1977
*
After extensive surgery, a woman develops a taste for human blood.
Repellent horror, not in any way entertaining.
Dir: David Cronenberg
Stars: Marilyn Chambers, Frank Moore, Joe Silver
RABID GRANNIES
1988
*
A potion turns sweet aunts into demons who go after their family.
A present from Belgium, this is a freaky, plot-lite, bloodthirsty effort picked up and distributed by Troma; its awfulness proves fascinating.
Dir: Emmanuel Kervyn
Stars: Catherine Aymerie, Caroline Braeckman, Richard Cotica
RACE TO WITCH MOUNTAIN
2009
*
Two alien children seek the help of a taxi driver to return to their spacecraft.
Lightweight action adventure most likely to be enjoyed by children around the age of ten thanks to its fairly pacy chases, fisticuffs and junior humour – adults might have liked characters with more depth, especially the alien kids, and a greater variety of disposal of the baddies by the lead character. It also would have been nice to see a bit more of the alien assassin.
Dir: Andy Fickman
Stars: Dwayne Johnson, Carla Gugino, AnnaSophia Robb, Alexander Ludwig, Ciaran Hinds
RACE WITH THE DEVIL
1975
*
Two pairs of vacationing couples are forced to flee after they witness a black magic ritual.
Essentially a car chase thriller with one horror sequence, it picks up excitement in the latter stages.
Dir: Jack Starrett
Stars: Peter Fonda, Warren Oates, Loretta Swit
THE RACHEL PAPERS
1989
*
A young man uses every technique in the book to seduce an American girl he's after.
Refreshing comic drama done in Alfie style, inconclusive but perceptive.
Dir: Damian Harris
Stars: Dexter Fletcher, Ione Skye, Jonathan Pryce, James Spader, Michael Gambon
RACHEL, RACHEL
1968
*
A female schoolteacher lives a lonely life in a small town.
A portrait of a quietly desperate life which isn't quite as involving as you hope despite solid acting and unusual directing style (what a revelation that must have been at the time).
Dir: Paul Newman
Stars: Joanne Woodward, James Olson, Kate Harrington, Estelle Parsons
THE RACKET
1928
*
A policeman does his best to trap a violent gangster.
Nominated for a Best Film Oscar probably for some advanced techniques and camerawork in the first half, this silent (but talky) crime drama eventually ends up on a couple of sets where the incidents aren't completely believable. Not bad, but not essential viewing unless you're an Oscars completist.
Dir: Lewis Milestone
Stars: Thomas Meighan, Louis Wolheim, Marie Prevost
RADAR MEN FROM THE MOON
1952 (serial)
*
Commando Cody and co try to stop Martians from wrecking the planet.
This sci-fi adventure may flit between Earth and the Moon but don't think that indicates a high budget - this was made in the days when the money was running out for serials like this. Hence we get lots of repeated stock footage from King Of The Rocket Men (qv) and endless fist fights on small sets and car chases across landscapes near the studio; it's stiffly acted and, of course, very silly, but it's hard to dislike these chapter plays of yore. The stuff on the Moon certainly makes you smile.
Dir: Fred C Bannon
Stars: George Wallace, Roy Barcroft, Aline Towne, Clayton Moore
RADIO DAYS
1987
**
The life of a Jewish family in New York from 1938 to 1944.
There's a huge challenge to making a movie about another medium - radio - but there are few more skilled filmmakers than Allen, and one imagines he was very pleased with what he made - certainly the costumes, props and performances unerringly capture the time and place. The intrinsic problem is that this is a film of vignettes - admittedly some great vignettes - rather than a driven narrative with live characters and real consequences, so it is a little neutered. Still, it's an achievement on many levels.
Dir: Woody Allen
Narrator: Woody Allen. Stars: Michael Tucker, Mia Farrow, Dianne Wiest, Julie Kavner, Seth Green
RADIO ON
1979
*
A man drives from London to Bristol to investigate his brother’s death.
As the director admitted, he was interested in architecture, weather and sound, and not at all interested in character or plot, and this is very evident: it means this is not a ‘complete’ film, it’s a sort of inert, art school Get Carter, but as frequently monotonous as it is, one containing haunting images that didn’t come about through luck. The 2008 DVD featured ‘Radio On Remix’, a short that showed the locations 20 years later. Another viewing years later confirm than it's a film that plays better in the mind than in the actual watching - there's certainly style, but the story is frustratingly glacial and inconsequential.
Dir: Christopher Petit
Stars: David Beames, Lisa Kreuzer, Sandy Ratcliff, Sting
RADIO PARADE OF 1935
1934
*
The head of a radio station tries to soup his programmes up.
Now only of historical interest as a record of the early days of the wireless, this eccentric variety show sees the star in restrained mood. The climactic colour sequence, featuring a black woman singing, is utterly different from anything that has preceded it.
Dir: Arthur Woods
Stars: Will Hay, Clifford Mollison, Helen Chandler
RAFFLES
1939
*
A famous cricketer is also a daring thief.
Virtually a scene-for-scene remake of the 1930 Ronald Colman film, yet a little crisper.
Dir: Sam Wood
Stars: David Niven, Olivia de Havilland, Dame May Whitty, E E Clive
RAGEWAR
1983
0
A man has to perform a series of tasks to save his girlfriend.
Cheapo fantasy comprising of seven unremarkable little adventures each made by a different director.
Dir: Charles Band et al
Stars: Jeffrey Byron, Leslie Wing, Richard Moll
RAGING BULL
1980
****
The rise to fame of boxer Jake La Motta, whose life was ruined by paranoia and violence.
De Niro's all-encompassing performance is absolutely central to this unlovely tale of a man who couldn't help but self-destruct. Scenes of lyrical cinematic beauty alternate with extremely ugly sketches of lives we wouldn't want to share.
Dir: Martin Scorsese
Stars: Robert De Niro, Cathy Moriarty, Joe Pesci, Frank Vincent
RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK
1981
***
In the 1930s, an archaeologist and adventurer contests with Nazis to find a priceless artefact.
Spielberg back on track after his 1941 mishap, recreating the golden age of serials with a cosmically bigger budget; great stuff, in the main, though there are dull bits and the setting of 1930s Arabia doesn't especially endear. But the leading man is perfect, there is a sense of humour and the setpieces really are excellent, especially considering this was made in the days before CGI.
Dir: Steven Spielberg
Stars: Harrison Ford, Karen Allen, Ronald Lacey, John Rhys-Davies, Denholm Elliott, Alfred Molina
THE RAILWAY CHILDREN
1970
**
In Edwardian times, three children have various adventures in the Yorkshire countryside.
Vigorously pleasant family drama showing the English landscape at its most luscious; the plot may amble hither and thither but the film is a rare thing in that it’s without a trace of darkness or cynicism.
Dir: Lionel Jeffries
Stars: Dinah Sheridan, Bernard Cribbins, Jenny Agutter, Sally Thomsett, William Mervyn, Iain Cuthbertson, David Lodge
RAIN
1932
**
With both stranded on a South Seas island, a priest attempts to make a prostitute see the error of her ways.
The intensity of Maugham’s short story has been slightly dissipated but the film retains a brooding sense of foreboding, partly thanks to the performances of the two leads, whose sexual predilections can here only be hinted at.
Dir: Lewis Milestone
Stars: Joan Crawford, Walter Huston, Fred Howard
RAIN MAN
1988
**
A young salesman discovers that he has an elder, autistic brother that he must care for.
Absorbing road movie/disease drama with ever so slightly dubious values (how much should an audience laugh at Hoffman?).
Dir: Barry Levinson
Stars: Dustin Hoffman, Tom Cruise, Valeria Golino
THE RAINBOW
1988
*
In the 1890s, a young female school teacher asserts herself in life.
Restrained by Ken Russell’s standards, this is a competent version of a typical D H Lawrence tale.
Dir: Ken Russell
Stars: Sammi Davis, Paul McGann, Amanda Donohoe, David Hemmings, Glenda Jackson
A RAINY DAY IN NEW YORK
2019
*
Two students plan to spend a romantic day in New York, but it doesn't go to plan.
The virtue-signalling prat of a lead actor donated his fee to fashionable causes as Allen got unfairly caught up in a feminist overreaction to previous alleged (though never proven) deeds, and this film was initially only released in non-English-speaking Europe. It's another inconsequential, minor-league late-career effort, but it's not without merit, displaying typical Allen craft and some nice lines, with a slightly surprising wrap-up courtesy of an older actress's monologue (but one wishes Woody would really surprise with his new movies - and he rarely does nowadays; he certainly hasn't left the 20th century, as this anachronistic film shows).
Dir: Woody Allen
Stars: Timothee Chalamet, Elle Fanning, Selena Gomez, Jude Law, Liev Schreiber, Rebecca Hall
RAISE THE RED LANTERN
1991
**
A young woman becomes the fourth mistress of a powerful lord at his large housing complex.
Much-acclaimed Chinese drama illustrating the plight of those without true freedom, surely a criticism of that country's culture and politics. Beautifully shot in three-strip Technicolor - importantly so, to bring out the 'redness' of the titular lantern - it's a curious, original, chilly piece dealing in the complexities of emotion and female-kind, perhaps most appealing to those au fait with the land it is set in.
Dir: Yimou Zhang
Stars: Li Gong, Jingwu Ma, Saifei He
RAISE THE TITANIC
1980
0
Scientists develop a plan to raise the ship that went down in 1912.
Flaccid thriller, about as much fun as drowning.
Dir: Jerry Jameson
Stars: Jason Robards, Alec Guinness, M Emmet Walsh, Anne Archer
RAISING ARIZONA
1987
*
A couple unable to have children steal a baby from a large family.
Zany comedy in this director's particular style.
Dir: Joel Coen
Stars: Nicolas Cage, Holly Hunter, John Goodman, Frances McDormand
RAISING CAIN
1992
*
A schizophrenic kidnaps his own children for his mad father.
Preposterous, high camp thriller - the director’s flashy style taken to its pinnacle - with plenty of nods to other film-makers. True fans will have a ball.
Dir: Brian De Palma
Stars: John Lithgow, Lolita Davidovich, Steven Bauer
RAISING THE WIND
1961
0
Music students have various misadventures.
Like a melding of the dreadful Doctor series and a weak Carry On, and hence uninspired.
Dir: Gerald Thomas
Stars: James Robertson Justice, Leslie Phillips, Kenneth Williams, Liz Fraser, Sid James, Lance Percival, Joan Hickson, Geoffrey Keen
RAMBO: FIRST BLOOD PART 2
1985
*
John Rambo goes back to Vietnam to search for prisoners of war.
Simplistic slice of patriotic escapism which America lapped up.
Dir: George P Cosmatos
Stars: Sylvester Stallone, Richard Crenna, Charles Napier, Steven Berkoff
RAN
1985
*
An elderly lord hands over power to his three sons, but two of them turn against him.
Majestic in style, Kurosawa's take on King Lear isn't for everyone but few could deny the care put into its creation.
Dir: Akira Kurosawa
Stars: Tatsuya Nakadai, Akira Terao, Jinpachi Nezu
RANDOM HARVEST
1942
***
A soldier with memory loss meets a glamorous music hall star; their tale will have many twists.
Wonderful stuff, the kind of movie they genuinely don't make any more (because they can't), an audacious love story gloriously immersed in everything of its era, fronted by two unsurpassable stars. The amount of pleasure it gave to female audiences during the war can't be exaggerated.
Dir: Mervyn LeRoy
Stars: Ronald Colman, Greer Garson, Philip Dorn, Susan Peters
THE RAPE OF THE VAMPIRE
1968
0
Four women thought to be vampires are forced to keep away from the nearby village.
Incomprehensible balderdash formed by sticking two short films together; the first of many Rollin vampire movies, and one of his weirdest.
Dir: Jean Rollin
Stars: Solange Pradel, Bernard Letrou, Catherine Deville
THE RAPTURE
1991
**
A woman who feels her life is empty turns to Christianity.
Some of the promotional material made it appear like an instalment in Red Shoe Diaries but this is actually a very original, very different movie that could be seen as brave, stupid or remarkable depending on your point of view. It's certainly difficult to guess where it is going to go next - you fear it's going to go supernatural and although it kind of does it gets away with it because of its brio, while the incredibly dark aspects of it mark it out as a risk-taker. In no way for everyone (and presumably impossible to market), there's something refreshing about a film that challenges, while not being completely didactic.
Dir: Michael Tolkin
Stars: Mimi Rogers, David Duchovny, Patrick Bauchau
RASHOMON
1951
**
In medieval Japan, the tale of a violent incident in a forest is told from four different perspectives.
Vivid parable concerning how truth can never be found; it drags a little but retains its power.
Dir: Akira Kurosawa
Stars: Toshiro Mifune, Machiko Kyo, Masayuki Mori
RASPUTIN THE MAD MONK
1966
*
A mysterious monk has a malign influence on one of the Russian court's ladies.
Hammer turns history into horror, with one or two liberties taken: there's some fun but it's fairly limited in scope. Lee gives it his all - pity he doesn't take even longer to expire.
Dir: Don Sharp
Stars: Christopher Lee, Barbara Shelley, Richard Pasco, Francis Matthews
RATATOUILLE
2007
*
A rat with a nose for cooking ends up as a chef in a top Parisian restaurant.
The trajectory of the storyline may be familiar, but at least the plot of this cartoon is original and its appearance outstanding (facial expressions are particularly well realised); another well rounded and popular Pixar feature, although a little long.
Dir: Brad Bird
Voices: Patton Oswalt, Ian Holm, Lou Romano, Brian Dennehy, Peter O’ Toole
THE RATS
1983
0
Killer rats terrorise Canada.
Standard man versus monster fare.
Dir: Robert Clouse
Stars: Sam Groom, Sara Botsford, Scatman Crothers
THE RATS ARE COMING! THE WEREWOLVES ARE HERE!
1972
0
A dysfunctional family have werewolves in their midst.
For some, a tiny bit of interest here: this was shot in Hampstead by notorious trash director Milligan; for most, a bizarre, static, talky gothic drama that never even begins to live up to its title.
Dir: Andy Milligan
Stars: Hope Stansbury, Jackie Skarvellis, Noel Collins
THE RAVEN
1935
*
A doctor obsessed with Poe transforms a gangster into a mutant.
Effectively shadowy horror bringing two of the masters together.
Dir: Lew Landers
Stars: Boris Karloff, Bela Lugosi, Lester Matthews
THE RAVEN
1963
*
In the 15th century, two sorcerers wage war in a castle.
This generous-spirited comic horror is all about the delightful cast rather than the restricted, small-scale story told on a budget; despite special effects that are laughable now, the end duel is especially fun.
Dir: Roger Corman
Stars: Vincent Price, Peter Lorre, Boris Karloff, Jack Nicholson, Hazel Court
RAVENOUS
1999
*
In the 19th century, American soldiers encounter cannibalism.
Efficient and tastily violent adventure whose twists and turns compel; the slightly different music score also works. A lot better than expected.
Dir: Antonia Bird
Stars: Guy Pearce, Robert Carlyle, Jeffrey Jones, David Arquette
THE RAW ONES
1965
0
Documentary promoting the pleasures of a naturist lifestyle.
Apparently the first feature-length American documentary to show full nudity (with pubic hair - and how), and possibly still one of the films with the most nudity in it, as guys and gals use a trampoline, swim, eat watermelon, go on skateboards and more, all in the altogether. They're mostly in nifty shape, which of course is what the crowds piled in to see - although the narrator does manage to make some pertinent points about freedom and liberty, in amongst some less convincing statements. Visual pleasures abound, but it goes on a bit.
Dir: John Lamb
Narrator: Ron Gans
RAWHEAD REX
1987
0
In Ireland, a farmer unwittingly resurrects an ancient demon which then goes about slaying the villagers.
An old formula set against a fresh, green Irish landscape, which helps a little, but not much.
Dir: George Pavlou
Stars: David Dukes, Kelly Piper
RAY
2004
**
The life of singer and pianist Ray Charles who become one of the world's great entertainers while addicted to drugs.
Solid biopic which gave its star the role of a lifetime. Charles was involved with the film but died before it was released; while it doesn't shy away from darker details of his life there is also plenty of artistic license taken in the story's telling.
Dir: Taylor Hackford
Stars: Jamie Foxx, Kerry Washington, Clifton Powell
RAY HARRYHAUSEN: SPECIAL EFFECTS TITAN
2012
*
Documentary about the artist whose stopmotion skills embellished films from 1949 to 1981, from Mighty Joe Young to Clash Of The Titans.
A film about the man's work, not the man, and one that is quite perfunctory in presentation: indeed, it's surprising it actually got a cinema release. Perhaps one reason it did is the galaxy of starry directors prepared to endorse Harryhausen, including Steven Spielberg, Tim Burton, Nick Parks, Joe Dante, John Landis and more. Some go a little far in praise of the art form, and there's a bit too much yakking as opposed to action from the movies, but this is an affectionate and satisfying tribute to a great talent, one who's still very sharp past his 90th birthday.
Dir: Gilles Penso
RAZOR BLADE SMILE
1998
0
An ancient female vampire is a hit-woman in modern-day London.
