Weekend At Crombie's

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.

It's 1990 and the up-and-coming Coen Brothers produce a neo-noir gangster film with the stellar cast list of Gabriel Byrne, Marcia Gay Harden, John Turturro and Albert Finney, plus a hauntingly beautiful musical score by Carter Burwell. Overlooked at the time both critically and commercially, it is now regarded as an undisputed classic and one of the Coens' best films. We drive into the woods to put one into its brain.

It's 1995 and acclaimed director Kathryn Bigelow, along with producer James Cameron, present a turn-of-the-millennium thriller, starring Ralph Fiennes, Angela Bassett, Juliette Lewis and Tom Sizemore. A tremendous box-office flop upon release, our two gentlemen philosophers have their own views about how Strange Days has withstood the test of time. 

As if 2020 wasn't enough to deal with, we've now got a bonus track from our two gentlemen philosophers as they review the films we shared over the year, and for James to mercilessly beat Huw into the ground with statistics. Again. Again.

It's 1996 and Geena Davis takes the lead in this festive spy thriller, supported magnificently by Samuel L. Jackson, written by Shane Black and directed by Renny Harlin. There's a lot to take from this one, and our two gentlemen philosophers have great fun unravelling it.

It's 1968 and we're off to the snowy wilds of Utah (by way of the Italian Dolomites)for Sergio Corbucci's legendary Spaghetti Western. Starring Jean-Louis Trintignant, Klaus Kinski, Vonetta McGee, our two gentlemen philosophers will never be able to match the accents, though not for want of trying.

It's 1998 and it's an Academy-winning all-star cast of Sandra Bullock, Nicole Kidman, Stockard Channing and Dianne Wiest in this heartwarming story of the occult. Enjoy our two gentlemen philosophers try and wrap their heads around these female sensibilities with all the grace of a zombie drunk on tequila who's just been struck on the head with a frying pan.

It's 1955 and all-rounder entertainer Danny Kaye leads this star-studded cast in a musical comedy swashbuckling adventure. Just remember: the pellet with the poison's in the vessel with the pestle; the chalice from the palace has the brew that is true.

It's 1997 and one of the biggest stars of the decade, Demi Moore, has teamed up with blockbuster director Ridley Scott for a transformative role that ended in commercial and critical disaster. There's a lot to talk about in this film, and not least of which was Demi didn't deserve that Razzie Award.

It's 2001 and one of acclaimed director Jacques Audiard's earliest films has Emmanuelle Devos and Vincent Cassel display remarkable chemistry in this romantic thriller. It need hardly be said, the GCSE French qualifications took a pounding with this one.

It's 1990 and we take to the skies of World War 2 Europe as the young crew of a B-17 bomber fly their twenty-fifth and final mission. There's a full payload of stars in this cast, and solid bit of moviemaking that felt quite out of its own time.