collections

May 13, 2008 - This week's collection brings you a selection of the best British films of the 20th Century. From classic dramas to absurd comedies, these films have been rated by members of the film industry as some of the top 100 to come out of the U.K. in the last hundred years. This Sporting Life paints a moving portrait of a coal miner who discovers his hidden talent as a rugby player. Unfortunately, his success on the field doesn't translate to his life off the field where he struggles to find love and meaning beyond the game. Like many classic films, This Sporting Life was not well received when it was first released but has since become a classic of British Cinema. Kind Hearts and Coronets is a comedy about the black sheep of a well-to-do family who sets out for revenge against the rest of his relatives for not allowing his mother to be buried in the family crypt. He proceeds to kill them off one by one in hilariously inventive ways. His plot hits a snag though when he falls for one of the widows of his victims. A period piece, yes, but still chock full of laughs. And of course, Monty Python and the Holy Grail. No survey of British cinema would be complete without it. What can be said about this film that hasn't been said already? The Black Knight always triumphs! For more on these films, click here.

This Sporting Life One of the finest British films ever made, this benchmark of "kitchen-sink realism" follows the self-defeating…   more  Monty Python and the Holy Grail This classic Monty Python comedy, directed by Pythons Terry Gilliam and Terry Jones, is a hilarious send-up…   more  The Red Shoes Powell and Pressburger, who called their unique creative partnership The Archers, were no strangers to controversy…   more    The Third Man Pulp novelist Holly Martins travels to shadowy, postwar Vienna, only to find himself investigating the mysterious…   more  Kind Hearts and Coronets KIND HEARTS AND CORONETS is a deft and dark comedy with Alec Guinness in superb form as he plays eight different…   more  The Servant In THE SERVANT, Joseph Losey’s 10th film made in the U.K. after his 1951 blacklisting in the U.S., the powerful…   more    Brazil 3 Disc Set. BRAZIL is Terry Gilliam's masterpiece. The film, cowritten by Gilliam, playwright Tom Stoppard…   more  Gandhi His triumph changed the world forever. Sir Richard Attenborough's sweeping biography of Mohandas Gandhi, who…   more  Henry V Laurence Olivier brings to vivid life Shakespeare's King Henry V, the epitome of the ideal Christian king…   more    Mona Lisa Ex-con George, expecting to be repaid after taking a fall for his crime boss, is reduced to driving classy…   more  Peeping Tom Michael Powell directed this groundbreaking study in voyeurism, cinema, and obsession. When Mark was a…   more  Don't Look Now Nicolas Roeg's third film--after the brash PERFORMANCE (1970) and meditative WALKABOUT (1971)--is a haunting…   more