Select THREE movies or TV shows (end of list) you’d like to watch and we’ll choose one we haven’t seen recently.  We have room for six people to view comfortably.  If you don’t have time to look at entire list, start somewhere besides the beginning.  Bring vegetarian food and we’ll split the tab.  We can order out if that is helpful.  CONTACT: (818) 901-1981

 

THE ADVENTURES OF ROBIN HOOD (1938) – 102 minutes

This 1938 swashbuckler, which won Academy Awards for Best Film Editing, Best Interior Decoration and Best Original Score, stars Errol Flynn as Robin Hood, champion of the poor and disenfranchised. Robin Hood goes up against his worst enemy, Sir Guy of Gisbourne (Basil Rathbone), a cold-hearted royal who's after the woman Robin Hood loves, Maid Marian (Olivia de Havilland).

Starring: Errol Flynn, Olivia de Havilland, Basil Rathbone  Director: Michael Curtiz

 

AFTER THE THIN MAN (1936) - 113 minutes

Domestic detectives Nick and Nora Charles (beloved on-screen duo William Powell and Myrna Loy) are back for the second installment of their murder-mystery series, this time to help Nora's cousin Selma (Elissa Landi) find her missing husband, Robert. With the help of Selma's lovesick friend David (Jimmy Stewart), the Charleses track a trail of dead bodies that reveals Robert's secret life and leads to an unlikely killer. Drinking really can be funny, sexy and fun!. 

The Thin Man (1934) After … (1936) Another ... (1939) Shadow Of … (1941) ...Goes Home (1945) Song Of … (1947)

Starring: William Powell, Myrna Loy, and Jimmy Stewart

Director: W. S. Van Dyke

 

ALFIE (1966) - 113 minutes

English playboy Alfie (Michael Caine) is a charming Don Juan in the free-spirited 1960s with an insatiable appetite for women. He lives for sex and steers clear of emotional attachments, taking up with one "bird" after another. But his carefree days are over when he impregnates multiple women … and discovers one of them is married. This Golden Globe-winning comedy’ cool jazz score IS as smooth as the title character.

Starring: Michael Caine, Shelley Winters
Director: Lewis Gilbert

 

ALIENS (1986) - 137 minutes

Sigourney Weaver returns as Lt. Ripley in this action-packed sequel to Alien. The only survivor from the first film, Ripley finds her horrific account of the alien and her crew's fate is met with skepticism -- until the mysterious disappearance of colonists on LV-426 prompts a team of high-tech Marines to investigate. This disc features a commentary by cast and crewmembers and both the theatrical and special edition versions of the film.

Starring: Sigourney Weaver

Director: James Cameron 

R Restricted. Under 17 requires accompanying parent/guardian

 

ALL OF ME (1984) - 93 minutes

Just before stubborn millionaire Edwina Cutwater (Lily Tomlin) dies, she asks her uptight lawyer, Roger Cobb (Steve Martin), to amend her will so that her soul will pass to the young, vibrant Terry Hoskins (Victoria Tenant). But when the spiritual transference goes awry, Edwina enters Roger's body, forcing him to battle Edwina for control of his own being. Director Carl Reiner's comedy nabbed Golden Globe nominations for Martin and Tomlin. Best Steve Martin film.

Starring: Steve Martin, Lily Tomlin

Director: Carl Reiner

PG Parental guidance suggested.

 


ALL THE PRESIDENT'S MEN (1976) - 139 minutes

The film that launched a thousand journalism school students, All the President's Men chronicles how reporters Bob Woodward (Robert Redford) and Carl Bernstein (Dustin Hoffman) brought down Richard M. Nixon. The duo connected a Washington, D.C., hotel break-in with a Nixon "dirty tricks" team assigned to discredit Democratic rivals. Director Alan J. Pakula ratchets up the tension (no small feat, as the outcome is assured). Oscars Best Supporting Actor: Jason Robards : Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Sound

Starring: Robert Redford, Dustin Hoffman

Director: Alan J. Pakula

 

AMERICAN GRAFFITI (1973) - 112 minutes

The film that put director George Lucas on the Hollywood map also expertly showcased newcomers such as Harrison Ford, Richard Dreyfuss, Suzanne Somers and "Ronny" Howard. Lucas masterfully weaves together the stories of a disparate group of high school students as they struggle with adolescent rites of passage in 1962. Touching and timeless, American Graffiti is a not-to-be-missed classic.

Starring: Harrison Ford, Richard Dreyfuss, Suzanne Somers, and “Ronny" Howard

Director: George Lucas

PG Parental guidance suggested.

 

AMERICAN SPLENDOR (2003) - 101 minutes

Harvey Pekar (Paul Giamatti) was a working-class stiff, a file clerk who found an outlet for his creativity by chronicling every minutia of his life in Cleveland, Oh., for more than 20 years in a comic-book series called American Splendor. This revealing biopic co-stars Hope Davis and tells Pekar's story through two-dimensional images, archival footage and more.

Starring: Paul Giamatti, Hope Davis

Director: Shari Springer Berman, Robert Pulcini

R Restricted. http://www.netflix.com/Help?id=1632  For language

 

ANDREI RUBLEV (1966) Russian language – 205 minutes

Widely recognized as a cinematic masterpiece, this mesmerizing account of 15th century Russian monk Andrei Rublev follows the icon painter as he faces violence, political persecution and, eventually, a crisis of faith after leaving the monastery to paint Vladimir Cathedral's interior. The Soviets suppressed this sweeping epic, which was not seen as director Andrei Tarkovsky intended until its re-release more than 20 years after completion.   Well worth the 206 minutes!  Resist being tethered to fast-food media.

Starring:
Director: Andrei Tarkovsky

 

ANNIE HALL (1977) - 94 minutes

Listen closely and you can actually hear the stress hormones pumping through the bodies of the characters in Annie Hall. Woody Allen's real, funny ode to love among twitchy city dwellers scooped up Oscars for Best Picture, Best Direction, Best Actress (Diane Keaton) and Best Screenplay. And don't miss cameos of not-yet-stars Jeff Goldblum, Shelley Duvall and Sigourney Weaver.

Starring: Woody Allen, Diane Keaton, Shelley Duvall, Carol Kane

Director:  Woody Allen

PG Parental guidance suggested.

 


ANOTHER THIN MAN (1939) - 105 minutes

Upper-crust private eyes Nick (William Powell) and Nora (Myrna Loy) -- along with faithful canine Asta -- return for a third installment of the popular series. Invited to spend the weekend at the estate of munitions mogul Col. Burr MacFay (C. Aubrey Smith) after his ex-associate issues a death threat, Nick and Nora go into sleuthing mode when someone indeed dispatches MacFay. But all is not what it seems in this stylish and entertaining whodunit.   Watch all 6 Thin Man films. The Thin Man (1934) After … (1936) Another ... (1939) Shadow Of … (1941) ...Goes Home (1945) Song Of … (1947)

Starring: William Powell, Myrna Loy

Director: W. S. Van Dyke

 

THE APARTMENT (1960) - 125 minutes

C.C. Baxter (Jack Lemmon) has his future mapped out -- all he needs to do is cozy up to the top feeders in the corporate food chain. But his fast track to the executive suite gets short-circuited when he falls for one of the bosses' girlfriends. The Apartment features top-notch performances from Lemmon and Shirley MacLaine and was nominated for 10 Oscars, winning five, including Best Picture, Best Original Screenplay, Best Director: Billy Wilder
Starring: Jack Lemmon, Shirley MacLaine, Fred MacMurray 

Director: Billy Wilder

 

ARSENIC AND OLD LACE (1944) - 118 minutes

You are what you eat -- and that's dead if it's teatime at Abby and Martha Brewster's house! Mortimer Brewster's (Cary Grant) two maiden aunts have a peculiar avocation: poisoning old men and burying them in the cellar. But now that the Brewster sisters' secret is out, what's a dutiful nephew to do? Great cast, great fun in this adaptation of a Hit Broadway Play. 

Starring: Cary Grant, Priscilla Lane, Raymond Massey and Peter Lorre

Director: Frank Capra

 

THE ASPHALT JUNGLE (1950) - 106 minutes

Nominated for four Academy Awards and long considered a noir classic, John Huston's heist film about a million-dollar jewelry-store burglary stars Sterling Hayden, Louis Calhern and James Whitmore and features an early appearance by Marilyn Monroe (in her seventh film). Special bonus features include an introduction by John Huston and audio commentary from Whitmore and USC Cinema History professor Drew Casper

Starring: Sterling Hayden, Louis Calhern, Marilyn Monroe, and James Whitmore

Director: John Huston

 

AU HASARD BALTHAZAR (1966) French language – 95 minutes

This religious fable from director Robert Bresson traces the lives of a farm girl, Marie, and her beloved pet donkey, Balthazar. The two eventually become separated, but their experiences follow strangely parallel paths. As a young woman, Marie is cruelly abused by her lover, while Balthazar suffers at the hands of a number of different owners. But their torment ultimately becomes the vehicle for their spiritual transcendence and redemption. Take a chance on this one.  Everyone goes to the movies because they want to be moved.  Here you go!

Starring: Anne Wiazemsky, Francois Lafarge,
Director: Robert Bresson

 

THE AWFUL TRUTH (1937) - 93 minutes

One of the most captivating screwball comedies ever, The Awful Truth stars Cary Grant and Irene Dunne as the perfect comic sparring partners. Grant and Dunne are facing divorce while fighting tooth and nail over their beloved dog, Mr. Smith. Ralph Bellamy is hilarious as Dunne's new suitor, and Grant and Dunne have rarely been better. Leo McCarey won an Oscar for his sprightly direction.  TIME Magazine List: All-TIME 100 Movies - Irene Dunne is terrific!

STARRING: Cary Grant and Irene Dunne

Director: Leo McCarey

BABY DOLL (1956) - 114 minutes

Written by Tennessee Williams, this black comedy tells the story of cotton gin owner Archie (Karl Malden) and his sexy teenage wife (Carroll Baker), who won't consummate the marriage until she turns 20. When Archie battles a rival (Eli Wallach), in a BAFTA-winning performance), he could lose his business -- and his beloved child bride. Director Elia Kazan received a Golden Globe for his steamy and, at the time of its release, controversial film.

Starring: Karl Malden, Carroll Baker, Eli Wallach

Director: Elia Kazan

 

BABY FACE (1933) - 76 minutes

Lily Powers (Barbara Stanwyck) may look innocent, but she's far from naive. From her lowly beginnings serving drinks in her father's basement speakeasy, she uses her looks and charm to hook up with a series of men, dropping each of them after they've helped her advance in the world. Leaving a trail of broken hearts and ruined lives, cynical Lily eventually realizes that she, too, may be vulnerable to love -- and the pain that goes with it.

TIME Magazine List: All-TIME 100 Movies

Starring: Barbara Stanwyck

Director: Alfred E. Green

 

THE BAD SLEEP WELL (1960) Japanese language - 135 minutes

Koichi Nishi (Toshiro Mifune) is distraught after his father's demise, which he blames on the cutthroat corporate environment in which he worked. Desperate to avenge his father's senseless death, Koichi begins to tamper with the sanity of each person who ever wronged the man. He starts with the cake at his very own wedding; per Koichi's instructions, the confection has been specially crafted to remind the attendees of their darkest secrets. …  Wow!  I’ve been looking forward to seeing this movie since I read of it in the 1960’s!

Starring: Toshirô Mifune, Takashi Shimura

Director: Akira Kurosawa

 

BALL OF FIRE (1941) - 116 minutes

Gary Cooper plays a serious but lovable English professor working with his intellectual colleagues on a dictionary of American slang. When Barbara Stanwyck, as a red-hot nightclub singer on the run from the mob, takes refuge in their house, she also finds a place in their hearts. But where there's a ball of fire there's bound to be trouble, and before they know it, the professor and his colleagues are learning a lot about language -- and life.  Written by Billy Wilder (last one written w/o direction)

Starring: Gary Cooper, Barbara Stanwyck, Dana Andrews

Director: Howard Hawks

 

BALLAD OF A SOLDIER (1959) Russian language – 88 minutes

During World War II, 19-year-old Russian soldier Alyosha wins a 10-day leave and tries to make it home. Along the way, he meets several civilians, and his cheery presence is like a wartime tonic for them, uplifting their lives. Carefully shot (in black and white) by director Grigori Chukhrai, the 1960 movie is the perfect primer for film students and aficionados of wonderful camerawork.  1962 BAFTA®: Best Film

Starring: Vladimir Ivashov

Director: Grigori Chukhraj

 


BAND OF OUTSIDERS (1964) French language - 95 minutes

Jean-Luc Godard continues his fascination with dime-store novels and American crime films with this free-spirited romp. Two friends, Arthur (Claude Brasseur) and Franz (Sami Frey), are searching for a way to make a big score. When Franz meets the beautiful Odile (Anna Karina) and she informs him of a large chunk of cash her aunt keeps hidden in her house, this could be their lucky break. But a miscalculation delays the seemingly perfect plan. ... “BANDE À PART” is the name of Quentin Tarantino’s production company

TIME® Magazine List: All-TIME 100 Movies

Starring: Anna Karina, Claude Brasseur

Director: Jean-Luc Godard

 

BANDIT QUEEN (1994)??? language - 113 minutes

Outcast. Outlaw. Legend. A woman's life erupts in a feverish spree of vengeful violence, shocking the world — and bringing a government to its knees — in this tale of modern day savagery run wild. Based on a true story. Bandit Queen later became an elected legislator.

Starring: Seema Biswas

Director: Shekhar Kapur

 

THE BANK DICK (1940) - 72 minutes

One of W.C. Field's best comedies features two of his greatest made-up names: Egbert Sousé, the henpecked husband (Fields) who foils a bank robbery and receives the position of bank detective as a reward, and Mahatma Kane Jeeves, the pen name Fields used for the original screen story. The climactic slapstick car chase is imitated in many later films. Fields's on-screen opponents include frequent dupe Grady Sutton and Stooge (my favorite) Shemp Howard.

Starring:  W.C. Fields

Director: Edward Cline

 

 

THE BATTLE OF ALGIERS (1965) French language - 125 minutes

One of the most influential films in the history of political cinema, Gillo Pontecorvo's The Battle of Algiers focuses on the events of 1957, a key year in Algeria's struggle for independence from France. Shot in the streets of Algiers in documentary style, the film vividly re-creates the tumultuous Algerian uprising against the occupying French. The violence soon escalates on both sides in this war drama that's astonishingly relevant today.

Starring:

Director:  Gillo Pontecorvo

 

BATTLESHIP POTEMKIN (1925) silent language - 74 minutes

Propaganda notwithstanding, director Sergei Eisenstein's masterwork remains a cinematic landmark, charting events that ultimately led to the Bolshevik Revolution. Fed up with the ship's officers' brutalities and with maggot-infested rations, the crew of the battleship Prince Potemkin revolts. The sailors' actions ignite an uprising by the citizens of Odessa, resulting in czarist troops' infamous, systematic slaughter of insurgents and bystanders.   Perhaps the first  ”art film” as well as the first propaganda movie.

Director: Sergei Eisenstein

 


BATTLING BUTLER & 2 shorts (1926) silent language – 109 minutes

A wealthy businessman dispatches his cosseted son, Alfred Butler (Buster Keaton), to the great outdoors hoping it will make a man of him. While hunting one day, Alfred nearly shoots a beautiful mountain girl (Sally O'Neil) -- and instantly falls in love. To win the approval of her macho father and brother, Alfred poses as boxing champ "Battling" Butler, and the subterfuge works perfectly, until the genuine article (Francis McDonald) turns up.

Starring: Buster Keaton, Sally O'Neil
Director: Buster Keaton

 

BEAUTY AND THE BEAST (1946) French language - 93 minutes

Film of the classic fairy tale about a daughter who sacrifices herself to a hideous beast to save her father. Features supplemental materials and commentary by Arthur Knight on second audio track. If you enjoyed the animated version…

Starring: Jean Marais, Josette Day
Director: Jean Cocteau

 

BELLE DE JOUR (1967) French langage - 100 minutes

Severine (Catherine Deneuve) is a wealthy young newlywed who's eager to live life to the fullest. Although she loves her husband, Severine can't bring herself to be intimate with him. To sate her physical desires, she indulges in erotic daydreams, often blurring the line between reality and fantasy. When that's not enough, she begins frequenting a classy Parisian brothel, working as a prostitute while remaining celibate within her marriage.

