Congratulations Kathryn Bigelow!

Great news for Bigelow - to be awarded best director at the 2010 Oscars. Female directors are still under represented in Hollywood (and mainstream cinema) so it truly is an achievement and it's great to be able to celebrate and promote the great works of females in cinema.
Strange Days is an early film directed by Bigelow and is well worth watching.

The Hurt Locker is an excellent piece of cinema. A tense war film with a difference as the focus is on the threat of roadside bombs. The performances of the 3 main characters are all superb.

Other female directors worth a mention: Ondi Timoner, Catherine Hardwicke, Sofia Coppola, Jane Campion, Lynne Ramsay, Andrea Arnold.

Short Film Fun

Visit Empire magazine Jameson Awards 2010. Reproducing a famous film in 60 seconds. Donnie Darko and Goodfellas are personal favourites.
www.empireonline.com/awards2010/donein60seconds/

Also, have a look on youtube for Spike Jonze's classic How They Get There - A great short film which sets out to answer how shoes end up in the gutter starring skater and artist Mark Gonzales. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i2hTt2FxIYw

Films for a Rainy Day

Below are a few trailers of films that are worth seeing. All are available on DVD.
Other recommendations include:
La Haine (Kassovitz 1995)
Eternal Sunshine of the Spottless Mind and The Science of Sleep (Gondry)
Lost in Translation
Moon
The Return

In Search of a Midnight Kiss (Holdridge, 2007)

Loud Quiet Loud - A Film About The Pixies (2004 Cantor & Galkin)

Dig! (Timoner, 2004)

Happiness of the Katakuris (Miike 2001)

Mesrine (Parts 1 & 2) Richet, 2009 DVD