This classic among Hitchcock's British movies of the 30s draws, unusually for him, on the work of a major writer for its source-Joseph Conrad's tale of seedy London-based espionage, The Secret Agent. Not that Hitch and his screenwriter, Charles Bennett, kept much of Conrad's novel beyond the bare bones of the plot. Verloc, an anarchist (played with appealing melancholy by Oscar Homolka), runs a South London fleapit cinema as a cover for his political activities. (In the original it's a porno bookstore-Hitch clearly thought the cinema was the nearest the censor would pass. ) His young wife (the sad-eyed Sylvia Sidney) knows nothing of his undercover assignments. She's devoted to her naïve younger brother, and when Verloc involves the lad in his schemes the results are catastrophic. The cast also features a young hero, a police detective woodenly played by John Loder, but Homolka and Sidney, as the sadly mismatched couple held together only by need, are unfailingly watchable as the brooding domestic atmosphere darkens towards tragedy. The trademark Hitchcock tension is well in evidence, though Hitch later reckoned he committed a "grave error" in letting one nail-biting scene end with the death of a sympathetic character (and a cute puppy). Though the film was shot almost entirely on studio sets, the director drew on his own Cockney childhood to create a wonderfully shabby, down-at-heel milieu of grubby London backstreets where the reek of gas lamps and rotting vegetables on the cobbles is all but palpable. -Philip Kemp.

The whole world is watching-literally-every time Truman Burbank makes the slightest move. Unbeknownst to him, in this hauntingly funny film by Peter Weir, his entire life has been an unending soap opera for consumption by the rest of the world. And everyone he knows-including his mother, his wife and his bestfriend-is really an actor, paid to be part of his life. In this intriguing and surprisingly touching 1998 film, writer Andrew Niccol imagines an ultimate kind of celebrity, then sees it brought to life with comic intensity and emotional honesty by Jim Carrey in what maybe the performance of his career. Carrey has exceptional support from Laura Linney and Ed Harris but it's his show, in a portrayal that demonstrates just what kind of range Carrey is capable of. -MarshallFine The whole world is watching-literally-every time Truman Burbank makes the slightest move. Unbeknownst to him, in this hauntingly funny film by Peter Weir, his entire life has been an unending soap opera for consumption by the rest of the world. And everyone he knows-including his mother, his wife, and his best friend-is really an actor, paid to be part of his life. In this intriguing and surprisingly touching 1998 film, writer Andrew Niccol (screenwriter for Gattaca) imagines an ultimate kind of celebrity, then sees it brought to life with comic intensity and emotional honesty by Jim Carrey in what may be the performance of his career. Carrey has exceptional support from Laura Linney and Ed Harris, but it's his show, in a portrayal that demonstrates just what kind of range Carrey is capable of. [+]

The Salem witch hunts are given a new and nasty perspective when a vengeful teenage girl uses superstition and repression to her advantage, creating a killing machine that becomes a force unto itself. Pulsating with seductive energy, this provocative drama is as visually arresting as it is intellectually engrossing. Arthur Miller based his classic 1953 play on the actual Salem witch trials of 1692, creating what has since become a durable fixture of school drama courses. It may look like a historical drama but Miller also meant the work as a parable for the misery created by the McCarthy anti-Communist hearings of the 1950s. This searing version of his drama delves into matters of conscience with concise accuracy and emotional honesty. Three passionate cheers for Miller, director Nicholas Hytner and costars Daniel Day-Lewis and Winona Ryder. -Rochelle O'Gorman.

This modern-day teen update of Les Liaisons Dangereuses suffered at the hands of both critics and moviegoers thanks to its sumptuous ad campaign, which hyped the film as an arch, highly sexual, faux-serious drama (not unlike the successful, Oscar-nominated Dangerous Liaisons). In fact, Cruel Intentions plays like high comedy for its first two-thirds, as its two evil heroes, rich stepsiblings Kathryn (Sarah Michelle Gellar) and Sebastian (Ryan Phillippe), blithely ruin lives and reputations with hearts as black as coal. Kathryn wants revenge on a boyfriend who dumped her, so she befriends his new intended, the gawky Cecile (Selma Blair), and gets Sebastian to deflower the innocent virgin. The meat of the game, though, lies in Sebastian's seduction of good girl Annette (a down-to-earth Reese Witherspoon), who has written a nationally published essay entitled "Why I Choose to Wait. " If he fails, Kathryn gets his precious vintage convertible; if he wins, he gets Kathryn-in the sack. When the movie sticks to the merry ruination of Kathryn and Sebastian's pawns, it's highly enjoyable: Gellar in particular is a two-faced manipulator extraordinaire, and Phillippe, usually a black hole, manages some fun as a hipster Eurotrash stud. Most pleasantly surprising of all is Witherspoon, who puts a remarkably self-assured spin on a character usually considered vulnerable and tortured (see Michelle Pfeiffer in Dangerous Liaisons). Unfortunately, writer-director Roger Kumble undermines everything he's built up with a false ending that's true to neither the reconceived characters nor the original story-revenge is a dish best served cold, not cooked up with unnecessary plot twists. -Mark Englehart, Amazon. com.

One of a growing number of female-centred dramas, the first series of Cutting It was a sleeper hit for the BBC. Though its rival hairdresser premise seems fluffy, its classy gloss, off-beat scripting and strong cast make it as addictive as many of the outstanding TV series coming from the US. The drama unfolds when ambitious hairdresser Allie Henshall (Sarah Parish) wants to open a second salon. But her husband and business partner would prefer to start a family. Even when she puts in a bid for a property opposite her salon, Allie is beaten by rival hairdresser Mia Bevan (Amanda Holden). As a business war begins between Allie's Henshall Ferraday salon and Mia's Blade Runner, Allie has to overcome the reappearance of an old flame, Mia's husband, who is happy to rekindle his relationship with her. As the relationship histories among the characters become absurdly intertwined, it is to the cast's credit that the human dynamics of the story surpass its plot. Though there are certainly moments of parody (take Mia's yogic warm-ups with her staff each morning) and questionable twists, Cutting It gives its leading ladies some sharp and funny lines to work with and the space to do so. Both Parish and Holden run the gamut of emotions despite the seemingly clear-cut good woman / bitch divide between their characters initially. Their actions may strain the limits of credibility, but these women hold attention effortlessly. [+]