Starring: Catherine Deneuve, Michel Piccoli

Director: Luis Bunuel

R Restricted. Under 17 requires parent or adult guardian

 

THE BICYCLE THIEF (1948) Italian language - 89 minutes

See Umberto D (1952)

Widely considered a landmark Italian film, Vittorio De Sica's tale of Rome's post-World War II depression earned a special Oscar for its devastating power. Antonio Ricci (Lamberto Maggiorani) relies on his bicycle to do his job. But the same day he gets the vehicle back from the pawnshop, someone steals it. Antonio and his young son, Bruno (Enzo Staiola), search the city in vain, as Antonio confronts a looming desperation.  Late, great New Yorker Magazine film critic Pauline Ksel says that after seeing this, she went to her car and wept.                               GCTOP10 GCTOP10 GCTOP10 GCTOP10 GCTOP10 GCTOP10 GCTOP10 GCTOP10

Starring: Lamberto Maggiorani, Enzo Staiola,
Director: Vittorio De Sica

 

BIG DEAL ON MADONNA STREET (1958) Italian language - 106 minutes

Director Mario Monicelli delivers this deft satire of the classic caper film RIFIFI, introducing a bungling group of amateurs -- including an ex-jockey (Carlo Pisacane), a former boxer (Vittorio Gassman) and an out-of-work photographer (Marcello Mastroianni). The crew plans a seemingly simple heist with a retired burglar (Totó), who serves as a consultant. But this Italian job is doomed from the start (See RIFIFI)

Starring: Carlo Pisacane, Vittorio Gassman, Marcello Mastroianni

Director: Mario Monicelli

 


THE BIG HEAT (1953) - 89 minutes

Gripping action as a dedicated cop (Glenn Ford) investigates the murder of his wife and discovers corruption in the ranks.

Starring: Glenn Ford, Gloria Grahame, and Lee Marvin

Director: Fritz Lang

 

THE BIG SLEEP (1946) - 125 minutes

Tough-as-nails private eye Philip Marlowe (Humphrey Bogart) takes on a blackmail case and soon falls for Lauren Bacall, the feisty daughter of a wealthy general. The plot thickens when the murder victims pile up. The film was blessed with stellar talent: Raymond Chandler wrote the novel on which the movie is based, William Faulkner adapted the book for the screen,  (check interesting special features) It’s like watching a Raymond Chandler novel.  Fun!

Starring: Lauren Bacall, Humphrey Bogart

Director: Howard Hawks

 

BLAST FROM THE PAST (1999) - 111 minutes

Following a nuclear-bomb scare in the early 1960s, eccentric inventor Calvin Webber (Christopher Walken) seals himself and his pregnant wife in a state-of-the-art underground shelter. Thirty-five years later, Calvin's son, Adam (Brendan Fraser), finally ventures into the daylight in search of a potential bride. He soon meets the worldly Eve (Alicia Silverstone), who takes a shine to his naïveté. Great idea, great cast, but not quite a great movie. 

Starring: Brendan Fraser, Alicia Silverstone, Christopher Walken, Sissy Spacek

Director: Hugh Wilson

 

THE BLOOD OF A POET (1946) French language - ___ minutes

This disc includes the film The Blood of a Poet. Jean Cocteau attempts to portray the mind of a poet, with artist Lee Miller playing a reanimated statue and Enrique Rivero in the role of Cocteau. This disc features a meticulously restored version of the classic film and includes behind-the-scenes photographs, a documentary by Edgardo Cozarinsky, a1983 transcript of Cocteau's lecture, a screening and a 1946 filmography

Starring: Enrique Rivero

Director: Jean Cocteau

 

THE BLUE ANGEL (1930) German language - 200 minutes

 

This Josef Von Sternberg film stars Emil Jannings as Dr. Immanuel Rath, a provincial prep school teacher who becomes incensed when he learns his boys have become infatuated with Lola Lola (Dietrich), a cabaret singer. Heading to The Blue Angel nightclub to catch his pupils, Rath instead becomes bewitched by the sensuous Lola himself, beginning an obsession that drives him to the depths of despair. Which of us wouldn’t gladly follow her there?

English language version included. 

Starring: Marlene Dietrich, Emil Jannings,
Director: Josef Von Sternberg

 

BOB LE FLAMBEUR (1956) French language – 102 minutes

In Jean-Pierre Melville's intelligent drama, Bob (Roger Duchesne) is a compulsive gambler with a deep well of compassion. He's a father figure to street kids Paulo and Anne and he cares for them as if they were his own. When he runs out of money, the three hatches a plan to rob a Deauville casino. Can they pull off the ultimate heist, or has Bob run out of luck?

Starring: Isabelle Corey, Daniel Cauchy,

Director: Jean-Pierre Melville

PG Parental guidance suggested. Not suitable for children

BONNIE AND CLYDE (1967) - 111 minutes

Serial bank robbers, sometime lovers and folkloric heroes, Bonnie Parker (Faye Dunaway) and Clyde Barrow (Warren Beatty) barrel across depression-ravaged America on a shooting spree that ended in a deathly rain of bullets -- for them. Sexy and stylish, the film, directed by Arthur Penn, shattered the crime film mold, layering comedy onto mayhem and youthful criminality. Gene Wilder makes his first film appearance here.

1968 Oscars Best Supporting Actress: Estelle Parsons, Best Cinematography

Starring: Faye Dunaway, Warren Beatty

Director: Arthur Penn,

R Restricted. Under 17 requires accompanying parent/

 

BOOGIE NIGHTS (1997) - 127 minutes

By turns touching and shocking, Boogie Nights is ultimately an intimate drama about an unlikely family whose patriarch (Burt Reynolds) produces hardcore pornography. Set in porn's golden age -- the '70s -- Boogie Nights stars Mark Wahlberg as young stud Dirk Diggler and Julianne Moore as vulnerable star/earth mother Amber Waves.  Swell movie about my neighborhood, “The Valley”.

Starring: Mark Wahlberg, Burt Reynolds, William H. Macy, Philip Seymour Hoffman,

Director: Paul Thomas Anderson

R For strong sex scenes with explicit dialogue, nudity, drug use, language and violence

 

BORN TO KILL (1947) – 92 minutes

Meeting aboard a train bound for San Francisco, Helen Brent (Claire Trevor) and Sam Wilde (Lawrence Tierney, in a menacing performance) strike up a conversation. Unaware of an existing connection between them -- Helen found a pair of corpses, courtesy of Sam's murderous hands -- they embark on a depraved affair that leads straight to hell. Walter Slezak and Elisha Cook Jr. provide first-rate support in director Robert Wise's hardboiled gem.

Starring: Claire Trevor, Lawrence (Ironworkers Local 416) Tierney, Walter Slezak

Director: Robert Wise

 

BORN YESTERDAY (1950) - 102 minutes

Boorish business tycoon Harry Brock (Broderick Crawford) fears that ditsy fiancée Billie Dawn, Judy Holliday will prove an embarrassment in the presence of politicos he wants to influence, so he hires a reporter (William Holden) to tutor the ostensibly brainless blonde in the political and social graces. Brock gets more than he bargained for, though, when the journalist transforms her into the backroom dealmaker's most formidable foe.

1951 Oscar Best Actress (over Gloria Swanson’s renowned “Norma Desmond” from the noir masterpiece SUNSET BOULEVARD)

Starring: Judy Holliday, Broderick Crawford, and William Holden

Director: George Cukor

 

THE BORROWERS (1997) - 86 minutes

The Borrowers are wee people who live in the walls of homes, and when an unscrupulous lawyer tries to railroad the Lender family out of their house, the Borrowers who live there strike back! DVD includes a production documentary.  Great for kids of all ages.

Starring: John Goodman, Jim Broadbent

Director: Peter Hewitt

 


BOUND (1996) - 109 minutes

Andy and Larry Wachowski made their directorial debut with this crime-thriller. Gina Gershon stars as a handywoman who crosses paths with a gangster's moll (Jennifer Tilly) and likes what she sees. Before you can say, "Unhook my brassiere," they decide to filch $2 million and hit the road together. But Tilly's beau (Joe Pantoliano) isn't keen on giving up his money or his girl.  Best Wachowski brothers’ movie

Starring: Gina Gershon, Jennifer Tilly, and Joe Pantoliano

Director: Andy Wachowski

PG Parents strongly cautioned for KIDS under 13.

 

BOUND FOR GLORY (1976) - 146 minutes

Frustrated sign painter Woodie Guthrie (David Carradine) leaves his family in Depression-era Texas and heads to California. Work is scarce and hope is even harder to find. But a socially conscious radio performer (Ronny Cox) helps Guthrie bring his music to the masses and inspire generations of Americans. Based on the folk singer's autobiography, the film earned

Oscars for its lush cinematography and faithful score.

Starring: David Carradine, Ronny Cox

Director: Hal Ashby

PG Parents strongly cautioned for KIDS under 13.

 

THE BOURNE IDENTITY (2002) - 119 minutes

A man (Matt Damon) washes up on an island in the Mediterranean Sea, suffering from gunshot wounds and amnesia. He soon realizes he's being hunted down by assassins and that he's very good at killing them. This action thriller is based on Robert Ludlum's novel.  Great cast in this smart thriller!

Starring: Matt Damon, Franke Potente, Chris Cooper, Clive Owen, Julia Stiles

Director: Doug Liman

PG-13 For violence and some language

 

BOWFINGER (1999) - 97 minutes

Lame producer Bobby Bowfinger (Steve Martin) has a script that's brimming with possibilities. The catch? To get seed money to produce the film, it must feature Hollywood's leading box-office star, Kit Ramsey (Eddie Murphy). Aided and abetted by a cast and crew of misfits, Martin makes one last stab at overnight success. Hilarity is the result. Top notch Steve Martin!

Starring: Steve Martin, Eddie Murphy

Director: Frank Oz

 

BREATHLESS (1960) French language - 90 minutes

In Jean-Luc Godard's groundbreaking work that ushered in the French New Wave movement, young thug Michel (Jean-Paul Belmondo) steals a car and shoots a policeman pursuing him. He turns to his American girlfriend and aspiring journalist Patricia (Jean Seberg) for help, and the two lovers begin a life evading capture as they steal cars to raise money for an escape to Italy. As the law closes in, their bold behavior and desperation grows.

Starring: Jean-Paul Belmondo, Jean Seberg

Director: Jean-Luc Godard

 


BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN (1931) - 75 minutes

Bride of Frankenstein, the superior and very witty sequel to Frankenstein, the monster (Karloff) gets his own made-to-order (almost!) bride (Elsa Lanchester). Both classic Universal films were directed by legendary horrormeister James Whale, who set the bar very high for all to follow.

Starring: Colin Clive, Boris Karloff, and Elsa Lanchester

Director: James Whale,

 

THE BRIDE WITH WHITE HAIR (1993) Chinese language - 89 minutes

Director Ronny Yu weaves a tragic tale as old as time, based on Liang Yusheng's well-known novel. When a beautiful woman (Brigitte Lin) saves a man (Leslie Cheung) from a pack of wolves, the bond she stitches between them holds forever. Now on opposite sides of warring clans, the star-crossed lovers must re-examine their loyalties. Thrilling swordplay drives their aching romance to an uncertain end.  Better than Crouching Tiger… House Of Flying…

Starring: Leslie Cheung, Brigitte Lin

Director: Ronny Yu

 

BROKEN BLOSSOMS (1918) silent language - 95 minutes

Gentle ideologist Cheng Huan (Richard Barthelmess) migrates to England hoping to sow the seeds of Buddhism's pacifist canons. Instead, he ends up as an opium addict in London's seedy Limehouse district. Enter ethereal waif Lucy (Lillian Gish), who collapses at Huan's door thanks to another battering by her drunkard, pugilist father (Donald Crisp). As Huan nurses Lucy back to health, a tacit romance blooms … with tragic results.

Starring: Richard Barthelmess, Lillian Gish

Director: D.W. Griffith

 

Bukowski: BORN INTO THIS (2003) - 113 minutes HD

Shot over seven years by filmmaker John Dullaghan, this intimate portrait of writer Charles Bukowski reveals a tortured man who survived years of abuse to produce some of the most influential prose of his generation. Packed with interviews with friends and colleagues, the film also showcases rare footage culled from every phase of Bukowski's past, including a few of his more explosive public readings in the 1960s.

Starring: Charles Bukowski

Director: John Dullaghan

 

BULLETS OVER BROADWAY (1994) - 95 minutes

A light-as-air period comedy, this ranks as one of Woody Allen's best films. The story follows a hack 1920s playwright (John Cusack) who uses a mobster to finance his newest play. When the gangster's bodyguard (Chazz Palminteri) starts rewriting the play to make it more believable, he shows more talent than Cusack. Oscar winning supporting actress, Dianne Wiest steals the show as a haughty actress.

Starring: John Cusack, Chazz Palminteri, Dianne Wiest, and Jennifer Tilly

Director: Woody Allen

R Restricted. Under 17 requires parent/guardian

 


THE BURMESE HARP (1956) Japanese language - 116 min

Set during World War II's last days, this indelible antiwar drama chronicles a Japanese soldier's transformation after coming face to face with the human cost of war. Sent to inform another platoon the war is over, Cpl. Mizushima (Shôji Yasui) can't persuade the men to surrender and becomes the lone survivor when the British attack. But the casualties he sees on the way to rejoin his unit overwhelms Mizushima, and he soon finds a higher calling.

Starring: Shôji Yasui

Director: Kon Ichikawa

 

BUSH FAMILY FORTUNES: The Best Democracy Money Can Buy (2004) – 61 minutes

Musician and staunch Democrat Moby lends his music to this documentary by Greg Palast, a reporter and filmmaker who tailed the political clan, especially George W. Bush, from the highly contested 2000 presidential election win in Florida to the purported influence they exerted on behalf of the bin Ladens. Palast also treads on the same ground that the iconic Michael Moore covered, connecting the dots between the Bushes and the House of Saud.

Director: Greg Palast

 

BUTCH CASSIDY AND THE SUNDANCE KID (1969) - 110 minutes

Legendary outlaws Butch Cassidy (Paul Newman) and the Sundance Kid (Robert Redford) display perfect comedic timing and charisma as they pull off heist after heist in this Oscar-winning film from director George Roy Hill. To evade a relentless posse, the boys flee to Bolivia, thinking they'll find easier pickings there. But trouble finds the fugitives wherever they go, and soon, the charming desperadoes are on the run again. 1970 Oscars Best Song, Best Music Score, Best Cinematography, Best Original Screenplay

Starring: Paul Newman, Robert Redford, and Katharine Ross

Director: George Roy Hill

PG Parental guidance suggested.

 

THE CAINE MUTINY (1954) - 125 minutes

Captain Queeg: madman or misunderstood taskmaster? That's the dilemma facing the first officer (Van Johnson) of the U.S.S. Caine when its stern new captain (Humphrey Bogart) drives the crew to the brink of mutiny. Part sea-going adventure, part courtroom drama, The Caine Mutiny is a tale that manages to be both thrilling and thought provoking. Bogart shines in one of his last roles.

Starring: Humphrey Bogart, Fred MacMurray and Van Johnson
Director: Edward Dmytryk

 

CAMILLE (1936) - 109 minutes

In this late-1930s adaptation of the Alexandre Dumas novel, Greta Garbo plays the titular role of

Camille, a dying courtesan who falls in love with a young nobleman Robert Taylor and heroically sacrifices her happiness to prove her love. George Cukor directed this authoritative version of the story, which has seen many film adaptations. Includes strong supporting performances from Lionel Barrymore and a villainous Henry Daniell.

