UFO
1993
0
A filthy comedian is put on trial by feminist aliens from the future.
Predictably blue comic vehicle which has trouble sustaining interest for 80 minutes, but a fair few funny lines for broadminded audiences.
Dir: Tony Dow
Stars: Roy Chubby Brown, Sara Stockbridge, Roger Lloyd Pack, Shirley Anne Field, Kenny Baker
UGETSU MONOGATARI
1953
**
In 16th century Japan, two peasants attempt to improve their lives, but civil war hinders them.
Curious mix of styles which had some critics in raptures, and the story is indeed an intriguing one, extremely well shot.
Dir: Kenji Mizoguchi
Stars: Masayuki Mori, Machiko Kyo, Sakae Ozawa
UHF
1989
0
A wacky TV station unexpectedly tops the ratings.
Pretty much a series of variable sketches; some are funny, most are awful.
Dir: Jay Levey
Stars: Weird Al Yankovic, Kevin McCarthy, Victoria Jackson, David Bowie
THE ULTIMATE WARRIOR
1975
*
In a war-torn future world, a warrior escorts a pregnant woman to safety.
Grim sci-fi free of sentiment or mercy.
Dir: Robert Clouse
Stars: Yul Brynner, Max von Sydow, Joanna Miles
UMBERTO D
1952
**
A pensioner falls into poverty and has only his dog for company.
A simple, direct and unfussy film about loneliness that is eventually moving. It was the only movie Battisti ever acted in.
Dir: Vittorio De Sica
Stars: Carlo Battisti, Maria-Pia Casilio, Lina Gennari
UNACCUSTOMED AS WE ARE
1929
*
Stan and Ollie get into trouble with another man's wife.
Straightforward comedy, their first all-sound short - they make good use of it with some hilariously inane dialogue, including the ‘Mrs Kennedy’ ‘Mr Hardy’ conversation near the beginning.
Dir: Lewis R Foster
Stars: Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy, Edgar Kennedy, Mae Busch
THE UNBEARABLE LIGHTNESS OF BEING
1988
**
In Prague in 1968 an amorous doctor is at the centre of two love affairs.
Languid drama light on plot that creates a nostalgic atmosphere that doesn’t seem forced and allows actors to fully inhabit their characters. It may nevertheless bore some, despite several headily erotic scenes.
Dir: Philip Kaufman
Stars: Daniel Day-Lewis, Juliette Binoche, Lena Olin, Donald Moffat, Stellan Skarsgard
THE UNCANNY
1977
*
An author tells his publisher three stories about evil cats.
Routine horror compendium with a few effective fright moments in the first story.
Dir: Denis Heroux
Stars: Peter Cushing, Donald Pleasence, Joan Greenwood, Susan Penhaligon, Samantha Eggar
UNCLE BUCK
1989
*
A big clumsy uncle comes to look after his brother's kids.
The star plays his usual role in this curiously bitter and dark comedy.
Dir: John Hughes
Stars: John Candy, Jean Louisa Kelly, Macaulay Culkin
THE UNDEAD
1956
0
A prostitute is hypnotised to believe she is back in medieval times. There she is condemned as a witch.
Dippy Corman shocker which manages to throw reincarnation, time travel, dwarfs, witches and the devil into its heady brew.
Dir: Roger Corman
Stars: Pamela Duncan, Richard Garland, Billy Barty
UNDER CAPRICORN
1949
0
In 1830s Australia, a woman is driven to drink by her husband's cruelty.
Stiff and boring costume drama with just the one scene worthy of Hitch (the head in the bed).
Dir: Alfred Hitchcock
Stars: Ingrid Bergman, Joseph Cotten, Michael Wilding, Margaret Leighton, Cecil Parker
UNDER THE DOCTOR
1976
0
A doctor relates three cases of sex-hungry females.
Lame but likeable sex farce. The lead actor would go on to commit suicide.
Dir: Gerry Poulson
Stars: Barry Evans, Liz Fraser, Hilary Pritchard
THE UNDERNEATH
1995
**
A man plans an elaborate plot to get his girlfriend away from a mobster.
Compelling, multi-layered psychological drama with nicely naturalistic dialogue and excellent technical credits.
Dir: Stephen Soderbergh
Stars: Peter Gallagher, Alison Elliott, Joe Don Baker, Elisabeth Shue
UNDERSEA KINGDOM
1936 (serial)
*
A submarine crew come across an underwater world ruled by a power-mad dictator.
If you don't mind the ridiculous plot, bad acting and terrible special effects, you'll enjoy this kooky serial, one of Republic's better ones.
Dir: B Reeves Eason, Joseph Kane
Stars: Ray Crash Corrigan, Lois Wilde, Lon Chaney Jr
THE UNDYING MONSTER
1943
0
A curse hangs over an English ancestral home.
