Ace in the Hole - MatthewHunt

Allen's Janus-faced moral tale is two films in one: a comedy starring Allen as an unlucky-inlove
film-maker, and a tragedy about the extreme measures that Martin Landau takes to
protect what's his. The film disturbs in its depiction of everyday evil and its characters' ability
to blind themselves to uneasy truths.
Crocodile Dundee
(Peter Faiman, 1986)
Uncouth anthropological specimen hits America, terrifies the locals and pursues improbable
romance with blonde princess: now we know what Borat's real lineage is. It probably set
Australian stereotypes back 50 years, but Paul Hogan's comedy of manners rattles along with
populist spirit, down to the subway climax.
Cronos
(Guillermo Del Toro, 1993)
A kindly antique-shop owner happens upon a strange little contraption that gives him the gift
and curse of everlasting life. Guillermo Del Toro's re-tinkering of the vampire myth is a marvel
of spooky atmosphere, while its unrivalled star is the ornate, musty production design.
Crooklyn
(Spike Lee, 1994)
Spike Lee's retort to the grim early 90s wave of 'hood movies is his underrated personal best,
telling the story of grouchy jazz musician, his schoolteacher wife and their houseful of kids.
Eschewing cosy Cosby-style sentiment, it's a lovely evocation of Lee's 70s childhood,
charged with the hazy warmth of summers gone and scored with an impeccable selection of
hustlin' period R&B.
Crossfire
(Edward Dmytryk, 1947)
Future director Richard Brooks's novel about a homophobic murder became a liberal
whodunit about the murder of a Jewish soldier. Square Robert Young and cynical Robert
Mitchum track down the insanely anti-semitic killer - Robert Ryan in a hypnotically coiled
performance. Swift, claustrophobic and sparely directed by Dmytryk.
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
(Ang Lee, 2000)
Packed with mythic characters, acrobatic chases and swordfights on the rooftops, Ang Lee's
lush martial-arts adventure is pure cinematic delight. Chow Yun-Fat and Michelle Yeoh are the
supple stars who fly off in pursuit of a stolen sword, taking us along for a thrilling ride.
Crumb
(Terry Zwigoff, 1994)
This rich documentary on comic-book artist Robert Crumb is hilarious and blunt in its
approach to his tormented personal history and gnarled psychosexual profile. Both a portrait
of the artist and a tragicomic family album, Zwigoff's film achieves an arresting intimacy with
its subject.
The Crying Game
(Neil Jordan, 1992)
Writer-director Neil Jordan won a best original screenplay Oscar for this darkly poetic drama
that helped trigger the 1990s British cinema revival, and it's not hard to see why. His thoughtprovoking
storyline -delivers not one but two shocking twists as it delves into tangled
questions of identity, loyalty and desire. The action opens at a north Armagh fairground,
where black British soldier Jody (Forest Whitaker) is kidnapped by an IRA gang. Astutely
assessing his chances of survival, Jody strikes up a friendship with softer cell-member Fergus
(Stephen Rea) and over the following days the men become close. Aware that this
relationship is seen as weakness by the rest of the gang, Fergus offers to be the one to
execute the soldier - but when the time comes, Jody bolts, the army swoops, and the
kidnapping ends in chaos. In the subsequent shootout, Fergus slips away, eventually making
his way to London where he goes in search of Jody's lover. Even if you know its secret,