HOLDING pride of place on our lounge bookshelf are finely bound copies of the plays of William Shakespeare.

Now the works of the Bard have come in many shapes and sizes in modern times. Only recently I saw a splendid stage production of The Taming of the Shrew in which the setting resembled scenes straight out of The Godfather, warring Mafia families and the like.

A teacher gathers together a group of troubled teens and encourages them to express themselves through a school musical.

No, this isn't another episode of the American TV series Glee but Hunky Dory, a heart-warming and sweet independent British film set in the Welsh city of Swansea in the scorching hot summer of 1976.

The Iron Lady is a biopic about Margaret Thatcher, the former prime minister of the UK. 

This film has been recommended by Fahrudin.  Here is his review:-

Groundhog Day is an American comedy film directed by Harold Ramis.  It stars Bill Murray, a famous actor who has received many awards, and it is based on a story by Rubin.

Anonymous is all about Shakespeare.  No! Don't stop reading!  It is neither a soppy love story, nor is it a tribute to the bard, it's actually a thriller!   Think DaVinci code meets Macbeth.  It's a political thriller which puts forward that old chestnut that it was not commoner William Shakespeare who wrote all those plays, but that it must have been an upper class genius in the shape of Edward De Vere, Earl of Oxford who penned them, all set in the backdrop of the succession of Queen Elizabeth I, and the Essex Rebellion of 1601.

Some dogs bite comes with a Parental Advisory, the language in it is very "real", lots of swearing, but that shouldn't put you off.  It shows a Britain that isn't populated by Hugh Grant look-a-likes.  

It tells the story of 3 brothers, H (18), Casey (14) and baby Severino, who have been split up after their mother's death. Casey is in care; the baby Severino has been fostered with a view to adoption, and no one really cares what H does; even his mum thought he was a waste of space, but Casey is determined to keep the family together - running away from care, Casey snatches Severino from the baby's foster parents, steals H's stash of money and posts the cash to a PO Box in Inverness in the north of Scotland. His goal is to find his estranged dad, who moved back to Inverness years ago, a long way from London. To ensure his older brother's help on the journey, Casey makes sure H will need to sign for the money - if H wants it back, he'll have to join them on their road trip north.