#310 – Local Hero, 1983, Bill Forsyth
An American oil company sends a man to Scotland to buy up an entire village where they want to build a refinery. But things don’t go as expected.
Tag: UK
#313: Secrets & Lies
#313 – Secrets & Lies, 1996, Mike Leigh
A middle-aged London factory worker is shocked when the mixed-race daughter she gave up at birth decides to track her down. At first she denies she is her mother. All family members become emotional, as everyone’s secrets are exposed.
#317: The 39 Steps
#317 – The 39 Steps, 1935, Alfred Hitchcock
Richard Hannay stumbles upon a conspiracy that thrusts him into a hectic chase across the Scottish moors—a chase in which he is both the pursuer and the pursued—as well as into an unexpected romance with the cool Pamela.
#328: Life of Brian
#328 – Life of Brian, 1979, Terry Jones
Brian Cohen is an average young Jewish man, but through a series of ridiculous events, he gains a reputation as the Messiah. When he’s not dodging his followers or being scolded by his shrill mother, the hapless Brian has to contend with the pompous Pontius Pilate and acronym-obsessed members of a separatist movement. Rife with Monty Python’s signature absurdity, the tale finds Brian’s life paralleling Biblical lore, albeit with many more laughs.
JUMBO CACTUAR APPROVED FILM
#351: The Pianist
#351 – The Pianist, 2002, Roman Polanski
The true story of pianist Władysław Szpilman’s experiences in Warsaw during the Nazi occupation. When the Jews of the city find themselves forced into a ghetto, Szpilman finds work playing in a café; and when his family is deported in 1942, he stays behind, works for a while as a laborer, and eventually goes into hiding in the ruins of the war-torn city.
#354: The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp
#354 – The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp, 1943, Michael Powell & Emeric Pressburger
General Candy, who’s overseeing an English squad in 1943, is a veteran leader who doesn’t have the respect of the men he’s training and is considered out-of-touch with what’s needed to win the war. But it wasn’t always this way. Flashing back to his early career in the Boer War and World War I, we see a dashing young officer whose life has been shaped by three different women, and by a lasting friendship with a German soldier.
#357: The Red Shoes
#357 – The Red Shoes, 1948, Michael Powell & Emeric Pressburger
In this classic drama, Vicky Page is an aspiring ballerina torn between her dedication to dance and her desire to love. While her imperious instructor, Boris Lermontov, urges to her to forget anything but ballet, Vicky begins to fall for the charming young composer Julian Craster. Eventually Vicky, under great emotional stress, must choose to pursue either her art or her romance, a decision that carries serious consequences.
#365: Kes
#365 – Kes, 1969, Ken Loach
A young, English working-class boy spends his free time caring for and training his pet falcon.
JUMBO CACTUAR APPROVED FILM
#379: Shaun of the Dead
#379 – Shaun of the Dead, 2004, Edgar Wright
Shaun lives a supremely uneventful life, which revolves around his girlfriend, his mother, and, above all, his local pub. This gentle routine is threatened when the dead return to life and make strenuous attempts to snack on ordinary Londoners.
JUMBO CACTUAR APPROVED FILM
#381: Gravity
#381 – Gravity, 2013, Alfonso Cuarón
Dr. Ryan Stone, a brilliant medical engineer on her first Shuttle mission, with veteran astronaut Matt Kowalsky in command of his last flight before retiring. But on a seemingly routine spacewalk, disaster strikes. The Shuttle is destroyed, leaving Stone and Kowalsky completely alone-tethered to nothing but each other and spiraling out into the blackness of space. The deafening silence tells them they have lost any link to Earth and any chance for rescue. As fear turns to panic, every gulp of air eats away at what little oxygen is left. But the only way home may be to go further out into the terrifying expanse of space.
Jumbo Cactuar Film Index 