmatic, decidedly frail, and near enough bed-ridden Marcel Proust takes a shine to a young viola player (on sick...

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From Under My Bed (2005)

RecommendedFranceShort FilmOriginal Title: Sous mon litWriter/Director: Jihane ChouaibCinematographer: Dylan DoyleComposers: Mendelson, Los Tres AmigosCast: Emeline Becuwe, Clément van den BerghAs her parents tootle off on their summer holiday thinking that their daughter is about to board a coach for a school-organised trip to London, Mira, a sexually repressed teenaged girl caught awkwardly between childhood and adulthood, instead returns home...

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Dry Summer (1964)

Cautiously RecommendedTurkeyFeature FilmOriginal Title: Susuz yazDirector: Metin ErksanWriters: Metin Erksan, Kemal Inci, Ismet Soydan, Necati CumaliCinematographer: Ali UgurComposers: Manos Hatzidakis, YamaciCast: Erol Tas, Hülya Koçyigit, Ulvi DoganOsman, a charmless farmer who covets his younger bother’s comely new bride, builds a dam to prevent his neighbours from receiving water that emanates from a spring on his property – an act that leads...

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The Little Tailor (2010)

RecommendedFranceShort FilmOriginal Title: Petit tailleurWriter/Director: Louis GarrelCinematographer: Léo HinstinComposer: Grégoire HetzelCast: Arthur Igual, Léa Seydoux, Grand Albert, Sylvain Creuzevault, Lolita Chammah, Evelyne Lequesne, Laurent LaffargueArthur, an apprentice tailor with dreams of becoming an haute couturist, is forced to choose between his eighty-year-old dying mentor, who fought in the resistance as a teenager, and Marie-Julie,...

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The Housemaid (1960)

Cautiously RecommendedSouth KoreaFeature FilmOriginal Title: 하녀Writer/Director: Kim Ki-youngCinematographer: Kim Deok-jinComposer: Han Sang-kiCast: Lee Eun-shim, Kim Jin-kyu, Ju Jeung-nyeo, Um Aeng-ran, Ahn Sung-ki, Kang Seok-je, Ko Seon-ae, Na Jeong-okOvercome with exhaustion after moving into a new home, and struggling to cope with her domestic duties, a pregnant woman, who spends most of her time diligently working at her sewing machine, encourages...

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The Mugger (2007)

RecommendedArgentinaShort Feature FilmOriginal Title: El asaltanteWriter/Director: Pablo FendrikCinematographer: Cobi MiglioraCast: Guillermo Arengo, Germán de Silva, Arturo Goetz, Maya Lesca, Bárbara Lombardo, Verónica PiaggioCaptured in near-enough real time with claustrophobic hand-held photography, featuring an excellent performance from Arengo, Fendrik’s promising feature directorial debut grippingly follows a seemingly respectable middle-aged...

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Tucker & Dale vs Evil (2010)

RecommendedUSAFeature FilmDirector: Eli CraigWriters: Eli Craig, Morgan JurgensonCinematographer: David GeddesCast: Tyler Labine, Alan Tudyk, Katrina Bowden, Jesse Moss, Philip Granger, Brandon Jay McLaren, Christie Laing, Chelan SimmonsTucker and Dale, whilst vacationing at their new holiday home, save a pretty young camper from drowning – unfortunately, though, her college friends mistake them for murderous, kidnapping hillbillies, and are soon...

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Bad Connection (2000)

RecommendedFranceShort FilmOriginal Title: Faux contactWriter/Director/Composer: Eric JameuxCinematographer: Franck BarbianCast: Sylvie Testud, Nasser Cerkoune, Frédéric Leray, Eric JameuxAs a wave of terrorist attacks sweep Paris, a young, unemployed Muslim man – struggling to complete the level of the game he's playing – rings a video game helpline from a phone box for assistance, but a dodgy light bulb, a surprisingly helpful call centre worker,...

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Chicken Heart (2002)

RecommendedJapanFeature FilmOriginal Title: チキン・ハートWriter/Director: Shimizu HiroshiCinematographer: Takase HiroshiComposer: Suzuki KeiichiCast: Ikeuchi Hiroyuki, Imawano Kiyoshiro, Matsuo Suzuki, Mabuchi Erika, Haruki Misayo, Omi Toshinori, Araki Nobuyoshi, Kishibe IttokuThree sort-of friends, who eke out a living during the day by scrubbing graffiti off walls, selling toupees, and handing out insurance leaflets on the street, spend their evenings...

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World's Greatest Dad (2009)

RecommendedUSAFeature FilmWriter/Director: Bobcat GoldthwaitCinematographer: Horacio MarquínezComposer: Gerald BrunskillCast: Robin Williams, Daryl Sabara, Alexie Gilmore, Mitzi McCall, Evan Martin, Geoff Pierson, Henry Simmons, Lorraine NicholsonFollowing a tragic accident, a put-upon single father, whose dreams of literary fame have come to naught, finds his fortunes taking a turn for the (seemingly) better, when his students and fellow teachers...

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CFB's Top 30 Films of 1971 (2011)

The Last Picture Show (1971)A Clockwork Orange (1971)McCabe & Mrs. Miller (1971)Death in Venice (1971)Harold and Maude (1971)The French Connection (1971)Dirty Harry (1971)Walkabout (1971)Duel (1971)Straw Dogs (1971)Play Misty for Me (1971)Klute (1971)Bananas (1971)Le Souffle au Coeur (1971)The Emigrants (1971)Fiddler on the Roof (1971)The Beguiled (1971)Sunday Bloody Sunday (1971)Two-Lane Blacktop (1971)Carnal Knowledge (1971)Get Carter (1971)Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (1971)Out 1 (1971)The Devils (1971)10 Rillington Place (1971)Macbeth...

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CFB's Top 20 Obscure Films of 1971 (2011)

Four Nights of a Dreamer (1971)Love (1971)Juste Avant la Nuit (1971)The Trojan Women (1971)Such Good Friends (1971)Silence (1971)La Region Centrale (1971)Checkpoint (1971)Hapax Legomena I: Nostalgia (1971)The Act of Seeing with One’s Own Eyes (1971)Synchromy (1971)’Tis Pity She’s a Whore (1971)Desperate Characters (1971)Maybe I’ll Come Home in the Spring (1971)Joe Hill (1971)The Salamander (1971)Red Sky at Morning (1971)How Tasty Was My Little Frenchman (1971)The Ceremony (1971)Emitai (1971) ...

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Paul (2011)

Cautiously RecommendedUSA/UKFeature FilmDirector: Greg MottolaWriters: Nick Frost, Simon PeggCinematographer: Lawrence SherComposer: David ArnoldCast: Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Seth Rogen, Kristen Wiig, Jason Bateman, Bill Hader, Joe Lo TruglioTwo sci-fi loving comic book nerds from England, fresh from their first visit to Comic-Con, set off on a UFO-hotspot road trip across the US, which is enlivened considerably by their meeting of Paul, a pot-smoking...

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