Couple Indemnity

Izzy's next choice is the much-acclaimed Hollywood biographical political thriller about the Watergate Scandal, starring Robert Redford and Dustin Hoffman, as two reporters whose investigation for The Washington Post sheds light on the controversial scandal that compels the president to resign from his post. Director: Alan J. Pakula

For Hal's first choice of the year, we are going with the much-beloved Scottish coming-of-age romantic comedy Gregory's Girl, starring John Gordon Sinclair as Gregory, a teenage boy, who falls in love with a classmate and tries to win her love. The girl (Dee Hepburn) who he holds affection for bags a place in the school's soccer team. Director: Bill Forsyth

We kick off 2026 in style with a big epic Izzy has been wanting us to cover for a long time, The Sound of Music (1965). Maria (Julie Andrews), an aspiring nun, is sent as a governess to take care of seven motherless children. Soon her jovial and loving nature tames their hearts and the children become fond of her, leading to her eventual marriage with their father Captain Georg von Trapp (Christopher Plummer) and their escape during the Anschluss in 1938.  Director: Robert Wise

To round off our first full year of film reviews, we have decided to record a special one-off Oscar awards episode to reflect, debate and celebrate our most respected movies that we have enjoyed watching in 2025. Our nominees in the given categories are as follows: Best Costume/Makeup: Phantom Thread (Mark Bridges) Little Women (Jacqueline Durran) Boogie Nights (Mark Bridges) Barry Lyndon (Milena Canonero & Ulla-Britt Soderlund) Pride and Prejudice (Jacqueline Durran) Amadeus (Theodor Pistek) Best Musical Score/Soundtrack: Boogie Nights (Michael Penn) Amadeus (Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart) There Will Be Blood (Jonny Greenwood) Charade (Henry Mancini) Little Women (Alexandre Desplat) Best Cinematography: Rear Window (Robert Burks) Barry Lyndon (John Alcott) Aftersun (Gregory Oke) Portrait of a Lady on Fire (Claire Mathon) There Will be Blood (Robert Elswit) Pride and Prejudice (Roman Osin) Most Memorable Moment: Boogie Nights (Jessie’s Girl: Firecracker scene) There Will Be Blood (Milkshake scene) Strangers on a Train (Carousel final scene) Rear Window (Thorwald catches Lisa) Smith Goes to Washington (Jefferson Smith filibuster) The Bridges of Madison County (the kitchen confrontation scene) Little Women (Amy’s speech) Best Supporting Actress: Thelma Ritter (Rear Window) Marlene Dietrich (Stage Fright) Florence Pugh (Little Women) Lesley Manville (Phantom Thread) Susan Kohner (Imitation of Life) Best Supporting Actor: Robert Walker (Strangers on a Train) Paul Dano (There will Be Blood) Joe E. Brown (Some Like It Hot) Burt Reynolds (Boogie Nights) Philip Seymour Hoffman (The Master) Best Actress: Vicky Krieps (Phantom Thread) Grace Kelly (Rear Window) Meryl Streep (The Bridges of Madison County) Bette Davis (Whatever Happened to Baby Jane) Lee Remick (Days of Wine and Roses) Liv Ullmann (Autumn Sonata) Best Actor: Clint Eastwood (The Bridges of Madison County) Jack Lemmon (Days of Wine and Roses) Ray Milland (Dial M for Murder) Daniel Day Lewis (There Will be Blood) Murray Abraham (Amadeus) James Stewart (Mr. Smith Goes to Washington) Best Director: Alfred Hitchcock (Rear Window) John Carpenter (The Thing) Billy Wilder (Some Like it Hot) Paul Thomas Anderson (There Will Be Blood) Blake Edwards (Days of Wine and Roses) Greta Gerwig (Little Women) Best Picture: Dial M for Murder Rear Window Some Like it Hot The Bridges of Madison County There Will be Blood Days of Wine and Roses

For Hal's Christmas selection this year, he has chosen his favourite and "definitive" screen adaptation of Charles Dickens' festive novel of Scrooge ("A Christmas Carol") with Alastair Sim delivering an unforgettable performance as Ebenezer Scrooge, a spiteful and miserly man, who encounters three spirits on Christmas Eve who show him the folly of his ways. Director: Brian Desmond Hurst

Our first Christmas selection for the podcast this year is one of Izzy's all-time favourite films, The Holiday, the romantic comedy starring Cameron Diaz and Kate Winslet as Amanda and Iris, two lovelorn women from opposite sides of the Atlantic Ocean, who arrange a home exchange to escape heartbreak during the Christmas and holiday season.  Director: Nancy Meyers

Hal's next choice is the 2011 black comedy film directed by Roman Polanski, based on the Tony Award-winning 2006 play by Yasmina Reza.  Two pairs of parents hold a cordial meeting after their sons are involved in a fight, though as their time together progresses, increasingly childish behaviour throws the discussion into chaos. Starring: Jodie Foster, Kate Winslet, Christoph Waltz, & John C. Reilly Director: Roman Polanski

Izzy's latest selection is a highly-rated Swedish drama that marks not only our first film directed by the renowned filmmaker Ingmar Bergman but the final acting role for the exquisite Ingrid Bergman. The tale of Autumn Sonata depicts a world-renowned pianist (Ingrid Bergman) who visits her estranged daughter, Eva (Liv Ullmann), for the first time in seven years. Upon her arrival, she is confronted with suppressed bitterness which Eva has been harbouring for years. Director: Ingmar Bergman

For our final movie in the month of "Spook-tober", we were lucky enough to watch the iconic horror movie "The Thing" at the local cinema, on Halloween night.  The film tells the story of a group of American researchers in Antarctica who encounter the eponymous "Thing" an extraterrestrial life-form that assimilates, then imitates, other organisms. The group is overcome by paranoia and conflict as they learn that they can no longer trust each other and that any of them could be the Thing.  Starring: Kurt Russell Directed by: John Carpenter