TIME Magazine List: All-TIME 100 Movies

Starring: Greta Garbo, Robert Taylor

Director: George Cukor

 


CAPE FEAR (1962) - 106 minutes

Released on parole after eight years in stir for rape and assault, Max Cady (Robert Mitchum) is hell-bent on vengeance. He heads straight for Sam Bowden (Gregory Peck), the ex-prosecutor responsible for Cady's stint in the slammer. When Bowden learns that Cady's payback plan includes the lawyer's wife and daughter, he's forced to go to extraordinary lengths to protect his family as Cady carries out a methodical crusade of terror.  Better than the 1991 remake

Starring: Robert Mitchum, Gregory Peck

Director:   J. Lee Thompson

 

CAPTAINS COURAGEOUS (1937) – 115 minutes

Based on a novel by Rudyard Kipling, this classic adventure tale stars Spencer Tracy in an Oscar-winning performance as Manuel, an old salt who fishes spoiled, rich brat Harvey Cheyne (Freddie Bartholomew) out of the drink. When the vessel's skipper (Lionel Barrymore) puts Harvey to work, the boy chafes at the idea. But crusty Manuel takes the lad under his wing and teaches Harvey invaluable life lessons through patience, forgiveness and resolve.

Starring: Spencer Tracy, Freddie Bartholomew and Lionel Barrymore

Director:  Victor Fleming 

 

CASABLANCA (1942) - 102 minutes

As time goes by, this 1942 classic starring Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman (as Rick and Ilsa, star-crossed lovers who just aren't meant to be) only gets better. Of all the "gin joints" in Morocco, Ilsa, with husband Victor (Paul Henreid) in tow, had to walk into the one owned by Rick, a former beau she abandoned in Paris. War looms over them all, and in a much-discussed ending, Rick and Ilsa make heroic but heartbreaking choices.

Starring: Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman

Director:  Michael Curtiz

 

CHAPLIN MUTUALS: Vol. 1 (1917) silent language - 106 minutes                                                                                                                                                                                                          Equal portions prankster, browbeaten public pariah and schmaltzy sap, Charlie Chaplin's appeal lies not only in his ingenious farce but in his flouting of authority, status and custom. Every comedy short Chaplin helmed at Mutual Studios turns into a funnyman seminar as he explores the slapstick potential of a hodgepodge of props and circumstances. Volume 1 includes "The Immigrant," "The Adventurer," "The Cure" and "Easy Street."              

Starring: Charlie Chaplin             

Director: Charlie Chaplin

 

CHAPLIN MUTUALS: Vol. 3 (1916) silent language - 106 minutes                                                                                                              Equal portions prankster, browbeaten public pariah and schmaltzy sap, Charlie Chaplin's appeal lies not only in his ingenious farce but in his flouting of authority, status and custom. Every comedy short Chaplin helmed at Mutual Studios turns into a funnyman seminar as he explores the slapstick potential of a hodgepodge of props and circumstances. Volume 3 includes "One A.M.," "The Pawn Shop," "The Floorwalker" and "The Rink."

Starring: Charlie Chaplin                                                                                                   Director: Charlie Chaplin

 

CHINATOWN (1974) - 130 minutes

Private eye J.J. Gittes (Jack Nicholson) uncovers intricate dirty dealings in the Los Angeles waterworks and gets his nose slashed for his grief. Suspicious, porcelain-skinned femme fatale Faye Dunaway (who harbors a nasty family secret) finances Gittes's snooping. Director Roman Polanski reimagines 1930s Los Angeles in this brilliant detective thriller. And Robert Towne's onion-like script reveals itself one complex layer at a time. 1975 Oscar: Best Original Screenplay                                                                             GCTOP10

Starring: Jack Nicholson, Faye Dunaway, john Houston Director:  Roman Polanski

R Restricted. Under 17 requires accompanying parent/guardian.

CHUNGKING EXPRESS (1994) Chinese language - 102 minutes

Hong Kong director Kar Wai Wong established a unique style with this cerebral film that tells two somewhat similar but unrelated stories about loneliness and disconnection in the big city. In the first story, a policeman pines after his former girlfriend and gives himself 30 days to find another woman; in the second story, another policeman catches the eye of an attractive waitress, Canton pop singer FAYE WONG, who's intent on completely rearranging his life.   I’ve seen this 3 times in a theatre and everyone loves my Faye Wong greatest hits CD.

Starring: Brigitte Lin, Takeshi Kaneshiro, Faye Wong
Director: Kar Wai Wong

PG Parents strongly cautioned. Some material may be inappropriate for kids under 13.

 

THE CIRCUS (1928) silent language - 68 minutes

Chaplin stirs up a riotous time as his beguiling alter ego, The Tramp, in 1928's The Circus, one his lesser-known (but just as magical) films. On the lam once again, The Tramp joins a traveling circus and falls for one of its superstars, leaving nothing but joy and love in his wake.

Starring: Charlie Chaplin

Director: Charlie Chaplin

 

CITIZEN KANE (1941) - 119 minutes

Orson Welles reinvented movies at the age of 26 with this audacious biography of newspaper baron Charles Foster Kane (in essence, a thinly veiled portrait of publishing magnate William Randolph Hearst), who rises from poverty to become one of America's most influential men. A complex and technically stunning film, considered one of the best movies ever made.

Starring: Orson Welles
Director:  Orson Welles

 

CITY LIGHTS (1931) silent language - 87 minutes

City Lights was Charlie Chaplin's last silent film and is widely considered one of his best. Chaplin, once again playing the character known as the Little Tramp, makes the acquaintance of a blind flower girl (Virginia Cherrill), who, because she can't see him, believes the shabby tramp is a millionaire. The tramp attempts to raise enough money for the blind girl to have an eye operation, knowing she may eventually discover his true identity.
Starring: Charlie Chaplin, Virginia Cherrill
Director: Charlie Chaplin

 

THE CLASH: Westway to the World (2000) – 107 minutes

This entertaining documentary tracks the rise and fall of the British punk group The Clash, widely considered one of the greatest bands of all time. The group is featured in a series of revealing interviews (many exclusive to this DVD release) intertwined with hefty doses of previously unseen live footage that encompass the legendary band's career in its entirety.

 Starring: The Clash

Director: Don Letts

 

CLEO FROM 5 TO 7 (1961) French language - 90 minutes

A woman delves into the inner depths of her soul and resurfaces transformed in this 1962 film by French director Agnes Varda. Young singer Cleo (Corrine Marchand) strolls along the bustling Paris streets, pondering the meaning of life and her own existence as she awaits the results of her cancer biopsy. Cleo's observations offer a close look at Paris's rich street life, and desperation turns into hope when Cleo encounters a young soldier.

Starring: Corrine Marchand

Director: Agnes Varda

 


COLLEGE (1927) silent language – 132 minutes

To capture the heart of a winsome campus coed, cerebral milquetoast Ronald (Buster Keaton) vows to become a college jock. Needless to say, his floundering ineptitude leads to the agony of defeat. But when his muscle-bound rival (Harold Goodwin) snatches Ronald's sweetheart, he turns into a world-class athlete as he races to her rescue. An extended track-and-field sequence showcases Keaton's inimitable gymnastic genius.

Starring: Buster Keaton

Director: James W. Horne

 

THE CONFORMIST (1970) French language – 111 minutes

When the government orders him to kill a political refugee, Marcello (Jean-Louis Trintignant) agrees -- even though his target is his college mentor. Hence, he is "the Conformist," a man who will do anything to belong. Bernardo Bertolucci directs this thought-provoking drama set in 1930s fascist Italy, a visually complex character study with production design by Nedo Azzini and camera work by Vittorio Storaro.

Starring: Jean-Louis Trintignant, Stefania Sandrelli
Director: Bernardo Bertolucci

 

CONTEMPT (1963) French language - 103 minutes

Director Jean-Luc Godard's cynical take on the world of filmmaking is a poignant commentary about the sacrificial price of art. Screenwriter Paul Javal (Michel Piccoli) must fight many battles to get his version of Homer's Odyssey to the big screen. He's at odds with his conniving producer (Jack Palance) and his egotistical director (Fritz Lang). What's more, his marriage to his beautiful wife Camille (Brigitte Bardot) is also foundering. Carlo Ponti produced.

Starring: Brigitte Bardot, Michel Piccoli,

Director: Jean-Luc Godard

 

 

THE CONVERSATION (1974) - 113 minutes

Gene Hackman set the standard for 1970s film acting with his portrayal of Harry Caul, a surveillance expert obsessed with his privacy. A past mistake -- and the fear that he may repeat it -- haunts Caul. The Conversation benefits from tremendous supporting performances (especially that of the late, great John Cazale), excellent use of San Francisco locales and Walter Murch's sound editing.

Starring: Gene Hackman , John Cazale

Director: Francis Ford Coppola

PG Parental guidance suggested

 

THE CORPORATION (2004) - 145 minutes

This documentary charts the spectacular rise of corporations as a dramatic, pervasive presence in our lives. Filmmakers Mark Achbar and Jennifer Abbott present a timely, entertaining critique of global conglomerates as they chronicle the origins of corporations, as well as their inner workings, controversial impacts and possible futures. The pros and cons are weighed via interviews with social critics such as Noam Chomsky and Michael Moore.  Should be viewed regularly by everyone on the planet including children!

Director: Mark Achbar and Jennifer Abbott

 


CRANES ARE FLYING (1957) Russian language – 95 minutes

Veronica and Boris are blissfully in love, until the eruption of World War II tears them apart. Boris is sent to the front lines, and Veronica must struggle to ward off spiritual numbness while Boris's draft-dodging cousin tries to have his way with her. Winner of the Palme d'Or award at the 1958 Cannes Film Festival, The Cranes Are Flying is a superbly crafted drama.

Starring: Tatyana Samojlova

Director: Mikheil Kalatozishvili

 

CRISS CROSS (1949) – 88 minutes

Working man Steve (Burt Lancaster) makes an honest living as an armored truck driver. His only downfall? His lingering feelings for his ex-wife, Anna (Yvonne De Carlo), a greedy woman who recently married a dangerous mob boss (Dan Duryea). When the two ex-lovers reunite and her husband catches them, they manage to convince him they were plotting to rob the truck. Now, Steve is now forced to go through with the crime … or face death.

Starring: Burt Lancaster, Yvonne De Carlo

Director:  Robert Siodmak

 

CRUMB (1994) - 119 minutes

Director Terry Zwigoff spent six years compiling this portrait of the underground cartoonist whose characters Fritz the Cat and Mr. Natural became counterculture icons. Candid interviews with Robert Crumb and his spouses, offspring, siblings and peers render a compelling profile of a tormented man who transcended a harrowing upbringing to produce stunningly original art. The film won the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival.                         GCTOP10

Starring: Robert Crumb, Aline Kominsky
Director: Terry Zwigoff

R for graphic sex-related cartoons, and for language

 

DARLING (1965) - 127 minutes

Up-and-coming fashion model Darling (Best Actress Oscar winner Julie Christie), burns with ambition. First, she falls hard for married television interviewer Robert (Dirk Bogarde). Next, Darling meets Miles (Laurence Harvey), who knows all the right people in London's swingin' '60s film industry. But he's just another stepping-stone as she scrambles her way to the top. Trouble is, the pinnacle of success can be deceiving.

Starring: Julie Christie, Dirk Bogarde, Lawrence Harvey

Director: John Schlesinger

 

DAYS OF BEING WILD (1991) Chinese language - 94 minutes

After learning that the woman who raised him is not his mother, Yuddy (Leslie Cheung) acts out by manipulating two women -- quiet Su Lizhen (Maggie Cheung) and glamorous Mimi (Carina Lau). Su Lizhen eventually catches the eye of Tide (Andy Lau), while Yuddy's friend Zeb (Jacky Cheung) falls for Mimi. Meanwhile, Yuddy learns the identity of his birth mother and heads off to find her. This film won multiple awards at the Hong Kong Film Awards.

Starring: Leslie Cheung, Maggie Cheung,

Director: Kar Wai Wong

PG Parents strongly cautioned, Inappropriate for KIDS under 13.

 

DELIVER US FROM EVIL (2006) - 106 minutes

This unsettling Oscar-nominated documentary from filmmaker Amy Berg investigates the life of 30-year pedophile Father Oliver O'Grady and exposes the corruption inside the Catholic Church that allowed him to abuse countless children. A mix of victim stories and a disturbing interview with O'Grady provides a view into the troubled mind of the spiritual leader who moved from parish to parish gaining the trust of congregations ... all the while betraying so many.

Director: Amy Berg

 

DESTRY RIDES AGAIN (1939) - 95 minutes

Jimmy Stewart stars as Tom Destry, a tough lawman who doesn't like guns. And that could pose a problem when a saloon owner and a corrupt mayor plan to rob the local cowpokes blind. Marlene Dietrich, as a crooked saloon waitress with a heart of gold, hits a career peak with her rendition of "See What the Boys in the Back Room Will Have." When sparks fly between her and Destry, there's no doubt they'll be riding off happily into the sunset.   Best Western!

Starring: James Stewart, Marlene Dietrich,
Director: George Marshall

 

DETECTIVE STORY (1951) - 103 minutes

This gritty urban drama chronicles a day in the lives of detectives at a Manhattan police precinct, including James McLeod (Kirk Douglas), a cop who sees everything in black-and-white terms. His take-no-prisoners attitude could wreck the life of a young man arrested for a minor offense, as well as McLeod's own marriage. Sidney Kingsley's Broadway play is ably adapted by director William Wyler and co-stars Lee Grant in her film debut.

Starring: Kirk Douglas, Lee Grant

Director: William Wyler

 

DETOUR (1945) - 67minutes

Classic film noir rules when down-in-the-dumps musician Al Roberts (Tom Neal) decides to hitchhike cross-country to be with his chanteuse girlfriend. He accepts a lift from high-roller Charles Haskell Jr. (Edmund MacDonald), who promptly suffers a fatal coronary. Afraid the cops will finger him as a killer, Al ditches the body and assumes Haskell's identity. But Al's trip quickly goes downhill when he picks up a scheming hitchhiker (Ann Savage). TIME® Magazine List: All-TIME 100 Movies - Unique, interesting with a very low budget.

Starring: Tom Neal, Ann Savage

Director: Edgar G. Ulmer

 

DIABOLIQUE (1955) French language - 116 minutes

Henri-Georges Clouzot helmed this icy masterwork of homicide and Grand Guignol suspense. Clouzot's real-life wife, Vera, portrays Christina Delasalle, ailing spouse of the sadistic headmaster (Paul Meurisse) of a moldering private boarding school, and sexy Simone Signoret plays his manhandled mistress. Together, the women mastermind and execute his murder, but their plan goes haywire when the corpse vanishes. Too scary for some.

Starring: Simone Signoret, Vera Clouzot,
Director: Henri-Georges Clouzot

 

DIAL M FOR MURDER (1954) - 105 minutes

Alfred Hitchcock's masterpiece of double-cross and intrigue stars Ray Milland as former tennis champ Tony Wendice, who concocts a plan to kill his rich and philandering wife, Margot Mary (Grace Kelly), who's embroiled in a heated affair with a writer, Mark Halliday (Robert Cummings). When Tony's plans go awry, he improvises with a second act of deceit, but the entire bloody affair turns out to be far messier than he expected.

Starring: Ray Milland, Grace Kelly

Director: Alfred Hitchcock

PG Parental guidance suggested.

 


DIARY OF A CHAMBERMAID (1964) French language - 98 minutes

This wicked adaption of the Octave Mirbeau novel is classic Luis Bunuel. Jeanne Moreau is Celestine, a beautiful Parisian domestic who, upon arrival at her new job in provincial 1930s France, entrenches herself in sexual hypocrisy and scandal with Bunuel regulars Michel Piccoli (as a philandering husband) and Muni (as l'amour fou).

Starring: Michel Piccoli, Francoise Lugagne, Georges Geret,
Director: Luis Bunuel,

 

DIARY OF A COUNTRY PRIEST (1950) French language – 115 minutes

The priest of Ambricourt (Claude Laydu) is a reserved and dedicated young man whose inability to mesh in social situations causes him to feel isolated from the very population he's supposed to be serving. Adding to his troubles are his health problems, which make him unable to carry out his obligations. Growing ill and ever more confused as to what his life really means, the priest is further distanced from his village and from God.

