robert-bucknor's - FAVOURITES List

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A chilling exploration of the future is also a compelling examination of the present in George Lucas' THX 1138, starring Robert Duvall as a man whose mind and body are controlled by the government.

THX makes a harrowing attempt to escape from a world where thoughts are controlled, freedom is an impossibility and love is the ultimate crime.

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After saving the lives of his platoon during the Korean War, Sergeant Raymond Shaw (Laurence Harvey) is hailed as a bona fide American hero.

This couldn't have come at a better time for his mother (Angela Lansbury) who is hell-bent on boosting the career of his stepfather, a senator straight from the McCarthyite wing of the US political spectrum with designs on the Presidency. So far so familiar - but why does Shaw's former captain (Frank Sinatra) have recurring nightmares that suggest that his distinguished comrade-in-arms might not be all that he seems?

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Former private eye Harry Kilmer (Robert Mitchum) knows a lot about Japan - and the gangsters who keep an iron grip on its gambling, prostitution and protection rackets. He knows there's a right way to approach the brutal underworld.

And he knows there's one thing powerful mobsters respect: greater power.

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Powerful, passionate and thought-provoking, 'The Last Temptation of Christ' is the extraordinary film that follows Jesus Christ's journey as He accepts His divinity and ultimate fate.

Academy Award winner Martin Scorsese directs an all-star cast of Willem Dafoe, Barbara Hershey and Harvey Keitel through this visually breathtaking re-imagining of faith and sacrifice, guilt and redemption, sin and atonement Based on the acclaimed novel by Nikos Kazantzakis, it is a masterpiece of cinematic achievement that has endured as one of the must-see films of all time.

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Crash-landing on Earth from his dying planet, an alien humanoid travelling by the name of Thomas Jerome Newton (David Bowie) uses his superior intelligence to build a vast business empire.

As he takes on - and beats - every US corporation, people can only guess at his true purpose: to save his dying world from agonising death by drought. Newton's ageless fall from grace, as he becomes prey to lust, alcohol, business rivals and finally, the US Government, makes 'The Man Who Fell to Earth' not only a bitingly caustic indictment of the modern world, but also a poignant commentary on the loneliness of the outsider.

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A spaceship lands in Washington, D.C., capturing the attention of the world. But the peaceful alien emissary (Michael Rennie) it brings fails to earn the public's trust.

When a young woman and her son befriend him, they soon realise they may be all that stands between the human race and total destruction.

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Stanley Kubrick's classic black comedy about a group of war-eager military men who plan a nuclear apocalypse is both funny and frightening - and seems as relevant today as ever. Through a series of military and political accidents, two psychotic generals - U.S. Air Force Commander Jack D.

Ripper (Sterling Hayden) and Joint Chief of Staff "Buck" Turgidson (George C. Scott) - trigger an ingenious, irrevocable scheme to attack Russia's strategic targets with nuclear bombs. The brains behind the scheme belong to Dr Strangelove (Peter Sellers), a wheelchair-bound nuclear scientist who has bizarre ideas about man's future. The President (also Sellers) is helpless to stop the bombers, as is Captain Mandrake (Sellers once again). Dr. Sstrangelove is truly a classic film.

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An earthquake releases a bunch of mutant cockroaches that can create fire by rubbing their cerci together.

Eventually, most of the bugs die because they cannot survive in the low air pressure on the Earth's surface, but a scientist, Professor James Parmiter (Bradford Dillman), keeps one alive in a pressure chamber. He successfully breeds the mutant cockroach with a modern cockroach, creating a breed of intelligent, flying super-cockroaches.

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It happens with a startling swiftness and violence. An armed cadre seizes state control. Fortunately, a coup d' etat can't happen here. Or can it? A classic of suspense directed by John Frankenheimer and written for the screen by Rod Sterling , 'Seven Days in May' tautly explores that possibility.

At odds are a popular general and joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman (Burt Lancaster) and an unpopular President (Fredric March) with a pacifist agenda. At stake is the survival of the Republic. A vigilant colonel (Kirk Douglas) uncovers the scheme. But are the seven fateful days ahead enough time to derail a takeover? The clock is ticking.

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All seven one-off episodes of the BBC anthology comedy series, starring Ronnie Barker.

Open All Hours
This was our first sight of Arkwright, the miserly Northern shopkeeper who victimises his delivery boy and nephew (played by David Jason).
Prisoner and Escort

Fletcher, the career criminal, became Barker's most famous character. In this episode he meets future guards MacKay and Barrowclough.
My Old Man
Barker plays retired and embittered engine-driver Sam Cobbett, the last tenant to leave his house in a road condemned by the council.
Spanner's Eleven
This Roy Clarke scripted comedy revolves around Albert Spanner, hot dog seller and team coach for the dismal Ashfield Athletic Football Club.
Another Fine Mess
This excellent homage to Laurel and Hardy finds Barker as Ollie teamed with Roy Castle as Stan.
One Man's Meat
Barker, under the pseudonym Jack Goetz, wrote this story of a man desperate to escape a starvation diet imposed by his wife.
I'll Fly You for a Quid
This Clement and La Frenais story finds Barker as gambling Welshman Evan Owen determined to retrieve his late father's winning betting slip.

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Set against the moody, misty backdrop of rural England, 'Vampyres' sees a pair of beautiful young bisexual vampires, Fran (Marianne Morris) and Miriam (Anulka Dziubinska), stalking the quiet country roads in search of fresh male victims to lure back to their crumbling gothic mansion.

But when Fran decides to keep her latest prey, handsome stranger Ted (Murray Brown), on as her lover, and a pair of overly-curious holidaymakers set up camp in the house's grounds, the vampyres' grisly way of life comes under threat.

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An irreverent, uplifting comedy about friendship, trust and human possibility.

Based on a true story of friendship between handicapped millionaire (Francois Cluzet) and his street smart ex-con caretaker (Omar Sy), "Untouchable" depicts an unlikely camaraderie rooted in honesty and humour between two individuals who, on the surface, would seem to have nothing in common.

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Karen McCann's (Sally Field) orderly life is shattered when a stranger breaks into her home and murders her 17-year-old daughter. But shock and grief turn into rage and disbelief when the killer (Kiefer Sutherland) is released on a legal technicality.

When he commits another murder - and is set free once again - Karen is determined to make him pay for his crimes.

A little lost alien, three million light years away from home. A lonely ten-year old boy willing to take him home. Two lives changed by a timeless adventure and a friendship that knows no earthly bounds.

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Doomed by diminishing oxygen and falling temperatures on their own planet, the Martians covet the rich atmosphere and fertile fields of the planet Earth. One night, a huge, flaming projectile lands near the little Californian town of Linda Rosa.

Similar objects have landed in other parts of the world. The war of the worlds is on!