Hal has chosen one of the all-time iconic gothic horror movies starring two of the most important female acting stars from Hollywood history. A former vaudeville child star (Bette Davis) torments her paraplegic sister (Joan Crawford), who eclipsed her as a movie star, in their decaying Hollywood mansion while desperately clinging to hopes of a comeback. Director: Robert Aldrich

Izzy has selected the wonderful cult musical horror classic The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975) this week, for our first official selection of "Spooktober" this year.  The story centres on a young engaged couple (Barry Bostwick & Susan Sarandon) whose car breaks down in the rain near a castle, where they search for help. The castle is occupied by strangers in elaborate costumes holding a party. They then meet the head of the house, Dr. Frank-N-Furter (Tim Curry), an apparently mad scientist and alien transvestite from the planet Transsexual in the galaxy of Transylvania, who creates a living muscle man named Rocky. Director: Jim Sharman

Hal returns us to the next film in the Hitchcock marathon with the 1956 version, and remake of his own 1934 movie, The Man Who Knew Too Much. A couple (James Stewart & Doris Day) vacationing in Morocco with their young son accidentally stumble upon an assassination plot. When the child is kidnapped to ensure their silence, they have to take matters into their own hands to save him. Director: Alfred Hitchcock

This week Izzy has chosen one of her all-time favourite period romances Pride & Prejudice starring Keira Knightley, Matthew Macfadyen, Brenda Blethyn and Donald Sutherland.  When Elizabeth Bennet (Keira Knightley) meets the handsome Mr. Darcy (Matthew Macfadyen), she believes he is the last man she could ever marry, but as their lives become intertwined, she finds herself captivated by the man she has sworn to hate forever. Director: Joe Wright

Hal has selected a real coming-of-age sex comedy with the first instalment of the popular American Pie franchise from his early teen years. The story follows a group of high school classmates who make a pact to lose their virginity before they graduate. Starring Jason Biggs, Chris Klein, Mena Suvari, Eugene Levy and Jennifer Coolidge. Director: Paul Weitz

Izzy's latest selection is the highly acclaimed Stanley Kubrick historical epic Barry Lyndon (1975) that recounts the early exploits and later unravelling of an 18th-century Irish rogue and gold-digger (Ryan O'Neal) who marries a rich widow in order to attempt to climb the social ladder and assume her late husband's aristocratic position.  Director: Stanley Kubrick

For our latest podcast, we are delighted to be joined by a true podcast inspiration with Scott, host of numerous incredible shows such as Reel Britannia, Stinking Pause, Rainbow Valley and the official Talking Pictures TV Channel.  Scott joins us today for a deep-dive into Hal's latest film selection in the Hitchcock marathon, none other than Rear Window (1954).  A newspaper photographer (James Stewart) with a broken leg passes time recuperating by observing his neighbors through his window. He sees what he believes to be a murder. Director: Alfred Hitchcock

Izzy's latest choice for the podcast is last year's popular romantic sports drama film Challengers, which follows the love triangle between an injured tennis-star-turned coach Tashi (Zendaya), her low-circuit tennis player ex-boyfriend (Josh O'Connor), and her tennis champion husband (Mike Faist) across 13 years of their relationship, culminating in the match between the two men on the ATP Challenger tour. Director: Luca Guadagnino

Hal has selected the first of one his many favourite tv shows to cover for the podcast with Foyle's War. A British detective drama set in Hastings, England, during and after the Second World War. Created by Anthony Horowitz, it follows the quietly determined Detective Chief Superintendent Christopher Foyle (Michael Kitchen) as he investigates crimes on the home front — from black market rackets and espionage to murder and treason. Balancing historical accuracy with gripping storytelling, the series explores the moral complexities of wartime Britain through its four central characters: Foyle himself, his spirited driver Sam Stewart (Honeysuckle Weeks), the steadfast DS Paul Milner (Anthony Howell), and Foyle’s RAF pilot son Andrew (Julian Ovenden).  The episode of Among the Few (2003), is set in autumn 1940. As the Battle of Britain rages overhead, Foyle investigates the death of a young female lorry driver, Connie Dewar, whose work ferrying fuel to a nearby RAF base puts her close to a dangerous black-market petrol-theft ring. The case draws Sam undercover at the transport depot and entangles Andrew Foyle when fellow pilots fall under suspicion. Beneath the veneer of heroism “among the few,” Foyle uncovers a web of theft, betrayal, and personal tragedy. Director: Jeremy Silberston

Izzy has selected a really groundbreaking 1950's drama in what was the last ever work directed by the great Douglas Sirk with Imitation of Life. The film tells the story of Lora Meredith (Lana Turner), a white single mother who dreams of being on Broadway, has a chance encounter with Annie Johnson (Juanita Moore), a black widow. Annie becomes the caretaker of Lora's daughter, Suzie (Sandra Dee), while Lora pursues her stage career. Both women deal with the difficulties of motherhood: Lora's thirst for fame threatens her relationship with Suzie, while Annie's light-skinned daughter, Sarah Jane (Susan Kohner), struggles with her African-American identity. Director: Douglas Sirk

Hal has chosen another of his favourite with the iconic romantic suspense thriller Charade (1963) where we witness intrigue that ensues in Paris as a woman (Audrey Hepburn) is pursued by several men who want to get their hands on a fortune her murdered husband had stolen. She soon loses trust in those who claim they want to help her. Also features some glorious romantic scenes and witty one-liners featuring a certain Cary Grant. Director: Stanley Donen