Starring: Claude Laydu

Director: Robert Bresson

 

DIARY OF A LOST GIRL (1929) silent language – 116 minutes

Louise Brooks stars as Thymiane, a young girl whose life collapses when she is raped and made pregnant by her father's young assistant. After a reform school escape she ends up in a brothel, which, ironically, leads her to a salvation of sorts. Silent film with piano and jazz ensemble score.

Starring: Louise Brooks

Director: G.W. Pabst

 

THE DISCREET CHARM OF THE BOURGEOISIE (1972) French language - 101 minutes

In Bunuel's deliciously satiric, Oscar-winning masterpiece, an upper-class sextet sits down to dinner but never eats, their attempts continually thwarted by a vaudevillian mixture of events both actual and imagined. Perhaps his greatest film, Bunuel's absurdist view of the upper class is a timeless satire about consumerism and class privilege in a late capitalist world.

Starring: Fernando Rey, Stephane Audran

Director: Luis Bunuel

PG Parental guidance suggested.

 

D.O.A. (1950) - 87 minutes

While on vacation in San Francisco, an accountant named Frank Bigelow (Edmond O'Brien) ingests a dose of lethal, slow-acting poison and begins a desperate search for the individual responsible for his impending death. This great film noir contains the brilliant twist of the "detective" trying to solve his own murder … before the fact. D.O.A. was remade years later as Color Me Dead with Meg Ryan and Dennis Quaid.

Starring: Edmond O'Brien

Director:  Rudolph Mate

 


DODSWORTH (1936) - 101 minutes

To escape an empty nest, an automobile tycoon (Walter Huston) and his forty-something wife (Ruth Chatterton) plan a luxurious vacation in Europe. But as Mrs. Dodsworth embarks on a series of indiscretions -- including a romance with a gigolo -- it becomes apparent that the couple's plans for their golden years don't mesh. From director William Wyler, the film is based on the best-selling novel by Sinclair Lewis and an acclaimed stage play

TIME Magazine List: All-TIME 100 Movies

Starring: Walter Huston, Ruth Chatterton

Director: William Wyler

 

DOG DAY AFTERNOON (1975) - 124 minutes

An incredible true story about small-time punk Sonny Wortzik (Al Pacino), who holds up a bank to raise money for his male lover's (Chris Sarandon) sex-change operation. But the heist goes awry and turns into a tawdry exposé when, during a two-day standoff with police, the media get wind of the story. Sidney Lumet directed, and Frank Pierson won a Best Screenplay Oscar.

Starring: Al Pacino, John Cazale

Director: Sidney Lumet

R Restricted. Under 17 requires accompanying parent/guardian.

 

DOUBLE INDEMNITY (1944) - 108 minutes

Smitten insurance man Walter Neff (Fred MacMurray) plots the perfect murder with femme fatale client Phyllis Dietrichson (Barbara Stanwyck): Stage her husband's "accidental" death to collect double indemnity on his life insurance, then abscond with the loot. But the lethal duo must first get past a crafty claims investigator (Edward G. Robinson) who senses something isn't kosher. What ensues is a cat-and-mouse game with fatal consequences

TIME Magazine List: All-TIME 100 Movies                                                                                                                                                                            GCTOP10

Starring: Fred MacMurray, Barbara Stanwyck, and Edward G. Robinson
Director: Billy Wilder

 

DR. STRANGELOVE (1964) - 95 minutes

In director Stanley Kubrick's blackly comedic send-up of the nuclear age, deranged American general Jack D. Ripper (Sterling Hayden) leads an attack against the Russians that sets the stage for Armageddon. In a series of virtuoso comic performances, Peter Sellers plays an impotent U.S. president, a harried British captain and an ex-Nazi bomb maker. George C. Scott and Slim Pickens also appear in this classic Oscar-nominated satire.

Only nominated!?!

Starring: Peter Sellers, George C. Scott,                                                                  GCTOP10
Director: Stanley Kubrick

 

DRUGSTORE COWBOY (1989) - 104 minutes

In this unrepentant look at the life of junkies, a quartet of addicts robs pharmacies to fuel their habits. Ringleader Bob Hughes (Matt Dillon), along with his wife (Kelly Lynch) and underlings Rick (James Le Gros) and Nadine (Heather Graham), takes the show on the road after things get too hot at home. When Nadine goes toes up from an overdose, Bob swears off drugs and tries to rebuild his life -- minus his wife, who's determined to stay hooked. 1990 Independent Spirit Awards®: Best Supporting Male: Max Perlich, Best Male Lead: Matt Dillon
Starring:
Matt Dillon, Heather Graham, James Le Gros

Director: Gus Van Sant

 


DRUNKEN MASTER II (1994) - 99 minutes

Jackie Chan returns in a sequel to the film that made him famous. Wong Fei-Hung is a dutiful son who must battle with thieves trying to smuggle artifacts out of China. Using his "Drunken Boxing" fighting style, Chan kicks more butt than you'd find at an Overeaters Anonymous meeting. Final steel mill no-holds-barred (best ever!) fisticuffs are mind-blowing.

Starring: Jacky Chan, Anita Mui

Director: Jackie Chan, Lau Ka Leung

 

DUCK SOUP (1933) - 68 minutes

The Marx Brothers are at their sidesplitting best in this raucous political satire, which teems with razor-sharp humor. Thanks to the patronage of well-heeled widow Mrs. Teasdale (Margaret Dumont), Rufus T. Firefly (Groucho) becomes dictator of the tiny country of Freedonia. When the ambassador of the bordering nation of Sylvania declares his love for Mrs. Teasdale, Firefly declares war. Chico, Harpo and Zeppo costar as spies and counterspies.

Starring: Marx Bros, Margaret Dumont

Director: Leo McCarey

 

EAST OF EDEN: Special Edition (1955) - 115 minutes

Set in California's Salinas Valley, Elia Kazan's epic adaptation of John Steinbeck's novel centers on Cal Trask (James Dean), the black sheep son of stern farmer Adam (Raymond Massey). Tired of being compared to his perfect brother Aron, troublemaker Cal tries in vain to please his father, to no avail. The two finally face off when Cal confronts his dad with the truth about his long-lost mother. Julie Harris, Jo Van Fleet and Burl Ives costar.  1956 Oscar Best Supporting Actress: Jo Van Fleet

Starring: James Dean, Raymond Massey, and Julie Harris

Director:  Elia Kazan

 

8 1/2 (1963) Italian language - 138 minutes

Film director Guido Anselmi (Marcello Mastroianni) is trying to relax after his last big hit, no small task since he's being hassled by former workmates hitting him up for jobs. What's more, he's out of ideas. Soon, he retreats into reminiscences about all the women he's loved and left. Claudia Cardinale co-stars in director Federico Fellini's semiautobiographical rumination on moviemaking, which won an Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film.

Starring: Marcello Mastroianni and Claudia Cardinale

Director: Federico Fellini

 

ELECTION (1999) - 103 minutes

Tracy Flick (Reese Witherspoon at her very best) appears to have the election for student council president sewn up until one of her teachers, Mr. McAllister (Matthew Broderick), rounds up a worthy opponent. McAllister convinces Paul (Chris Klein), a popular and naïve varsity football player whose injury has put him on the sidelines for the season, to take up politics. But Tracy is desperate to win the election and turns the halls into a political war zone.

Starring: Matthew Broderick, Reese Witherspoon
Director: Alexander Payne,

R For strong sexuality, sex-related dialogue and language, and a scene of drug use

 


ELMER GANTRY (1960) - 147 minutes

Hollywood legend Burt Lancaster as glad-handing, soul-redeeming charlatan Elmer Gantry, a huckster who spins his talent for preaching into a métier behind the pulpit. Hopping aboard the barnstorming evangelical crusade of Sister Sharon Falconer (Jean Simmons), Gantry moralizes his way to fame and fortune till an erstwhile ladylove (Shirley Jones) threatens to expose his shady history as a skirt-chaser and scam artist. 1961 Oscars: Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Supporting Actress: Shirley Jones, Best Actor: Burt Lancaster

Starring: Burt Lancaster, Jean Simmons, Shirley Jones

Director: Richard brooks

 

END OF THE CENTURY: The Story Of The Ramones (2004) - 150 minutes

Variously dubbed "A punk Last Waltz" and "One headbangin' helluva good time," this incisive documentary about the Ramones by Michael Gramaglia and Jim Fields traces the seminal punk band's trajectory from obscurity to fame to induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. It's an insider look at the rockers -- blemishes and all -- that will probably make your head spin. Includes interviews with Joe Strummer, Debbie Harry, Nicolas Cage and others.

 

ENRON: The Smartest Guys in the Room (2005) - 110 minutes

Based on the book of the same name by Peter Elkin, director Alex Gibney's documentary takes a behind-the-scenes look at the powerful energy company whose downfall forever changed the landscape of the business world. With a blend of fascinating footage, fast-paced interviews and a wealth of information, this film is a serious lesson in the potential trappings of dishonesty and unethical behavior dogging corporate America today.

Starring: Peter Coyote
Director: Alex Gibney

 

THE ENTERTAINER (1960) - 104 minutes

Under the direction of Tony Richardson, Oscar-nominated Laurence Olivier re-creates his stage role as Archie Rice, a third-rate, vaudevillian-style performer headlining an end-of-the-pier show in a rundown British seaside resort. As his life falls to pieces around him, Archie does what it takes to keep his show going. Joan Plowright, Alan Bates and Albert Finney, all making their film debuts here, play Archie's children.

Starring: Laurence Olivier, Joan Plowright, Alan Bates and Albert Finney

Director: Tony Richardson

 

EYES WITHOUT A FACE (1960) French language – 88 minutes

A plastic surgeon (Pierre Brasseur) becomes obsessed with making things right after his daughter Christiane's (Edith Scob) face is terribly disfigured in a car accident that he caused. Overcome with guilt, Dr. Genessier and his vicious nurse, Louise (Alida Valli), concoct a plan to give Christiane her face back by kidnapping young girls and removing their faces ... and then grafting them onto Christiane's. ‘‘Creepiest movie ever.” LA WEEKLY

Starring: Pierre Brasseur, Edith Scob,
Director: Georges Franju

 


A FACE IN THE CROWD (1957) – 131 minutes

Elia Kazan's masterpiece proves that celebrity isn't all it's cracked up to be. When talent scout Marcia Jeffries (Patricia Neal) spots drifter Larry "Lonesome" Rhodes (Andy Griffith) and makes him a superstar, he gets a taste of the good life. But his hunger for klieg lights, fed by run-ins with famous people such as Burl Ives and Bennett Cerf (who play themselves), turns desperate, and he loses sight of who he is and what he's truly about.

Starring: Andy Griffith, Patricia Neal, Burl Ives and Bennett Cerf

Director: Elia Kazan

 

FAHRENHEIT 9/11 (2004) - 122 minutes

Michael Moore's hard-hitting documentary addresses the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, outlining the reasons the U.S. has become a target for hatred and terrorism. Criticizing President George W. Bush's response to the attacks and reinforcing his theory that the Bush Administration used the tragic event to push its agenda, Moore also traces alleged dealings that connect two generations of the Bush family with Osama bin Laden's clan  2005 Cannes Film Festival Best Picture

Starring: Michael Moore, Brittney Spears, Donald Rumsfeld

Director: Michael Moore

 

THE FALCON AND THE SNOWMAN (1985) – 131 minutes

As a CIA employee in charge of guarding top secret documents, all-American Christopher Boyce (Timothy Hutton) becomes disillusioned with his country and decides to make a deal with the Soviet Union. Boyce drags his childhood friend Daulton Lee (Sean Penn) into the arrangement, but the drug-addicted Lee's reasons for committing espionage are strictly monetary. John Schlesinger directs this provocative and sometimes humorous account.

Starring: Timothy Hutton, Sean Penn

Director: John Schlesinger

 

FARGO (1996) - 98 minutes

Frances McDormand earned an Oscar for her turn as pregnant Sheriff Marge Gunderson, who's sharper than her Northern Minnesota dialect suggests. The intrepid Gunderson bangs on doors and asks questions to unravel a kidnapping plot and the string of murders it provokes. McDormand receives grand support from William H. Macy as a car dealer who conspires with hotheaded kidnappers Steve Buscemi and Peter Stormare. 1997 Oscar Best Original Screenplay - 1997 Best Picture Oscar mistakenly given to a different film!           GCTOP10

Starring: Frances McDormand, William H. Macy, and Steve Buscemi

Director:  Joel Coen

R Restricted. Under 17 requires accompanying parent/guardian

 

THE FILTH AND THE FURY: A Sex Pistols Film (2000) – 108 minutes

Chronically cranky and famously out of control, the Sex Pistols recorded only one album and imploded after 26 months. The godfathers of punk are the subject of Julian Temple's backward-looking rockumentary, which features Pistols hits such as "Anarchy in the UK" and "God Save the Queen," as well as interviews with controversial manager Malcolm McLaren and front man Johnny Rotten, plus a look at Sid Vicious's tragic life.

Starring: Sex Pistols

Director: Julian Temple

 


FIRES ON THE PLAIN (1959) Japanese language - 104 minutes

In director Kon Ichikawa's harrowing film set in the Philippines during World War II, a Japanese soldier, his emotional and physical resources nearly depleted, endures the vicissitudes of war. Ichikawa, whom some cineastes say was as talented as his better-known contemporaries, including Akira Kurosawa and Kenji Mizoguchi, had a way with infusing light in the darkest places.

Starring:

Director: Kon Ichikawa

 

FLOATING WEEDS (1959) Japanese language - 119 minutes

Director Yasujiro Ozu teamed with acclaimed cinematographer Kazuo Miyagawa to remake his 1934 masterpiece and came up with an elegant update of a classic tale. An actor returns to his old hometown with his girlfriend and discovers he still has feelings for an old love who bore him a son he now wants to get to know. What results is awe-inspiring pain and heartache that threatens to destroy them. Features commentary by critic Roger Ebert.

Starring: Machiko Kyo, Ganjiro Nakamura

Director: Yasujiro Ozu

 

THE FOG OF WAR (2003) – 107 minutes

Former Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara worked for both Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson, playing a key role in shaping both administrations' approaches to the Vietnam War. This Oscar-winning documentary directed by Errol Morris traces McNamara's career from government to the World Bank; but it's his work during the Vietnam years that's highlighted in this film, which features extensive archival footage and interviews.

Starring: Robert McNamara

Director: Errol Morris

 

FOOLISH WIVES (1922) silent language - __ minutes

Foolish Wives, the first film in this special double feature showcasing the work of Erich von Stroheim, explores the boredom and disdain felt by one woman for her husband, an American diplomat who's obsessed with his work during their holiday in Monte Carlo. THE MAN YOU LOVED TO HATE, is a compelling documentary about von Stroheim, the mysterious man whose role as a cinematic genius in the 1920s is still highly regarded today.

Starring: Erich von Stroheim

Director:  Erich von Stroheim

 

 

FORBIDDEN GAMES (1954) French language – 102 minutes

Director René Clément's bittersweet drama depicts the ravages of war on its youngest victims. After being orphaned when a Nazi strafing kills her parents and her dog, 5-year-old Paulette (Brigitte Fossey) is taken in by farm boy Michel (Georges Poujouly) and family. While his parents are busy feuding with their neighbors, the youngsters cope with the death surrounding them by creating a cemetery for animals killed in the war. 1954 BAFTA: Best Film - One of the best films about children.  Powerful anti-war film with only 5 minutes of war.

Starring: Georges Poujouly, Brigitte Fossey,
Director: Rene Clement

 


FOREIGN CORRESPONDENT (1940) - 120 minutes

Hitchcock's classic thriller stars Joel McCrea as Johnny Jones, a naïve New York reporter sent on assignment to Europe on the eve of World War II. Amidst the volatile atmosphere of the impending war, Jones stumbles on a deadly conspiracy devised by Stephen Fisher (Herbert Marshall), whose spy ring masquerades as a peace organization. Fisher's daughter Carol (Laraine Day) lends a hand as Jones races to expose the story -- and tries to stay alive.

