PICK OF THE MONTH

PRETTY RED DRESS 1 (7 AUG, BR)

Dionne Edwards’ first feature (above) tells the story of Travis, an ex-con transfixed by a red dress he buys for his girlfriend (Alexandra Burke; excellent in her debut), but finds himself trying on. Compassionate, humane, and with belting songs courtesy of Burke, it’s a true original.

SCUM 2 (28 AUG, BR)

Alan Clarke’s brutal depiction of the British Borstal system is often remembered for its searing central performance from Ray Winstone, and the way Clarke picks apart the myriad failures in the system with precision and power. Still the daddy.

GREGORY’S GIRL 3 (21 AUG, BR)

Bill Forsyth’s coming-of-age romcom is still as lovely and warm and witty as it was when it was first released, with John Gordon Sinclair endearingly gawky as a young Scottish kid smitten with a new girl at school. It’s a low-key great football movie, too.

ENTER THE DRAGON 4 (7 AUG, 4K)

Now 50 years old, the movie that truly put Bruce Lee on the map continues to pack a punch, and contain a kick. Watching Lee unleash hell — iconic hall of mirrors and all — is still akin to a religious experience. It’s a dragon every action star on the planet has chased since.

CRIMEWAVE 5 (28 AUG, BR)

A real curio, this. Sam Raimi’s second film, and first after The Evil Dead put him on the map, is not, by any accepted definition, ‘good’ — the studio interfered, yes, but Raimi perhaps bit off more than he could chew — yet there are sequences of extraordinary invention here that few directors could match.