Horror mainly consisting of a group of people wandering around an old house. The monster is only briefly glimpsed.
Dir: John Brahm
Stars: James Ellison, John Howard, Heather Angel
UNEARTHLY STRANGER
1963
*
A government scientist fears that he has married an alien.
Low budget, tautly directed sci-fi. No actual aliens are shown.
Dir: John Krish
Stars: John Neville, Jean Marsh, Patrick Newell, Warren Mitchell
UNFORGIVEN
1992
****
A retired gunfighter goes back to his old ways to track down cowboys who disfigured a prostitute.
Clint Eastwood's best film is a revisionist western in which death and suffering mean something. Impeccably performed and full of great scenes.
Dir: Clint Eastwood
Stars: Clint Eastwood, Gene Hackman, Morgan Freeman, Richard Harris
UNHINGED
1982
0
Three girls have a car crash and are forced to take refuge in an isolated house containing only a strange old woman and her daughter.
Amateurish horror in which everything is bungled - the actresses had perhaps never acted before, the direction is static and the script is absurd. No wonder they tried to ban it.
Dir: Don Gronquist
Stars: Laurel Munson, J E Penner, Sara Ansley
THE UNHOLY
1988
0
A priest must resist the pleasures of the flesh to save his soul.
Dank horror with a dull and talky script.
Dir: Camilo Vilo
Stars: Ben Cross, Ned Beatty, Hal Holbrook, Trevor Howard
THE UNINVITED
1944
*
A girl returns to her family's house to encounter the ghost of her mother.
A genuine ghost story, nicely done, but a little faded now.
Dir: Lewis Allen
Stars: Ray Milland, Ruth Hussey, Gail Russell
THE UNINVITED
2009
*
A teenager suspects her father’s new girlfriend is a killer.
Slight chiller which can’t decide whether to be a psycho thriller or a ghost story; either way it provides few surprises for those versed in conventions of those genres. Passable, but you wouldn’t go out of your way to see it.
Dir: Charles Guard, Thomas Guard
Stars: Emily Browning, Arielle Kebbel, Elizabeth Banks
UNITED 93
2006
***
A real-time account of the hijacking of flight United 93 on September 11, 2001, when the passengers fought in vain to save the plane they were on.
It almost seems callous to submit this for critical analysis in the same way as other films, such is its verisimilitude to the not-long-gone terrible situation it recreates; all that can be said is that it is powerful and unflinching but probably could not be watched more than once.
Dir: Paul Greengrass
Stars: David Alan Basche, Richard Bekins, Susan Blommaert
UNIVERSAL HORROR
1998 (TV)
*
Documentary about the heyday of Universal's horror features.
Not bad, but it only covers a limited amount of movies and often strays from its point.
Dir: Kevin Brownlow
Narrator: Kenneth Branagh
UNIVERSAL SOLDIER
1992
*
Two Vietnam vets are programmed to be fighting machines - but malfunction.
Ridiculous action flick with a surfeit of unpleasant violence.
Dir: Roland Emerich
Stars: Jean-Claude Van Damme, Dolph Lundgren, Ally Walker
UNLAWFUL ENTRY
1992
*
A disturbed policeman persecutes a man whose wife he desires.
Familiar shocks and plot development for critics, fun for most audiences.
Dir: Jonathan Kaplan
Stars: Kurt Russell, Ray Liota, Madeleine Stowe
UNMAN, WITTERING AND ZIGO
1971
*
A new teacher at a public school suspects that his pupils are trying to kill him.
Intriguing and atmospheric psychological drama which rather loses its initial impetus.
Dir: John Mackenzie
Stars: David Hemmings, Douglas Wilmer, Caroline Seymour
THE UNNAMABLE
1988
0
Students are slaughtered by an ancient monster come back to life.
Pointless horror film, tiresomely padded out.
Dir: Jean-Paul Ouellette
Stars: Charles Klausmeyer, Mark Kinsey Stephenson, Alexandra Durrell
THE UNSEEN
1945
*
A governess minds a child who was witness to a murder.
Fair ghost story of a mild disposition.
Dir: Lewis Allen
Stars: Joel McCrea, Gail Russell
THE UNSEEN
1981
*
Three women are forced to stay at a house with a murderous secret.
Sickish horror which builds up a scary situation then over-eggs it.
Dir: Peter Foleg, Danny Steinmann
Stars: Barbara Bach, Stephen Furst, Sydney Lassick
THE UNTOUCHABLES
1987
**
Elliot Ness gathers a band of crack policemen to capture Al Capone.
De Palma brings his extensive knowledge of making thrillers to this slick and exciting gangster film based on the old TV series.