Starring: Joel McCrea, Herbert Marshall, and Laraine Day

Director: Alfred Hitchcock

 

FRANKENSTEIN  (1931) - 75 minutes

A mad scientist (Colin Clive) creates a monster (the inimitable Boris Karloff) but errs by giving him a criminal brain.  See BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN 

Starring: Colin Clive), Boris Karloff

Director: James Whale,

 

FREAKS (1932) - 62 minutes

Director Tod Browning cast authentic circus folk, not actors, in this Greek tragedy about sideshow "freaks." Normal-sized trapeze artist Cleopatra (Olga Baclanova) marries diminutive Hans (Harry Earles) with plans to poison him, take his inheritance and marry the brute Hercules (Henry Victor). When the freaks uncover Cleopatra's scheme and Hercules forces himself on an innocent girl, they gang up on the two miscreants. Wallace Ford also stars.

Starring: Wallace Ford, Leila Hyams,
Director: Todd Browning

 

THE FRENCH CONNECTION (1971) - 104 minutes

Jimmy "Popeye" Doyle (Gene Hackman), a foul-mouthed, violent narcotics detective, pursues a suave French drug dealer (Fernando Rey) through New York City with Captain Ahab-like zeal. Director William Friedkin took the provocative stance that both the narcs and the smugglers use similar thuggish ends to get what they need. This thrilling 1972 Best Picture Oscar winner (based on a true story) is famous for its riveting car-vs-elevated-train chase.

Starring: Gene Hackman

Director: William Friedkin

R Restricted. Under 17 requires accompanying parent

 

FROM HERE TO ETERNITY (1953) - 118 minutes

The date which lives in infamy lives on in this gripping adaptation of James Jones' novel about Army life in Hawaii in the idyllic days just before December 7, 1941. Eight Oscars include Best Picture, Screenplay, Cinematography, Supporting Actress (Donna Reed) and Supporting Actor (Frank Sinatra). Burt Lancaster and Deborah Kerr rolling around in the waves and sand ranks as one of the hottest love scenes in screen history.

Starring: Montgomery Clift, Burt Lancaster, Ernest Borgnine

Director: Fred Zinnemann

 


FURY (1936) - 93 minutes

Director Fritz Lang dishes up an unflinching indictment of mob justice in this potent drama. Passing through a small town en route to see his fiancée, upright Joe Wilson (Spencer Tracy) ends up charged with kidnapping based on flimsy circumstantial evidence. When news of his arrest spreads, an irate mob storms the jail, burning it to the ground -- with Joe ostensibly inside. Little do they know that he escaped and is hell-bent on retribution …

Starring: Spencer Tracy, Sylvia Sidney, and Walter Brennan

Director: Fritz Lang

 

GALAXY QUEST (1999) - 102 minutes

Aliens mistake intercepted television transmissions for "historical documents" and decide to kidnap the cast of a popular sci-fi TV series, hoping the new allies can help them win a war against a deadly adversary. Tim Allen stars.  Better than you might think.

Starring:  Tim Allen, Sigourney Weaver

Director: Dean Parisot

 

GASLIGHT (1940) - 198 minutes

Director George Cukor's dramatic mystery garnered seven Oscar nominations and remains a classic. Beautiful, naive socialite Paula (Ingrid Bergman) is slowly tormented by strange happenings in her home -- the home in which her murdered aunt's jewels are reportedly hidden. The suspect? Her devoted husband (Charles Boyer). 1945 Oscars: Best Actress: Ingrid Bergman, Best Art Direction Black and White

Starring: Ingrid Bergman), Charles Boyer

Director: George Cukor

 

THE GENERAL (1927) silent language - 98 minutes

Rejected by the Confederate Army as unfit and taken for a coward by his beloved Annabelle (Marian Mack), Johnnie Gray (Buster Keaton) sets out to single-handedly win the war with his cherished locomotive. When Northern spies steal his train, the intrepid Confederate takes on the entire Union army to get it back.   TIME Magazine List: All-TIME 100 Movies

Starring: Buster Keaton, Marian Mack,
Director: Eddie Cline, Buster Keaton

 

GET CARTER (1971) - 112 minutes

After learning that his brother has died under mysterious circumstances, London gangster Jack Carter (Michael Caine) heads to his hometown of Newcastle, England, in search of revenge. Once there, Carter tangles with the local mob boss, a porn star and various other colorful local characters. Directed by Mike Hodges (Croupier, Flash Gordon), this classic action-thriller depicts a grim and brutal world.

Starring: Michael Caine

Director: Mike Hodges

 

GO WEST (1925) silent language – 108 minutes

After having no luck in the big city, a downtrodden chap known as "Friendless" (Buster Keaton) heads west, determined to succeed. His odyssey takes him to a ranch, where he builds a relationship with a neglected cow dubbed Brown Eyes -- only to learn she's on the way to a Los Angeles slaughterhouse. The sidesplitting climax finds Friendless -- clad in a red devil's costume -- trying to prevent a wild stampede through downtown Los Angeles.

Starring: Buster Keaton

Director: Buster Keaton, Eddie Cline

 

THE GODFATHER (1972) - 175 minutes

Director Francis Ford Coppola brings Mario Puzo's multigenerational crime saga to life in this Oscar-winning epic. When an organized crime family patriarch (Marlon Brando) barely survives an attempt on his life, his son Michael (Al Pacino) convinces his brother Sonny (James Caan) to let him take care of the would-be killers. Amid betrayals and corruption, Michael launches a campaign of bloody revenge that continues through the film's two sequels.  

1973 Oscars Best Actor: Marlon Brando, Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay

Starring: Al Pacino, Marlon Brando, Robert Duvall, John Cazale, and Diane Keaton

Director: Francis Ford Coppola

R Restricted. Under 17 requires accompanying parent / guardian

 

THE GODFATHER, Part II (1974) - 126 minutes

In this unique case of a sequel superseding the original, The Godfather II follows the Corleone crime family as it relocates to Nevada in the 1950s, with Michael (Al Pacino) as the new Don. Original cast returns with Robert Duvall outstanding as consigliere Tom Hagen and John Cazale as the tragic Fredo Corleone. This film spans two discs; 1975 Oscars, Picture, Director, Adapted Screenplay, Supporting Actor: Robert De Niro, Music Score, Art Direction 

Starring: Al Pacino, Robert De Niro, Robert Duvall, John Cazale, and Diane Keaton

Director: Francis Ford Coppola                                                         GCTOP10

R Restricted. Under 17 requires accompanying parent / guardian

 

GONE WITH THE WIND: Collector's Edition (1939) - 223 minutes

Margaret Mitchell's sweeping Civil War saga remains one of the greatest examples of cinematic storytelling. Vivien Leigh's tempestuous Scarlett O'Hara and Clark Gable's handsome rogue Rhett Butler bicker and battle from antebellum plantations to the streets of postwar Atlanta. This special collector's edition features a beautifully restored print and many extras. This film spans two discs; both discs will be shipped to you simultaneously.

Starring: Clark Gable's, Vivien Leigh,

Director: Victor Fleming

 

GONE WITH THE WIND: Collector's Edition: Bonus Material 2 - 125 minutes

The actors of David O. Selznick's classic get the spotlight in this bonus DVD, which includes the featurette "Melanie Remembers: Olivia de Havilland Recalls Gone with the Wind"; "Clark Gable: A King Remembered," a portrait of the MGM leading man's career; "Vivien Leigh: Scarlett and Beyond," a revealing look at Leigh's tumultuous life, hosted by Jessica Lange; mini-bios of prominent cast members; five theatrical trailers; and more.

 

THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY (1966) - 180 minutes

The classic action-packed Western about an unholy trio's lethal pursuit of $200,000 in Confederate money, which forms the core of this bullet-ridden tale. Includes 14 minutes of footage never seen before in the United States.

TIME Magazine List: All-TIME 100 Movies

Starring: Henry Fonda, Charles Bronson, and Claudia Cardinale

Director: Sergio Leone

 


GOODFELLAS: Special Edition (1990) - 145 minutes

Murderers often come with smiles -- and problems of their own. Joe Pesci and Robert De Niro chew plenty of scenery, but the real focus of director Martin Scorsese's mob opus is Ray Liotta as real-world Irish-Italian mobster Henry Hill, a gangster who dreamed of making it to the top but landed in the witness protection program instead. Nominated for six Oscars (including Best Picture), the film's only win was Pesci's Best Supporting Actor

TIME Magazine List: All-TIME 100 Movies

Starring: Ray Liotta, Joe Pesci, and Robert De Niro

Director: Martin Scorse

R For profanity, graphic violence

 

THE GRADUATE (1967) - 105 minutes

Dustin Hoffman (in his first major film role) turns in a landmark performance as a naïve young college graduate who is seduced by a middle-aged neighbor (Anne Bancroft). He, in turn, falls in love with her daughter (Katharine Ross). Mike Nichols won a Best Director Oscar, Simon and Garfunkel achieved immortality with a score that includes "Mrs. Robinson."

Starring: Dustin Hoffman Anne Bancroft

Director:  Mike Nichols  

R Restricted. Under 17 requires accompanying parent

 

THE GRAPES OF WRATH (1940) - 128 minutes

Based on Steinbeck's Pulitzer Prize-winning 1939 novel, Grapes follows the Joad family's exodus from the Oklahoma Dustbowl to California's fruit harvest.

1941 Oscars Best Supporting Actress: Jane Darwell, Best Director: John Ford

Starring: Henry Fonda, John Carradine, and Jane Darwell

Director: John Ford

 

THE GROUND TRUTH (2006 - 78 minutes

Patricia Foulkrod's powerful documentary spotlights American soldiers sharing their experiences on the battlefield in Iraq and back home as they try to reassemble their lives. With aching honesty, these men and women discuss the anguish of war, the difficulties of readjusting to life after their tours of duty, post-traumatic stress disorder and the often callous treatment returning troops receive from the military and the Veterans Administration.

Director: Patricia Foulkrod

 

GUN CRAZY (1949) – 86 minutes

Shockingly dark and brutal for its time, this drama was directed by Joseph H. Lewis and stars Peggy Cummins and John Dall. A searing forerunner to Bonnie and Clyde, the film tells the story of a gun-obsessed twosome who meet at a carnival, run off to get married and then commit a string of daring robberies across the country. The screenplay was adapted by Dalton Trumbo from novelist MacKinlay Kantor's magazine article.

Starring: John Dall, Peggy Cummins
Director: Joseph H. Lewis

 


HAMLET (1948) - 153 minutes

In 15th century Denmark, young Prince Hamlet (Laurence Olivier) schemes to avenge his father's death when his uncle, Claudius, murders the prince's father, promptly weds the queen and ascends to his dead brother's throne. But Hamlet -- uncertain how to best carry out his mission -- allows his anguish and indecision to lead to more carnage. Olivier earned the Best Actor Oscar for his definitive performance as the melancholy Dane.  1949 Oscar best picture

Starring: Laurence Olivier, Jean Simmons

Director: Laurence Olivier

 

HARD BOILED (1992) Chinese language – 126 minutes

In a ruthless world of gun smugglers and mobsters, Tequila (Chow Yun-Fat) is a die-hard cop who'll stop at nothing to see justice done. Determined to avenge his partner's murder, Tequila joins forces with a rebel cop (Tony Leung Chiu Wai) to shut down a sinister mobster and his crew. Soon, the body count increases tenfold as the duo race to stop the mobsters from blowing up a hospital full of hostages. John Woo directs this high-voltage actioner. Climactic 55 minute hospital shootout is never contrived, repetitive or uninspired.

Starring: Chow Yun Fat, Tony Leung Chiu Wai,

Director: John Woo

R for pervasive violence and some language

 

HARRY LANGDON: The Forgotten Clown (1926) - 193 minutes

While Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton and Harold Lloyd are the silent film era's most famous clowns, this trilogy of short features showcases their lesser-known but equally talented contemporary, Harry Langdon. The Strong Man -- considered by some as Langdon's best film -- marked the debut of legendary director Frank Capra, who also helmed 1927's Long Pants. In Tramp, Tramp, Tramp, Langdon courts none other than Joan Crawford.

Starring: Harry Langdon, Joan Crawford.

Director: Frank Capra,, Harry Edwards

 

THE HEARTBREAK KID (1972) - 106 minutes

While honeymooning with his new wife in Florida, Lenny Cantrow (Charles Grodin) begins to rue his nuptials. So when his irksome spouse gets stuck in their hotel room with a nasty sunburn and the footloose Lenny meets gorgeous blond coed Kelly (Cybill Shepherd), it's all the incentive he needs to ditch his brand-new bride. But Lenny isn't home free with Kelly -- his hot pursuit of her quickly hits a brick wall of resistance: her loathing father. Dark comedy gem!

Starring: Charles Grodin, Cybill Shepherd), Eddie Albert

Director: Elaine May

 

HEAVEN KNOWS, MR. ALLISON (1957) – 106 minutes

Hiding from the Japanese on an island on the Pacific Ocean, a Marine (Robert Mitchum) and an Irish nun (Deborah Kerr) search for food, shelter and help while trying to avoid the burgeoning attraction that exists between them. Director John Huston elicits amazing performances for a movie that eventually earned two Academy Award nominations.

Starring: Robert Mitchum, Deborah Kerr
Director: John Huston

 


THE HEIRESS (1949) - 115 minutes

From William Wyler's deft directorial hand comes this powerful drama starring Olivia de Havilland in the title role. Against the wishes of her wealthy tyrant father (Ralph Richardson), homely spinster Catherine Sloper (de Havilland, who snagged a Best Actress Oscar) plans to elope with handsome suitor Morris Townsend (Montgomery Clift). But when Catherine's suspicious father threatens to disinherit her, will Morris do a disappearing act?

Starring: Olivia de Havilland, Montgomery Clift, Ralph Richardson

Director: William Wyler

 

HIDDEN FORTRESS (1958) Japanese language – 139 minutes

A general and a princess must dodge enemy clans while smuggling the royal treasure out of hostile territory with two bumbling, conniving peasants at their sides; it's a spirited adventure that only Akira Kurosawa could create. The Criterion Collection is proud to present this landmark motion picture in a stunning, newly restored Tohoscope edition   Star Wars inspiration and foundation; look for R2D2 & C3PO

Starring: Toshiro Mifune, Misa Uehara,
Director: Akira Kurosawa

 

HIGH AND LOW (1963) Japanese language - 143 minutes

Known for his historical epics, director Akira Kurosawa was also a fan of American film noir and detective novels -- which explains why he based High and Low (also known as Heaven and Hell) on an Ed McBain story. Toshirô Mifune plays a wealthy corporate boss who must choose between saving his company and paying the ransom for his chauffeur's kidnapped child. Kurosawa uses his brilliant visual style to reinforce the film's sociological themes.

Starring: Toshirô Mifune,

Director: Akira Kurosawa

 

HIGH NOON (1952) - 85 minutes

Retiring Marshall Will Kane (Gary Cooper) insists on defending his town from a gang of hooligans who are due on the noon train -- but he faces the task alone as the cowardly townspeople flee like rats from a sinking ship. Director Fred Zinnemann creates an incredibly tense Western (rightly considered one of the true genre classics) that unfurls in real time -- as the clocks on the wall constantly remind us.  1953 Oscars Best Music Score, Best Actor: Gary Cooper, Film Editing, And Best Song

Starring: Gary Cooper, Grace Kelly

Director: Fred Zinnemann

 

HIS GIRL FRIDAY (1940) - 92 minutes

Cary Grant is an ultrasophisticated alpha male: Swaggering, cocky and ready for anything, he's alternately irresistible and infuriating to women. As a fast-talking newspaper publisher determined to win back his ex-wife (Rosalind Russell) from her new fiancé, Grant's comedic gifts are allowed free rein -- and Russell matches every bon mot. The dialogue crackles like thin ice on a frozen lake.  TIME Magazine List: All-TIME 100 Movies                        GCTOP10

Starring: Cary Grant, Rosalind Russell, Ralph Bellamy

Director: Howard Hawks

 


I VITELLONI (1956) Italian language - 103 minutes

Federico Fellini directs this tale of a group of young men who are in no hurry to leave their small town. Funded by their families, Fausto (Franco Fabrizi), Leopoldo (Leopoldo Trieste), Alberto (Alberto Sordi), Riccardo (Riccardo Fellini) and Moraldo (Franco Interlenghi) enjoy days of frivolous fun, but not without apprehension: Are they missing out on all that life has to offer? Eventually, one of the men breaks out of his self-imposed routine.