Low budget horror shot like a pop video, which fails to disguise its inept scripting and acting.
Dir: Jake West
Stars: Eileen Daly, Christopher Adamson, Jonathan Coote
RAZOR EATERS
2003
0
Young thugs go around filming their exploits.
Amateurish, video-shot tedium that plumbs the depths; of no interest to anyone other than friends and family of the makers.
Dir: Shannon Young
Stars: Paul Moder, Richard Cawthorne, Shannon Young
RAZORBACK
1985
*
A wild animal threatens a small Australian community.
Atmospheric thriller short on action.
Dir: Russell Mulcahy
Stars: Gregory Harrison, Arkie Whiteley, Bill Kerr
THE RAZOR’S EDGE
1946
**
A young American who has witnessed death at close hand in World War One goes in search of the meaning of life.
While still being a decent yarn, this flatly directed version of Somerset Maugham’s engaging novel fluffs most of its opportunities to shine thanks to unimaginative camerawork, a clutch of unremarkable performances and a lack of attention to detail: the drunk characters don’t look drunk, the ill ones don’t look ill and no one seems to age. Yet it’s still more pleasant to spend time with than most modern movies.
Dir: Edmund Goulding
Stars: Tyrone Power, Gene Tierney, Clifton Webb, Herbert Marshall, Anne Baxter, John Payne, Elsa Lanchester
THE RAZOR’S EDGE
1984
*
A curious remake of the above that makes several alterations to the book, including dropping the Maugham character. It’s a decent enough stab but doesn’t light any fires and Bill Murray is only ever Bill Murray rather than Larry Darrell, giving it a curdled feel – it also doesn’t really evoke its period.
Dir: John Byrum
Stars: Bill Murray, Theresa Russell, Catherine Hicks, Denholm Elliott, James Keach, Peter Vaughan, Saeed Jaffrey
REACH FOR THE SKY
1956
*
Seventeen years in the life of Douglas Bader, the British pilot who lost his legs as a young man but battled back to fly again in World War 2.
Solid if unspectacular linear biopic which, through a combination of More’s ebullient performance and an apposite script (a product of the estimable culture of the time), manages to be positive, warm and inspiring – if a man with no legs can do these things there’s every reason others can too, and stop a fascist invasion while they’re at it.
Dir: Lewis Gilbert
Stars: Kenneth More, Muriel Pavlow, Lyndon Brook
THE READER
2008
**
In 1950s Berlin, a 15-year-old boy falls in love with a woman with a dubious past.
Unlovable but interestingly woven drama that raises contentious issues; it was obviously keen for Oscar recognition, and didn’t do badly.
Dir: Stephen Daldry
Stars: Kate Winslet, Ralph Fiennes, David Kross
READY PLAYER ONE
2018
**
In the near-future 'players' try and find a special prize the late creator of a virtual reality system has hidden in his creation.
A frequently dazzling sci-fi opus that features characters not very deep or interesting, and a film that's both daringly different and quite familiar (the story is basically Charlie And The Chocolate Factory). Saturated in pop culture references that will bring a smile to many faces - not least those who hold the rights to the plethora of characters and emblems featured - its tribute to a certain Kubrick film is incredibly audacious and possibly the highlight; other set-pieces are good too, some a little generic. A strange movie, one probably worth catching.
Dir: Steven Spielberg
Stars: Tye Sheridan, Olivia Cooke, Ben Mendelsohn, Mark Rylance
REAL GENIUS
1987
0
Smart kids create a dangerous weapon which is then stolen by evil scientists.
Teen comedy which works in fits and starts.
Dir: Martha Coolidge
Stars: Val Kilmer, Gabriel Jarret, William Atherton
REAL LIFE
1979
*
A filmmaker shoots every moment of a family's day to day existence.
A curious movie which never quite connects for a number of reasons. Neither funny enough to be a comedy nor dramatic enough to be a pointed drama, it's been cited as being prescient in that it 'predicted' reality TV but its story is deeply deficient, while Brooks - much better known in the US than here - is a difficult character to understand, and Grodin does his oft seen lugubrious act (slow, deep voice, somnambulistic reactions), which reduce its likeability. Maybe more goofy would have worked better? Or perhaps much darker? A curious movie.
Dir: Albert Brooks
Stars: Albert Brooks, Charles Grodin, Frances Lee McCain
REAL: THE MOVIE
2005
0
Half-documentary, half-drama revolving around the world’s biggest football club, Real Madrid.
Strange and dreadful promo film for the eponymous and very rich club which features lame international mini-dramas alongside much narcissistic strutting of its product; like a queasy mix of Goal, Abba: The Movie and bad Robert Altman, and not a success.
Dir: Borja Manso
Stars: Jessica Bohl, Javier Albala, David Beckham, Zinedine Zidane
RE-ANIMATOR
1985
*
A scientist invents a serum which brings the dead back to life.
Impertinent horror whose audaciousness and refusal to be cynical about itself reaps rewards; there is plenty of imagination on show here, mostly in the form of campy gore. Not surprisingly, a big hit with trash movie fans, although viewed 30 years later it doesn't quite have the zip that you remember.
Dir: Stuart Gordon
Stars: Jeffrey Combs, Bruce Abbott, Barbara Crampton, David Gale
Sequel: Bride Of Re-Animator (qv)
REAR WINDOW
1954
****
A news photographer, confined to his room with a broken leg, starts to believe that his neighbour has killed his wife.
Hitchcock at his most magical, a totally original, brilliantly realised, intricately themed, beautifully made film that is a pure evocation of the art of movie-making.
Dir: Alfred Hitchcock
Stars: James Stewart, Grace Kelly, Raymond Burr, Thelma Ritter
REAR WINDOW
1997 (TV)
0
Remake utilising new technology but more pointedly providing a suitable vehicle for paraplegic Christopher Reeve. Interest therefore tends to be on a ‘car crash’ level, although it is adequately made, while always making one pine for Hitch.
Dir: Jeff Bleckner
Stars: Christopher Reeve, Daryl Hannah, Robert Forster
REBECCA
1940
****
An innocent young woman marries a rich landowner but finds their relationship forever overshadowed by his previous, late wife.
Marvellous showcase of what Britain’s greatest director, on his stateside debut, could do with Hollywood money. Viewing after viewing only adds to the appreciation of how splendidly the engrossing story is told and how tip-top every aspect of the production is, from the performances to the lighting to the sets.
Dir: Alfred Hitchcock
Stars: Laurence Olivier, Joan Fontaine, George Sanders, Judith Anderson, Nigel Bruce
THE REBEL
1961
*
A frustrated artist moves to Paris in the hope of a new life.
The first attempt to put Tony Hancock and his persona familiar to viewers of his brilliant TV series into a movie is not a complete success: perhaps it should have stayed in England, perhaps it should have featured the likes of Sid James and Kenneth Williams, perhaps it should have been shorter. Hancock can come across as too arrogant when his pomposity is not being pricked enough. Still, Galton and Simpson come up with some perky lines, predictably, and it does say something about everyday existence as well as the art world, with warm colours (of the paintings and of the locations) on display.
Dir: Robert Day
Stars: Tony Hancock, George Sanders, Paul Massie, Margit Saad
REBEL WITHOUT A CAUSE
1955
***
The cantankerous son of a well-to-do family has difficulties after starting a new school.
Seminal melodrama that retains its power thanks to a magnetic star performance (the film made Dean a star) and a message that’s still relevant.
Dir: Nicholas Ray
Stars: James Dean, Natalie Wood, Sal Mineo, Dennis Hopper
RECKLESS
2013
*
An attractive teenage girl is distracted by two boys while babysitting her young brother.
Intriguing, slightly erotic short drama which in the end doesn't amount to quite as much as you hope.
Dir: Bjorn Erik Pihlmann Sorensen
Stars: Emilie K Beck, Silje Hagrim Dahl, Fredrik M Frafjord
THE RECKLESS MOMENT
1949
*
After finding her teenage daughter's lover dead, a mother takes measures to protect her family from scandal.
Moody drama with an intriguing, edgy story well performed and photographed; perhaps more should have been made of Mason's character though.
Dir: Max Ophuls
Stars: James Mason, Joan Bennett, Geraldine Brooks, Henry O'Neill
1969
*
A businessman returns to his roots in Liverpool.
Flabby drama - and it's very much a drama, when one's hoping for a thriller - that may be proficiently shot and edited but fails to elicit much sympathy: the lead character is what might be described a dick. Its intentions are dubious and it's certainly no Get Carter, which it bears slight resemblance to.
Dir: Jack Gold
Stars: Nicol Williamson, Ann Bell, Rachel Roberts, Douglas Wilmer
RECOIL
1953
0
A woman attempts to find the criminal responsible for her father's death.
Routine, tolerable crime drama, the sort that would be filling the admirable Talking Pictures TV's schedule many years later. It clearly was chilly weather when they shot it.
Dir: John Gilling
Stars: Kieron Moore, Elizabeth Sellars, Edward Underdown, John Horsley
THE RED BALLOON
1956
***
A small boy finds a large balloon that becomes his constant companion.
Sweet, almost wordless short beautifully shot on a mild day in a now disappeared Paris; the magical finale is rightly famous.
Dir: Albert Lamorisse
Stars: Pascal Lamorisse
RED HEAT
1984
0
An American woman is incarcerated in a brutal East German prison.
Tedious, overheated drama shot in miserable grey tones.
Dir: Robert Collector
Stars: Linda Blair, Sylvia Kristel, Sue Kiel
THE RED NIGHTS OF THE GESTAPO
1977
0
After Rudolf Hess flees to England, the Nazis try to ensure there are no more 'traitors' by entertaining them with women and getting them to reveal their true desires.
One of the slightly more stately, less lurid Nazisploitation pictures (everything's relative...) with the requisite sexual frissons and violence, here in the form of a bloody machine-gun climax. Quite well done in its own way, but still tricky to whole-heartedly recommend.
Dir: Fabio De Agostini
Stars: Ezio Miani, Fred Williams, Francesca Righini
RED PLANET MARS
1952
0
Earthmen discover that Mars is in fact a deeply Christian planet.
An outstandingly dreadful mess that thinks it’s making a worthy comment on religion and politics; a candidate for any ‘worst movies ever’ list.
Dir: Harry Horner
Stars: Peter Graves, Andrea King, Herbert Berghof
RED RIVER
1948
***
A man leads a cattle drive across the young United States, and meets many obstacles.
Wayne and Clift are both superb, in their very different ways, in this excellent film that only falters in some of its scenes involving women and its pat conclusion - other than that, it's strikingly shot - particularly the cattle-herding scenes - and emotionally complex in a way that many of its kind aren't; it also shows the heft of building a life from nothing, of creating an industry out of sheer graft, that many modern viewers will simply have no idea about at all.
Dir: Howard Hawks
Stars: John Wayne, Montgomery Clift, Joanne Dru, Walter Brennan
THE RED SHOES
1948
****
A ballerina is torn between her dancing and the man she loves.
Brilliant, unique, chilly classic with outstanding cinematography, candid backstage views and a vibrant undercurrent of menace. There’s not another film like it – even the faces of the cast are extraordinary to gaze upon.
Dir: Michael Powell, Emeric Pressburger
Stars: Anton Walbrook, Moira Shearer, Marius Goring, Robert Helpmann, Leonide Massine
THE RED TURTLE
2016
*
A man washed up on a desert island finds a red turtle won't let him leave.
Allegorical animation with no dialogue and a simple storyline, it may be a fantasy or it may just be a dream; either way it looks attractive, but the absence of talk - or much dramatic incident - can make it difficult to stay engaged with. It could have made an effective short.
Dir: Michael Dudok de Wit
Voices: Emmanuel Garijo, Tom Hudson, Barbara Beretta
REDS
1981
**
The story of an idealistic American journalist who got involved with the Russian revolution.
One approaches this three hours-plus film with trepidation but it turns out to be time well spent - the length may still be voluminous but the human story is not lost, and it does show both sides of the socialist story, so to speak. Very well made, sometimes painfully, if accounts are to be believed.
Dir: Warren Beatty
Stars: Warren Beatty, Diane Keaton, Jack Nicholson, Edward Herrmann
REEFER MADNESS
1936
0
Marijuana is the downfall of a promising youth.
Screamingly funny, perverse, inaccurate anti-weed tirade that’s more succinctly hilarious in trailer form.
Dir: Louis J Gasnier
Stars: Dorothy Short, Kenneth Craig
REEKER
2005
0
A group of friends on a desert highway are preyed on by a decaying creature.
Small scale horror which can't quite get away from familiar wandering around/sudden shock routines despite a few flashes of humour and imagination.
Dir: David Payne
Stars: Devon Gummersall, Derek Richardson, Tina Illman, Michael Ironside
RED PLANET MARS
1952
0
Earthmen discover that Mars is in fact a deeply Christian planet.
An outstandingly dreadful mess that thinks it’s making a worthy comment on religion and politics; a candidate for any ‘worst movies ever’ list.
Dir: Harry Horner
Stars: Peter Graves, Andrea King, Herbert Berghof
RED RIVER
1948
***
A man leads a cattle drive across the young United States, and meets many obstacles.
Wayne and Clift are both superb, in their very different ways, in this excellent film that only falters in some of its scenes involving women and its pat conclusion - other than that, it's strikingly shot - particularly the cattle-herding scenes - and emotionally complex in a way that many of its kind aren't; it also shows the heft of building a life from nothing, of creating an industry out of sheer graft, that many modern viewers will simply have no idea about at all.
Dir: Howard Hawks
Stars: John Wayne, Montgomery Clift, Joanne Dru, Walter Brennan
THE RED SHOES
1948
****
A ballerina is torn between her dancing and the man she loves.
Brilliant, unique, chilly classic with outstanding cinematography, candid backstage views and a vibrant undercurrent of menace. There’s not another film like it – even the faces of the cast are extraordinary to gaze upon.
Dir: Michael Powell, Emeric Pressburger
Stars: Anton Walbrook, Moira Shearer, Marius Goring, Robert Helpmann, Leonide Massine
RED SONJA
1985
*
A warrior woman avenges her family's murder.
Preposterous sword and sorcery with enjoyably bad dialogue and performances; a long, long way from being good, but the statuesque star tries her hardest in a movie designed to be watched with the brain in neutral. The script is vacant, the sets and costumes are decent, Schwarzenegger is almost superfluous, the kid is an annoying brat.
Dir: Richard Fleischer
Stars: Brigitte Nielsen, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sandahl Bergman
THE RED TURTLE
2016
*
A man washed up on a desert island finds a red turtle won't let him leave.
Allegorical animation with no dialogue and a simple storyline, it may be a fantasy or it may just be a dream; either way it looks attractive, but the absence of talk - or much dramatic incident - can make it difficult to stay engaged with. It could have made an effective short.
Dir: Michael Dudok de Wit
Voices: Emmanuel Garijo, Tom Hudson, Barbara Beretta
REDS
1981
**
The story of an idealistic American journalist who got involved with the Russian revolution.
One approaches this three hours-plus film with trepidation but it turns out to be time well spent - the length may still be voluminous but the human story is not lost, and it does show both sides of the socialist story, so to speak. Very well made, sometimes painfully, if accounts are to be believed.
Dir: Warren Beatty
Stars: Warren Beatty, Diane Keaton, Jack Nicholson, Edward Herrmann
REEFER MADNESS
1936
0
Marijuana is the downfall of a promising youth.
Screamingly funny, perverse, inaccurate anti-weed tirade that’s more succinctly hilarious in trailer form.
Dir: Louis J Gasnier
Stars: Dorothy Short, Kenneth Craig
REEKER
2005
0
A group of friends on a desert highway are preyed on by a decaying creature.
Small scale horror which can't quite get away from familiar wandering around/sudden shock routines despite a few flashes of humour and imagination.
Dir: David Payne
Stars: Devon Gummersall, Derek Richardson, Tina Illman, Michael Ironside
A REFLECTION OF FEAR
1972
0
A girl with a creepy 'secret friend' tries to get back with her estranged dad.
Ridiculous thriller which is ridiculous for several ridiculous reasons: do the authorities prefer having a nice sleep rather than investigating several deaths and arresting the obvious suspect? And the ending is just weird and absurd, and makes no sense at all, although it does make preceding events even more dark and twisted. Albino-like Locke's performance and voice are grating, as she wafts through a dream-like, oft leisurely movie that struggled to find an audience.
Dir: William A Fraker
Stars: Sondra Locke, Robert Shaw, Sally Kellerman, Mary Ure
REGAN
1974 (TV)
*
An unconventional policeman tracks down the killers of one of his colleagues.
Pilot for a fine TV cop show, The Sweeney; solidly made, but the succeeding series would often be even better.
Dir: Tom Clegg
Stars: John Thaw, Dennis Waterman, Lee Montague, Garfield Morgan
LA REGLE DU JEU
1939
*
The upper classes gather for a hunting weekend at a country manor.
The reputation of this film is roughly in inverse proportion to the enjoyment to be had in watching it. Foreign critics - and those who like to be seen as equally 'sophisticated' - may laud the symbolism, satire and the director's way with a camera but for most normal people it's an unloveable, nothing film with remote characters and a plot which can barely be branded as such.
