25. November 2023

Sometimes, all a film needs to be made is a standout idea. Something really, really unique. So when film executives thought up HIghlander, they hit the jackpot. Immortal men spend centuries fighting until one remains and wins a prize. Oh, and you can only die if you get your head cut off. That's it. And it's brilliant. What's better, is that the two leads, Christophe Lambert, a Frenchman, plays Connor Macleod, a Scottish highlander, (from where the title comes) while Sean Connery, an actual...

29. Oktober 2023

American English throughout, with New York accents that can be challenging for intermediate speakers Al Pacino will always be one of my favourite actors. Carlito's Way, Heat, The Godfather, the list goes on. But Sea of Love is something different. Pacino had taken a hiatus from acting after the huge disappointment that's was Revolution, and it was four years before he made another one. That film was Sea of Love. Pacino plays Frank, a detective assigned to a case where the murderer shoots his...

06. August 2023

British English throughout with clear, understandable accents. Sports films aren't that common and not particularly popular. But most sports films have the same theme, with a team of some sport or other struggling at the lower end of their league before overcoming their differences and climbing the division before finally winning the title at the end of the film. Yay! Fever Pitch is different. Although it does involve football (soccer) it is, at its heart, a love story. And its very, very...

18. Juni 2023

Will it help my English? Plenty of different accents but mainly American English. Minimal dialogue so easy to follow for all levels. "I'll be back" Probably the most famous catchphrase in cinema. Arnold Schwarzenegger has used this phrase on numerous occasions, from Commando and The Running Man to Last Action Hero. But it's The Terminator, and its sequel Terminator 2, for which he is most well known. In the Terminator, Schwarzenegger plays an unstoppable robot sent back in time to kill John...

09. April 2023

How will it help my English? Skyfall has several different accents but the main characters speak clear British English throughout. Ideal for intermediate students and above. There are many Bond films to choose from, but this is my favourite. We are often scared to choose a recent entry because it's often considered silly. Connery IS king, that's true. His Bond is by far the most true to Fleming's. Having read the books, Bonds swagger, cruelty and egotism are perfectly addressed by Sir Sean. In...

04. März 2023

Will it help my English? This film uses several English accents throughout, with many subcontinent and European accents as well as the classic British and American. Excellent for intermediate to advanced students. If, like me, you grew up in the late 70s through the 80s, the originally Star Wars films will have played a huge part of your childhood. They were exciting, new, and full of great characters and special effects. The second trilogy of films from 1999-2005 almost burned the whole...

11. Februar 2023

How can it help my English? There is American English throughout with challenging accents at times. Easy to follow plot. This is probably the greatest horror film of all time. And it IS a horror film. I'm not a big fan of this genre: scared to death of The Omen at 10 and even more so by A Nightmare On Elm Street a year later, horror films have never been high on my list of film priorities. But Jaws is the exception. Directed by a young (and never better) Steven Spielberg, Jaws tells the simple...

29. Dezember 2022

The ultimate Christmas film? It's impossible to put into words how much I love this film, but I'll try. Die Hard is my favourite film of all time. I've watched it countless, and I mean countless, times. Bruce Willis is perfect in the role of John MaClane, the New York cop visiting his wife for Christmas in LA. Alan Rickman is arguably even better as Hans Gruber, the leader of a gang of thieves hellbent on what lies in the vault of the Nakatomi Tower. The film spends no more than twenty minutes...

02. November 2022

Leon, or The Professional as it is sometimes called, tells the story of a hitman who quietly divides his time between watching old movies at the cinema and carrying out contract killings on behalf of his employer, Tony. His "quiet" life is changed when his neighbour's daughter asks for his help following a family tragedy. What follows is both incredibly thrilling and beautifully sweet. Made in 1995, Leon has not one but three major film stars at the absolute top of their game. Jean Reno is...

10. Oktober 2022

Super hero films are ' ten a penny' (very common) these days. But for many years In the 70s and early 80s, it was Christopher Reeve and Superman. And that was pretty much it. But it was Batman in 1989 that really changed the game. Michael Keaton as Bruce Wayne and Jack Nicholson as the Joker brought the caped crusader to the screen like never seen before, a dark and brooding super hero movie that the public loved. But the sequel..... After Nicholson, Batman Returns needed a villain that could...