 Starring: Franco Fabrizi, Franco Interlenghi

Director: Federico Fellini

 

IKIRU (1952) Japanese language – 143 minutes

After finding out he's terminally ill with cancer, a government official (Takashi Shimura) quits his job and prepares to face his last year alive, devoid of family or friends. Determined not to die alone, he heads to a bar to get drunk for the first time. Hoping to drink himself to death, he instead meets an artist who takes him to bars all over the city, and later, a female co-worker sways him on the value of leaving a legacy. TIME Magazine List: All-TIME 100 Movies                                                                                                                                     GCTOP10

Starring: Takashi Shimura

Director: Akira Kurosawa

 

I’M ALL RIGHT JACK (1959) - 105 minutes

Recent Oxford graduate and old money aristocrat Stanley Windrush (Ian Carmichael) takes a menial job in his uncle's factory -- and keep his background a secret. His incompetence earns him both suspicion and sympathy, and he becomes a pawn in the battle between management and a labor union boss (Peter Sellers). But Windrush's innocence could destroy the economy and become the symbol of integrity for a nation in this sly satire of class struggle

Starring: Ian Carmichael, Peter Sellers, and Terry Thomas

Director: John Boulting

 

IN A LONELY PLACE (1950) - 94 minutes

Just when Hollywood screenwriter Dixon Steele (Humphrey Bog art) sparks up a romance with his neighbor Laurel (Gloria Grahame), the police begin to suspect him of murdering a former lover. Laurel believes Dixon's innocent, but his alibi doesn't wash with the police. As they continue to pressure Dixon, the lovebirds' relationship suffers -- and after witnessing Dixon's increasing hot-tempered behavior, Laurel suspects the police may be right.

TIME Magazine List: All-TIME 100 Movies

Starring: Humphrey Bogart, Gloria Grahame

Director: Nicholas Ray

 

IN COLD BLOOD (1967) - 134 minutes

This chilling tale based on Truman Capote's nonfiction novel follows two drifters who murder an allegedly rich Kansas family and flee to Mexico. Filmed in the house where the real-life incident occurred, In Cold Blood paints a compassionate portrait of the Clutter family … and their killers (Robert Blake and Scott Wilson). Nominated for four Oscars, this disturbing movie was shot in black and white but implies that the meaning of justice is not.

Starring: Robert Blake and Scott Wilson

Director: Richard Brooks

 


IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE (2001) Chinese language - 87 minutes

In director Kar Wai Wong's delicately mannered tale of platonic romance set in 1962 Hong Kong, neighboring married apartment-dwellers Chow Mo-wan (Tony Leung, a Cannes Film Festival best actor winner for his role) and Su Li-zhen (Maggie Cheung) discover that their often-absent spouses are having an affair. The two spend much of their free time together and find they have much in common, but vow never to behave like their unfaithful mates

Starring: Maggie Cheung, Tony Leung

Director: Kar Wai Wong

 

IRAQ FOR SALE: The War Profiteers (2006) – 75 minutes

Private contractors are getting rich while everybody else is suffering: This is the point director Robert Greenwald makes -- passionately -- in this 2006 documentary. Using whistleblower testimony, firsthand accounts, financial records and classified documents, Greenwald levels charges of greed, corruption and incompetence against private contractors and shows the subsequent devastating effect on Americans and Iraqis.

Director: Robert Greenwald

 

IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT (1934) - 105 minutes

Runaway socialite Ellie Andrews (Claudette Colbert) is en route to the Big Apple to elope with a fortune-hunting flyboy. Along the way she meets crusty newspaperman Peter Warne (Clark Gable), who's just been sacked and -- unbeknownst to Ellie -- plans to sell her story to get his job back. But a string of zany misadventures leads them to realize they're madly, if reluctantly, in love. It Happened One Night swept every major Academy Award.             GCTOP10

Starring: Clark Gable, Claudette Colbert

Director: Frank Capra

 

IT'S A GIFT (1934) - 71 minutes

The iconic W.C. Fields stars in this comedy masterpiece as Harold Bissonette, owner of a grocery store, husband of 20 years to the nagging, status-conscious Amelia (Kathleen Howard) and father of two bratty children. When Harold hits upon a scheme to strike it rich by buying an orange grove in California, thus begins a hilarious adventure as the family sets off to the west coast. Needless to say, things don't quite turn out as they expected!

TIME Magazine List: All-TIME 100 Movies

Starring: W.C. Fields, Jean Rouverol, Shemp Howard
Director: Norman Z. McLeod

 

IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE (1946) – 132 minutes

It's a wonderful film. Frank Capra's inverted take on A Christmas Carol stars Jimmy Stewart as George Bailey, a good man who's spent a lifetime giving up on his dreams in order to keep life in his small town humming. When a guardian angel named Clarence finds a despondent George poised to jump off a bridge, he shows George what life would've been like had he never been born.                                     GCTOP10

TIME Magazine List: All-TIME 100 Movies

Starring: Jimmy Stewart, Donna Reed

Director: Frank Capra

 


JESUS CAMP (2006) – 84 minutes

This riveting documentary offers an unfiltered look at a revivalist subculture where devout Christian youngsters are being primed to deliver the fundamentalist community's religious and political messages. Building an evangelical army of tomorrow, the Kids on Fire summer camp in Devil's Lake, N.D., is dedicated to deepening the preteens' spirituality and sowing the seeds of political activism as they're exhorted to "take back America for Christ."

Starring: Pastor Ted Haggard

Director: Heidi Ewing, Rachel Grady

 

JU DOU (1990) Chinese Language - 94 minutes

In this romantic tragedy, Chinese director Zhang Yimou's visually sumptuous cinematography perfectly complements the sensual story line in which the abused wife (Gong Li) of a wealthy silk dyer (Li Wei) enters into an affair with her husband's nephew (Li Bao-tian). Arresting images, exquisite use of color and a classic yet complex plot combine for a richly satisfying drama.  A very watchable tragedy.

Starring: Gong Li, Li Wei

Director: Yimou Zhang

PG-13 Parents strongly cautioned. Some stuff may be inappropriate for kids under 13

 

 

KANAL (1957) Polish language - 96 minutes

In this second installment of director Andrzej Wajda's World War II trilogy, resistance fighters wend their way through Warsaw's sewer system on a quest for freedom. Fearless Madry (Emil Karewicz) joins Halinka (Teresa Berezowska) and a crazy musician (Vladek Sheybal) in one area; Daisy (Teresa Izewska) keeps her lover, Corporal Korab (Tadeusz Janczar), alive in the second pack; and doubting Lieutenant Zadra (Wienczyslaw Glinski) leads a third.

Starring:

Director: Andrzej Wajda

 

KEY LARGO (1948) – 101 minutes

As a hurricane wreaks havoc outside, Army veteran Frank McCloud (Humphrey Bogart), Nora Temple (Lauren Bacall) and her invalid father-in-law face a worse storm inside the Temples' tumbledown Florida hotel. Frank stopped by merely to pay his respects to war-widow Nora, only to find the hotel commandeered by exiled gangster Johnny Rocco (Edward G. Robinson) and his band of goons. Will the war-weary Frank step up to the plate to save the Temples? 

1949 Oscar: Best Supporting Actress: Claire Trevor

Starring: Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall, Edward G. Robinson

Director: John Houston

 

THE KILLERS  (1946): disc 1

Ernest Hemingway's short story "The Killers" was turned into two memorable films that bookended the high period of the noir genre. Disc 1 contains the original 1946 Robert Siodmak version starring Burt Lancaster as "the Swede," an aging boxer who's brought in for an underground job. Also included on Disc 1 is an additional short film version of the story directed by Andrei Tarkovsky. To view the 1964 Don Siegel version, please see Disc 2.

Starring: Burt Lancaster

Director: Robert Siodmak, Andrei Tarkovsky

 


THE KILLERS (1964): disc 2

Ernest Hemingway's short story "The Killers" was turned into two memorable films that bookended the high period of the noir genre. This disc contains the 1964 Don Siegel version starring Lee Marvin and Clu Gulager as a pair of gunmen scouring a seedy underworld.

Starring:: Lee Marvin, Clu Gulager, Angie Dickinson, John Cassavetes, Ronald Reagan

Director: Don Siegel

 

KIND HEARTS AND CORONETS (1949) - 106 minutes

Kind Hearts and Coronets is perhaps the best (and best-loved) of Alec Guinness's English Ealing comedies. Guinness is in superb, droll form as he plays eight different members of the D'Ascoyne clan. Louis (Dennis Price), the black sheep of the wealthy family, must murder all the heirs in order to inherit the D'Ascoyne fortune. You'll be mesmerized as the brilliant Guinness disappears into his various eccentric roles

TIME Magazine List: All-TIME 100 Movies

Starring: Alec Guinness, Dennis Price

Director: Robert Hamer

 

THE KING OF MASKS (1999) Chinese Language - 101 minutes

Nearing the end of his life, Wang -- a locally renowned street performer and wizard of the venerable art of mask magic -- yearns to pass on his technique. But custom prescribes that he can only hand down his craft to a male successor. Anxious to preserve his unique art, the heirless Wang buys an impoverished 8-year-old on the black market. When the child divulges a dreaded secret, Wang faces a choice between filial love and societal tradition. Not to be missed!  Great performance by an eight year old.

Starring:

Director: Tian-Ming Wu

 

KING RAT (1965) - 109 minutes

Oscar nominated film based on the novel by James Clavell, King Rat deals with a group of allied prisoners incarcerated in the infamous Japanese-run Changi POW camp in Singapore during World War II. In the camp, an American corporal (George Segal) with a genius for hustling does whatever he can -- including bribing guards -- to live as comfortably as possible, even at the expense of his fellow prisoners. “If you liked Apocalypse Now or any Steinbeck novels, you will enjoy this movie.”

Starring: George Segal, Tom Courtenay, James Fox
Director: Bryan Forbes

 

KISS OF DEATH (1947) - 98 minutes

Richard Widmark nabbed an Oscar nod for his memorable debut role as a sadistic mobster in this classic crime noir. Caught red-handed during a heist, two-bit hood Nick Bianco (Victor Mature, in a stellar turn) refuses to rat out his underworld pals but turns stoolie after they renege on a promise. Coerced by the prosecutor to get the goods on hit man Tommy Udo (Widmark), Bianco gets chummy with him but becomes Udo's mark when he beats the rap.

Starring: Richard Widmark, Victor Mature

Director: Henry Hathaway

 


KISS ME DEADLY (1955) - 106 minutes

Shortly after sleazy detective Mike Hammer picks up a scantily clad hitchhiker, his car is forced over a cliff. He awakens from unconsciousness to find his passenger dead -- but it wasn't the fall that killed her. As Hammer sets out to uncover the woman's deadly secret and find her unknown assassins, he ignores explicit signs that he should mind his own business. This classic film noir was adapted from Mickey Spillane's novel

 Starring: Ralph Meeker, Albert Dekker

Director: Robert Aldrich

 

THE KNACK...and How to Get It (1965) – 85 minutes

In this risqué, rollicking 1960s sex farce from Britain, slimy skirt-chaser Tolen (Ray Brooks) tries to give his straitlaced landlord, timid schoolteacher Colin (the perfectly cast Michael Crawford), a tip or two about how to make it with the ladies -- with riotously funny results.   Rita Tushingham is hilarious as their wide-eyed, innocent target. A swift, smart comedy adapted from the play by Ann Jellicoe. 1966 Best Picture Canne Film Festival.

Starring: Rita Tushingham, Ray Brooks, Michael Crawford

Director: Richard Lester

 

KNIFE IN THE WATER (1962) Czech language - 94 minutes

Director Roman Polanski ratchets up the suspense with a story that takes place almost entirely within the confined setting of a sailboat owned by a wealthy journalist and his much younger wife. On their way to the lake for a weekend of sailing, the couple invites a young hitchhiker to join them. But hostility looms as each man tries to humiliate the other in front of the woman

Starring:

Director: Roman Polanski

 

LA DOLCE VITA (1960) Italian language - 167 minutes

Federico Fellini's lush and intoxicating masterpiece, La Dolce Vita, is a meditation on the meaning of life and love and stars Marcello Mastroianni as Marcello, a gossip writer who seeks the fleeting excesses and decadence of life and sex. He sleeps with the beautiful Maddalena (Anouk Aimee), alienating and driving his lover, Emma (Yvonne Furneaux), to suicide. When he meets an elusive actress, Sylvia (Anita Ekberg), he dives deep into the abyss. 1962 Oscar: Best Costume Design Black and White

Starring: Marcello Mastroianni, Anouk Aimee

Director: Federico Fellini

 

THE LADY EVE (1941) - 93 minutes

Seductive gold-digger Barbara Stanwyck and her conniving father (Charles Coburn) set out to fleece wealthy but naïve ophiologist Henry Fonda, the socially inept heir to a brewery fortune. But the tables turn when Stanwyck falls for her prey and Fonda gets wise to their scheme. Stanwyck then goes all-out to recapture his heart in this raucous battle of the sexes from renowned writer-director Preston Sturges.  TIME Magazine List: All-TIME 100 Movies

Screwball gold with a platinum cast.

Starring: Barbara Stanwyck, Henry Fonda, Charles Coburn
Director: Preston Sturges

 

THE LADY FROM SHANGHAI (1948) - 87 minutes

Batten down the hatches -- it's gonna be one bumpy ride when Mike O'Hara (Orson Welles, who also wrote and directed) becomes a crew member on Arthur Bannister's (Everett Sloane) yacht. In nothing flat, sparks fly between O'Hara and Bannister's wife, Rosalie (Rita Hayworth), with murder not far off. The hall of mirrors sequence at the end of the film is classic Welles.

Starring: Orson Welles, Rita Hayworth

DIRECTOR: Orson Welles

L'ARGENT (1983) French language - 81 minutes

This timeless drama by filmmaker Robert Bresson examines the heights and depths of humanity and the transformative power of redemption. Yvon (Christian Patey), a deliveryman, has his mettle tested when he loses his job and then gets arrested for passing counterfeit cash. Unbeknownst to him, two boys are behind the fake bill. No one believes Yvon is innocent, however, and soon, fighting for justice feels futile. Can he hang onto his morals?

Starring: Christian Patey

Director: , Robert Bresson

 

LAST DAYS (1998) - 87 minutes

The winner of the 1998 Academy Award for Best Documentary, this powerful film traces the compelling experiences of five Hungarian Holocaust survivors who fell victim to Hitler's brutal war against the Jews.

Director: James Moll

 

THE LAST DETAIL (1973) - 103 minutes

In this classic 1970s road movie, Officers Buddusky (Jack Nicholson and Mulhall (Otis Young) must escort a young sailor (Randy Quaid) to a New England military prison, where the 18-year-old is about to serve eight years for a trivial offense. Determined to cram all the living they can into one lost weekend, the boys booze, brawl and fornicate their way to their ultimate destination. Both Nicholson and Quaid deliver Oscar-nominated performances.

Starring: Jack Nicholson, Randy Quaid

Director: Hal Ashby

Screenwriter: Robert Towne

R Restricted. Under 17 requires accompanying parent/guardian

 

THE LAST LAUGH (1924) silent language – 91 minutes

One of German director F.W. Murnau's most brilliant silent films, The Last Laugh uses a constantly moving and subjective camera to capture the emotional anguish of a man whose life is suddenly devoid of meaning. An elderly hotel doorman is demoted to washroom attendant and must give up his prized uniform. Crestfallen, he spends the day wandering the city, getting drunk and trying desperately to hang on to a shred of hope.