Dir: Jean Renoir
Stars: Marcel Dalio, Nora Gregor, Jean Renoir, Mila Parely, Odette Talazac
RELENTLESS
1989
0
The son of a policeman becomes a psychotic killer.
Having such an ugly hero doesn't help this palsied thriller which appears to go out of its way to create as little suspense as possible.
Dir: William Lustig
Stars: Judd Nelson, Robert Loggia, Leo Rossi
RELIGULOUS
2008
***
Documentary detailing the absurdities of mainstream religion.
A good way to ridicule those who live their lives according to fairy tales: a humorous dissection of many of the world’s faiths, with most of the protagonists capable of making themselves look inane without too much encouragement. If anything, you wish Maher would hit them harder, but he does make an impassioned plea for sense and reason at the film’s close; it’s certainly one that you wish could be seen by as many people as possible. A variety of inserted film clips and captions are used to very funny effect.
Dir: Larry Charles
Stars/Narrator: Bill Maher
THE REMAINS OF THE DAY
1993
****
A butler devotes himself to his master, at the expense of living his life to the full.
Superb film of a superb book, Ivory's very best. Hopkins' performance is beyond masterful and of immense subtlety: his Stevens is all about duty but we glimpse tiny cracks in his emotional armour, which eventually has an affecting emotional pay-off. In a sumptuous production everyone else is excellent too, while it paints an accurate, and not too judgemental, picture of both servitude to a vanished aristocracy and of British history in the build up to World War Two. There are echoes of The Go-Between and so many other pleasures in this film for intelligent people, and much location-spotting for those familiar with south-west England.
Dir: James Ivory
Stars: Anthony Hopkins, Emma Thompson, James Fox, Christopher Reeve, Peter Vaughn, Hugh Grant
REMBRANDT
1936
**
The life of the Dutch painter.
Somewhat archaic biography, still of reasonable value for scholars.
Dir: Alexander Korda
Stars: Charles Laughton, Elsa Lanchester, Gertrude Lawrence, Edward Chapman
REMO: UNARMED AND DANGEROUS
1986
**
A secret agent obtains magical powers from an elderly Chinaman.
Undervalued thriller from a Bond director, a nice mix of humour and action.
Dir: Guy Hamilton
Stars: Fred Ward, Joel Grey, Wilford Brimley, Kate Mulgrew
RENEGADES
1989
0
An Indian enlists a cop’s help to track down his brother’s killers.
Dumb and violent thriller, the kind in which the goodies are ace shots and the baddies can’t hit a barn door.
Dir: Jack Sholder
Stars: Kiefer Sutherland, Lou Diamond Phillips, Jami Gertz
RENO 911!: MIAMI
2007
*
A group of inept police officers are entrusted with looking after the streets of Miami after proper policemen are trapped in a quarantined building.
Extremely broad, rather weird comedy with more misses than hits.
Dir: Ben Garant
Stars: Carlos Alazraqui, Mary Birdsong, Ben Garant, Danny DeVito
RENTADICK
1972
0
Incompetent agents do battle for deadly nerve gas.
Frenetic, unfocused comedy with few giggles.
Dir: Jim Clark
Stars: James Booth, Richard Briers, Julie Ege, Ronald Fraser, Donald Sinden
REPEATERS
2010
*
Three young addicts in rehab have to re-live the same day over and over again.
A sort of feelbad Groundhog Day, this light-on-explanation SF thriller keeps you watching despite piling on the angst and unpleasantness, along with the coldness, smoking and swearing. You probably wouldn't want a repeat viewing, despite some clever ideas.
Dir: Carl Bessai
Stars: Dustin Milligan, Amanda Crew, Richard de Klerk
REPO MAN
1985
0
A repossessor of cars finds himself being chased by alien forces.
Nasty and unsympathetic curio that found some cult status, it's wearying to report.
Dir: Alex Cox
Stars: Harry Dean Stanton, Emilio Estevez, Tracey Walter
REPORT
1967
**
Avant-garde short compiling footage of the day John F Kennedy was assassinated, juxtaposed with various imagery.
As
avant-garde films go, a little more accessible than some, and of course
revolving around one of the late 20th century's most significant
happenings: with it not showing the shooting, and its chronicle of the
fog of confusion and chaos around the killing, just as was the case in
real life, and all these years later we still don't really know what
happened. At 13 minutes long, it has an impact - longer would have been
less.
Dir: Bruce Conner
1990
0
A housewife is possessed by the devil.
Feeble Exorcist spoof in Airplane style; few of the jokes work and the cast is at sea. The last line sums it up.
Dir: Bob Logan
Stars: Linda Blair, Ned Beatty, Leslie Nielsen
THE REPTILE
1965
*
A Cornish village is rocked by several gruesome deaths which may be the result of a Malayan curse.
Not unlikeable but entirely routine Hammer horror. Shot back-to-back with the superior The Plague Of The Zombies (qv) - and sharing some of the same sets, costumes and actors, not to mention plot elements (graveyard excavations, shifty locals, a fiery climax) - it's rather too deliberately paced and lacks star power, although the visuals are appealing and shown at their best in the 2012 Blu-ray release.
Dir: John Gilling
Stars: Ray Barrett, Michael Ripper, Jacqueline Pearce, Noel Willman, John Laurie
REPTILICUS
1961
0
A regenerated prehistoric reptile terrorises Denmark.
Slow to get going and then very silly monster movie, with a creature that's less than convincing. Nice Copenhagen scenery, though, shown off as intended - part of it is like a tourist information film.
Dir: Sidney Pink
Stars: Bent Mejding, Asbjorn Andersen, Povl Woldike
REPULSION
1965
****
A manicurist believes that all men are out to harm her.
Harrowing delve into a disturbed mind, brilliantly shot, one of its director’s masterworks; the way Polanski controls the framing, the sounds, the actors, is the sign of someone at the top of their profession. Quite unlike any other film made before it, it's something to experience on a sensory level rather than expect to deliver in the conventional narrative sense: it is both beautiful and terrifying, just as Deneuve is in it.
Dir: Roman Polanski
Stars: Catherine Deneuve, Ian Hendry, John Fraser, Patrick Wymark
REQUIEM FOR A DREAM
2000
****
A mother and son get addicted to different types of drugs, with harrowing consequences.
A tale of little hope told with stunning cinematic panache - destined to be its director's magnum opus.
Dir: Darren Aronofsky
Stars: Ellen Burstyn, Jared Leto, Jennifer Connelly, Marlon Wayans
REQUIEM FOR A VAMPIRE
1971
0
Two girls on the run end up in a vampire’s chateau.
Simplistic shocker light on dialogue and heavy on pretension: as is sadly often the case with Rollin films, at around the 45-minute mark it feels like it’s been on for hours.
Dir: Jean Rollin
Stars: Marie-Pierre Castel, Mireille Dargent, Philippe Gaste
REQUIEM FOR A VILLAGE
1975
*
A gravedigger in Suffolk remembers incidents from his life.
A very hard to describe film, a strange semi-documentary treatise on rural life and how time treats it, performed by semi-professionals largely in silence. Although just over an hour long it’s difficult to concentrate on because there isn’t really a story, but some of the vistas are attractive and presumably nostalgic for many.
Dir: David Gladwell
RESERVOIR DOGS
1992
****
When a diamond heist goes wrong, crooks suspect there is an informant in their midst.
Tarantino’s spellbinding debut, with its clever criss-crossing narrative, never showing the heist itself, is a crisp, fresh and brutal box of cinematic tricks. Perhaps most of the characters are too evil for words, and they talk too much, but there's no denying the power of certain segments, especially considering it was quite low budget.
Dir: Quentin Tarantino
Stars: Harvey Keitel, Tim Roth, Michael Madsen, Chris Penn, Steve Buscemi
THE RESIDENT
2011
*
A woman trying to get over her unfaithful boyfriend moves into a creepy new apartment.
Unremarkable but watchable thriller which offers a familiar, reasonably reliable plot and adds the odd quirk; a few more would have been better still. Lee's part is very small, as is always the case nowadays.
Dir: Antti Jokinen
Stars: Hilary Swank, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Christopher Lee, Lee Pace
RESPECTABLE - THE MARY MILLINGTON STORY
2016
**
Documentary about the glamour model and porn star who was also a sex shop owner, drug addict, kleptomaniac and possible mistress of Harold Wilson.
As good a film as could be made of the brief life of a woman who was on the right side of the argument for sexual freedom but was too mentally fragile to survive the trappings of fame and fortune. While her impact on the Seventies is sometimes over-exaggerated here, it's nevertheless an engrossing look at a fascinating period of British history; interviewees like David Sullivan, Pat Astley, Maureen Flanagan and Willy Roe provide colourful remembrances.
Dir: Simon Sheridan
Narrator: Dexter Fletcher
REST IN PIECES
1987
*
A young couple inherit an expensive estate, but murderous neighbours plague them, as does their aunt’s ghost.
Twisty horror with a certain nutty style.
Dir: Joseph Larraz
Stars: Scott Thompson Baker, Lorin Jean Vail, Dorothy Malone
THE RESURRECTION OF ZACHARY WHEELER
1971
0
A reporter uncovers a strange plot involving a politician.
Shot on video and apparently released straight to television, this is inevitably a little bit ropey - and the picture quality has visibly deteriorated - but has its moments, particularly those involving Nielsen evading his pursuers. In the end, though, it's just too talky, long and uncinematic to fully hold the attention.
Dir: Bob Wynn
Stars: Leslie Nielsen, Bradford Dillman, James Daly, Angie DickinsonRETRIBUTION
1987
0
A depressed artist survives a suicide attempt only to be possessed by the spirit of a murderous gangster.
Robust but overlong horror which lifts ideas from many others.
Dir: Guy Magar
Stars: Hoyt Axton, Ed Berke, Harry Caesar
THE RETURN
1973
*
A potential buyer visits an isolated country house that may be haunted.
Well acted, dialogue-heavy short with a reasonably creepy atmosphere.
Dir: Sture Rydman
Stars: Peter Vaughan, Rosalie Crutchley
RETURN FROM WITCH MOUNTAIN
1978
0
A pair of psychic children are hounded by a crooked scientist.
Tolerable sequel to Escape To Witch Mountain; but it's still a 1970s live action Disney movie, so it can't be that good.
Dir: John Hough
Stars: Bette Davis, Christopher Lee, Kim Richards
THE RETURN OF CAPTAIN INVINCIBLE
1981
0
A superhero who fought the Nazis is called upon to defend freedom once more - but he has become a drunk living in Australia.
Lowbrow spoof interrupted by unwelcome song numbers.
Dir: Philippe Mora
Stars: Alan Arkin, Christopher Lee, Kate Fitzpatrick
THE RETURN OF CHANDU
1934 (serial)
0
A magician attempts to save a kidnapped princess.
Poor serial, cheaply made, with mostly lame cliffhangers. Magician Chandu doesn’t actually do a lot of magic either.
Dir: Ray Taylor
Stars: Bela Lugosi, Maria Alba, Clara Kimball Young
THE RETURN OF DRACULA
1958
0
Dracula impersonates a family's relative in order to gain their favour.
Rather like a supernatural Shadow Of A Doubt, but somewhat less plausible; it's beyond belief that the family don't smell a rat. But then this is a cheapo horror flick with little genuine suspense or thrills.
Dir: Paul Landres
Stars: Francis Lederer, Norma Eberhardt, Ray Stricklyn
THE RETURN OF SHERLOCK HOLMES
1987 (TV)
0
After being cryogenically frozen, Holmes is awoken 80 years later by a female descendant of Dr Watson.
Corny sci-fi mystery with an appealing idea that soon runs its course. It not surprisingly wasn't picked up for a TV series.
Dir: Kevin Connor
Stars: Michael Pennington, Margaret Colin, Barry Morse
THE RETURN OF SWAMP THING
1988
0
A scientist attempts to destroy Swamp Thing, but his daughter falls in love with it.
Unloved sequel whose tongue-in-cheek humour can't save it.
Dir: Jim Wynorski
Stars: Louis Jourdan, Heather Locklear, Sarah Douglas
RETURN OF THE APE MAN
1944
0
A mad scientist finds the body of a preserved caveman in ice, and then seeks a modern-day human brain to put inside him.
Endearingly batty monkeyshine typical of its stars, the company (Monogram) and the time. Cheap and crazy, it's another chance to enjoy Lugosi's committed acting.
Dir: Philip Rosen
Stars: Bela Lugosi, John Carradine, Frank Moran
RETURN OF THE FLY
1959
*
The son of the doctor from The Fly dabbles in his father’s work, with fatal results.
Perfunctory sequel, in no way an improvement on the original.
Dir: Edward Bernds
Stars: Vincent Price, Brett Halsey, John Sutton
THE RETURN OF THE INCREDIBLE HULK
1988 (TV)
0
David Banner attempts to destroy the Hulk, but Thor, God of Thunder, gives him a few problems.
Not a particularly spectacular return: there's much padding and not much Hulk.
Dir: Nicholas Corea
Stars: Bill Bixby, Lou Ferrigno, Jack Colvin, Eric Kramer
RETURN OF THE JEDI
1983
***
The Rebel Alliance plot to destroy a second, larger Death Star, while Luke Skywalker has a final confrontation with Darth Vader.
Satisfying wrap-up of the original trilogy, only weakened by a bit too much kiddie stuff with the Ewoks: aside from that, much of the imagery is fantastic, the roster of beings - from Jabba the Hut to the Emperor and all in between - rich and imaginative, the split story mostly compelling. A tighter edit excising a few dull scenes would have helped further (and Lucas's special editions tinkering is mostly unwelcome) but this is a pleasurable couple of hours in the company of characters we came to feel a lot for. It's not difficult to see why this franchise is so beloved.
Dir: Richard Marquand
Stars: Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Anthony Daniels, Peter Mayhew, Billy Dee Williams, James Earl Jones, David Prowse, Alec Guinness, Kenny Baker, Frank Oz
RETURN OF THE KILLER TOMATOES!
1988
0
A mad scientist creates people who are part-tomato, part-human.
Goofy, spoofy comedy sequel with Airplane! type bits and of-the-time cultural references, but all pretty lame. Not enough tomatoes either.
Dir: John De Bello
Stars: Anthony Starke, George Clooney, Karen M Waldron, John Astin
RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD PART 2
1988
0
The dead rise again thanks to stray gas canisters.
Awful horror that makes one wish for an early grave.
Dir: Ken Wiederhorn
Stars: Michael Kenworthy, Thor Van Lingen, Jason Hogan
THE RETURN OF THE MAN FROM UNCLE
1983 (TV)
0
Solo and Kuryakin come out of retirement to battle Thrush once more.
Flimsy reprise, flatly handled.
Dir: Ray Austin
Stars: Robert Vaughn, David McCallum, Patrick Macnee, Gayle Hunnicutt
RETURN TO GLENNASCAUL
1951
*
In the foggy Irish countryside, Orson Welles gives a lift to a man who tells him a ghost story.
Made during a break in filming on Othello (which is referenced in the piece), this short is an example of economical and succinct storytelling, and it’s always nice to see Welles. The story is entirely perfunctory but it is well done and delivers a chill, and has dashes of humour too.
Dir: Hilton Edwards
Stars: Orson Welles, Michael Laurence, Shelah Richards
RETURN TO OZ
1985
*
Dorothy suffers traumas due to her experiences in Oz.
A curious enterprise, a belated follow-up that may gain a small cult following among those bothered to peer long enough at it; a rather cold, tune-free fantasy enhanced by singular design.
Dir: Walter Murch
Stars: Fairuza Balk, Nicol Williamson, Jean Marsh, Piper Laurie
RETURN TO SENDER
1962
0
A criminal concocts a scheme to save his skin.
Edgar Wallace Mystery that features hilarious plot contortions, including some totally unbelievable behaviour and coincidences: it's a shame because there's a decent cast and the germ of an okay thriller.
Dir: Gordon Hales
Stars: Nigel Davenport, Yvonne Romain, Geoffrey Keen, William Russell
RETURN TO THE BLUE LAGOON
1991
0
Two children are washed up on a desert island and grow up to fall in love.
Tediously predictable retread with a sort of sincere idiocy; an almost totally insignificant film.
Dir: William A Graham
Stars: Milla Jovovich, Brian Krause, Lisa Pelikan
THE REVENANT
2015
**
In 1823 a frontiersman on a fur-hunting expedition is attacked by a bear and left for dead by his team.
An immense cinematic achievement in many ways: what the shoot in this wintry not-so-wonderland must have been like is almost beyond comprehension, and the cinematography captures the vistas in extraordinary fashion. DiCaprio's performance is one of matchless resilience, including traumatic scenes with bears and horses that will be long remembered - it's a shame so many of his co-stars are so difficult to understand; subtitles might have helped, particularly for Tom Hardy. The story is somewhat thin, and didn't need to be stretched out to two-and-a-half hours - it's essentially a revenge thriller done arthouse style and while it's easy to admire it's less easy to love.
