Weekend At Crombie's

It's 1998 and heavyweight writer Steven Zaillian brings John Travolta and Robert Duvall to head up a packed roster of acting superstars in this legal drama. Buckle up for more fun than you can have pouring a glass of water over a conference table.

It's 1977 and Ridley Scott makes his directorial debut with this epic tale of French soldiers Keith Carradine and Harvey Keitel duelling their way through the Napoleonic Wars. Sadly, James could not be persuaded to style his hair in cadenettes for the review. 

It's 1980 (or is it?) and the director of Santa Claus: The Movie (him again!) brings together Christopher Reeve and Jane Seymour in this time-travel romance. There's a lot going on in this film, that may have unintentionally proved itself to be a better treatise on time-travel than romance. And, of course, proves that everything it better when you're eating chicken.

It's 1994 and writer-director John Sayles takes us to the magical isle of Roan Inish for a heartwarming tale of a post-war family in Ireland. Neither one of our gentlemen-philosophers knew of this film (although that does nothing to stop that accents), but were surprised to discover that it had more to offer than just a recipe for seaweed soup.

It's 1990 and Bill Murray - somewhere in his career between Ghostbusters and Groundhog Day - wrote, directed and starred in the comedy caper with Geena Davis and Randy Quaid. Thoroughly tickled, our two gentlemen philosophers look into why such an obvious success proved such a box office failure.

Controversy reigns and James opens his big box of stats and the two gentlemen philosophers take a look back at the films of the past year, and the whole series. We now have enough data to release our 'Five Films To See Before You Die', and 'Five Films To Die Before You See Them'. Exciting stuff.  

It's 2002 and Stephen Frears directs this British social thriller with a cast of future stars: Chiwetel Ejiofor, Audrey Tautou, Sergi López, Sophie Okonedo and Benedict Wong. Our last film of the year, and it's one that may steal your heart (and possibly kidney too).

We complete our review of David Fincher's career with his fourth (and hopefully not final) decade: the biopic of screenwriter Herman J. Mankiewicz, co-author of Citizen Kane. Gary Oldman, Amanda Seyfried and Charles Dance head up the cast of this homage to 1930s' filmmaking.

It's 1992 and Billy Bob Thornton writes and co-stars this neo-noir crime thriller, along with Bill Paxton, Cynda Williams and Michael Beach. Despite critical acclaim, this one appears to have fallen out of the collective memory, and James doesn't know why. Huw has a pretty good idea.

It's 1993 and action director extraordinaire Renny Harlin takes Sylvester Stallone up the Dolomites. With some outstanding practical effects and a John Lithgow villain at his sneering best, this was 90s action at its peak.

For our autumn instalment, get ready to poke, like, and update your relationship status like it's 2004! We look at David Fincher's third decade of filmmaking - the point where he'd become synonymous with excellent films making a lot of money - and teamed up with writer Aaron Sorkin to tell the story of Facebook in a digital age Citizen Kane.

Two mismatched and desperate men struggle against the inevitability of their own doom... but enough about our hosts, let's watch Figures in a Landscape! It's 1970 and relative newcomers Robert Shaw and Malcolm McDowell star in a chase thriller that has since disappeared over the horizon.

It's 1988 and George Lucas has turned his world-building talents to the fantasy genre, crafting an epic tale of sorcery and heroism, starring Warwick Davis, Val Kilmer, Joanne Whalley and Jean Marsh. It's a deep nostalgia dive for our two gentlemen philosophers as they debate 'Is Willow better than doing the ironing?'.

It's 1982 and maverick director Samuel Fuller creates one of his final movies, the experimental and controversial White Dog. Buried at its original release, and restored by The Criterion Collection, our two gentlemen philosophers approach this unloved mutt with trepidation and a bag full of hamburgers.

For our summer instalment, we look at David Fincher's second decade of filmmaking, specifically the thriller Panic Room! Starring Jodie Foster, Forest Whitaker, Kristen Stewart and Jared Leto, this one's an absolute gem.

It's 1994 and superstars Geena Davis and Michael Keaton are brought together for a romantic comedy that crashed at the box office and has since disappeared from existence (seriously - this film was hard to find!) We give Speechless another appraisal and weigh up whether it is a lost gem, or something we should never speak of again.

It's 1981 and Matthew Robbins is at the helm of this dark fantasy tale starring Peter MacNicol, Caitlin Clarke, Ralph Richardson, Ian McDiarmid and the finest dragon ever committed to screen, Vermithrax Pejorative. No virgins were harmed in the making of this production, although we may yet discover James' recipe for poached eggs.

It's 1991 and Disney takes flight into the superhero genre with an adaptation of a comic book hero. With Jennifer Connelly, Alan Arkin, Timothy Dalton, Paul Sorvino and Terry O'Quinn in supporting roles, we take a look at why this one crashed after take-off. Dripping with 1930s nostalgia, director Joe Johnston was later to enjoy much greater success along the same lines with Captain America: The First Avenger.

A brand new spin-off from the team that brought you Weekend At Crombie's. In this four-part series, once a quarter, we will examine the work of a single director, whose work spans the decades. Beginning with David Fincher's acclaimed (and still terrifying) feature: Morgan Freeman and Brad Pitt face a vicious serial killer in Se7en. Also: spoiler alert for Se7en. (James made me put that in. But come on, if you haven't seen Se7en. Go and watch Se7en)

It's 1982 and writer-director Robert Towne brings us a track-and-field drama that fell at the first box-office hurdle. With Mariel Hemingway, Patrice Donnelly and Scott Glenn, this one deserved a second chance on the podium.