L Toupee

The westerns with John Wayne and Clint Eastwood seem to get the most acclaim, but l think this is an overlooked gem. Certainly my favourite western movie so far. Great story, great cast, great music. It has a slight Peckinpah approach to the violence which never hurts, and it isn't silly like Django, it's just a bloody good film!

You won't expect this, even if you've read about it beforehand. It has the same feel to it as Watership Down (same writer and director) but for sheer 'punch in the gut' shock, this film has the edge by quite a margin. Two dogs escape from an animal testing facility in the Lake Distict to find a master to look after them. A tale of companionship, hope, sorrow and fear, the dogs scour the countryside avoiding 'humans' and surviving any way they can. Just like Watership Down, the film doesn't really have an audience: too grown up for children and being an animation, not something an adult would see. However, I am an adult, and I enjoyed it very much. It's a brilliant story with one of the best voice actors in the business (John Hurt), and it is extremely powerful in its message. Few will have a dry eye after seeing this.

This could have been a pretty unexciting film if it wasn't so well acted, and directed by the suspense and atmosphere wizard Roman Polanski. Rare book expert 'Depp' is hired by wealthy book collector 'Langella' to authenticate his copy of The Nine Gates of the Kindom of Shadows, in a trip which takes him across Europe, and he quickly finds himself over his head with the assignment. I like this film a lot, it is a work of art. Every single character is perfectly cast, and the script is top notch. The weakest character for me is actually Depp, and that doesn't mean he's bad, he isn't, he's very good, but the other characters are more relatable. The most engaging characters for me were Boris Balkan and Baroness Kessler. Absolutely flawless performances, along with, musical, atmospherical and scenic perfection.