Starring: Emil Jannings, Maly Delschaft,
Director: F.W. Murnau

 

THE LAST PICTURE SHOW (1971) - 126 minutes

There's not much to do in the windswept Texas hamlet of Anarene, where the town's only cinema is about to close forever. High-school seniors Sonny (Timothy Bottoms) and Duane (Jeff Bridges) lust after incorrigible flirt Jacy Farrow (Cybill Shepherd) while trying to chart their uncertain futures. When Duane heads for Korea after joining the service and Jacy gets shipped off to college, Sonny is left behind in Anarene -- a ghost town in the making.   Best Supporting Actor Oscars for Ben Johnson & Cloris Leachman          

Starring: Timothy Bottoms, Jeff Bridges,
Director: Peter Bogdanovich

R Restricted. Under 17 requires accompanying parent/

 


THE LAST TYCOON (1976) - 123 minutes

Based on F. Scott Fitzgerald's unfinished novel about Hollywood and its denizens, this Elia Kazan helmed drama tells the tale of Monroe Stahr (Robert De Niro), a 1930s studio head driven to succeed at all costs in his industry but pining for a lost love Ingrid Boulting in private. Playwright Harold Pinter penned the script of this Academy Award-nominated film. 

Ms Boulting and I founded Alliance For Research Accountability in 1989

Starring: Robert De Niro, Ingrid Boulting, Robert Mitchum, Jack Nicholson, Jeanne Moreau.

Director:  Elia Kazan

PG Parental guidance suggested.

 

THE LAST WALTZ (1978) - 117 minutes

On Thanksgiving Day 1976, more than 5,000 cheering fans gathered for the historic farewell concert of The Band, a Canadian country-soul-R&B group formed in 1960. Director Martin Scorsese was present at the big event and later edited the concert footage to create this documentary, interspersing band interviews with performances by legends such as Eric Clapton, Joni Mitchell, Neil Young, Van Morrison, Bob Dylan and Emmylou Harris.

Director: Martin Scorsese

PG Parental guidance suggested.

 

LA STRADA: Special Edition (1954) Italian language - 108 minutes

Italian auteur Federico Fellini helmed this powerful rumination on love and hate, the Academy Award winner for Best Foreign Film in 1956. This restored version (introduced by Martin Scorsese) tells the story of gentle Gelsomina (Giulietta Masina), sold by her mother to the bullying circus performer, Zampanò (Anthony Quinn), with whom she falls in love. When a clown, Il Matto (Richard Basehart), wins her heart, a doomed love triangle inevitably develops.

Starring: Anthony Quinn, Giulietta Masina, Richard Basehart

Director: , Federico Fellini

 

L'ATALANTE (1934) French language - 87 minutes

Jean Vigo directs this romantic, slyly humorous masterpiece. Naive village girl Juliette (Dita Parlo) wants to see the world, so she marries Jean (Jean Daste), the captain of the river barge L'Atalante. But their marriage is plagued by conflict early on, especially with the appearance of a handsome traveling entertainer (Gilles Margaritis), who entices Juliette with stories of Paris. Will Juliette choose the Paris lights over her life with Jean?

Starring: Dita Parlo), Jean Daste),

Director: Jean Vigo

 

LAURA (1944) – 88 minutes

Otto Preminger's classic mystery received four Oscar nominations, including Best Director, and won the Oscar for Best Cinematography in 1944. Laura Hunt (Gene Tierney) has been murdered. As New York detective Mark McPherson (Dana Andrews) investigates, he finds that everyone seems to be in love with her -- and he, too, gradually falls under her spell. But things aren't always as they seem, and McPherson soon faces a shockingly unexpected twist.

Starring: Dana Andrews, Gene Tierney

Director: Otto Preminger

 

THE LAVENDER HILL MOB (1951) - 81 minutes

Mr. Holland (Alec Guinness) has supervised his bank's bullion run for years. He's fussy and unnecessarily overprotective, but everyone knows he's absolutely trustworthy. And so, on the day the bullion truck is robbed, he's the last person to be suspected. But there's another side to Mr. Holland -- he's also "Dutch," the leader of the titular mob. Ealing Studios writer T.E.B. Clarke won an Oscar for Best Screenplay.

Starring: Alec Guinness,

Director: Charles Crichton

LE CORBEAU (1943) French language - 91 minutes

The shadowy writer known only as "Le Corbeau" drives a French provincial town -- via cryptic and damning letters -- into exposing the suspicion and hard feelings hidden beneath the community's surface. Made during the Nazi occupation of France, director Henri-Georges Clouzot's film was vilified by the right-wing Vichy regime and other groups. But writers such as Jean Cocteau recognized powerful subtext to Clouzot's anti-Gestapo tale.

Starring: Pierre Fresnay, Ginette Leclerc,
Director: Henri-Georges Clouzot

 

LE SAMOURAI (1967) French language - 95 minutes

A little bit gangster film, a little bit samurai flick, this 1960s French masterpiece from Jean-Pierre Melville introduces the memorable anti-hero Jef Costello (Alain Delon), a contract killer with the instincts of a Japanese warrior and the features of Adonis. After offing a nightclub owner, Costello has two big problems: his double-crossing employer, who now wants him dead, and the dogged police investigator who's determined to rein him in.

Starring: Alain Delon, François Perier,
Director: Jean-Pierre Melville

 

THE LEGEND OF FONG SAI YUK (1993) - 95 minutes

International action star Jet Li stars in this action-packed martial arts story about Fong Sai Yuk, a young martial arts expert who must fight to protect his father from the evil emperor. When the emperor discovers that an underground organization is trying to overthrow his regime, he goes after the  members of this society, including Fong Sai's father. Terrific kung fu fun!

Starring: Jet Li, Josephine Siao, Michelle Reis

Director: Corey Yuen

 

LIBELED LADY (1936) - 98 minutes

This Oscar-nominated classic film directed by Jack Conway stars Spencer Tracy as Warren Haggerty, a newspaper editor who's prone to postponing his nuptials to Gladys Benton (Jean Harlow) and who faces an even greater problem when he's sued by a woman (Myrna Loy) who claims she's been libeled by his publication. Haggerty hatches an intricate plot to put the woman in her place before she can bilk the paper for all it's worth.

Starring: Spencer Tracy, Jean Harlow, Myrna Loy

Director: Jack Conway

 

LITTLE CAESAR (1931) – 79 minutes

Noted for Edward G. Robinson's breakthrough performance, this gangster classic centers on Rico "Little Caesar" Bandelli (Robinson), who stages an all-out coup to become mob boss. After moving to the city, Rico and pal Joe (Douglas Fairbanks Jr.) join Sam Vettori's (Stanley Fields) gang. Rico rises quickly through the ranks, and his hit list expands -- but just when Rico needs his friend the most, Joe wants out. Glenda Farrell also stars.

Starring: Edward G. Robinson, Douglas Fairbanks Jr

Director: Mervyn LeRoy

 

LITTLE VOICE (1998) - 96 minutes

Telephone repairman Ewan McGregor and music promoter Michael Caine play second fiddle to Little Voice (Jane Horrocks), a young woman whose beautiful pipes could pack a thousand cabarets. Trouble is, she can only sing along to records in her room. This British charmer was a sleeper hit among the indie set thanks to its winning mix of romance, hope and humor.

Starring: Brenda Blethyn, Jane Horrocks and Michael Caine
Director: Mark Herman

R for language and brief nudity

 

THE LONG KISS GOODNIGHT (1996) - 120 minutes

Samantha Caine (Geena Davis) can't remember anything before the day she woke up eight years ago, injured and two months pregnant. Now a schoolteacher with only vague memories of the past, she starts to exhibit bizarre, violent impulses. It's only after hiring two-bit private detective Mitch Hennessey (Samuel L. Jackson) that she discovers that she was once a top CIA assassin named Charley -- and that her old boss has kept tabs on her. Maybe the best Hollywood Hong Kong shoot-em-up ever.  If you like that sort of thing.

Starring: Geena Davis, Samuel L. Jackson

Director:  Renny Harlin

R Restricted. Under 17 requires parent/guardian

 

THE LOST WEEKEND (1945) – 101 minutes

Billy Wilder's searing, Oscar-winning portrait of an alcoholic follows writer Don Birnem (Ray Milland), whose girlfriend (Jane Wyman) and caring brother (Philip Terry) leave him alone for the weekend. Aching to drink, Don heads to a bar and goes on a binge that sends him into an alcoholic fog -- complete with petrifying hallucinations and an unnerving stint in a hospital sanitarium. 1946 Oscars: Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Writing, Best Director

Starring: Ray Milland, Jane Wyman
Director: Billy Wilder

 

LOVES OF A BLONDE (1965) Czech language - 85 minutes

Milos Forman directs this mood Czech -pleasing working-class drama in which a naive factory worker falls in love after a one-night stand with a visiting pianist from Prague.

Starring: Hana Brejchova, Vladimir Pucholt,
Director: Milos Forman

 

THE LOWER DEPTHS (1957) Japanese language - 125 minutes

Based on the play by Maxim Gorky, this surprisingly comical tale focuses on the daily tribulations of a group of lower-class people living in a small tenement. Osugi (Isuzu Yamada), the landlady, bickers with Okayo (Kyôko Kagawa), her sister, over the man they both want -- Sutekichi (Toshirô Mifune), a thief. Akira Kurosawa's tragicomic film is especially notable for Mifune's remarkable performance as the edgy yet sensitive Sutekichi.

Starring: Toshirô Mifune, Isuzu Yamada

Director: Akira Kurosawa

 

M (1931) German language - 111 minutes

German-American director Fritz Lang presents his first "talkie" -- and cinema's first serial killer -- in this 1931 classic. Plump pedophile Hans Beckert (Peter Lorre), propelled by a compulsion he can't control, escapes the eye of the law -- but not the wrath of the Berlin underworld being blamed for his crimes. The character of Beckert was later used in Nazi propaganda films to illustrate the evils of sexual deviance.

Starring: Peter Lorre

Director: Fritz Lang

PG Parents strongly cautioned. Some material may be inappropriate for KIDS under 13.

 

M. HULOT'S HOLIDAY (1953) French language - 87 minutes

Jacques Tati followed his acclaimed directorial debut Jour de Fête with this gently satirical comedy that introduced Tati's alter ego, Monsieur Hulot. When Hulot spends a holiday at a seaside resort, he accidentally (but good-naturedly) wreaks havoc wherever he goes. Falling all over himself to impress a beautiful girl, Hulot inadvertently crashes a funeral, topples a priceless vase and ignites fireworks with his pipe -- all to hilarious effect.  Very little dialog.

Starring: Jacques Tati
Director: Jacques Tati

MAKE MINE MINK (1960) - 100 minutes

Terry-Thomas plays the military-officer head of an amiable gang of amateur British thieves. He is recruited for this task by wealthy dowager Athylene Sayer, who merely wants to retrieve stolen minks from genuine crooks. Any profits accrued by this undertaking are to be turned over to charity. (Best bit: Terry-Thomas, backed by Anton Karas' "Third Man" theme, skulking into what appears to be a waterfront dive to make contact with a "fence," only to discover that he's stumbled into a Salvation Army mission.)

Starring: Terry-Thomas, Elspeth Duxbury, Hattie Jacques, Billie Whitelaw
Director: Robert Asher

 

THE MALTESE FALCON (1941) - 100 minutes

The big bird is “The stuff dreams are made ofaccording to gumshoe Sam Spade (Humphrey Bogart). When his partner gets snuffed, Spade starts digging around for the murderer. But when the trail leads to Sydney Greenstreet, Peter Lorre and Mary Astor, a sinister troika intent on nabbing the titular solid-gold bird, Spade must make some tough decisions.

Starring: Humphrey Bogart, Mary Astor, Sydney Greenstreet, Peter Lorre
Director: John Huston

 

THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE (1962) - 129 minutes

Some thrillers remain as suspenseful -- and timely -- as when they were first released. Raymond Shaw (Laurence Harvey) is a Korean War hero with a lethal secret: He's been brainwashed into being a sleeper agent for the communist Chinese. With one phone call, the Reds can transform Shaw into a deadly assassin -- unless fellow veteran Bennett Marco (Frank Sinatra) can stop them first! TIME Magazine List: All-TIME 100 Movies

Starring: Laurence Harvey, Frank Sinatra

Director: John Frankenheimer

 

 

A MAN ESCAPED (1957) French language – 100 minutes

Director Robert Bresson -- via a deceptively successful minimalist approach -- brings high drama to this true tale of a French prisoner (Francois Leterrier) and his single-minded determination to escape from a Nazi prison cell in occupied France during World War II. A prodigious achievement and a truly enthralling film.

Starring: Francois Leterrier, Charles Le Clainche
Director: Robert Bresson

 

MANHATTAN (1979) - 96 minutes

One of Woody Allen's best films, Manhattan offers more drama than it does comedy; it's a character-rich portrait of life and love among unhappy New York City intellectuals. Allen essentially plays himself, a neurotic writer involved with a high school girl (Mariel Hemingway). Then he meets his married best friend's new lover (Diane Keaton) and falls hard.

Starring: Woody Allen, Mariel Hemingway

Director: Woody Allen

PG Parents strongly cautioned. for KIDS under 13.

 

MARS ATTACKS! (1996) - 103 minutes

They're mean, they're green and they're jumping off the screen in this sci-fi comedy. Martians land on Earth with insta-fry ray guns! Two trailers included. The hidden feature on Mars Attacks is as funny as the film. Go to the soundtrack selection in your menu; then, select "Martian Audio Track." You'll see a screen shot and hear some amusing, garbled Martian dialogue.

Starring: everybody

Director: Tim Burton

PG-13 For sci-fi fantasy violence and brief sexuality

 

 

 

MARTY (1955) - 90 minutes

Marty has a problem. Middle-aged and trapped by a smothering mother, his future looks bleak. But when this butcher from the Bronx meets a lonely schoolteacher, suddenly everything is possible. Marty swept the Academy Awards in 1955, winning a Best Actor Oscar for Ernest Borgnine and a Best Screenplay award for Paddy Chayefsky (Network), as well as Best Picture and Best Director Awards.

Starring: Ernest Borgnine, Jerry Paris

Director: Delbert Mann

 

MASCULIN FEMININ (1966) French language – 105 minutes

French new wave filmmaker Jean-Luc Godard forays into the vibrant world of 1960s counterculture in this fresh take on the age-old battle of the sexes. Would-be writer/revolutionary Paul (Jean-Pierre Leaud) romances Madeleine breezy pop singer, (Chantal Goya) but their fundamental differences breed confusion. Can their stormy relationship survive a world characterized by bourgeois sensibility & radical social concern?

Starring: Jean-Pierre Leaud, Chantal Goya
Director: Jean-Luc Godard

 

 

MCCABE & MRS. MILLER (1971) - 121 minutes

From director Robert Altman comes a dazzling original film capturing the essence of a long-ago time while overturning Old West myths. John McCabe (Warren Beatty), an entrepreneurial vagabond, moves to a ramshackle Pacific Northwestern town to establish a saloon/brothel. He soon meets the shrewd Mrs. Miller (Julie Christie), a professional madam with years of experience; together, they start a booming business and a blossoming relationship.

Starring: Warren Beatty, Julie Christie
Director: Robert Altman

R Restricted. Under 17 requires parent/guardian.

 

MEET JOHN DOE (1941)123 minutes

Sacked by her newspaper, spunky scribe Ann Mitchell (Barbara Stanwyck) hatches a hoax to keep her job. In her final column, she pens a missive from "John Doe," a fictitious hobo planning to leap to his death from city hall. When the letter triggers a public flap, the paper -- looking to boost readership -- cons a suitable stooge (Gary Cooper) into posing as Doe. Little does he know the paper's owner plans to use him as a ticket to the presidency?