Dir: Alejandro G Inarritu
Stars: Leonardo DiCaprio, Tom Hardy, Domhnall Gleeson, Will Pouter
REVENGE
1971
**
A father seeks retribution against a man he believes killed his daughter.
Indulgently enjoyable slice of rape, murder and shouting amongst the tea towels, immersed in that nicely grubby, grungy Seventies feel; it's a shame that after a powerful first half hour it somewhat degenerates into a confined melodrama with vast implausibilities (such as how the family only learn about the police investigation through the papers, and their casual attitude to what's in their cellar), but it's well acted, pretty much keeps the interest and, hey, it's always good to see a film revolve around a pub. It's essentially a companion piece to Assault (qv), by the same director and writer.
Dir: Sidney Hayers
Stars: James Booth, Joan Collins, Ray Barrett, Sinead Cusack, Kenneth Griffith
REVENGE
1990
*
A man makes a fatal error when he has an affair with a rich gangster’s wife.
Tempestuous thriller that’s as glossy as it is empty, which isn’t a great surprise coming from this director.
Dir: Tony Scott
Stars: Kevin Costner, Anthony Quinn, Madeleine Stowe
REVENGE OF BILLY THE KID
1992
0
On an odious farm, a farmer copulates with a goat to produce a monster.
Deliberately revolting comic horror reliant on bodily functions, never likely to be anything approaching a popular success.
Dir: Jim Groom
Stars: Michael Balfour, Samantha Perkins, Michael Ripper
THE REVENGE OF FRANKENSTEIN
1958
*
Dr Frankenstein uses criminals’ body parts for his continuing experiments.
Second in Hammer’s Frankie cycle was something of a rushed production, which sometimes shows (the script needed more work, what with some pointless characters and abruptly introduced other ones), but it's still handsomely mounted in typical Hammer fashion and stars Peter Cushing, so it can't be too bad. Fairly thoughtful and occasionally gruesome, it's a moderately paced horror that's not quite up there with the studio's best.
Dir: Terence Fisher
Stars: Peter Cushing, Francis Matthews, Eunice Gayson, Michael Gwynn, Michael Ripper
REVENGE OF THE CHEERLEADERS
1975
0
The authorities attempt to clean up an unruly high school.
Abysmal farce which makes the original Cheerleaders (qv) look like a classic, and is much less appealing in tone. It’s also probably the screechiest and noisiest film ever made.
Dir: Richard Lerner
Stars: Jerii Woods, Cheryl Smith, Helen Lang, David Hasselhoff
REVENGE OF THE CREATURE
1955
0
The gill man is captured and experimented on.
Ordinary sequel to Creature From The Black Lagoon with a fair bit of padding. Again, the underwater photography and the costume are serviceable, but it’s not a wildly engrossing tale.
Dir: Jack Arnold
Stars: John Agar, Lori Nelson, John Bromfield
REVENGE OF THE NERDS
1985
0
Geeky new students are persecuted by jocks, but plan their retribution.
Porky's type comedy which wears thin the few jokes it has.
Dir: Jeff Kanew
Stars: Robert Carradine, Anthony Edwards, Timothy Busfield
REVENGE OF THE NINJA
1984
**
A man discovers that his friend is both a drug smuggler and a ninja.
Dynamic choreography and a strong, imaginative storyline make this one of the better films of its genre.
Dir: Sam Firstenberg
Stars: Arthur Roberts, Sho Kosugi, Virgil Frye
REVENGE OF THE RADIOACTIVE REPORTER
1989
*
A reporter investigating corruption in the nuclear industry is thrown into acid and turns into a vengeful monster.
Similar to the equally sick Toxic Avenger (qv) but better; hilariously hammy performances and broad sight gags abound.
Dir: Craig Pryce
Stars: David Scammell, Kathryn Boese
REVENGE OF THE STEPFORD WIVES
1980 (TV)
0
A reporter delves into the strange community of Stepford.
Pretty much a straight reprise of incidents from the first, superior film.
Dir: Robert Fuest
Stars: Sharon Gless, Julie Kavner, Don Johnson
RHUBARB
1969
0
Two men have a chaotic game of golf.
Mainly tedious slapstick with a few very mildly amusing incidents. Nobody says anything but ‘rhubarb’.
Dir: Eric Sykes
Stars: Eric Sykes, Harry Secombe, Kenneth Connor, Hattie Jacques, Graham Stark
RICHARD III
1955
**
The Duke of Gloucester murders his way to the throne.
Olivier’s confidence shines through by his amends to the play and his superlative performance, still the definitive Richard III.
Dir: Laurence Olivier
Stars: Laurence Olivier, Ralph Richardson, John Gielgud, Cedric Hardwicke, Claire Bloom
RICHARD III
1995
**
A version set in a parallel 1930s England, with Richard as a military-minded despot.
Impressively mounted adaptation that shrinks the text but not the drama - much work has gone into ensuring it is cinematic; McKellen is the pick of a pre-eminent cast.
Dir: Richard Loncraine
Stars: Ian McKellen, Jim Broadbent, Annette Bening, Kristin Scott-Thomas, John Wood, Maggie Smith, Robert Downey Jr, Nigel Hawthorne, Edward Hardwicke
RICOCHET
1963
*
A husband does his best to land his unfaithful wife in jail.
This Edgar Wallace Mystery is faintly ridiculous and takes a while to really get the story into gear but eventually twists its way into your affections, helped by location shooting showing Britain's unforgiving winter of 1963 and Streatham's now demolished ice rink. The unconventional Magee is, as was often the case, the pick of the cast.
Dir: John Moxey
Stars: Richard Leech, Maxine Audley, Alex Scott, Patrick Magee
RIDERS TO THE STARS
1954
*
Scientists enlist astronauts to carry out dangerous tests in space.
Would-be factual sci-fi, quite earnest, interesting as a spin-off from the real space race of the Fifties, and occasionally arresting. The wobbly rocket on a string may persuade some viewers to disembark, but there's one great, gruesome shot most should enjoy.
Dir: Richard Carlson
Stars: William Lundigan, Herbert Marshall, Richard Carlson, Martha Hyer
RIFF RAFF
1990
**
Labourers at a building site try to keep their spirits up when one of their number is killed on the job.
Naturalistic slice of comic realism, acutely observant of differing emotions, but not very likeable.
Dir: Ken Loach
Stars: Robert Carlyle, Ricky Tomlinson, David Finch
DU RIFIFI CHEZ LES HOMMES
1955
***
Crooks plan a meticulous safe robbery.
Crisp and classy heist caper, one of the first, strikingly shot on damp Paris streets; the much-mentioned silent robbery is truly marvellous, as is the handling of the subsequent uncurling of the thieves' lives. The film is imbued with a toughness that has helped it retain its cool status.
Dir: Jules Dassin
Stars: Jean Servais, Carl Mohner, Robert Manuel
1987
0
A depressed artist survives a suicide attempt only to be possessed by the spirit of a murderous gangster.
Robust but overlong horror which lifts ideas from many others.
Dir: Guy Magar
Stars: Hoyt Axton, Ed Berke, Harry Caesar
THE RETURN
1973
*
A potential buyer visits an isolated country house that may be haunted.
Well acted, dialogue-heavy short with a reasonably creepy atmosphere.
Dir: Sture Rydman
Stars: Peter Vaughan, Rosalie Crutchley
RETURN FROM WITCH MOUNTAIN
1978
0
A pair of psychic children are hounded by a crooked scientist.
Tolerable sequel to Escape To Witch Mountain; but it's still a 1970s live action Disney movie, so it can't be that good.
Dir: John Hough
Stars: Bette Davis, Christopher Lee, Kim Richards
THE RETURN OF CAPTAIN INVINCIBLE
1981
0
A superhero who fought the Nazis is called upon to defend freedom once more - but he has become a drunk living in Australia.
Lowbrow spoof interrupted by unwelcome song numbers.
Dir: Philippe Mora
Stars: Alan Arkin, Christopher Lee, Kate Fitzpatrick
THE RETURN OF CHANDU
1934 (serial)
0
A magician attempts to save a kidnapped princess.
Poor serial, cheaply made, with mostly lame cliffhangers. Magician Chandu doesn’t actually do a lot of magic either.
Dir: Ray Taylor
Stars: Bela Lugosi, Maria Alba, Clara Kimball Young
THE RETURN OF COUNT YORGA
1971
0
The Count preys on an orphanage.
It's difficult to have strong opinions about this horror sequel, which is hit and miss scenes wise, and overall just not terribly rousing. It exists, it's okay-ish, but there are many better vampire films to watch instead (including The Vampire Lovers, here viewed by the Count in a dubbed Spanish version).
Dir: Bob Kelljan
Stars: Robert Quarry, Mariette Hartley, Roger Perry
THE RETURN OF DOCTOR X
1939
0
A reporter writes that an actress has died, but she later appears to come back to life.
Bogart isn't actually in this curious horror film very much, and the spookiness in which he's involved doesn't happen till near the end of its short running time - it's mainly the reporter rambling around, as movie reporters did in those days. Nothing to do with 1932's Doctor X, and only really notable for its novelty casting.
Dir: Vincent Sherman
Stars: Humphrey Bogart, Rosemary Lane, Wayne Morris, Dennis Morgan
THE RETURN OF DRACULA
1958
0
Dracula impersonates a family's relative in order to gain their favour.
Rather like a supernatural Shadow Of A Doubt, but somewhat less plausible; it's beyond belief that the family don't smell a rat. But then this is a cheapo horror flick with little genuine suspense or thrills.
Dir: Paul Landres
Stars: Francis Lederer, Norma Eberhardt, Ray Stricklyn
THE RETURN OF SHERLOCK HOLMES
1987 (TV)
0
After being cryogenically frozen, Holmes is awoken 80 years later by a female descendant of Dr Watson.
Corny sci-fi mystery with an appealing idea that soon runs its course. It not surprisingly wasn't picked up for a TV series.
Dir: Kevin Connor
Stars: Michael Pennington, Margaret Colin, Barry Morse
THE RETURN OF SWAMP THING
1988
0
A scientist attempts to destroy Swamp Thing, but his daughter falls in love with it.
Unloved sequel whose tongue-in-cheek humour can't save it.
Dir: Jim Wynorski
Stars: Louis Jourdan, Heather Locklear, Sarah Douglas
RETURN OF THE APE MAN
1944
0
A mad scientist finds the body of a preserved caveman in ice, and then seeks a modern-day human brain to put inside him.
Endearingly batty monkeyshine typical of its stars, the company (Monogram) and the time. Cheap and crazy, it's another chance to enjoy Lugosi's committed acting.
Dir: Philip Rosen
Stars: Bela Lugosi, John Carradine, Frank Moran
RETURN OF THE FLY
1959
*
The son of the doctor from The Fly dabbles in his father’s work, with fatal results.
Perfunctory sequel, in no way an improvement on the original.
Dir: Edward Bernds
Stars: Vincent Price, Brett Halsey, John Sutton
THE RETURN OF THE INCREDIBLE HULK
1988 (TV)
0
David Banner attempts to destroy the Hulk, but Thor, God of Thunder, gives him a few problems.
Not a particularly spectacular return: there's much padding and not much Hulk.
Dir: Nicholas Corea
Stars: Bill Bixby, Lou Ferrigno, Jack Colvin, Eric Kramer
RETURN OF THE JEDI
1983
***
The Rebel Alliance plot to destroy a second, larger Death Star, while Luke Skywalker has a final confrontation with Darth Vader.
Satisfying wrap-up of the original trilogy, only weakened by a bit too much kiddie stuff with the Ewoks: aside from that, much of the imagery is fantastic, the roster of beings - from Jabba the Hut to the Emperor and all in between - rich and imaginative, the split story mostly compelling. A tighter edit excising a few dull scenes would have helped further (and Lucas's special editions tinkering is mostly unwelcome) but this is a pleasurable couple of hours in the company of characters we came to feel a lot for. It's not difficult to see why this franchise is so beloved.
Dir: Richard Marquand
Stars: Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Anthony Daniels, Peter Mayhew, Billy Dee Williams, James Earl Jones, David Prowse, Alec Guinness, Kenny Baker, Frank Oz
RETURN OF THE KILLER TOMATOES!
1988
0
A mad scientist creates people who are part-tomato, part-human.
Goofy, spoofy comedy sequel with Airplane! type bits and of-the-time cultural references, but all pretty lame. Not enough tomatoes either.
Dir: John De Bello
Stars: Anthony Starke, George Clooney, Karen M Waldron, John Astin
THE RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD
1985
*
The ashes of a zombie bring an entire cemetery back to life.
Bearable horror spoof with agreeably sick special effects. It has verve and a personality but is unattractive, foul-mouthed and hectic, with zombies proving as offputting as they usually tend to be, while the settings feel claustrophobic.
Dir: Dan O’Bannon
Stars: Clu Gulager, James Karen, Don Calfa, Linnea Quigley
RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD PART 2
1988
0
The dead rise again thanks to stray gas canisters.
Awful horror that makes one wish for an early grave.
Dir: Ken Wiederhorn
Stars: Michael Kenworthy, Thor Van Lingen, Jason Hogan
THE RETURN OF THE MAN FROM UNCLE
1983 (TV)
0
Solo and Kuryakin come out of retirement to battle Thrush once more.
Flimsy reprise, flatly handled.
Dir: Ray Austin
Stars: Robert Vaughn, David McCallum, Patrick Macnee, Gayle Hunnicutt
THE RETURN OF THE PINK PANTHER
1974
**
Inspector Clouseau attempts to track down a stolen diamond.
Possibly the best Pink Panther film, with Sellers frequently at his funniest, even if the director makes sure not to give us too much of him: sequences with Plummer and Schell calm things down, while offering glamour and elegance. Some of the comic timing is sublime and much of the humour pleasingly off-kilter; it may be a tad long but it's a very agreeable way to spend an evening.
Dir: Blake Edwards
Stars: Peter Sellers, Christopher Plummer, Catherine Schell, Herbert Lom, David Lodge, Graham Stark, Burt Kwouk, Victor Spinetti
THE RETURN OF THE VAMPIRE
1943
*
After the stake is pulled from his heart by gravediggers, a foreign vampire reappears amid the London Blitz.
While this horror - that wasn't allowed to use the name Dracula - was a decent and well presented studio production for the time, it now has an old-fashioned and dated air. Lugosi is usually worth a watch as a vampire, though, and the appearance of a werewolf assistant is rather a mad, quirky thing. One of a small number of pictures that were given the 'H' certificate in Britain, indicating 'Horrific' (it's now a PG).
Dir: Lew Landers
Stars: Bela Lugosi, Frieda Inescort, Nina Foch, Miles Mander
RETURN TO GLENNASCAUL
1951
*
In the foggy Irish countryside, Orson Welles gives a lift to a man who tells him a ghost story.
Made during a break in filming on Othello (which is referenced in the piece), this short is an example of economical and succinct storytelling, and it’s always nice to see Welles. The story is entirely perfunctory but it is well done and delivers a chill, and has dashes of humour too.
Dir: Hilton Edwards
Stars: Orson Welles, Michael Laurence, Shelah Richards
RETURN TO OZ
1985
*
Dorothy suffers traumas due to her experiences in Oz.
A curious enterprise, a belated follow-up that may gain a small cult following among those bothered to peer long enough at it; a rather cold, tune-free fantasy enhanced by singular design.
Dir: Walter Murch
Stars: Fairuza Balk, Nicol Williamson, Jean Marsh, Piper Laurie
RETURN TO SENDER
1962
0
A criminal concocts a scheme to save his skin.
Edgar Wallace Mystery that features hilarious plot contortions, including some totally unbelievable behaviour and coincidences: it's a shame because there's a decent cast and the germ of an okay thriller.
Dir: Gordon Hales
Stars: Nigel Davenport, Yvonne Romain, Geoffrey Keen, William Russell
RETURN TO THE BLUE LAGOON
1991
0
Two children are washed up on a desert island and grow up to fall in love.
Tediously predictable retread with a sort of sincere idiocy; an almost totally insignificant film.
Dir: William A Graham
Stars: Milla Jovovich, Brian Krause, Lisa Pelikan
THE REVENANT
2015
**
In 1823 a frontiersman on a fur-hunting expedition is attacked by a bear and left for dead by his team.
An immense cinematic achievement in many ways: what the shoot in this wintry not-so-wonderland must have been like is almost beyond comprehension, and the cinematography captures the vistas in extraordinary fashion. DiCaprio's performance is one of matchless resilience, including traumatic scenes with bears and horses that will be long remembered - it's a shame so many of his co-stars are so difficult to understand; subtitles might have helped, particularly for Tom Hardy. The story is somewhat thin, and didn't need to be stretched out to two-and-a-half hours - it's essentially a revenge thriller done arthouse style and while it's easy to admire it's less easy to love.
Dir: Alejandro G Inarritu
Stars: Leonardo DiCaprio, Tom Hardy, Domhnall Gleeson, Will Pouter
REVENGE
1971
**
A father seeks retribution against a man he believes killed his daughter.
