8:30pm Sat 10th January

It boasts a highly accomplished director in Mike Nichols, a stellar cast led by Tom Hanks, Julia Roberts and Philip Seymour Hoffman, and a smart, intelligent screenplay by Aaron Sorkin – so why did Charlie Wilson’s War bomb at cinemas? My guess is the film was unfairly lumped in with a string of other movies dealing with US involvement in wars in the Middle East and the region’s murky politics—taboo subjects for most cinemagoers.

More’s the pity, because this is a highly entertaining, engaging and poignant drama based on the true story of an obscure Texan Congressman who singlehandedly manoeuvred the US government into providing the weapons and finance which enabled the Mujahedeen rebels to drive the Russians out of Afghanistan in the 1980s, and in the process end the Cold War. It’s a bit of a stretch initially to accept Hanks as a boozy, coke-sniffing, philandering playboy-lawmaker. But Wilson undergoes a metamorphosis after wealthy Texan socialite and one-time lover Joanne Herring (Roberts) arranges for him to meet with Pakistan's President Zia (a wry Om Puri). Zia invites a reluctant Charlie to visit a vast Afghani refugee camp where he’s appalled by the sight of kids with missing limbs and tales of rape and torture. Aided by crusty CIA agent Gust Avrakotos (Philip Seymour Hoffman), Wilson persuades his colleagues in Congress to massively increase the budget for what turned out to be the biggest, most expensive and most successful covert operation in military history. Hanks and Roberts spark beautifully off each other, Hoffman exudes gruff and guile, and Amy Adams is a delight as Charlie's loyal assistant. It turned out to by a Pyrrhic victory. All these years later, we’re still seeing the lamentable results of the failure of US policy in the region. As the movie points out, Wilson won that war but couldn’t persuade Congress to fund the reconstruction of Afghanistan, leaving the country vulnerable to the insurgents who never give up.

8:30pm Sat 10th January

Light years removed from his Bruce Wayne/Batman persona, Christian Bale movingly portrays a real-life hero, German-born US fighter pilot Dieter Dengler, in writer-director Werner Herzog’s Rescue Dawn.

Based on actual events, it’s a saga of survival and comradeship after Dengler, on his first combat mission, is shot down over Laos in 1965, during the Vietnam War. He’s soon captured by Laotian soldiers who torture him in various ways, hanging him upside down with an ant's nest tied to his face, nearly drowning him in a well, and having a cow drag him by rope across a village. He ends up in a POW camp, where he meets fellow Americans, the introverted Duane (Steve Zahn) and half-crazy Gene (Jeremy Davies), plus three nondescript South-East Asian prisoners, and starts to plot their escape. Looking nearly as thin as he did in The Machinist, Bale bravely endures all sorts of hardships in the jungles and rivers of Thailand, ably supported by a befuddled Zahn and a truly emaciated Davies. Herzog has a sure grasp of the subject, which he first chronicled in his 1997 documentary Little Dieter Needs to Fly, in which he took Dengler back to the jungle and re-created his escape while Dengler provided the narration. The film’s main weakness is that the narrative bogs down in the confines of the POW camp, although it evolves into a compelling psychological study of how men cope with brutality and privation. It regains momentum with the escape, which entails numerous twists and turns on the path to salvation. The movie packs several emotional punches, in between stretches where not a lot happens. Brooding, gloomy music by Klaus Badelt plus classical and chamber performances and passages by German New Age band Popol Vuh, effectively underscore the shifting moods.

8:30pm Fri 23rd January

Hailed by many Merchant/Ivory admirers as the best work of their illustrious careers, The Remains of the Day was nominated for eight Oscars—and it was very stiff to go gong-less in a year when Schindler’s List dominated the awards.

Based on the 1989 Booker Prize-winning novel by Kazuo Ishiguro and scripted by director James Ivory’s long-time collaborator Ruth Prawer Jhabvala, it’s a gripping, lushly photographed Upstairs/Downstairs tale set largely at Darlington Hall, the Oxford mansion of Lord Darlington (James Fox, in his element). A seemingly decent, well-meaning chap, Darlington’s support for Germany sees him use his influence to become a leading appeaser of Hitler as 1939 approaches; later he’s branded as a traitor. Anthony Hopkins is magnificent as Stevens, the quintessential butler who sacrifices his personal life to serve his master, while remaining blind to Darlington’s Nazi sympathies. The core of the film is the often edgy relationship between the repressed Stevens and Miss Kenton (Emma Thompson), the beautiful, smart and super-efficient housekeeper. Thompson is terrific, alternating between being feisty and flirtatious. A sub-plot involves Stevens and his elderly father (Peter Vaughan), whom he hires as the under-butler. Many years later, Stevens sets off for the west country to see Miss Kenton, now Mrs. Benn, whom he believes is ready to come back to Darlington Hall after her marriage fails. The ending is truly shattering, evoking great sympathy for both characters. Hugh Grant as Lord Darlington’s journo godson shows early flair for what was to become his trademark elegant fop, while indulging in a funny “birds and bees” conversation with the bemused butler. This is a sumptuous, classy production, chronicling unrequited passion and a vanished way of life.