Anatomy of a Fall is both a gripping courtroom drama and an absorbing psychological one, which manages to hold our interest for all of its 150 minutes.  It deservedly won the Palme d’Or at Cannes last year, and the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay at the recent Academy Awards.  

‘I have a low tolerance for narrative cliché, but the storyline of The Holdovers is not as predictable as it sounds.  I also have low tolerance for sentimentality and mawkishness, but The Holdovers manages – only just – to push itself up to that threshold without toppling over it.’

Coup de Chance – ‘stroke of luck’ in French – is written and directed by Woody Allen. Critics, including our own venerable veteran David Stratton, have said it is could well be his last and best movie. Its themes – love, marriage, infidelity, the lives of wealthy sophisticates and above all the role played by luck in human affairs – are highly reminiscent of Match Point, a similar domestic crime thriller which has hitherto been my favourite. My jury is still out as to whether Coup de Chance is better.