Indulgently enjoyable slice of rape, murder and shouting amongst the tea towels, immersed in that nicely grubby, grungy Seventies feel; it's a shame that after a powerful first half hour it somewhat degenerates into a confined melodrama with vast implausibilities (such as how the family only learn about the police investigation through the papers, and their casual attitude to what's in their cellar), but it's well acted, pretty much keeps the interest and, hey, it's always good to see a film revolve around a pub. It's essentially a companion piece to Assault (qv), by the same director and writer.
Dir: Sidney Hayers
Stars: James Booth, Joan Collins, Ray Barrett, Sinead Cusack, Kenneth Griffith
REVENGE
1990
*
A man makes a fatal error when he has an affair with a rich gangster’s wife.
Tempestuous thriller that’s as glossy as it is empty, which isn’t a great surprise coming from this director.
Dir: Tony Scott
Stars: Kevin Costner, Anthony Quinn, Madeleine Stowe
REVENGE OF BILLY THE KID
1992
0
On an odious farm, a farmer copulates with a goat to produce a monster.
Deliberately revolting comic horror reliant on bodily functions, never likely to be anything approaching a popular success.
Dir: Jim Groom
Stars: Michael Balfour, Samantha Perkins, Michael Ripper
THE REVENGE OF FRANKENSTEIN
1958
*
Dr Frankenstein uses criminals’ body parts for his continuing experiments.
Second in Hammer’s Frankie cycle was something of a rushed production, which sometimes shows (the script needed more work, what with some pointless characters and abruptly introduced other ones), but it's still handsomely mounted in typical Hammer fashion and stars Peter Cushing, so it can't be too bad. Fairly thoughtful and occasionally gruesome, it's a moderately paced horror that's not quite up there with the studio's best.
Dir: Terence Fisher
Stars: Peter Cushing, Francis Matthews, Eunice Gayson, Michael Gwynn, Michael Ripper
REVENGE OF THE CHEERLEADERS
1975
0
The authorities attempt to clean up an unruly high school.
Abysmal farce which makes the original Cheerleaders (qv) look like a classic, and is much less appealing in tone. It’s also probably the screechiest and noisiest film ever made.
Dir: Richard Lerner
Stars: Jerii Woods, Cheryl Smith, Helen Lang, David Hasselhoff
REVENGE OF THE CREATURE
1955
0
The gill man is captured and experimented on.
Ordinary sequel to Creature From The Black Lagoon with a fair bit of padding. Again, the underwater photography and the costume are serviceable, but it’s not a wildly engrossing tale.
Dir: Jack Arnold
Stars: John Agar, Lori Nelson, John Bromfield
REVENGE OF THE NERDS
1985
0
Geeky new students are persecuted by jocks, but plan their retribution.
Porky's type comedy which wears thin the few jokes it has.
Dir: Jeff Kanew
Stars: Robert Carradine, Anthony Edwards, Timothy Busfield
REVENGE OF THE NINJA
1984
**
A man discovers that his friend is both a drug smuggler and a ninja.
Dynamic choreography and a strong, imaginative storyline make this one of the better films of its genre.
Dir: Sam Firstenberg
Stars: Arthur Roberts, Sho Kosugi, Virgil Frye
REVENGE OF THE PINK PANTHER
1978
*
Inspector Clouseau goes after drug smugglers.
Sellers' swan song as Clouseau is the weakest of his Pink Panther films even if there are occasional laughs in a script that struggles to generate as much fun as before. With its caper-y international plotline it plays a bit like a more comic Seventies James Bond flick, with the dash of cross-dressing that the director often threw in. With Sellers in perhaps his best role, and plenty of disguises, it was never going to be a bad movie, but it's not as hilarious as previously (more Sellers and Lom might have helped).
Dir: Blake Edwards
Stars: Peter Sellers, Herbert Lom, Bert Kwouk, Dyan Cannon, Robert Webber, Robert Loggia
REVENGE OF THE RADIOACTIVE REPORTER
1989
*
A reporter investigating corruption in the nuclear industry is thrown into acid and turns into a vengeful monster.
Similar to the equally sick Toxic Avenger (qv) but better; hilariously hammy performances and broad sight gags abound.
Dir: Craig Pryce
Stars: David Scammell, Kathryn Boese
REVENGE OF THE STEPFORD WIVES
1980 (TV)
0
A reporter delves into the strange community of Stepford.
Pretty much a straight reprise of incidents from the first, superior film.
Dir: Robert Fuest
Stars: Sharon Gless, Julie Kavner, Don Johnson
REVENGE OF THE ZOMBIES
1943
0
A mad scientist tries to create an army of zombies for the Nazis.
Whether Hitler would have benefited from a band of slow, shuffling, sometimes chubby zombies is a moot point; as to whether the world benefited from this cheap, loony horror from Monogram is also debatable, but at least Mantan Moreland is there to provide some cheery moments. The heroes are bland, the vague plot meanders, a moody atmosphere occasionally creeps in.
Dir: Steve Sekely
Stars: John Carradine, Gale Storm, Robert Lowery, Mantan Moreland
REVIVAL69: THE CONCERT THAT ROCKED THE WORLD
2022
**
Documentary about the 1969 Toronto Rock and Roll Revival music festival which was played by Little Richard, Chuck Berry, Jerry Lee Lewis, Gene Vincent, The Doors and, most notably, John Lennon and his Plastic Ono Band.
You could claim that this concert was more important than Woodstock, largely because it, in a way, led to the breakup of The Beatles: having tasted 'freedom', a week after this Lennon told them he was quitting the group. In musical terms it was significant because it revived the careers of some old rockers and more because it had Lennon performing live again - this documentary doesn't have his Beatles number Yer Blues but it does have bits of Give Peace A Chance and Cold Turkey, plus some of Yoko's wailing in a bag. It's an interesting watch, a mix of archive footage and new interviews with those still alive, telling tales of the nascent music festival industry.
Dir: Ron Chapman
RHUBARB
1969
0
Two men have a chaotic game of golf.
Mainly tedious slapstick with a few very mildly amusing incidents. Nobody says anything but ‘rhubarb’.
Dir: Eric Sykes
Stars: Eric Sykes, Harry Secombe, Kenneth Connor, Hattie Jacques, Graham Stark
RICH AND STRANGE
1931
*
A bored suburban couple embark on a colourful trip around the world.
Almost dreamlike Hitchcock comic drama, only a moderate success but with humorous quirks and flashes of style - take the opening scenes, beautifully shot, especially the ritual opening of the umbrellas as the workers leave their building. The inter-titles are also a nice idea. Somewhat amorphous, it's dated by its acting style and rough technology that makes hearing some of the dialogue tricky; it's unlikely to grip anyone but devoted Hitchcock students these days.
Dir: Alfred Hitchcock
Stars: Henry Kendall, Joan Barry, Percy Marmont, Betty Amann
RICHARD III
1955
**
The Duke of Gloucester murders his way to the throne.
Olivier’s confidence shines through by his amends to the play and his superlative performance, still the definitive Richard III.
Dir: Laurence Olivier
Stars: Laurence Olivier, Ralph Richardson, John Gielgud, Cedric Hardwicke, Claire Bloom
RICHARD III
1995
**
A version set in a parallel 1930s England, with Richard as a military-minded despot.
Impressively mounted adaptation that shrinks the text but not the drama - much work has gone into ensuring it is cinematic; McKellen is the pick of a pre-eminent cast.
Dir: Richard Loncraine
Stars: Ian McKellen, Jim Broadbent, Annette Bening, Kristin Scott-Thomas, John Wood, Maggie Smith, Robert Downey Jr, Nigel Hawthorne, Edward Hardwicke
RICOCHET
1963
*
A husband does his best to land his unfaithful wife in jail.
This Edgar Wallace Mystery is faintly ridiculous and takes a while to really get the story into gear but eventually twists its way into your affections, helped by location shooting showing Britain's unforgiving winter of 1963 and Streatham's now demolished ice rink. The unconventional Magee is, as was often the case, the pick of the cast.
Dir: John Moxey
Stars: Richard Leech, Maxine Audley, Alex Scott, Patrick Magee
RIDE LONESOME
1959
*
A bounty hunter escorts a killer to his trial across the West.
Efficient Western with a thoughtful side, sweeping landscapes and not much action, including in its finale. Karen Steele provides a nice pictorial distraction from the many men in it, strong presences they might be. Western fans will like it more.
Dir: Budd Boetticher
Stars: Randolph Scott, Karen Steele, Pernell Roberts, James Best, Lee Van Cleef, James Coburn
RIDERS TO THE STARS
1954
*
Scientists enlist astronauts to carry out dangerous tests in space.
Would-be factual sci-fi, quite earnest, interesting as a spin-off from the real space race of the Fifties, and occasionally arresting. The wobbly rocket on a string may persuade some viewers to disembark, but there's one great, gruesome shot most should enjoy.
Dir: Richard Carlson
Stars: William Lundigan, Herbert Marshall, Richard Carlson, Martha Hyer
RIFF RAFF
1990
**
Labourers at a building site try to keep their spirits up when one of their number is killed on the job.
Naturalistic slice of comic realism, acutely observant of differing emotions, but not very likeable.
Dir: Ken Loach
Stars: Robert Carlyle, Ricky Tomlinson, David Finch
DU RIFIFI CHEZ LES HOMMES
1955
***
Crooks plan a meticulous safe robbery.
Crisp and classy heist caper, one of the first, strikingly shot on damp Paris streets; the much-mentioned silent robbery is truly marvellous, as is the handling of the subsequent uncurling of the thieves' lives. The film is imbued with a toughness that has helped it retain its cool status.
Dir: Jules Dassin
Stars: Jean Servais, Carl Mohner, Robert Manuel
RIFKIN'S FESTIVAL
2020
*
An older couple attend the San Sebastian Film Festival but both are distracted by the opposite sex.
Reasonably pleasant, not earth-shattering end-period Allen which will not mean much to those who are not fans; nowadays his stuff isn't funny (barely at all, really - and the script feels like it is 'written', which of course it is, but it sure feels it) though it's shot with a warm glow, and the recreations of classic movie scenes dear to Woody's heart are quite fun. When he is gone, perhaps films like this will be more favourably viewed. Perhaps. Or maybe the likes of it will be seen as a creator at the end of the line, lost despite delivering competent motion pictures; a creator who never stopped being interested in older men seeking liaisons with women younger than them.
Dir: Woody Allen
Stars: Wallace Shawn, Gina Gershon, Elena Anaya, Louis Garrel
THE RIGHT STUFF
1983
*
An account of the 1960s Mercury space programme.
Detailed, worthy science fact designed for an American public who didn't take to it; rather gruelling for non-aficionados.
Dir: Philip Kaufman
Stars: Sam Shepard, Scott Glenn, Ed Harris, Dennis Quaid, Fred Ward, Barbara Hershey
THE RING
1927
*
A boxer fights a rival for the love of a woman.
Slow moving early Hitch with flashes of invention and innovation.
Dir: Alfred Hitchcock
Stars: Carl Brisson, Lillian Hall Davis, Ian Hunter
RIO BRAVO
1959
*
In the Wild West, a criminal's associates come to town to get him out of jail.
Long and leisurely Western, a real favourite among those who like this sort of thing, it's essentially a series of jam-packed dialogues with nary an inkling of suspense or danger around. But it is well done and allows many of the actors to put in some of their finest performances.
Dir: Howard Hawks
Stars: John Wayne, Dean Martin, Walter Brennan, Angie Dickinson, Ricky Nelson
RIO GRANDE
1950
*
A cavalry officer juggles problems with Indians, his son and his wife.
When it comes to John Ford films, some of us struggle; perhaps it helps to be American to truly be immersed in his cinematic world? This Western, though, is surely not one of his best, with too many sentimental songs for one thing. It has quality of course, with a bit of originality thanks to as much attention paid to family relationships as to killing Apaches - and some of those action sequences on horses are incredible, it's a wonder men didn't die (apparently they did).
Dir: John Ford
Stars: John Wayne, Maureen O'Hara, Ben Johnson, Claude Jarman Jr
THE RIOT CLUB
2014
**
A group of Oxford students dedicate themselves to raising hell for tradition's sake.
This adaptation of a successful play (Posh) is as subtle as a croquet mallet in its depiction of the awful rich, but it's undeniably compelling, particularly during the [stagey] main section which takes place in the pub. Watch many of these actors go on to long careers.
Dir: Lone Scherfig
Stars: Sam Claflin, Max Irons, Douglas Booth, Jessica Brown Findlay
RISE AND FALL OF IDI AMIN
1981
*
Ugandan dictator Idi Amin drives his country to destitution through his erratic policies and murderous behaviour.
An appropriately larger than life lead performance and lots of fast, busy scenes keep this violent biopic powering along - its exploitation feel actually suits the subject material pretty well. An okay watch, and it has a more sensible title than the other Amin film, The Last King Of Scotland.
Dir: Sharad Patel
Stars: Joseph Olita, Thomas Baptiste, Leonard Trolley, Geoffrey Keen
THE RISE AND FALL OF IVOR DICKIE
1978
*
Documentary about modern striptease, both female and male.
Essentially an excuse for lots of nudity, this strangely titled film (also known as From Stags To Stardust) also has a little value as social history, as the camera crew travels round the country visiting men's clubs and talking to punters as well as strippers. Painless enough.
Dir: James C Katz
THE RISE AND RISE OF MICHAEL RIMMER
1970
0
An efficiency expert works his way up to become Prime Minister.
Notable in terms of personnel rather than any other sort of quality, this satirical comedy outstays its welcome.
Dir: Kevin Billington
Stars: Peter Cook, John Cleese, Arthur Lowe, Denholm Elliott, Ronald Fraser, Vanessa Howard, Dennis Price, Ronnie Corbett
THE RISE OF JORDAN PETERSON
2019
**
Documentary about the Canadian academic Jordan Peterson who has found enormous fame through his lectures, YouTube channel, books and controversies.
This certainly isn't a hagiographic portrait of one of the world's great public intellectuals - arguably too much time is given to his detractors, especially Canadian student activists, who come across as simply awful people - but it is involving. Those who have listened to hundreds of hours of his lectures and interviews, like this reviewer, will know, though, that it barely scratches the surface of this remarkable, intense, polymathic man - but a 90-minute film never could.
Dir: Patricia Marcoccia
THE RISE AND FALL OF IVOR DICKIE
1978
*
Documentary about modern striptease, both female and male.
Essentially an excuse for lots of nudity, this strangely titled film (also known as From Stags To Stardust) also has a little value as social history, as the camera crew travels round the country visiting men's clubs and talking to punters as well as strippers. Painless enough.
Dir: James C Katz
THE RISE AND RISE OF MICHAEL RIMMER
1970
0
An efficiency expert works his way up to become Prime Minister.
Notable in terms of personnel rather than any other sort of quality, this satirical comedy outstays its welcome.
Dir: Kevin Billington
Stars: Peter Cook, John Cleese, Arthur Lowe, Denholm Elliott, Ronald Fraser, Vanessa Howard, Dennis Price, Ronnie Corbett
THE RISE OF JORDAN PETERSON
2019
**
Documentary about the Canadian academic Jordan Peterson who has found enormous fame through his lectures, YouTube channel, books and controversies.
This certainly isn't a hagiographic portrait of one of the world's great public intellectuals - arguably too much time is given to his detractors, especially Canadian student activists, who come across as simply awful people - but it is involving. Those who have listened to hundreds of hours of his lectures and interviews, like this reviewer, will know, though, that it barely scratches the surface of this remarkable, intense, polymathic man - but a 90-minute film never could.
Dir: Patricia Marcoccia
RISE OF THE PLANET OF THE APES
2011
**
A scientist experiments on an ape to help the brain repair itself, but there are consequences...
Successful rebooting of the franchise, in large part a showcase for stunning motion-capture technology which sees Serkis as Caesar, the best fleshed out character here. It's a straightforward, grimly appealing story that doesn't appear to be an allegory for race issues - perhaps it's more about cruelty to animals - and very much looks like a 'part one' in a series. With athletic action and impressive set pieces, it's a big step up from Tim Burton's 2001 remake.
Dir: Rupert Wyatt
Stars: James Franco, Andy Serkis, Freida Pinto, Tom Felton, John LithgowRISING DAMP
1980
**
A seedy landlord romantically pursues one of his female tenants; meanwhile, a new lodger who may be a crook moves in.
This big-screen version of ITV’s greatest ever sitcom may be pretty much three episodes of the series sewn together, with wholesale lifting of the [wonderful] dialogue, but it is still a pleasure to watch because it features a glut of the stars’ brilliant interplay, particularly Rossiter and De la Tour’s. It’s very sad that Richard Beckinsale had died the year before production but it remains a valuable record of a classic show, despite the fact that it is in no way a great slice of cinema.
Dir: Joseph McGrath
Stars: Leonard Rossiter, Frances de la Tour, Don Warrington, Christopher Strauli, Denholm Elliott
RISKY BUSINESS
1983
*
While his parents are away on holiday, a teenager gets involved with pimps and prostitutes.
Well known but hard-to-like comedy with minimal laughs.
Dir: Paul Brickman
Stars: Tom Cruise, Rebecca De Mornay, Joe Pantoliano
1980
**
A seedy landlord romantically pursues one of his female tenants; meanwhile, a new lodger who may be a crook moves in.
