Cream in My Coffee (1980)

If the traditional British ‘summer holiday’ ever really existed outside of postcards and creative nostalgia then by the year 1980 it was long into retirement. But the hotels endure and it’s to one of them that an ageing couple return, having spent time there in 1934. Past and present weave together to paint a bigger picture, and through extrapolation we can write the forty-six summers that fell in-between.
Potter's venomous wit lightens some scenes, but mostly it’s a serious study of the destructive nature of secrets, the ennui that often follows marriage and the promises that love makes to please itself.
Lionel Jeffries is good as the old man who wants to live in the here and now but can’t help referencing the past. Peggy Ashcroft is hand on heart amazing as the sympathetic wife who fears to ruffle feathers.

4 pennies dropped out of 5

When the Wind Blows (1986)

WtWB is based on the book by Raymond Briggs. It keeps his character designs and his simplicity and is all the better for doing so.
The voice work is superb. The everyday dialogue makes the elderly couple seem familiar to everyone; they're typical grandparents. Their faith and love for each other is endearing. We care for them, which makes it all the more heartbreaking when we have to watch them fend for themselves in a situation for which they're very ill-equipped.
A stunning animation that's little-known outside of Britain, it deserves a wider audience. I highly recommend it to every film lover, not just animation fans.
The music by ex-Pink Floyd member Roger Waters is a perfect fit.

4 governmental specifications out of 5

Secret Ceremony (1968)

Elizabeth Taylor, in one of her more interesting roles, plays an unhappy prostitute with some very silly wizard gowns. Mia Farrow steals the film as a young woman with some extreme psychological problems. Together the two women facilitate each other’s fantasy world.
The house in which Mia lives is full of decadent colour and baroque design and yet with an understated lighting it remains mysterious and eerie.
The film gave me the feckin wiggins; not in the usual horror movie or David Lynch way, but in a whole new way I've never experienced before. I found it uncomfortable but essential viewing.

4½ scary pervert scenes for Mitchum out of 5