Bend It Like Beckham   

Jess Bhamra (Parminder Nagra), the daughter of a strict Indian couple (Anupam Kher, Shaheen Khan) in London, is not permitted to play organized soccer, even though she is 18. When Jess is playing for fun one day, her impressive skills are seen by Jules Paxton (Keira Knightley), who then convinces Jess to play for her semi-pro team. Jess uses elaborate excuses to hide her matches from her family while also dealing with her romantic feelings for her coach, Joe.
Inspiring, compassionate, and with a sly undercurrent of social commentary, Bend It Like Beckham is a lively feel-good movie that genuinely charms.
(Rotten Tomatoes)      (2002)

  The Truman Show   

He doesn't know it, but everything in Truman Burbank's (Jim Carrey) life is part of a massive TV set. Executive producer Christof (Ed Harris) orchestrates "The Truman Show," a live broadcast of Truman's every move captured by hidden cameras. Cristof tries to control Truman's mind, even removing his true love, Sylvia (Natascha McElhone), from the show and replacing her with Meryl (Laura Linney). As Truman gradually discovers the truth, however, he must decide whether to act on it.
A funny, tender, and thought-provoking film, The Truman Show is all the more noteworthy for its remarkably prescient vision of runaway celebrity culture and a nation with an insatiable thirst for the private details of ordinary lives.
(Rotten Tomatoes)      (1997)

  A Matter Of Life And Death   

British Air Force pilot Peter Carter (David Niven) is on his way home to England from a World War II bombing mission in a badly damaged aircraft. Before he bails out of the plane into the ocean, he contacts June (Kim Hunter), an Allied radio operator with whom he shares what he believes to be his final moments on Earth. But Peter survives, finds June and they fall in love. A problem arises when a divine messenger (Marius Goring) arrives to escort Peter to heaven to rectify his wrongful survival.
A Matter Of Life And Death is a ravishing, creative, and exciting fantasy. It's as lovely to look at and romantic as any movie.
(Rotten Tomatoes)      (1946)

  The Life And Death Of Colonel Blimp   

General Candy (Roger Livesey), who's overseeing an English squad in 1943, is a veteran leader who doesn't have the respect of the men he's training and is considered out-of-touch with what's needed to win the war. But it wasn't always this way. Flashing back to his early career in the Boer War and World War I, we see a dashing young officer whose life has been shaped by three different women (all played by Deborah Kerr), and by a lasting friendship with a German soldier.
A moving evocation of both British values and the passage of time, The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp is an epic portrait of a singular character by Powell and Pressburger.
(Rotten Tomatoes)      (1943)

  Star Trek Into Darkness   

The crew of the Starship Enterprise returns home after an act of terrorism within its own organization destroys most of Starfleet and what it represents, leaving Earth in a state of crisis. With a personal score to settle, Capt. James T. Kirk (Chris Pine) leads his people (Zachary Quinto, Karl Urban, Zoë Saldana) on a mission to capture a one-man weapon of mass destruction, thereby propelling all of them into an epic game of life and death.
Visually spectacular and suitably action packed, Star Trek Into Darkness is a rock-solid installment in the venerable sci-fi franchise, even if it's not as fresh as its predecessor.
(Rotten Tomatoes)      (2013)

  The Cruel Sea   

Despite his guilt over a recent harrowing sea battle in which many of his men were lost, Lt. Cmdr. George Ericson (Jack Hawkins) is assigned to helm the new H.M.S. Compass Rose with the help of steadfast seaman Lt. Lockhart (Donald Sinden). When the small vessel is sent to escort convoys of ships fighting German U-boats in the North Atlantic, the mettle of the novice crew is tested by the weather, the turbulent sea and enemy attacks -- one of which nearly destroys the Compass Rose.
(1952)

  Bridge Of Spies   

During the Cold War, the Soviet Union captures U.S. pilot Francis Gary Powers after shooting down his U-2 spy plane. Sentenced to 10 years in prison, Powers' only hope is New York lawyer James Donovan (Tom Hanks), recruited by a CIA operative to negotiate his release. Donovan boards a plane to Berlin, hoping to win the young man's freedom through a prisoner exchange. If all goes well, the Russians would get Rudolf Abel (Mark Rylance), the convicted spy who Donovan defended in court.
Bridge of Spies finds new life in Hollywood's classic Cold War espionage thriller formula, thanks to reliably outstanding work from Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks.
(Rotten Tomatoes)      (2015)

  Suffragette   

In early 20th-century Britain, the growing suffragette movement forever changes the life of working wife and mother Maud Watts (Carey Mulligan). Galvanized by political activist Emmeline Pankhurst (Meryl Streep), Watts joins a diverse group of women who fight for equality and the right to vote. Faced with increasing police action, Maud and her dedicated suffragettes must play a dangerous game of cat-and-mouse, risking their jobs, homes, family and lives for a just cause.
Suffragette dramatizes an important -- and still painfully relevant -- fact-based story with more than enough craft and sincerity to overcome its flaws.
(Rotten Tomatoes)      (2015)

  The Smallest Show On Earth   

When Matt Spenser (Bill Travers) and his wife, Jean (Virginia McKenna), inherit a small cinema, the Bijou, from a distant relative, they are shocked to find a decrepit building that comes with a group of aging employees. Matt and Jean try to sell the Bijou to Albert Hardcastle (Francis De Wolff), the owner of a large nearby cinema, but he gives them a lowball offer. Instead, they decide to open the theater, using a few clever marketing schemes to gain viewers at the expense of Hardcastle.
(1957)

  In Which We Serve   

Co-directors David Lean and Noel Coward (in his sole filmmaking effort) created this patriotic World War II drama under the auspices of Great Britain's Ministry of Information. After the sinking of the HMS Torrin during the Battle of Crete in 1941, the ship's survivors -- including Captain Kinross (Noel Coward), Chief Petty Officer Hardy (Bernard Miles) and Seaman Blake (John Mills) -- recall their tour of duty in flashback while awaiting rescue in lifeboats being strafed by German airplanes.
Few morale-boosting wartime films have retained their power and entertainment value as emphatically as Noël Coward's In Which We Serve.
(Rotten Tomatoes)      (1942)

  Enigma   

In March 1943 the code breakers at Bletchley Park, Britain's top secret Station X, are facing their worst nightmare: Nazi U boats have unexpectedly changed the code by which they communicate with each other and German High Command. An Allied merchant shipping convoy crossing the Atlantic with 10,000 passengers and vital supplies is in danger of attack. The authorities turn for help to Tom Jericho (Dougray Scott), a brilliant young mathematician and code breaker.
The well-crafted, twist-filled Enigma is a thinking person's spy thriller.
(Rotten Tomatoes)      (2001)