Latest Staff Picks
The films listed below are Alice's Latest Staff Picks, finding their way into this category generally as a result of agreement between staff that they have real merit for one reason or another. Most titles represent a safe choice for those that find choosing a film difficult or are bewildered by Alice's depth and breadth...
For personal Staff Picks, you are cordially invited to take a journey into the mind's eye of Alice's movie mavens by clicking on the 'Staff Favourites' link (stage left). Click on the Alice Guide of your choice, and take an ushered journey through the looking glass and into their personal cinematic wonderland.
Fast Talking (1984)
6.9/10
Director: Ken Cameron
Starring: Rod Zuanic
A bright young teenager from a broken home uses his quick wits and glib tongue to get out of trouble - but they also get him into it. 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
Smokey and the Bandit (1977)
6.9/10
Director: Hal Needham
Starring: Burt Reynolds, Sally Field, Jerry Reed, Mike Henry
Burt Reynolds, as a legendary truck driver and CB fanatic, picks up a female hitchhiker and a crazy turn of events sets off the longest-running chase... Read more
The Serpent's Egg (1977)
6.7/10
Director: Ingmar Bergman
Starring: David Carradine, Gert Frobe, James Whitmore, Liv Ullmann
Set in Berlin in 1923, the film is about a Jewish-American trapeze artist (David Carradine) and his sister-in-law (Liv Ullman), who are entrapped by a... Read more
Katie Tippel (1975)
6.7/10
Director: Paul Verhoeven
Starring: Monique Van De Ven, Rutger Hauer
The young girl Keetje moves to Amsterdam in 1881 with her impoverished family, and is led into prostitution in order to survive. In the process she se... Read more
Lady Snowblood (1973)
7.7/10
Director: Toshiya Fujita
Starring: Meiko Kaji, Toshio Kurosawa, Masaaki Daimon
Her father, a schoolteacher, is brutally murdered. Her mother is beaten, raped, and forced into prostitution to survive, only to die giving her life.... Read more
THX 1138 (1970)
6.8/10
Director: George Lucas
Starring: Donald Pleasence, Maggie McOmie, Robert Duvall
George Lucas' first feature film is a thought-provoking look at a future society where robot police keep humans drugged and forbid any form of emotion... Read more
Fail Safe (1964)
8/10
Director: Sidney Lumet
Starring: Dan O'Herlihy, Henry Fonda, Larry Hagman, Walter Matthau
One of the greatest anti-war thrillers ever. This tense Cold War offering is about a squad of American bombers that are accidentally sent to deliver a... Read more
Fail Safe (blu-ray) (1964)
8/10
Director: Sidney Lumet
Starring: Dan O'Herlihy, Henry Fonda, Larry Hagman, Walter Matthau
One of the greatest anti-war thrillers ever. This tense Cold War offering is about a squad of American bombers that are accidentally sent to deliver a... Read more
An Autumn Afternoon (1962)
8.2/10
Director: Yasujiro Ozu
Starring: Chishu Ryu, Mariko Okada, Shima Iwashita, Shin-Ichiro Mikami, Keiji Sada
One of the world's most celebrated filmmakers, Yasujiro Ozu, observes the tangled relationships of Japanese families with an amazing blend of intimacy... Read more