When the auditorium at an off the ring road multiplex is almost full on a cold midweek night, you know you are watching a box office hit. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon is a Chinese language epic that has captured and enthralled its audiences. But despite its stunning combat scenes this is no martial arts movie.
Under Suspicion is a film set in the US-run Caribbean island of Puerto Rico. It's a hot and sticky night. People dance on the streets. It's carnival time. A successful, rich lawyer gets ready to make his speech at a glitzy fundraising charity dinner-the island has recently been devastated by a hurricane. The day before the lawyer found the body of a raped and murdered girl while out jogging. It's the second such murder in recent weeks.
"This is no Hollywood movie," says film-maker Newton Aduaka about his new film, Rage. The film is about the friendship between three young men. Like so many people, Rage, G and T have a shared dream.
Vasily Grossman's novel Life and Fate has over 150 characters spread throughout war-torn Russia during the Battle of Stalingrad in late 1942 and early 1943. Grossman tells the story through the experiences of Soviet soldiers. The book also deals with the horrors of fascism. This is told in the most chilling way, as Nazi personnel build gas chambers and as a group of Jewish people are forced to journey to the camps.
The film is showing this Sunday in London-with all proceeds going to the "Socialist Worker" Appeal-and anyone who can should try to get along. The film is about the Paris Commune in 1871, one of the greatest ever events in working class history. For 72 days Parisian workers took control of the city. What makes the film so exciting is that it is not only about events over 100 years ago. It is also about how we can change the world today.
The television drama Rebel Heart by Irish writer Ronan Bennett has provoked an outburst from Ulster Unionist leader David Trimble and right wing papers like the Daily Telegraph.
In a Land Of Plenty, which began this week, is the BBC's most ambitious drama serial for a long time. It spans ten episodes. It centres on the life of James Freeman, from his birth in 1956 to the present day. He's born into a rich family and has a comfortable childhood. But there are tensions as well.
ONE OF New Labour's sickest acts so far has been its relentless attack on asylum seekers. In reaction to the tabloid and government offensive a substantial number of people have started to fight back.
THE BOOK Oil by US author Upton Sinclair was a bestseller when it was published in 1926. The story of the oil boom in California is told through the eyes of Bunny, an oil tycoon's son who has sympathies with workers. But the real hero is Paul, a committed socialist, who leads an oil workers' strike and returns from a visit to Russia full of excitement for what the Bolsheviks are doing.
WHERE WOULD you find 30,000 human guinea pigs put through chemical warfare tests in the world's longest-running programme of human experiments?..
The people of Iraq have faced war on two fronts since the end of the Gulf War in 1991. Iraq Under Siege, edited by US socialist Anthony Arnove, conveys their suffering.
THE GRAPES of Wrath by John Steinbeck is an experience, not just a good read. It's about the Joad family and friends being forced to migrate in the US during the 1930s Great Depression.
