The Way Ahead (1944)

Recommended

UK

Feature Film
Director: Carol Reed
Writers: Eric Ambler, Peter Ustinov
Cinematographer: Guy Green
Composer: William Alwyn
Cast: David Niven, Stanley Holloway, James Donald, John Laurie, Leslie Dwyer, Hugh Burden, Jimmie Hanley, Billy Hartnell, John Ruddock, Bromley Davenport, Renee Asherson, Peter Ustinov

Let down somewhat by the rather dull action sequences that litter the second half of the movie, this otherwise entertaining look at the lives of a group of new recruits at the beginning of the Second World War, from call-up through basic training to their first battle, is a nicely paced, credible, and exceedingly human film. Iain.Stott

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Zatoichi (2003)

Recommended

Japan

Feature Film
Original Title: 座頭市
Directror: Kitano Takeshi

Writers: Kitano Takeshi, Shimozawa Kan

Cinematography: Yanagishima Katsumi

Composer: Suzuki Keiichi

Cast: Beat Takeshi, Asano Tadanobu, Okusu Michiyo, Natsukawa Yui, Taka Guadalcanal, Tachibana Daigiro, Daike Yuko, Kishibe Ittoku, Ishikura Saburo, Emoto Akira

A thoroughly bonkers and irreverent film from Kitano, filled with blood-gushingly absurd black-humour, enjoyable anachronisms, and whimsical plotting and characterisation, Zatoichi follows a preternaturally gifted, blind killer/masseur as he wanders into a small village and systematically cleans it up (and not with a broom). Iain.Stott

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Broadcast News (1987)

Recommended

USA
Feature Film
Writer/Director: James L. Brooks
Cinematographer: Michael Ballhaus
Composer: Bill Conti
Cast: Holly Hunter, Albert Brooks, William Hurt, Robert Prosky, Lois Chiles, Joan Cusack, Jack Nicholson

This winsomely satirical, behind-the-scenes look at the running of a television newsroom, replete with cliché-free, beautifully drawn characters, fleshed out wonderfully by a delightful cast, is a touching, funny, unpredictable, and thoroughly human comedy-drama. Iain.Stott

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What Darwin Didn't Know (2009)

UK
Television Documentary
Director: Tim Lambert
Writer/Presenter: Armand Marie Leroi
Cinematographers: Gordon Hiles, Lawrence Gardner

A fascinating, enthralling, and thoroughly entertaining look at the evolution of the theory of evolution, from Darwin’s The Origin of Species (1859) up until today’s computer enhanced wonders. Iain.Stott

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Night Train to Munich (1940)

Cautiously Recommended

UK
Feature Film
Director: Carol Reed
Writers: Sidney Gilliat, Frank Launder, Gordon Wellesley
Cinematographer: Otto Kanturek
Composer: Louis Levy
Cast: Margaret Lockwood, Rex Harrison, Paul von Hernried, Basil Radford, Naunton Wayne, James Harcourt, Felix Aylmer

This mildly entertaining if vaguely forgettable thriller, a convoluted tale of Nazi spies, selfless do-goodery, and unlikely romance, is, thanks in the main to the comic relief supplied by the ever-wonderful Basil Radford and Naunton Wayne, a never less than watchable film. Iain.Stott

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Robert Burns: The People's Poet (2009)

Recommended

UK
Television Documentary
Director: Colin Murray
Cinematographers: Brian Jobson, Alistair McCormick
Featuring: Andrew O'Hagan

An entertaining, human, and personal look at the life of renowned Scots poet, songwriter, womaniser, and political radical, Robert Burns, presented well by fellow Scots writer, O’Hagan, who doesn’t let his great admiration for his writing hero get in the way of the often confounding truth. Iain.Stott

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TIFF's Best Films of the '90s

1. The Quince Tree Sun (1992)
2. And Life Goes On... (1991)
   Through the Olive Trees (1994)
3. Drifting Clouds (1996)
4. Close-Up (1990)
   Breaking the Waves (1996)
5. Sátántangó (1994)
6. Flowers of Shanghai (1998)
   Taste of Cherry (1997)
7. Chungking Express (1994)
   Hana-Bi (1997)
   The Thin Red Line (1998)
8. Histoire(s) du Cinema (1989-1998)
   A Brighter Summer Day (1991)
9. A Moment of Innocence (1996)
10. Goodfellas (1990)
    L'Eau Froide (1994)
11. Mother and Son (1997)
12. Vive l'Amour (1994)
    Nouvelle Vague (1990)
13. Abraham Valley (1993)
    Safe (1995)
    Dead Man (1995)
14. The Sweet Hereafter (1997)
    Unforgiven (1992)
    Exotica (1994)
15. Sonatine (1993)
16. Maborosi (1995)
    Naked (1993)
17. La Vie de Jésus (1997)
    Fargo (1996)
18. Pulp Fiction (1994)
19. La Belle Noiseuse (1991)
    Van Gogh (1991)
    Three Colours: Red (1994)
20. The Last Bolshevik (1993)
21. Caro Diario (1993)
22. Crumb (1994)
23. The Puppetmaster (1993)
    Goodbye, South, Goodbye (1996)
24. Sicilia! (1999)

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