The best on the box
James Croot’s
Filled with complex characters, rich dialogue and uncomfortable reflections of the plight of many modern-day Americans, David Mackenzie’s contemporary 2016 western is a compelling watch. Much of the credit must go to Taylor Sheridan’s script. Boasting terrific performances from Chris Pine, Ben Foster and Jeff Bridges, this delivers a political message on institutionalised poverty with brio. Inspired by a 1779 painting of the ‘‘ethnically unusual’’ Dido Elizabeth Belle (Gugu MbathaRaw) and her cousin, Lady Elizabeth Murray (Sarah Gadon), Amma Asante’s 2013 period drama centres on their life together living with their uncle William Murray, the 1st Earl of Mansfield. The former- Grange Hill- star-turneddirector does a good job of evoking the era. One of the greatest noir films ever made. Written by Graham Greene, this 1949 thriller is the story of pulp novelist Holly Martins (Joseph Cotton) who travels to shadowy, post-war Vienna, only to find himself investigating the mysterious death of an old friend, black-market opportunist Harry Lime (Orson Welles). ‘‘Of all the movies I have seen, this one most completely embodies the romance of going to the movies, ‘‘ wrote Chicago Sun-Times‘ Roger Ebert. Andy Samberg, Orlando Bloom and Freddie Highmore star in this mockumentary that chronicles the prevalence of doping in the world of professional cycling. ‘‘You don’t have to know or care much about the sport to enjoy the broad sight gags, amusing tangents and cartoonist accents,’’ wrote Entertainment Weekly‘ s Ray Rahman. A 2016 documentary that balances the image of the blonde bombshell icon the public thought they knew with information about her revealed in newly declassified FBI and CIA files. It suggests that the official finding of ‘‘probable suicide’’ around Monroe’s death may not have been the correct conclusion. 2016 US docudrama which follows actress Kate Lyn Sheil as she prepares to portray the role of Christine Chubbuck, a real-life news reporter who took her own life on national television in 1974. ‘‘A fascinating process movie about acting and storytelling, but also a curious meta-contemplation of our own voyeuristic attraction to tragedy,’’ wrote The Hollywood Reporter’s David Rooney