Dir: Brian De Palma
Stars: Sean Connery, Kevin Costner, Robert De Niro, Andy Garcia
UP
2009
**
A widowed old man escapes to what he hopes is a better place in a house suspended by helium balloons.
Another immensely successful and lavished-with-praise Pixar feature which variously attracted the adjectives ‘uplifting’ and ‘magical’ – perhaps it is, but only in parts; the film peaks early on with a fantastic montage of the couple’s life, and for much of the second half we get wandering around, irritating talking dogs and a big, garish bird. But the climactic action is fun and the whole movie has a good spirit and temperament.
Dir: Pete Docter, Bob Peterson
Voices: Edward Asner, Christopher Plummer, Jordan Nagai, Bob Peterson
UP AT THE VILLA
2000
*
In 1938 Florence, a rich Englishwoman becomes entangled with a disturbed Austrian refugee.
Standard adaptation of Maugham’s enjoyable novella which doesn’t make the earth move but provides a decent, civilised evening’s viewing.
Dir: Philip Haas
Stars: Kristin Scott Thomas, Sean Penn, Anne Bancroft, James Fox, Jeremy Davies, Derek Jacobi
UP FROM THE DEPTHS
1979
0
A prehistoric monster terrorises a resort.
The makers of Jaws would have surely have had an excellent case to sue the makers of this anaemic rip-off.
Dir: Charles B Griffith
Stars: Sam Bottoms, Susanne Read
UP IN SMOKE
1978
*
Two dopeheads forever search for good grass.
Cheech and Chong's first film; many laughs for those who know.
Dir: Lou Adler
Stars: Cheech Marin, Thomas Chong, Stacy Keach
UP IN THE WORLD
1956
0
A window cleaner finds friendship with a boy millionaire.
Irritating star comedy.
Dir: John Paddy Carstairs
Stars: Norman Wisdom, Martin Caridia, Jerry Desmonde
UP POMPEII
1971
*
An assassination plot is hatched in ancient Rome.
Pleasingly ripe and ribald movie version of the TV show; a valuable record of the unique star in one of his best roles.
Dir: Bob Kellett
Stars: Frankie Howerd, Patrick Cargill, Michael Horden, Lance Percival, Bill Fraser, Adrienne Posta
UP THE CHASTITY BELT
1971
*
In the Middle Ages, a wily serf impersonates the King.
Enjoyable romp; highlights are Howerd, as ever, and Robin Hood's band of effeminate men.
Dir: Bob Kellett
Stars: Frankie Howerd, Bill Fraser, Roy Hudd, Hugh Paddick
UP THE CREEK
1958
*
An ancient Navy ship is used for commercial purposes by the wily crew.
Amiable comedy with a fresh and funny performance from Sellers.
Dir: Val Guest
Stars: Peter Sellers, David Tomlinson, Wilfrid Hyde-White, Vera Day, Lionel Jeffries
UP THE FRONT
1972
0
A cowardly servant is enlisted as a soldier in World War One.
Cheeseparing farce which makes its predecessors look like classics.
Dir: Bob Kellett
Stars: Frankie Howerd, Bill Fraser, Linda Gray, Lance Percival, Madeline Smith
UP THE JUNCTION
1967
0
A well-off girl takes a menial factory job in Clapham.
Unconvincing and dreary social drama.
Dir: Peter Collinson
Stars: Suzy Kendall, Dennis Waterman, Adrienne Posta, Maureen Lipman, Liz Fraser, Alfie Bass
UP THE MILITARY
1984
0
A young female virgin gets corrupted by working at the Pentagon...
...as you might. Dismissible sex comedy.
Dir: Andrew Sugarman
Stars: Ann Dusenberry, Rhonda Shear
UPS AND DOWNS OF A HANDYMAN
1975
0
A husband finds that all the women in the village want him for 'jobs'.
Bucolic adult comedy with an odd mix of sex and childish humour.
Dir: John Sealey
Stars: Barry Stokes, Gay Soper, Sue Lloyd, Bob Todd
THE US VS JOHN LENNON
2006
**
Documentary focusing on John Lennon's conflict with the Nixon administration.
A satisfying feature that for the first hour is like two separate ones, until Lennon and US politics converge in 1971; it benefits from Lennon's eccentricity, charisma, wit and, of course, wonderful music. Generally leftish, it also airs John's occasionally risible/naive behaviour.
Dir: David Leaf, John Scheinfeld
Stars: John Lennon, Yoko Ono
THE USUAL SUSPECTS
1997
**
A heist at a port goes badly wrong.
Gritty crime thriller which was a big hit with critics despite its rather perfunctory twist.
Dir: Bryan Singer
Stars: Gabriel Byrne, Stephen Baldwin, Pete Postlethwaite, Kevin Spacey, Benicio del Toro
