Roaring Roads (1935)

A rather goofy comedy-romance-action-crime film that shouldn't be taken too seriously. David (David Sharpe) is the last remaining male heir to millions and his aunts and servants try to keep him in cotton wool much to David's disgust. David finally escapes his aunts and meets Gertrude (Gertrude Messinger). Her brother has been injured in a lucrative motor race, David decides to take his place in order to try and win Gertrude's heart...

However, some gangsters are out to try and stop him winning. David's servants are also out to try and stop him and bring him home safely. It all culminates in a fast-paced bit of slapstick action and a rather poor fight.

Not a masterpiece of cinema by any means but a very passable way to spend an hour. David Sharpe was a stuntman as well as an actor and he used those skills throughout the film including some rather good gymnastics and riding a bicycle down some stairs.

Carry on Matron (1972)

A Carry On comedy set in a maternity hospital, a good entry in the series if not amongst the very best. Sid Carter (Sid James) is a thief who has a plan to steal contraceptive pills from a hospital. Sid sends his son Cyril (Kenneth Cope) into the hospital disguised as a nurse (as its a 1970s film the nurse has to be as a female of course and rather unconvincing). Cyril's first "problem" is that his roommate is Barbara Windsor!

The hospital is nominally run by Dr Cutting (Kenneth Williams) though Matron (Hattie Jacques) is really in charge of course. Will Sid's plan work? Well do we really care amid the endless mayhem, saucy humour and ridiculous antics?

There is nothing really that unusual in the story of this entry in the Carry On series, it certainly doesn't lack for gags and nonsense. A highlight is Mr Tidey (Kenneth Connor), the railway guard and his wife (Joan Sims) who is in no hurry to give birth.

Milwr Bychan (1987)

A tough and uncompromising film. Young Welsh soldier Wil Thomas (Richard Lynch) is in jail after shooting a civilian during the Northern Irish Troubles. As his victim comes from an influential family, the Army won't sweep it under the carpet after pressure from the government (Bernard Hill). Thomas however, won't let the system break him no matter what sadism and brutality the Military Police deal out to him (and its a lot!)

The sad story is told in flashback as Thomas' love affair with a local girl Deirdre (Emer Gillespie) ends when she finds out the truth. The harsh realities of the Troubles and the repeated violence enough to brutalise any soul. The parallels between the Crown's indifference and disdain for the Northern Irish and the Welsh are made clear (if plastered on rather thick).

The narrative is a little too fragmented and this makes it difficult for the film to get much of a flow but it is riveting viewing. Low budget maybe but high impact.

The Third Alibi (1961)

An amazing little crime drama that fits so many twists and turns into a film that lasts just over an hour. Norman (Laurence Payne) is in an unhappy marriage with Helen (Patricia Dainton) and is doing the dirty with Helen's half-sister Peggy (Jane Griffiths). When Norman puts Peggy in the club he tries to get a divorce but Helen refuses. Norman thus begins to plot the perfect murder...

Unfortunately, despite an intricate plot intended to build Norman a cast iron alibi, his attempt to gun down his wife ends in failure, instead he discovers that Peggy has been shot instead. Whats more the evidence which the police (John Arnatt) gather points to him doing it...

A modest but very intelligent film which contains a number of little plot points which all make sense in the end. The only criticism might be that all the main characters are rather loathsome.

Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)

A spectacular film though also sometimes baffling especially early on, this isn't a film which will spoon feed everything to you though which is ultimately refreshing. 

Claude Lacombe (Francois Truffaut) is investigating mysterious happenings around the globe including the appearance of aircraft lost in 1945... fully fuelled and operational. 

Meanwhile electrical lineman Roy (Richard Dreyfuss) has a mysterious encounter of his own when strange lights overhead give him sunburn. Jillian (Melinda Dillon) suffers shock when her house is blasted by strange lights and her son goes missing...

Both Roy and Jillian have a compulsion and an obsession with a mountain in Wyoming. This just happens to be where the US military has launched a mass evacuation. What is at that mountain. Roy and Jillian go and find out. What they find exceeds anyone's expectations.

Although the film does sometimes drop into farce it is a wonderful experience visually. For a change the aliens arn't evil and the US military intent on shooting everything which moves.