This big-screen version of ITV’s greatest ever sitcom may be pretty much three episodes of the series sewn together, with wholesale lifting of the [wonderful] dialogue, but it is still a pleasure to watch because it features a glut of the stars’ brilliant interplay, particularly Rossiter and De la Tour’s. It’s very sad that Richard Beckinsale had died the year before production but it remains a valuable record of a classic show, despite the fact that it is in no way a great slice of cinema.
Dir: Joseph McGrath
Stars: Leonard Rossiter, Frances de la Tour, Don Warrington, Christopher Strauli, Denholm Elliott
RISKY BUSINESS
1983
*
While his parents are away on holiday, a teenager gets involved with pimps and prostitutes.
Well known but hard-to-like comedy with minimal laughs.
Dir: Paul Brickman
Stars: Tom Cruise, Rebecca De Mornay, Joe Pantoliano
RITA, SUE AND BOB TOO
1987
*
Two working class schoolgirls in Bradford have a fling with an older married man.
Something akin to a Carry On film directed by Ken Loach, this is a curious beast of a film whose appeal to any particular audience is unclear - the working class might think 'so what?', the middle class might be put off by its parade of ugly characters in bad clothes doing not very nice things in ugly settings (both the chillingly grim council estate and the soulless posher estates). It's made without any sort of self-reflection or sentiment, which probably benefits it: for all its rawness and uncouthness, it's difficult to take your eyes off; whether this is a pointer towards quality is difficult to say - it's hard to make your mind up about, except for proclaiming the sex scenes icky.
Dir: Alan Clarke
Stars: Siobhan Finneran, Michelle Holmes, George Costigan, Lesley Sharpe
THE RIVALS
1963
*
A pair of small-time thieves get involved in a major kidnapping.
This Edgar Wallace Mystery would probably lend itself to a modern, violent remake - and it'd surely improve on the rushed ending.
Dir: Max Varnel
Stars: Jack Gwillim, Erica Rogers, Brian Smith, Tony Garnett
RIVER OF NO RETURN
1954
*
A tough widower tracks down the man who stole his horse.
Formulaic but attractive western which doesn't quite use Monroe to her full potential.
Dir: Otto Preminger
Stars: Marilyn Monroe, Robert Mitchum, Rory Calhoun
THE ROAD
2009
*
In a post-apocalyptic world, a father and son trudge towards the sea.
Those who liked the book will probably like this adaptation; similarly, those who disliked it are unlikely to enjoy it - it is certainly just as spare and bleak as McCarthy's novel. It's well enough done but, naturally, not the most light-hearted evening out at the cinema.
Dir: John Hillcoat
Stars: Viggo Mortensen, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Robert Duvall, Guy Pearce
ROAD HOUSE
1989
*
A bouncer takes on a job at a rough bar and comes up against organised crime.
Outlandish nonsense that’s difficult to resist.
Dir: Rowdy Herrington
Stars: Patrick Swayze, Kelly Lynch, Sam Elliott
THE ROAD TO HONG KONG
1962
0
Two conmen end up in space.
Belated last of the Road movies offers outdated humour and not a great deal else.
Dir: Norman Panama
Stars: Bob Hope, Bing Crosby, Joan Collins, Robert Morley, Peter Sellers
THE ROAD TO WELVILLE
1994
*
The story of Corn Flakes inventor Dr Kellogg and his unusual health farm
Novel, quirky biog; though how much of it is true is anybody’s guess.
Dir: Alan Parker
Stars: Anthony Hopkins, Bridget Fonda, Matthew Broderick, John Cusack, Dana Carvey
ROAD TRIP
2000
*
When a student accidentally mails a video of him being unfaithful with another woman to his girlfriend, the race is on to get it back.
Easily digested American Pie on wheels, spattered with enjoyably yucky set-pieces.
Dir: Todd Phillips
Stars: Breckin Meyer, Seann William Scott, Amy Smart, Tom Green
ROBBERY
1967
*
A dramatisation of 1963’s Great Train Robbery.
What could have been a bit special is a pretty basic cops and robbers thriller, but 1960s London visages are always nice to see.
Dir: Peter Yates
Stars: Stanley Baker, James Booth, Frank Finlay, George Sewell
THE ROBE
1953
**
A Roman tribune starts to follow Jesus Christ after arranging his crucifixion.
Overt Christian flag-waving it may be, but it's still a pretty good story, and the splendidly decorated scenes fill out the Cinemascope screen; Robinson's performance as Caligula is also worth seeing.
Dir: Henry Koster
Stars: Richard Burton, Jean Simmons, Victor Mature, Michael Rennie, Jay Robinson
ROBIN HOOD
1973
*
A cartoon treatment, with the characters ‘played’ by animals.
Lesser Disney feature exhibiting a slipping of standards in all departments.
Dir: Wolfgang Reitherman
Voices: Brian Bedford, Peter Ustinov, Terry-Thomas
ROBIN HOOD: PRINCE OF THIEVES
1991
*
Robin Hood returns from the Crusades to find trouble brewing in Nottingham.
Inexplicably one of the biggest movies of its year, this glum, dawdling interpretation offers little new except modern annoyances.
Dir: Kevin Reynolds
Stars: Kevin Costner, Morgan Freeman, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, Christian Slater, Alan Rickman, Brian Blessed, Sean Connery
ROBINSON CRUSOE OF CLIPPER ISLAND
1936 (serial)
0
A special agent attempts to stop sabotage on a remote Pacific island.
Hectic serial with typical ingredients and a minimum of explanation. Two highly billed animals outperform much of the cast. Sound quality poorish.
Dir: Ray Taylor, Mack V Wright
Stars: Mala, Rex the Wonder Horse, Mamo Clark
ROBINSON CRUSOE ON MARS
1964
**
An astronaut is stranded on the red planet.
Defoe's novel set in space proves a splendid idea when it's as well executed as this.
Dir: Byron Haskin
Stars: Paul Mantee, Victor Lundin, Adam West
ROBINSON IN RUINS
2010
0
Third in the series that includes London and Robinson In Space (both qv) – this one focuses on a countryside apparently littered with MOD bases.
The least successful of the trilogy, this is the archetypal film full of pretensions that will only find a small niche audience, a lazy picture which believes it is profound: while the images and natural soundtrack evoke a feeling of atavistic serenity, the narration provides way too much information to take in (and much of it appears to be made up), some shots are held for way too long and Redgrave’s narration makes you miss Scofield. What’s irritating is its gloomy inference that modern capitalist society is at fault, though it offers no solutions to improve things (probably because there are none). The often attractive images possibly guarantee that it will become a time capsule.
Dir: Patrick Keiller
Narrator: Vanessa Redgrave
ROBINSON IN SPACE
1997
*
A pair of literate homosexuals travel around England.
Geographically expanded follow-up to London (qv) which takes a more fact-heavy (and less successful) approach. Scofield's delivery doesn't quite have the aplomb of the first film, and one's mind does wander at times.
Dir: Patrick Keiller
Narrator: Paul Scofield
ROBOCOP
1987
***
In the near future, a cyborg cop is created to combat rising crime.
Violent and exciting sci-fi with a brain, albeit a cold, tough and malevolent one. Viewed again after many years away it retains much of its zip, with satiric elements intact, even though the special effects - most notably the killer prototype robot - are a little dated, and one wishes it was even more violent! Easily the best of the many Robocop productions that eventually came to be, with the best bad guys.
Dir: Paul Verhoeven
Stars: Peter Weller, Nancy Allen, Dan O’Herlihy, Ronny Cox
ROBOCOP 2
1990
*
Robocop battles drug runners and evil businessmen.
Crash bang wallop sequel that looks good but lacks the gravitas of the original.
Dir: Irvin Kershner
Stars: Peter Weller, Nancy Allen, Dan O'Herlihy
ROBOT MONSTER
1953
0
A mechanical alien creature is sent to Earth to capture humans before a full invasion.
Side-splitting no-budget stuff with a fake gorilla in a space helmet and a ton of stock footage.
Dir: Phil Tucker
Stars: George Nader, Gregory Moffett, Claudia Barrett
ROBOTRIX
1991
0
A cop is shot but 'reborn' as an android, and goes after her killer.
Bizarre hybrid of science fiction, action movie and sex comedy, with some gore thrown in; those who aren't familiar with this sort of Hong Kong product will find it a unique eye-opener and those who are will probably enthusiastically embrace it. It's certainly not hard to keep watching, not least for the decorative female stars. Released in the UK in a cut version in 2013, it demonstrated that the BBFC still won't let adults choose what they can see.
Dir: Jamie Luk
Stars: Amy Yip, Chikako Aoyama, David Wu
THE ROCK
1996
*
The FBI recruit a man who escaped from Alcatraz to break back into the former prison where a renegade general is threatening to launch missiles at San Francisco.
Ludicrous but entertaining thriller which places the emphasis very much on action and hardware, although there is some deft dialogue too.
Dir: Michael Bay
Stars: Sean Connery, Nicolas Cage, Ed Harris, John Spencer, David Morse
ROAD HOUSE
1989
*
A bouncer takes on a job at a rough bar and comes up against organised crime.
Outlandish nonsense that’s difficult to resist.
Dir: Rowdy Herrington
Stars: Patrick Swayze, Kelly Lynch, Sam Elliott
THE ROAD TO HONG KONG
1962
0
Two conmen end up in space.
Belated last of the Road movies offers outdated humour and not a great deal else.
Dir: Norman Panama
Stars: Bob Hope, Bing Crosby, Joan Collins, Robert Morley, Peter Sellers
THE ROAD TO WELVILLE
1994
*
The story of Corn Flakes inventor Dr Kellogg and his unusual health farm
Novel, quirky biog; though how much of it is true is anybody’s guess.
Dir: Alan Parker
Stars: Anthony Hopkins, Bridget Fonda, Matthew Broderick, John Cusack, Dana Carvey
ROAD TRIP
2000
*
When a student accidentally mails a video of him being unfaithful with another woman to his girlfriend, the race is on to get it back.
Easily digested American Pie on wheels, spattered with enjoyably yucky set-pieces.
Dir: Todd Phillips
Stars: Breckin Meyer, Seann William Scott, Amy Smart, Tom Green
ROADGAMES
1981
*
A long-distance lorry-driver crosses paths with a serial killer.
Thriller which pretends it's intricately plotted until the odd climax, when it has to reveal that it isn't. Not as good as it possibly thinks it is, it's still vaguely likeable because it's a road movie and because the director clearly loves Hitchcock - even if he's not in the same class (but this got him the Psycho II gig). Nice poster.
Dir: Richard Franklin
Stars: Stacy Keach, Jamie Lee Curtis, Marion Edward, Grant Page
ROBBERY
1967
*
A dramatisation of 1963’s Great Train Robbery.
What could have been a bit special is a pretty basic cops and robbers thriller, but 1960s London visages are always nice to see.
Dir: Peter Yates
Stars: Stanley Baker, James Booth, Frank Finlay, George Sewell
THE ROBE
1953
**
A Roman tribune starts to follow Jesus Christ after arranging his crucifixion.
Overt Christian flag-waving it may be, but it's still a pretty good story, and the splendidly decorated scenes fill out the Cinemascope screen; Robinson's performance as Caligula is also worth seeing.
Dir: Henry Koster
Stars: Richard Burton, Jean Simmons, Victor Mature, Michael Rennie, Jay Robinson
ROBIN HOOD
1973
*
A cartoon treatment, with the characters ‘played’ by animals.
Lesser Disney feature exhibiting a slipping of standards in all departments.
Dir: Wolfgang Reitherman
Voices: Brian Bedford, Peter Ustinov, Terry-Thomas
ROBIN HOOD: PRINCE OF THIEVES
1991
*
Robin Hood returns from the Crusades to find trouble brewing in Nottingham.
Inexplicably one of the biggest movies of its year, this glum, dawdling interpretation offers little new except modern annoyances.
Dir: Kevin Reynolds
Stars: Kevin Costner, Morgan Freeman, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, Christian Slater, Alan Rickman, Brian Blessed, Sean Connery
ROBINSON CRUSOE OF CLIPPER ISLAND
1936 (serial)
0
A special agent attempts to stop sabotage on a remote Pacific island.
Hectic serial with typical ingredients and a minimum of explanation. Two highly billed animals outperform much of the cast. Sound quality poorish.
Dir: Ray Taylor, Mack V Wright
Stars: Mala, Rex the Wonder Horse, Mamo Clark
ROBINSON CRUSOE ON MARS
1964
**
An astronaut is stranded on the red planet.
Defoe's novel set in space proves a splendid idea when it's as well executed as this.
Dir: Byron Haskin
Stars: Paul Mantee, Victor Lundin, Adam West
ROBINSON IN RUINS
2010
0
Third in the series that includes London and Robinson In Space (both qv) – this one focuses on a countryside apparently littered with MOD bases.
The least successful of the trilogy, this is the archetypal film full of pretensions that will only find a small niche audience, a lazy picture which believes it is profound: while the images and natural soundtrack evoke a feeling of atavistic serenity, the narration provides way too much information to take in (and much of it appears to be made up), some shots are held for way too long and Redgrave’s narration makes you miss Scofield. What’s irritating is its gloomy inference that modern capitalist society is at fault, though it offers no solutions to improve things (probably because there are none). The often attractive images possibly guarantee that it will become a time capsule.
Dir: Patrick Keiller
Narrator: Vanessa Redgrave
ROBINSON IN SPACE
1997
*
A pair of literate homosexuals travel around England.
Geographically expanded follow-up to London (qv) which takes a more fact-heavy (and less successful) approach. Scofield's delivery doesn't quite have the aplomb of the first film, and one's mind does wander at times.
Dir: Patrick Keiller
Narrator: Paul Scofield
ROBOCOP
1987
***
In the near future, a cyborg cop is created to combat rising crime.
Violent and exciting sci-fi with a brain, albeit a cold, tough and malevolent one. Viewed again after many years away it retains much of its zip, with satiric elements intact, even though the special effects - most notably the killer prototype robot - are a little dated, and one wishes it was even more violent! Easily the best of the many Robocop productions that eventually came to be, with the best bad guys.
Dir: Paul Verhoeven
Stars: Peter Weller, Nancy Allen, Dan O’Herlihy, Ronny Cox
ROBOCOP 2
1990
*
Robocop battles drug runners and evil businessmen.
Crash bang wallop sequel that looks good but lacks the gravitas of the original.
Dir: Irvin Kershner
Stars: Peter Weller, Nancy Allen, Dan O'Herlihy
ROBOT MONSTER
1953
0
A mechanical alien creature is sent to Earth to capture humans before a full invasion.
Side-splitting no-budget stuff with a fake gorilla in a space helmet and a ton of stock footage.
Dir: Phil Tucker
Stars: George Nader, Gregory Moffett, Claudia Barrett
ROBOTRIX
1991
0
A cop is shot but 'reborn' as an android, and goes after her killer.
Bizarre hybrid of science fiction, action movie and sex comedy, with some gore thrown in; those who aren't familiar with this sort of Hong Kong product will find it a unique eye-opener and those who are will probably enthusiastically embrace it. It's certainly not hard to keep watching, not least for the decorative female stars. Released in the UK in a cut version in 2013, it demonstrated that the BBFC still won't let adults choose what they can see.
Dir: Jamie Luk
Stars: Amy Yip, Chikako Aoyama, David Wu
THE ROCK
1996
*
The FBI recruit a man who escaped from Alcatraz to break back into the former prison where a renegade general is threatening to launch missiles at San Francisco.
Ludicrous but entertaining thriller which places the emphasis very much on action and hardware, although there is some deft dialogue too.
Dir: Michael Bay
Stars: Sean Connery, Nicolas Cage, Ed Harris, John Spencer, David Morse
ROCK CITY
1973
*
Documentary on the London music scene between 1964 and 1973, featuring performances from The Rolling Stones, Otis Reading, Jimi Hendrix, The Faces, Cream, Joe Cocker and others.
Not really a movie, just a roughly edited together collection of live performances and a few promotional films, with the best acts mentioned above - ones like Pink Floyd, Arthur Brown and The Animals also appear. A canny historical document you can sometimes tap your foot to.
Dir: Peter Clifton
ROCK HUDSON’S HOME MOVIES
1992
**
Semi-documentary, using an actor and old clips, which argues – tongue in cheek - that Rock Hudson’s films gave plenty of signals that he was gay.
Despite its somewhat bitter agenda, this is a quirky and clever novelty which probably would have worked better had it not featured the creepy Farr, who neither looks nor sounds like Hudson, juxtaposed with clips of the actor. It is also a little amateurish but still manages to surprise and amuse, as the viewer is cajoled into thinking: wow, it was all so obvious! Plus you get a reminder of how rubbish many of Rock’s movies were.
Dir: Mark Rappaport
Stars: Eric Farr
ROCK SCHOOL
2004
*
Documentary about a Pennsylvanian school where children learn how to become rock stars.
Like Spellbound (qv) with guitars, this is interesting enough but doesn’t feel as significant as others of its ilk (like Spellbound).
Dir: Don Argott
Stars: Paul Green
ROCK YOU SINNERS
1957
0
A disc jockey attempts to stage a rock and roll show.
