Tulpan (KZ, 2008)

Unsentimental portrayal of an isolated shepherding family/community in Kazakhstan, plus a rare opportunity to see the bleakly beautiful steppe on film.

Une Femme Douce/A Gentle Woman(FR, 1969)

Film adaptation of a Dostoyevsky novella which charts the marriage of a young student and her cold pawn-broker husband. A fairly typical Bressonian piece - sparse, good-looking and unhappy.

Tomboy (FR, 2011)

A young girl passes herself off as a boy and soon plays football and fights with the best of them. Eventually the practicalities catch up with her and the truth is faced up to - it's not all bad though.

It's a 'nice' piece and well filmed.

The Awakening (UK, 2011)

A decent supernatural/psychological thriller starring Rebecca Hall.

The Cremator/Spalovac Mrtvol (CZ, 1969)

A banal yet curious crematorium operator of dubious German bloodline, expands his business in the recently occupied Czechoslovakia. Despite intelligence and sensitivity, initial reservations are overcome with little persuasion, and Mr. Kopfrkingl soon demonstrates an aptitude to his new masters.

While it is a sad and shocking film, there is, as with other CZ\SK masterpieces, some hauntingly beautiful music and cinematography, with what even now seem like inventive flourishes.

The Ides of March (US, 2011)

An almost all star cast delivers a reasonably good political thriller.

Jack Goes Boating (US, 2010)

Bumbler Jack (Philip Seymour Hoffman) learns to swim and cook and gradually gets it together with the likeable Connie. There is much to commend in this movie: rarely are the lives of ordinary, lost, anonymous people on whom middle age is encroaching portrayed on celluloid; there are some original, articulate moments, an underlying positivity and it's too down to earth to get quirky in a bad way.

Yet these somewhat negated by the flare-up between their friends Clyde and Lucy. While not expecting a happily-ever-after, the overall feeling at the end is mixed.

Intimate Lighting / Intimni Osvetleni (CZ, 1965)

Peter and his beautiful girlfriend visit friend and fellow musician Bambas and his family in the sticks. No major events or revelations occur here, but the performances are entirely natural and it's beautifully filmed.