Nick's Favourites
Through the musty halls of the old Harbour Light Picture theatre Lyttelton and where the old merchant crusty sea captains checked their hand held compasses with the metallic 'star' inbuilt in the foyer floor I knew i had a passion till life's end. Contained therein is my retina's wink of approval with no one genre favoured. Ladies and Gentleman "Cry havoc and let slip the dogs of war'
Take Shelter (2011)
7.4/10
Director: Jeff Nichols
Starring: Kathy Baker, Michael Shannon, Shea Whigham, Jessica Chastain, Katy Mixon
In this unnerving drama, Michael Shannon ("Bug") plays a husband and father who harbours the growing certainty that an apocalyptic event will soon tak... Read more
Manhunter (1986)
7.2/10
Director: Michael Mann
Starring: William Petersen, Kim Greist, Joan Allen, Brian Cox
From the novel 'Red Dragon' by Thomas Harris ('The Silence of the Lambs', 'Hannibal') comes this thriller about a neurotic FBI agent specialising in s... Read more
A History of Violence (2005)
7.5/10
Director: David Cronenberg
Starring: Viggo Mortensen, Ed Harris, William Hurt, Maria Bello, Ashton Holmes, Stephen Mc...
Adapted from a graphic novel, Tom Stall (Viggo Mortensen) is a quiet man living a quiet life in Indiana. A quiet shattered when a pair of fugitives wa... Read more
The Garden Of The Finzi-Continis (1970)
7.5/10
Director: Vittorio De Sica
Starring: Dominique Sanda, Fabio Testi, Helmut Berger, Lino Capolicchio
Gorgeously restored and re-mastered in Dolby stereo, this celebrated adaptation of Giorgio Bassani's novel views the life of an aristocratic Jewish fa... Read more
Alien (1979)
8.5/10
Director: Ridley Scott
Starring: Tom Skerritt, Sigourney Weaver, Veronica Cartwright, Harry Dean Stanton, John Hu...
On its way back to Earth, a spacecraft is re-routed to a remote planet to investigate a distress call. When a member of the landing party returns to t... Read more
The Office: Series 2 (2002)
8.8/10
Director: Ricky Gervais, Stephen Merchant
Starring: Mackenzie Crook, Lucy Davis, Martin Freeman, Ricky Gervais, Stephen Merchant
David Brent returns to work in the office that took Britain by storm and grabbed middle-managers by their balls. His 'unique' management style in this... Read more
Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid (1982)
6.8/10
Director: Carl Reiner
Starring: Steve Martin, Rachel Ward, Reni Santoni, Carl Reiner
Carl Reiner's comic salute to the gumshoe noirs of the 1940s stars Steve Martin as Rigby Reardon, Private Eye and a scene-stealing Rachel Ward as a ha... Read more
The Office: Series 1 (2001)
8.5/10
Director: Ricky Gervais, Stephen Merchant
Starring: Ricky Gervais, Martin Freeman, Mackenzie Crook, Lucy Davis
BAFTA-winning comedy about the Slough paper-merchant where life is stationery... David Brent (Ricky Gervais) is a petty, pompous boss who thinks he's... Read more
North by Northwest (1959)
8.3/10
Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Starring: Cary Grant, James Mason, Eva Marie Saint, Leo G Carroll, Jessie Royce Landis, Ma...
One of Hitchcock's greatest films. Cary Grant plays Roger Thornhill, the suave ad man mistaken for a Federal Agent, trapped in a web of intrigue that... Read more
Ratcatcher (1999)
7.5/10
Director: Lynne Ramsay
Starring: William Eadie, Tommy Flanagan, Mandy Matthews, Leanne Mullen
Set in Glasgow in the 1970s, Ratcatcher is seen through the eyes of twelve-year-old James Gillespie, a young boy haunted by a secret. Feeling increasi... Read more