C'est le bouquet! (2002) - Jeanne Labrune

One of these delightful little gems of the French cinema. Pokes fun at everything from the French revolution, Yuppies, Kieslowski to Clinton (Bill) via the Boston Brahmins. Politically incorrect to the hilt while remaining very correct by admonishing us for laughing at all the racist jokes. A lesson for anyone who wants to know how to make a romantic comedy. The dialogue is sparkling and the star cast delivers it well - the always excellent Jean-Pierre Darroussin coupled with the ravishing Sandrine Kiberlain, plus the old and the famous Jean-Claude Brialy and Maurice Bénichou. Add to this the dependables Dominique Blanc and Mathieu Amalric and what you have is nothing short of a casting coup. Vive la France! If you think the French version of 'Three men and a baby' was much better than the American one, then this is the film for you. I had never heard of Jeanne Labrune (the director), but she is definitely worth the discovery.

Uranus (1990) - Claude Berri

Post-war France at its best and worst - the communists trying to prove their patriotism by catching collaborators, everyone trying to prove their innocence with someone else's guilt, with the inevitable results - some innocents are punished and some guilty remain unpunished but not very happy either. A very theatrical production featuring some of the greatest contemporary French actors: Gérard Depardieu as a touching bar owner who is passionate about alcohol and Racine, in that order, Philippe Noiret as a cynical but happy professor, Michel Blanc as a level-headed but headstrong communist, Michel Galabru as a war profiteer, and Jean-Pierre Marielle as a Petainist with a guilt conscience. As a bonus, a very young Fabrice Luchini plays a communist from a bourgeois background and the baggage that comes with it. All in all, the kind of Cinema of Quality that Truffaut and his fellow new wave directors abhorred, but that thrives in France and is popular the world over. A kind of Merchant-Ivory production in the French tradition.

First, the bad news: If you think Tarantino is god's gift to mankind, you are in for a big disappointment. (Aside: I don't, so I wasn't.)

Now the good news: If you like westerns and if you can get all the 'in' jokes about Pabst and Riefenstahl and Clouzot, you may actually enjoy watching those bits of the film. I was the only person laughing in the full house.

Woman of the Dunes (1964) - Hiroshi Teshigahara

"Do you shovel to survive, or survive to shovel? "

The images of sand and a few close-ups alone would make this worth watching, but there is a lot more to see here. Sisyphean and haunting.

Murderers and thieves (1957) - Sacha Guitry

To get you out of blues, nothing like a good old Sacha Guitry, with his tales of infidel hunsbands and wives. Jean Poiret paired off with a young Michel Serrault as a gullible thief. The court testimony scene (with the wrong witness) is hilarious.

No Country for Old Men (2007) - Ethan Coen, Joel Coen

The kind of film only Americans can make. A nice blend of bleak irony, wry humour and southern warmth; some great dialogue (thanks to Cormac McCarthy, of course) in the midst of epic Western visuals. The golden Western of bygone days made modern. Fal...ls a fair bit short becoming a modern classic, though.

Sheriff Bell: I always figured when I got older, God would sorta come inta my life somehow. And he didn't. I don't blame him. If I was him I would have the same opinion of me that he does.

Carla Jean Moss: I got a bad feeling, Llewelyn.
Llewelyn Moss: Well I got a good feeling, so that should even out.

Loretta Bell: Be careful.
Sheriff Bell: I always am.
Loretta Bell: Don't get hurt.
Sheriff Bell: I never do.
Loretta Bell: Don't hurt no one.
Sheriff Bell: [smiles] Well. If you say so.

Family Life (1971) - Krzysztof Zanussi

A brilliant film from a brilliant director. The crumbling of a former oligarchy during the communist regime. The son is in denial of his bourgeois roots, but can't really escape who he is. Excellent performances by two giants of Polish cinema - Daniel Olbrychski and Maja Komorowska as the son and daughter of the oligarch.