When is a film truly appalling but you actually quite like it? With this one, a cheeseparing penny dreadful with no plot, just a succession of average or below average song numbers shot in perfunctory fashion. But its gaucheness, and the ease with which it can be ridiculed, make the modern viewer that little bit forgiving.
Dir: Denis Kavanagh
Stars: Philip Gilbert, Adrienne Fancey, Colin Croft, Jackie Collins
ROCK HUDSON’S HOME MOVIES
1992
**
Semi-documentary, using an actor and old clips, which argues – tongue in cheek - that Rock Hudson’s films gave plenty of signals that he was gay.
Despite its somewhat bitter agenda, this is a quirky and clever novelty which probably would have worked better had it not featured the creepy Farr, who neither looks nor sounds like Hudson, juxtaposed with clips of the actor. It is also a little amateurish but still manages to surprise and amuse, as the viewer is cajoled into thinking: wow, it was all so obvious! Plus you get a reminder of how rubbish many of Rock’s movies were.
Dir: Mark Rappaport
Stars: Eric Farr
ROCK SCHOOL
2004
*
Documentary about a Pennsylvanian school where children learn how to become rock stars.
Like Spellbound (qv) with guitars, this is interesting enough but doesn’t feel as significant as others of its ilk (like Spellbound).
Dir: Don Argott
Stars: Paul Green
ROCK YOU SINNERS
1957
0
A disc jockey attempts to stage a rock and roll show.
When is a film truly appalling but you actually quite like it? With this one, a cheeseparing penny dreadful with no plot, just a succession of average or below average song numbers shot in perfunctory fashion. But its gaucheness, and the ease with which it can be ridiculed, make the modern viewer that little bit forgiving.
Dir: Denis Kavanagh
Stars: Philip Gilbert, Adrienne Fancey, Colin Croft, Jackie Collins
ROCK-A-DIE BABY
1989
0
A mother tells her daughter three scary stories, concerning soldiers in Vietnam, students playing strip poker and how she got together with her father.
It's difficult to conceive of a mother telling three more inappropriate tales to her youngster, but this is just one of two wraparound structures in this cheapjack anthology: there's also a rock band in a cemetery (with a tiger) and a final blooper reel to pad things out even more. The twists in the first two stories happen well before the end; the final story's twist actually raises a smile and is slightly unexpected. For compendium completists only.
Dir: Bob Cook
Stars: Marilyn Hassett, Lauren Woodland, Becky LeBeau
ROCKET TO THE MOON
1967
0
Victorian scientists plan to send a rocket into space.
Arthritic, seemingly never-ending fiasco that never should have got off the ground, like the wretched rocket in it.
Dir: Don Sharp
Stars: Burt Ives, Troy Donahue, Gert Frobe, Terry-Thomas, Lionel Jeffries, Dennis Price, Graham Stark
THE ROCKETEER
1991
*
In the 1930s, a pilot stops Nazis from obtain the Allies’ ‘rocket man’ plans.
Patchy pastiche of old action movies which didn’t draw the crowds in.
Dir: Joe Johnston
Stars: Bill Campbell, Jennifer Connelly, Alan Arkin, Timothy Dalton
ROCKETMAN
2019
**
How Elton John became a rock superstar but almost lost his mind in the process.
Fantasia-like biopic, very much on the side of the singer, which gains from a lead actor who manages to get his interpretation spot on, along with a number of well mounted musical numbers. An easy watch with strong tunes impressively sung by the star himself, it's a lot better than the previous year's similar Bohemian Rhapsody despite the usual mangling of the truth and the timeline.
Dir: Dexter Fletcher
Stars: Taron Egerton, Jamie Bell, Richard Madden, Bryce Dallas Howard
ROCKETS GALORE
1958
0
A tiny Scottish island is ear-marked to have a missile range built on it.
Pretty but undernourished sequel to Whisky Galore without that film’s rumbustiousness.
Dir: Michael Relph
Stars: Jeannie Carson, Donald Sinden, Ronald Culver, Gordon Jackson
ROCKETSHIP X-M
1950
0
The first expedition to the moon accidentally ends up on Mars.
Dated hokum curious in its mix of earnest science and wildly improbable scenarios, it only roughly sketches in the crew's characters, even though there are just five of them. The cheapness is illustrated by Mars' visage, which consists of the film being tinted red.
Dir: Kurt Neumann
Stars: Lloyd Bridges, Osa Massen, John Emery
THE ROCKING HORSE WINNER
1949
0
A boy can predict the winners of races if he rides on his rocking horse.
Hellishly overlong adaptation of a D H Lawrence short story with unattractive onanistic overtones.
Dir: Anthony Pelissier
Stars: John Mills, Valerie Hobson, John Howard Davies
ROCKS
2019
**
A black teenage girl in London is thrown into turmoil when her mother walks out on her and her younger brother.
Loachian drama with energy to spare, a vividly told tale of unstable immigrant lives spiralling out of control, or very nearly doing so, set in a transformed-in-recent-decades London which could tell eight million stories like this. Some scenes you might watch with a slight degree of being appalled or discomforted but there's no doubting this film's vivaciousness or its heart, or how much authenticity the young non-professional cast bring to it.
Dir: Sarah Gavron
Stars: Bukky Bakray, Kosar Ali, D'angelou Osei Kissiedu
ROCKULA
1990
0
A teenage vampire searches for the girl he thinks he is destined to marry.
Crass comedy which frequently halts for indifferent pop songs.
Dir: Luca Bercovivi
Stars: Dean Cameron, Toni Basil, Thomas Dolby
ROCKY
1976
***
An Italian-American boxer gets the chance of a major fight against a heavyweight champion.
Fresh, vital human drama which ended up mutating into something very different, via its many sequels. Essentially a love story, it got Oscars and bums on seats because it tells a story, a reasonably straightforward story, about real people trying to climb out of their ruts and sends a positive message that you can climb out of ruts (its production, with a cash-strapped Stallone putting everything into it, mirrors its narrative). The earthy shooting on the streets of Philadelphia reinforces its realness, while the life breathed into the characters by the actors - Young's Paulie is not overly sympathetic, Shire's Adrian is deeply touching - draws the viewer in; and then the fight caps it off.
Dir: John G Avildsen
Stars: Sylvester Stallone, Talia Shire, Burt Young, Carl Weathers, Burgess Meredith
ROCKY II
1979
**
Rocky marries, has a child, and prepares for another fight against Apollo Creed.
A sequel a few notches down from the original, frequently offering a shinier reprise of the original material, with the imitation run up the city hall steps made much cornier by having kids there. Losing most of the grit and authenticity of the first film, it's nevertheless reasonably entertaining, a mix of soapy drama and ring action, although you imagine that those who really know boxing know the fighting isn't particularly authentic.
Dir: Sylvester Stallone
Stars: Sylvester Stallone, Talia Shire, Burt Young, Carl Weathers, Burgess Meredith
ROCKY III
1982
*
Rocky is challenged by a brutal slugger who resents his success.
The series evolves, with the first movie's vibe long gone, this being a highly commercial sports film with little time for domestic drama or 'real' characters (Mr T's is basically a cartoon), and a not unpredictable one at that. There's fun to be had for fans but it's contrived stuff, from the fights in which punches don't connect (despite what the loud sound effects tell you) to worried looking Shire being in scenes she doesn't need to be in, to Meredith's Mickey's heart problems - he's such an angry chap, it's no surprise. The catchy main song helps, and is dutifully referenced several times in the dialogue.
Dir: Sylvester Stallone
Stars: Sylvester Stallone, Talia Shire, Burt Young, Carl Weathers, Burgess Meredith, Mr T, Hulk Hogan
ROCKY IV
1985
*
Rocky sets out to avenge his friend's death at the hands of a giant Russian boxer.
Absurd, thin stuff very much of its time. With even less nutritional value than before, the third sequel comes complete with a goofy robot, a cutesy kid, training montages that couldn't be more Eighties-ish (with music that couldn't be more Eighties-ish) and all manner of silliness - the Russian crowd eventually supporting Rocky being a particular lowlight. What we regretfully don't get is subtitles for Stallone, any characterisation at all and boxers bothering to put any defences up.
Dir: Sylvester Stallone
Stars: Sylvester Stallone, Talia Shire, Burt Young, Carl Weathers, Brigitte Nielsen, Dolph Lundgren
THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW
1975
**
Stranded travellers take refuge at a house where a mad scientist is trying to create the perfect human.
Cult eccentricity that leaps into life thanks Tim Curry's slightly disturbing performance, bright set design and some showstopping tunes.
Dir: Jim Sharman
Stars: Tim Curry, Susan Sarandon, Richard O’Brien, Meat Loaf, Charles Gray
ROGER & ME
1989
*
Documentary about the effects of the closure of the General Motors plant in Flint, Michigan.
A film that helped kick-start the glut of anti-US film documentaries, this consequently looks a little worn now, but was always guilty of mischievous editing and pernicious juxtapositions.
Dir/Presenter: Michael Moore
ROGUE ONE: A STAR WARS STORY
2016
*
The Rebels formulate a plan to steal the plans for the Empire's Death Star.
The first of the Star Wars 'spin-off' films, a prequel to the original picture, is a decent sci-fi actioner, a gritty war movie that feels very different to its predecessors but doesn't stand among the best of them. Technically splendid, certain things nevertheless irk: the washed-out, grey palette; the weak cast and its lifeless leads; the restriction of one of the greatest screen villains to around five minutes' footage; the lack of emotional attachment (more minor grumbles would be why are the Stormtroopers and AT-ATs so feeble?). Alarm bells should go off when most of the memorable lines come from a droid, and the chewy, exposition-heavy dialogue is often a bore. But there are a few great moments, and the CGI reinvention of a couple of old characters pushes cinema in thrilling new directions, even though these particular moments may soon date. It'll please many Star Wars addicts, but will even they become wearisome if we get a new film every single year?
Dir: Gareth Edwards
Stars: Felicity Jones, Diego Luna, Alan Tudyk, Donnie Yen, Ben Mendelsohn
ROLLERBALL
1975
*
In the 21st century, a violent sport helps release society's anti-social feelings.
The highlights of this parable are very much the action from the game, which perhaps illustrates that it's not as successfully intellectually as it'd like to be.
Dir: Norman Jewison
Stars: James Caan, John Houseman, Maud Adams
ROLLERCOASTER
1977
0
A blackmailer threatens to blow up a rollercoaster if his demands are not met.
Implausible thriller that goes on for too long.
Dir: James Goldstone
Stars: George Segal, Richard Widmark, Timothy Bottoms, Henry Fonda, Helen Hunt
ROMA
2018
**
Life for a middle-class Mexican family and their maid in the 1970s.
The most personal film this director will ever make, this drama won't be for everyone; it is impressively shot (Cuaron certainly loves his panning) and staged (some sequences must have required great planning to make the end result look so realistic), but it starts very slowly, which does pay off somewhat later on, though much of it is mundane and hard to be fully immersed in. The acting is largely naturalistic, which makes it seem colder still.
Dir: Alfonso Cuaron
Stars: Yalitza Aparicio, Marina de Tavira, Diego Cortina Autrey
ROMAN HOLIDAY
1953
**
A beautiful bored princess goes off on her own in Rome, where she meets a handsome newspaper reporter.
Simple, sweet, charming fairy tale taken to a different level by the stars and the location shooting; but nowhere near its director’s best film.
Dir: William Wyler
Stars: Gregory Peck, Audrey Hepburn, Eddie Albert, Hartley Power
ROMANCE
1999
0
A woman seeks fulfilment by taking a variety of lovers.
Chiefly notable for being one of the first sexually explicit mainstream films to be passed uncut by the BBFC, this French drama is humourless and soporific.
Dir: Catherine Breillat
Stars: Caroline Ducey, Rocco Siffredi, Sagamore Stevenin
ROMANCE WITH A DOUBLE BASS
1974
*
A musician has to hide a naked princess in his double bass case.
Slight comic short with half the Fawlty Towers team; more titillating than rib-tickling.
Dir: Robert Young
Stars: John Cleese, Connie Booth, Freddie Jones, Andrew Sachs
ROMANCING THE STONE
1984
*
A female novelist goes looking for her kidnapped sister in Colombia.
Slow to start, then watchable yarn that was a big box office success despite lacking the ambition and wonder of the Indiana Jones films.
Dir: Robert Zemeckis
Stars: Michael Douglas, Kathleen Turner, Danny DeVito
ROME EXPRESS
1932
*
Thieves and blackmailers are among the passengers on a train.
Allegedly the first ‘train movie’, and one that has dated more obviously than many of its successors.
Dir: Walter Forde
Stars: Conrad Veidt, Hugh Williams, Joan Barry
ROMEO AND JULIET
1936
*
Two teenagers pursue their love for each other despite the fact that their families have been at odds with each other for decades.
Hollywood Shakespeare for the masses, very acceptable, although the leads are a tad old.
Dir: George Cukor
Stars: Norma Shearer, Leslie Howard, John Barrymore, Basil Rathbone
ROMEO AND JULIET
1954
*
The weakest of the four best known versions of the tragedy, its plodding nature exposes the director’s incompetence and few of the actors make much impression, not least the leads. Trying not to nod off is a challenge.
Dir: Renato Castellani
Stars: Laurence Harvey, Susan Shentall, Flora Robson, Norman Wooland, Mervyn Johns, Bill Travers, Sebastian Cabot, John Gielgud
ROMEO AND JULIET
1968
**
A bracing, modern treatment made with spirit and gusto - the director deserves plaudits for his re-invigoration of Shakespeare.
Dir: Franco Zeffirelli
Stars: Leonard Whiting, Olivia Hussey, Milo O’Shea, Michael York
ROMEO & JULIET
2013
*
Pleasant but passionless adaptation which sees writer Julian Fellowes do some odd tinkering with the dialogue and a few of the actors either mumble (Steinfeld) or go over the top (Lewis). It looks nice and is never intolerable but really needed more gumption and conviction.
Dir: Carlo Carlei
Stars: Douglas Booth, Hailee Steinfeld, Damian Lewis, Natascha McElhone, Paul Giamatti
ROMPER STOMPER
1992
**
Skinheads beat up immigrants, but the worm begins to turn.
Powerful evocation of a disparate lifestyle, thrillingly made, thankfully free of sentimentality.
Dir: Geoffrey Wright
Stars: Russell Crowe, Daniel Pollock, Jacqueline McKenzie
LA RONDE
1950
*
Vignettes concerning a circle of lovers in Vienna.
The production has class but this is a pretty dull and unsympathetic film in which it's difficult to feel much for any of the characters. Is it about the passing of VD? It's certainly sexually candid for the time (very French) but much of the dialogue is in code.
Dir: Max Ophuls
Stars: Anton Walbrook, Simone Signoret, Serge Reggiani, Simone Simon
THE ROOM
2003
0
A woman cheats on her husband-to-be with his best friend.
For once, a film that is genuinely so bad it's good, or at least wildly enjoyable: literally everything about it is abominable and inept - the line readings (particularly Wiseau's), the bizarre 'plot', the lunatic characterisation, the stilted dialogue - but it's a hysterical, fun watch because you know that they're not trying to make a bad film; Wiseau thought he was making a good one, as detailed in James Franco's The Disaster Artist (qv). If movies could get drunk this would be the result, and it's one to perennially chortle through at late-night screenings with friends.
Dir: Tommy Wiseau
Stars: Tommy Wiseau, Greg Sestero, Juliette Danielle
ROOM
2015
***
A young boy and his mother exist in one room together.
Fine moviemaking, and a film of two distinct halves: the first one is preferable, all nervy and edgy, the second takes on a lot, and could never cover everything that would stem from the earlier events, but it makes a decent stab at it. So although it peaks well before the end, latterly becoming more 'Oscar-y', it's never less than a supremely polished, if often upsetting, attention-grabber.
Dir: Lenny Abrahamson
Stars: Brie Larson, Jacob Tremblay, Sean Bridgers, Joan Allen, William H Macy
ROOM AT THE TOP
1959
**
In Yorkshire, a working class man gets involved with two women he shouldn’t.
Said to be the first British film to take sex and the industrial north seriously, this ‘kitchen-sink’ drama has dated a bit, and probably always suffered from an irritating, unsympathetic lead.
Dir: Jack Clayton
Stars: Laurence Harvey, Simone Signoret, Heather Sears, Donald Wolfit, Donald Houston
ROOM IN ROME
2010
**
Two women have an intimate night in a hotel room at the beginning of summer.
The charms of two beautiful women who spend most of the film naked cannot be ignored, but this is an attractive, different film which is rarely a trial to watch. It’s a pity it goes on a touch too long and the soundtrack becomes a little repetitive and irritating.
Dir: Julio Medem
Stars: Elena Anaya, Natasha Yarovenko
ROOM TO LET
1949
*
A mysterious new lodger may be Jack the Ripper.
Quite an effective little melodrama, just over an hour long.
Dir: Godfrey Grayson
Stars: Jimmy Hanley, Valentine Dyall, Charles Hawtrey
ROOM 237
2012
**
Documentary examining various theories about the meaning of Stanley Kubrick's The Shining.
