2 Best Movies to Watch by Christopher Villiers

Filmed in Paul Greengrass' signature documentary style, Bloody Sunday captures one of the worst tragedies in Northern Ireland's recent history with stunning attention to detail and a single-minded focus that most thrillers only dream of having. But this film doesn't dress up its violence with Hollywood flashiness or contrived suspense. Everything is presented in a matter-of-fact way (and over the course of just one day), emphasizing how unjust the balance of power was between the Irish citizens and the British Army. It's a remarkably realistic reenactment that should inspire plenty of angry tears, having already made a mark by winning the prestigious Golden Bear at the 2002 Berlin International Film Festival.

Genre: Drama, History

Actor: Allan Gildea, Carmel McCallion, Christopher Villiers, David Clayton Rogers, David Pearse, Gerard Crossan, Gerard McSorley, James Hewitt, James Nesbitt, Kathy Kiera Clarke, Mary Moulds, Nicholas Farrell, Tim Pigott-Smith

Director: Paul Greengrass

Before he was Jim Morrison, Iceman, or Batman, Val Kilmer made his big screen debut as Nick Rivers, the doltish American rock 'n' roll idol who is unwittingly embroiled in an East German underground resistance plot in Top Secret!. Skewering everything from WWII romances and Cold War spy thrillers to ‘60s popstar musicals, this delightfully silly spoof from the team behind Airplane! is jampacked with sight gags, double entendres, and multi-layered setpieces delivered at such a manic pace that you’ll need several rewatches to exhaust all of its comedy. Its lowbrow style means that some jokes are undoubtedly dated, but there’s a lot of timeless wit on display here, including zinging one-liners, tongue-in-cheek lampooning of cinematic clichés, and slapstick gags in the vein of masters of the form like Jacques Tati and Buster Keaton. Top Secret! is blessedly under no illusions as to what we want from a movie like this, so the fact that there’s no comprehensible plot in sight only adds to the enjoyment here.

Genre: Comedy, Drama

Actor: Andrew Hawkins, Billy J. Mitchell, Billy Mitchell, Burton Zucker, Charlotte Zucker, Chas Bryer, Christopher Villiers, Dimitri Andreas, Eddie Powell, Eddie Tagoe, Gertan Klauber, Harry Ditson, Ian McNeice, Janos Kurucz, Jeremy Kemp, Jim Carter, John J. Carney, John Sharp, Lee Sheward, Louise Yaffe, Lucy Gutteridge, Mac McDonald, Marcus Powell, Michael Gough, Nancy Abrahams, Nicola Wright, Omar Sharif, Orla Pederson, Peter Cushing, Richard Bonehill, Richard Mayes, Steve Ubels, Susan Breslau, Sydney Arnold, Tristram Jellinek, Val Kilmer, Warren Clarke

Director: David Zucker, Jerry Zucker, Jim Abrahams

Rating: PG