An enjoyable if largely unconvincing collection of conspiracy theories, which range from the totally absurd (Kubrick faked the Moon landings; that playing the film backwards and normally simultaneously is meaningful; that the baking powder tin signifies the film is about the destruction of the American Indians) to the probably wrong (that it's 2001 backwards; that items like the German typewriter signify that it's about the Holocaust). Much of what it says can be explained away by coincidence or continuity errors, and it's because Kubrick had such a reputation as an obsessive and meticulous filmmaker that this documentary has emerged: in truth, it probably says more about the human mind's striving to look for patterns even when there are none. No footage of the interviewees is used, the film mostly uses old film clips, including all of Kubrick's oeuvre.
Dir: Rodney Ascher
A ROOM WITH A VIEW
1985
*
In the early 1900s, a young English woman must decide between her stoic fiance and a more exciting young man.
Elegant period piece which will reward those who can tune into its wavelength, which might include the audience of, to pick an arthouse example entirely at random, the Little Theatre in Bath. Those not on its wavelength may struggle to be immersed in the proceedings, what with its abstract dialogue and poised performances, although you can always bask in being transported back to a bucolic, unfailingly tidy England of yore.
Dir: James Ivory
Stars: Maggie Smith, Helena Bonham Carter, Denholm Elliott, Julian Sands, Simon Callow, Judi Dench, Daniel Day-Lewis
ROPE
1948
***
Two men murder a friend for the intellectual excitement of it, put him in a case and invite guests round to have a party in the room.
Often undervalued, Hitchcock's 'ten-minute take' experiment is an enthralling success, powered by the novelty of its storyline, striking performances and technical adeptness, part of which involves the gradual turning of the skyline from light to dark.
Dir: Alfred Hitchcock
Stars: James Stewart, Farley Granger, John Dall, Cedric Hardwicke
ROSALIE GOES SHOPPING
1988
0
A housewife provides for her family through credit card fraud.
Unsubtle satire on American consumerism that raises a few mild snorts.
Dir: Percy Adlon
Stars: Marianne Sagebrecht, Brad Davis, Judge Reinhold
THE ROSE TATTOO
1955
*
An Italian-American woman's problems start when her husband dies in a truck crash.
Does anyone really find Tennessee Williams entertaining? This predictably heated drama, which, unsurprisingly, can't escape its stage origins, presents his usual array of angry, shouty, dislikeable characters - although Lancaster's is a little different in that he comes across as a complete prat. Not without quality, of course, but it's such a struggle to care about what goes on.
Dir: Daniel Mann
Stars: Anna Magnani, Burt Lancaster, Marisa Pavan, Ben Cooper
ROSEBUD
1975
*
Palestinian terrorists kidnap five daughters of rich international figures.
Not a good film but one with some likeable elements, including a few nifty ideas by both terrorists and the authorities, and O’Toole in typically rakish mode; it’s a pity that most of the other actors seem to be encountering the English language for the first time. The plot has promise – and not a little topicality – but the clearly fading director fails, time after time, to edit long, extraneous scenes down to size and presides over many that look like they’re from a bad TV show.
Dir: Otto Preminger
Stars: Peter O’Toole, Cliff Gorman, Richard Attenborough, Claude Dauphin
ROSEMARY’S BABY
1968
****
A young couple unwittingly become involved with Satanists who call upon the Devil to impregnate the woman.
Superbly crafted suspenser which expertly escalates the tension and paranoia as the heroine realises she can trust no one; a bravura example of a subtle, persuasive supernatural thriller. The script is very close to the original book, and it's a gripping novel, but the film's further elevated by the perfect performances and the feel of late Sixties Manhattan and weirdness that Polanski manages to capture, while involving the viewer intimately in the plight of someone being relentlessly persecuted; one wants to rewatch it as soon as it finishes.
Dir: Roman Polanski
Stars: Mia Farrow, John Cassavetes, Ruth Gordon, Sidney Blackmer, Maurice Evans, Ralph Bellamy
ROSEMARY'S KILLER
1981
0
A killer last active at the end of World War Two seems to be slaying again.
Extremely thin slasher movie with decent moments, mostly provided by Tom Savini's gore effects; suspense is as minimal as the plot and the cast is nothing. Also known as The Prowler.
Dir: Joseph Zito
Stars: Vicky Dawson, Christopher Goutman, Farley Granger
ROSENCRANTZ & GUILDENSTERN ARE DEAD
1990
*
The story of Hamlet told from the perspective of two minor characters.
An odd little film which doesn’t really work, being over-reliant on self-consciously clever wordplay. The excitement of the original, some of which is here, is decidedly muted.
Dir: Tom Stoppard
Stars: Gary Oldman, Tim Roth, Richard Dreyfuss
ROSIE DIXON - NIGHT NURSE
1978
0
Attracted by a TV soap opera, a young woman decides to become a nurse.
Bright and breezy and brainless sex comedy with a decent array of elderly English comic actors mixed in with the nubile young nurses.
Dir: Justin Cartwright
Stars: Debbie Ash, Beryl Reid, John Le Mesurier, Arthur Askey, Liz Fraser, John Junkin, Lance Percival, Bob Todd, Leslie Ash
RUBY
1977
0
A widow suspects that her daughter is possessed by her late husband.
Ho-hum horror with a high death rate.
Dir: Curtis Harrington
Stars: Piper Laurie, Stuart Whitman, Roger Davis
RUBY
1992
*
Strip club owner Jack Ruby, the man who shot Lee Harvey Oswald, becomes involved with the Mafia and the CIA.
The fact/fiction mix is irritating, and makes it historically invalid, while the tale is not as gripping as, say, the tale of the assassination of JFK.
Dir: John Mackenzie
Stars: Danny Aiello, Sherilyn Fenn, Arliss Howard
RUBY SPARKS
2012
***
A writer creates his ideal woman and is surprised when she pops into existence.
A deliciously high concept that is handled adroitly, this dark romance says a lot about the nature of relationships and successfully sustains its central idea.
Dir: Jonathan Dayton, Valerie Faris
Stars: Paul Dano, Zoe Kazan, Chris Messina, Annette Bening, Antonio Banderas, Elliot Gould
RUDE BOY
1980
**
An aimless youth becomes a roadie for a punk rock group.
Essentially a film of The Clash on tour and a document of the decay of Great Britain, this semi-fictional, semi-fact project is fascinating viewing for all sorts of reasons, but could have done with a little more incident.
Dir: Jack Hazan, David Mingay
Stars: The Clash, Ray Gange
RUGGLES OF RED GAP
1935
*
An English valet is forced to move to the American west.
A canny comedy pointing out the differences between England and America, bolstered by the star, whose facial expressions are among his most homosexual ever. It's fondly remembered for his rendition of the Gettysburg address.
Dir: Leo McCarey
Stars: Charles Laughton, Mary Boland, Charles Ruggles, Zasu Pitts, Roland Young
THE RULES OF ATTRACTION
2002
*
A drug-dealing student has a detrimental effect on all those around him.
Narcissistic drama, not likeable, redeemed by some quirky touches.
Dir: Roger Avary
Stars: James Van Der Beek, Jessica Biel, Kate Bosworth
RULES OF ENGAGEMENT
2000
**
A long-serving US Marine is tried for the murder of Yemen citizens.
Solid drama which starts with breathtaking action then settles down into absorbing courtroom machinations.
Dir: William Friedkin
Stars: Tommy Lee Jones, Samuel L Jackson, Guy Pearce, Ben Kingsley
THE RULING CLASS
1972
*
The new Earl Of Gurney believes himself to be Jesus Christ.
At around 17 and a half hours long (or thereabouts...) this really is a pretty tiresome and unsubtle polemic against the old British establishment that still looks like a filmed play, despite its excursions into wild fantasy. Do some viewers really like this as much as they say they do?
Dir: Peter Medak
Stars: Peter O'Toole, Arthur Lowe, Alistair Sim, Carolyn Seymour, James Villers, Nigel Green
RUN FATBOY RUN
2007
0
A man tries to win back his love by running a marathon.
The most hateful British comedy since Love Actually, a film that could have been written by a computer programmed with hideous clichés, inane incidents and stupid swearing (how disgusting that the BBFC only gave it a 12A). It’s infuriating that something so offensively awful could actually make money.
Dir: David Schwimmer
Stars: Simon Pegg, Thandie Newton, Hank Azaria, Dylan Moran
A RUN FOR YOUR MONEY
1949
*
Two Welsh miners win a trip to London.
Mild, not unpleasing Ealing comedy with some fine location shooting showing how the capital used to be.
Dir: Charles Frend
Stars: Donald Houston, Moira Lister, Alec Guinness, Hugh Griffith
RUN FOR YOUR WIFE
2013
0
A taxi driver who has two wives at different ends of London gets into all sorts of trouble.
Remarkable that it was made in this day and age, this is a sadly anachronistic farce that spectacularly failed to find any sort of audience, not surprisingly. There's barely one laugh in it as the complications get ever more inane and uninteresting, although a very small amount of pleasure can be found counting the numerous cameos from ageing performers (including Robin Askwith, Donald Sinden, Richard Briers, Cliff Richard, Rolf Harris, June Whitfield, Maureen Lipman, Andrew Sachs and many, many more). The funniest thing is that a sequel is promised at the end!
Dir: Ray Cooney, John Luton
Stars: Danny Dyer, Denise Van Outen, Sarah Harding, Neil Morrissey, Christopher Biggins
RUN LOLA RUN
1999
***
A girl has 20 minutes to get a large amount of money to save her boyfriend’s life.
Brisk, quirky thriller which offers three different versions of what could happen to the characters - this novelty, plus many other inventive touches, make it fresh and arresting.
Dir: Tom Tykwer
Stars: Franka Potente, Moritz Bleibtreu
RUNAWAY
1984
*
In the future, police tackle an evil mastermind who is crippling robots.
Lightweight but entertaining sci-fi.
Dir: Michael Crichton
Stars: Tom Selleck, Cynthia Rhodes, Gene Simmons, Kirstie Alley
THE RUNAWAY BUS
1953
*
Crooks take advantage of the confusion at a fog-enveloped London Airport.
Howerd's first feature has a cosy, English appeal that partly masks its technical limitations and vague plotting. It could never be remade today for a thousand reasons.
Dir: Val Guest
Stars: Frankie Howerd, Margaret Rutherford, George Coulouris, Terence Alexander, Petula Clark
RUN FATBOY RUN
2007
0
A man tries to win back his love by running a marathon.
The most hateful British comedy since Love Actually, a film that could have been written by a computer programmed with hideous clichés, inane incidents and stupid swearing (how disgusting that the BBFC only gave it a 12A). It’s infuriating that something so offensively awful could actually make money.
Dir: David Schwimmer
Stars: Simon Pegg, Thandie Newton, Hank Azaria, Dylan Moran
A RUN FOR YOUR MONEY
1949
*
Two Welsh miners win a trip to London.
Mild, not unpleasing Ealing comedy with some fine location shooting showing how the capital used to be.
Dir: Charles Frend
Stars: Donald Houston, Moira Lister, Alec Guinness, Hugh Griffith
RUN FOR YOUR WIFE
2013
0
A taxi driver who has two wives at different ends of London gets into all sorts of trouble.
Remarkable that it was made in this day and age, this is a sadly anachronistic farce that spectacularly failed to find any sort of audience, not surprisingly. There's barely one laugh in it as the complications get ever more inane and uninteresting, although a very small amount of pleasure can be found counting the numerous cameos from ageing performers (including Robin Askwith, Donald Sinden, Richard Briers, Cliff Richard, Rolf Harris, June Whitfield, Maureen Lipman, Andrew Sachs and many, many more). The funniest thing is that a sequel is promised at the end!
Dir: Ray Cooney, John Luton
Stars: Danny Dyer, Denise Van Outen, Sarah Harding, Neil Morrissey, Christopher Biggins
RUN LOLA RUN
1999
***
A girl has 20 minutes to get a large amount of money to save her boyfriend’s life.
Brisk, quirky thriller which offers three different versions of what could happen to the characters - this novelty, plus many other inventive touches, make it fresh and arresting.
Dir: Tom Tykwer
Stars: Franka Potente, Moritz Bleibtreu
RUNAWAY
1984
*
In the future, police tackle an evil mastermind who is crippling robots.
Lightweight but entertaining sci-fi.
Dir: Michael Crichton
Stars: Tom Selleck, Cynthia Rhodes, Gene Simmons, Kirstie Alley
THE RUNAWAY BUS
1953
*
Crooks take advantage of the confusion at a fog-enveloped London Airport.
Howerd's first feature has a cosy, English appeal that partly masks its technical limitations and vague plotting. It could never be remade today for a thousand reasons.
Dir: Val Guest
Stars: Frankie Howerd, Margaret Rutherford, George Coulouris, Terence Alexander, Petula Clark
RUNAWAY RAILWAY
1966
0
Children attempt to stop the closure of a local railway.
A sort of Titfield Thunderbolt for kids from the CFF, and what a valiant effort they made in trying to promote British culture in the face of US imports. It's fine for the intended audience; there are some smiles and nice shots of steam engines. Barker sadly doesn't have many lines; Graham Stark gets awfully close to the speeding trains.
Dir: Jan Darnley-Smith
Stars: John Moulder-Brown, Kevin Bennett, Roberta Tovey, Sydney Tafler, Ronnie Barker
THE RUNNING JUMPING & STANDING STILL FILM
1959
*
On a Sunday afternoon, English people mess around in nature.
This unhinged short (11 minutes) has long been notable for being an early effort of Beatles director Richard Lester and two of the Goons, and has been cited as being an influence on Monty Python. It is avant garde eccentricity that doesn't raise a huge number of laughs but does make one smile and arch the brow a little because of its surreal nuttiness.
Dir: Richard Lester
Stars: Peter Sellers, Spike Milligan, Leo McKern
THE RUNNING MAN
1988
*
In 2017, criminals have to take part in a televised game of death; one, who has been framed, fights back with a vengeance.
Sci-fi smash 'em up more concerned with action than satire, and why not?
Dir: Paul Michael Glaser
Stars: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Maria Conchita Alonso, Yaphet Kotto
RUNNING SCARED
1986
0
Two policemen's plans of retiring are halted by a battle with drug dealers.
Assembly line comic thriller with miscast leads.
Dir: Peter Hyams
Stars: Gregory Hines, Billy Crystal, Steven Bauer
RUPTURE
2016
0
A mother is kidnapped and tortured by aliens.
Dismal sci-fi horror which after an intriguing beginning plummets into a beer-lit netherworld rife with torture devices. Not much fun for anyone.
Dir: Steven Shainberg
Stars: Noomi Rapace, Peter Stormare, Kerry Bishe, Michael Chiklis
RUSH
2013
**
The rivalry between Formula One drivers Niki Lauda and James Hunt reaches its peak in the 1976 season.
Solid sporting drama which takes a little while to move into top gear, and has a wee bit of soapyness, but eventually grips thanks to the story's unusual details, a sense of humour, good lead performances and very well shot racing sequences.
Dir: Ron Howard
Stars: Daniel Bruhl, Chris Hemsworth, Alexandra Maria Lara, Olivia Wilde
RUSHMORE
1998
*
An unconventionally talented teenage boy falls for a woman teacher.
For some of us, Wes Anderson films are the equivalent of a person you can just never fully get along with - maybe there's nothing wrong with them, but you're just like chalk and cheese. This 'quirky' school drama (the word 'quirky' has become synonymous with Anderson) isn't among his worst but it is odd and relentlessly unendearing for non-acolytes. As ever, none of the characters feel anything approaching real, and it isn't funny - except, perhaps, the Serpico stage play.
Dir: Wes Anderson
Stars: Jason Schwartzman, Bill Murray, Olivia Williams, Seymour CasselTHE RUSSIANS ARE COMING THE RUSSIANS ARE COMING
1966
0
A Russian submarine runs aground off a small New England town.
Long, laboured and not at all funny comedy which, if it had a slightly different tone, could be a very sinister and dark movie indeed.
Dir: Norman Jewison
Stars: Carl Reiner, Alan Arkin, Eva Marie Saint, Brian Keith, Paul Ford
RUTHLESS PEOPLE
1986
**
A rich businessman’s wife is kidnapped, but he refuses to pay the ransom because he would prefer she was killed.
Beguiling farce of ever-deepening complications.
Dir: Jim Abrahams, David Zucker, Jerry Zucker
Stars: Danny DeVito, Bette Midler, Judge Reinhold, Helen Slater
1966
0
A Russian submarine runs aground off a small New England town.
Long, laboured and not at all funny comedy which, if it had a slightly different tone, could be a very sinister and dark movie indeed.
Dir: Norman Jewison
Stars: Carl Reiner, Alan Arkin, Eva Marie Saint, Brian Keith, Paul Ford
RUTHLESS PEOPLE
1986
**
A rich businessman’s wife is kidnapped, but he refuses to pay the ransom because he would prefer she was killed.
Beguiling farce of ever-deepening complications.
Dir: Jim Abrahams, David Zucker, Jerry Zucker
Stars: Danny DeVito, Bette Midler, Judge Reinhold, Helen Slater