Starring: Gary Cooper, Barbara Stanwyck, and Walter Brennan

Director: Frank Capra 

 

MELVIN AND HOWARD (1980) - 95 minutes

In this delightful American fable, everyday loser Melvin Dummar (Paul LeMat) picks up a haggard old man (Jason Robards) in the Nevada desert. Eight years later, the hitchhiker turns out to have been Howard Hughes ... who has named Melvin as one of the heirs to his multi-billion dollar fortune. Melvin becomes an instant celebrity and a national punch line, gamely fighting to win the crapshoot that is the American Dream. 1981 Oscars: Best Original Screenplay, Best Supporting Actress: Mary Steenburgen
Starring
:  Paul LeMat, Mary Steenburgen, and Jason Robards

Director: Jonathan Demme

 


MIDNIGHT COWBOY (1969) - 115 minutes

Hayseed hustler Jon Voight comes to Manhattan to earn cash as a freelance sex stud. There, he meets seedy gimp Ratso Rizzo (Dustin Hoffman), and an improbable friendship blossoms. Rated X in 1969, the movie won Oscars for Best Picture, Director (John Schlesinger) and Screenplay. Although Hoffman didn't win a Best Actor Oscar, his Ratso characterization - the vilified butt of everyone's jokes - is absolutely heartbreaking.

Starring: Jon Voight, Dustin Hoffman),

Director: John Schlesinger

R Restricted. Under 17 requires accompanying parent

 

MIDNIGHT EXPRESS (1978) – 121 minutes

The true story of Billy Hayes (Brad Davis) is brought to life by Oliver Stone's Academy Award-winning screenplay recounting the young American's experience in a Turkish prison. When Hayes is caught attempting to smuggle drugs out of Turkey, the courts decide to make an example out of him and sentence him to 20 years in prison. With little hope of ever getting out, Hayes decides to attempt a daring escape. 1979 Oscars®: Best Music Score, Best Adapted Screenplay

Starring:, Brad Davis, Randy Quaid and John Hurt

Director: Alan Parker

 

MIRROR (1974) Russian language - 106 minutes

In one of his most autobiographical films, Russian filmmaker Andrei Tarkovsky crafts a dizzying visual narrative by combining past and present, dreams and reality, and color and black-and-white. The story relies more on emotional ebb and flow than on linear plot points, subtly luring the viewer into the faceless protagonist's world. A richly textured life emerges, one so complex that it may require multiple viewings.

Starring::

Director: Andrei Tarkovsky

 

MISTER ROBERTS (1955) - 123 minutes

A hilarious and heartfelt military comedy-drama co-directed by John Ford and Mervyn LeRoy, Mr. Roberts stars Henry Fonda as an officer who's yearning for battle but is stuck in the backwaters of World War II on a noncommissioned Navy ship run by the bullying Capt. Morton (James Cagney). Jack Lemmon enjoys a star-making turn as the wheeling and dealing Ensign Pulver 1956 Oscar Best Supporting Actor:  Jack Lemmon

Starring: Henry Fonda, James Cagney

Director: John Ford and Mervyn LeRoy

 

MODERN TIMES (1936) silent language - 83 minutes

The Little Tramp battles it out with technology, unemployment, jail, burglars, demanding customers and more in this classic film. He wins some and loses more and in the end walks undaunted into the sunrise. Known as Chaplin's last silent film, Modern Times is actually anything but -- from the opening notes of the rich score to the first and last time the star's voice is heard, the film speaks with a clear, well-rounded voice that still resonates.

Starring: Charlie Chaplin, Paulette Goddard

Director: Charlie Chaplin

 


MON ONCLE (1958) French language - 116 minutes

Jacques Tati plays Monsieur Hulot, a self-absorbed chucklehead wrestling with neoteric gadgetry -- and losing -- in this satirical masterpiece that makes sport of mechanization, class distinctions and modernity. While visiting his sister's surreal, ultra-trendy home, Hulot finds himself incessantly at odds with newfangled contraptions that get the better of him. The tongue-in-cheek French comedy garnered a Best Foreign Language Film Oscar.

Starring: Jean-Pierre Zola, Adrienne Servantie,
Director: Jacques Tati

 

THE MORE THE MERRIER (1943) - 104 minutes

During World War II, civil servant Connie Milligan (Jean Arthur) decides to turn the housing shortage in Washington, D.C., to her advantage. But when she rents out her four-room apartment to two men -- aging millionaire Benjamin (Charles Coburn) and young, handsome sergeant Joe (Joel McCrea) -- Connie gets more than she bargained for, including Benjamin taking on the role of matchmaking cupid. Best Supporting Actor Oscar: Charles Coburn

Starring: Jean Arthur, Joel McCrea, Charles Coburn

Director: George Stevens

 

MOUCHETTE (1967) French language – 81 minutes

Life is rough for Mouchette (Nadine Nortier): Her mother is dying; her alcoholic father ignores her; and the other children in her rough country town have nothing but disdain for the teen. Things go from bad to worse when Arsene (Jean-Claude Guilbert), a local poacher who thinks he's killed a policeman, kidnaps her. Robert Bresson directed this bleak look at rural life, which won the Golden Palm at the 1968 Cannes Film Festival. 

TIME Magazine List: All-TIME 100 Movies

Starring: Nadine Nortier, Jean-Claude Guilbert

Director: Robert Bresson

 

MR. DEEDS GOES TO TOWN (1936) - 115 minutes

When a small-town tuba player (Gary Cooper) lands a $20 million inheritance and moves to the big city, the sharks begin to circle. Jean Arthur is the sassy reporter who'll do anything for a scoop on Deeds -- until she falls for him. Director Frank Capra (It's a Wonderful Life) delivers a heartfelt romantic allegory about daring to stand for principles in the face of greed and malice. 1937 Oscar Best Director: Frank Capra

Starring: Gary Cooper, Jean Arthur

Director: Frank Capra

 

MR. SMITH GOES TO WASHINGTON (1939) - 129 minutes

When idealistic junior senator Jefferson Smith (James Stewart) arrives in Washington, he's full of plans and dazzled by his surroundings -- qualities he retains even in the face of widespread corruption on the part of his colleagues. Jean Arthur puts in a sharp performance as Smith's cynical secretary, and former cowboy star Harry Carey makes a fine vice president in this Academy Award-winning classic from director Frank Capra (Best Screenplay Oscar).

Starring: Jean Arthur, James Stewart,
Director: Frank Capra

 


MURDER, MY SWEET (1944) - 95 minutes

Starring Dick Powell and Claire Trevor, this film noir captures the sharp wit and style of Raymond Chandler's novel Farewell, My Lovely, about a gumshoe named Philip Marlowe who's searching for a missing moll, Velma. Renamed so American filmgoers wouldn't mistake it as a Powell musical, the film turned the actor's career around, helping him to shed his choir-boy image. Edward Dmytryk directs.

Starring: Dick Powell and Claire Trevor

Director: Edward Dmytryk

 

MY DARLING CLEMENTINE (1946) - 97 minutes

As the enforcer of law in the town of Tombstone, Ariz., Wyatt Earp (Henry Fonda) must balance keeping unruly criminals in line with tracking down and bringing to justice the men who killed his brothers, Morgan (Ward Bond) and Virgil (Tom Holt). With help from Doc Holliday (Victor Mature), with whom he maintains a tepid friendship, Earp's pursuit ultimately involves the history-making confrontation at the OK Corral.

Starring: Henry Fonda, Linda Darnell,
Director: John Ford

 

MY DOG SKIP (2000) - 95 minutes

Lonely, 9-year-old Willie Morris (Frankie Muniz) lives in the flea-bitten town of Yazoo, Miss. He stinks at sports and has no playmates. So, over the strenuous objections of his hardnosed father (Kevin Bacon), Willie's mother (Diane Lane) buys him a dog that he promptly dubs "Skip." Before you know it, Skip transforms Willie's life: He makes friends, plays sports and develops an unbreakable bond with the spunky terrier. Based on a true story.  Best pet movie!

Starring: Frankie Muniz, Kevin Bacon, and Diane Lane

Director: Jay Russell

 

MY FAVORITE WIFE (1940) - 88 minutes

After a man's wife has gone 7 years missing at sea (and is long believed dead), she suddenly shows up on the very day he's about to marry wife No. 2! Cary Grant stars as the beleaguered husband, and Irene Dunne is hilarious as his returning wife, who -- on top of everything else -- must adjust to a hectic life far removed from the island where she was marooned.

Starring: Irene Dunne, Cary Grant

Director: Garsin Kanin

 

MY LIFE TO LIVE (1962) French language - 85 minutes

Jean-Luc Godard directs this tale about Nana (Anna Karina), a Parisian salesgirl who drifts into a life of prostitution. Godard divides the story into a series of 12 essentially unconnected tableaux that form a portrait of a woman caught between her dreams of becoming an actress and that which she's permitted or forced to do. The film's emotional centerpiece occurs when Nana breaks down in a theatre showing The Passion of Joan of Arc

Starring: Anna Karina

Director: Jean-Luc Godard

 

MY MAN GODFREY (1936) - 95 minutes

A high-society scavenger hunt leads to levity when scatterbrained socialite Irene Bullock (Carole Lombard) stumbles upon an erudite vagabond named Godfrey (William Powell) living in the city dump and offers him a position as the Bullocks' butler. As it happens, the seemingly bankrupt bum is, in fact, the heir of a well-to-do family. While Godfrey sets out to teach the pampered Bullocks a few lessons, Irene conspires to capture his heart.

Starring: William Powell, Carole Lombard Director: Gregory La Cava


NASHVILLE (1975) – 160 minutes

Director Robert Altman's sprawling masterpiece about politics and country music astonishes. A huge cast of characters (including Shelley Duvall, Keith Carradine, Ned Beatty and Karen Black) gets caught up in a political rally that takes over the home of country music. The many fine performances include Lily Tomlin's bored housewife and Henry Gibson's pompous, patriotic country singer. The actors wrote and performed their own songs.

Starring: Shelley Duvall, Keith Carradine, Lily Tomlin, Ned Beatty and Karen Black

Director: Robert Altman

 

NETWORK: Special Edition (1976) - 121 minutes

Paddy Chayefsky predicted today's rash of trash television and shock-laden news broadcasts. The writer of Marty created network news anchor Howard Beale (Peter Finch), who loses his mind on the air. Unfortunately, his outrageous rants boost the ratings and intrigue cutthroat

network executives Faye Dunaway and Robert Duvall. William Holden contrasts their avarice as an old-school TV journalist hopelessly out of step.

Starring: Peter Finch, Faye Dunaway, Robert Duvall

Director: Sidney Lumet

R Restricted. Under 17 requires accompanying parent/guardian

 

NIGHT AND THE CITY (1950) – 96 minutes

Shot in London, Jules Dassin's film noir centers on grifter Harry (Richard Widmark), who schemes to take over wrestling promoter Kristo's (Herbert Lom) racket. Harry pits Kristo's father, Gregorius, against his own son and convinces nightclub owner Phil (Francis L. Sullivan) to invest in his scheme. But his plan falls apart when Gregorius is killed and Phil learns that his wife (Googie Withers) is leaving him for Harry. Gene Tierney also stars.

Starring: Richard Widmark, Herbert Lom, Googie Withers

Director: Jules Dassin

 

A NIGHT AT THE OPERA (1935) - 92 minutes

The Marx Brothers -- Groucho, Harpo and Chico -- wreak havoc in the opera house in one of their biggest hits. Penned by Morrie Ryskind and George S. Kaufman, the film contains perhaps the greatest comic bit the Marx’s ever pulled off: the crowded stateroom scene. Kitty Carlisle and Allan Jones are charming as the singing romantic leads that the Marx’s help transform into big-time opera stars. TIME Magazine List: All-TIME 100 Movies

Starring: Marx Bros, Kitty Carlisle

Director: Sam Wood

 

THE NIGHT OF THE HUNTER (1955) - 93 minutes

Bogus "preacher" Harry Powell (Robert Mitchum) learns that cellmate Ben Harper has stashed a passel of stolen loot on his property. After the demented Powell is released, he charms Ben's widow (Shelley Winters) into getting hitched, and in time, only Ben's kids stand between Powell and the money. As he stalks them relentlessly, they seek refuge with the indomitable Rachel Cooper (Lillian Gish), setting the stage for an inexorable battle of wills.

Starring: Robert Mitchum, Shelley Winters,
Director: Charles Laughton

 


NIGHTMARE ALLEY (1947) – 110 minutes

Always looking for his next big chance, ambitious carnival barker Stan Carlisle (Tyrone Power) moves in on Zeena (Joan Blondell), the widow of the carnival's mentalist. After Zeena teaches Stan every mind-reading trick she knows, he marries another beautiful performer (Cathy Downs) who becomes his nightclub act partner. But Stan's new wife isn't prepared for her husband's callous plan to con a millionaire by conjuring up the man's dead daughter.      See Hollywood’s first onscreen geek!

Starring: Tyrone Power
Director: Edmund Goulding

 

 

NIGHTS OF CABIRIA (1957) Italian language - 118 minutes

Despite an endless string of heartbreaks and misfortune, Cabiria (Giulietta Masina), a prostitute working the streets of Rome, never seems to give up on finding true love. One of Federico Fellini's best-known efforts, this heartbreaking drama won the Oscar for Best Foreign Film, and Masina (Fellini's wife) won Best Actress at the Cannes Film Festival.

Starring: Giulietta Masina)

Director: Federico Fellini

 

NINE TO FIVE (1980) - 110 minutes

A troika of female employees (Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin and Dolly Parton) fed up with their "sexist, egotistical, lying, hypocritical bigot" of a boss (Dabney Coleman) entertains fantasies about evening the score. But fantasy turns into reality when the women think they've inadvertently poisoned his coffee. To cover their tracks, they concoct an intricate scheme that will turn the tables on the chief and shred the patriarchal old boys' network. Funny! Great script, sprightly direction and, at least the Casting Director should have won an Oscar!

Starring: Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin, Dolly Parton, and Dabney Coleman

Director: Colin Higgins

 

NINOTCHKA (1939) - 110 minutes

Ninotchka (Greta Garbo, in one of her greatest roles) is the Communist Party's dream member: a stern-faced apparatchik who does things entirely by the book -- the Soviet book. She's sent to Paris to arrange the sale of Grand Duchess Swana's jewels for the Soviet government, but while taking in the appalling materialism of Paris, Ninotchka meets a lawyer for the Swana estate, Count Leon (Melvyn Douglas), who melts her icy heart. Co-Written by Billy Wilder

Starring: Greta Garbo, Melvyn Douglas

Director: Ernst Lubitsch

 

NORTH BY NORTHWEST (1959) - 136 minutes

What if everyone around you was suddenly convinced you were a spy? Cary Grant plays an advertising executive who looks a little too much like someone else and is forced to go on the lam (helped along by Eva Marie Saint). Hitchcock's sure-handed comic drama pits Grant against a crop duster and lands him in a fight for his life on Mount Rushmore. A cliffhanger if ever there was one!

Starring: Cary Grant, Eva Marie Saint

Director: Alfred Hitchcock

 


ON THE WATERFRONT (1954) - 107 minutes

Terry Malloy (Oscar-winner Marlon Brando) is a washed-up boxer turned longshoreman who finds he has one fight left in him when he dares to take on corrupt union boss Johnny Friendly (Lee J. Cobb). A landmark "issue" picture, On the Waterfront is distinguished by great performances and excellent use of New York locations. It's also the winner of eight Oscars, including Best Picture and Best Director (Elia Kazan). Best Cinematography Black and White, Best Supporting Actress: Eva Marie Saint
Starring: Marlon Brando, Lee J. Cobb, Eva Marie Saint

Director:  Elia Kazan

 

ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST (1968) - 185 minutes

This Sergio Leone classic, a tribute to Hollywood Westerns, stars Henry Fonda as Frank, a gunslinger hired by the powerful owner of a railroad conglomerate to kill anyone who derails the project. But Frank contends with the wrong person when he murders Brett (Frank Wolff), a landowner; after his death, Brett's wife (Claudia Cardinale) demands revenge, hiring two renegades (Charles Bronson and Jason Robards) to go after Frank.

TIME Magazine List: All-TIME 100 Movies

Starring: Clint Eastwood, Lee Van Cleef, Eli Wallach

Director: Sergio Leone

 

ONE BRIGHT SHINING MOMENT (2005) - 125 minutes

Retracing presidential candidate George McGovern's unsuccessful run for office in 1972 -- despite his well-respected intellect and decency -- this political documentary interviews McGovern himself, as well as supporters and activists such as Gore Vidal, Gloria Steinem, Warren Beatty and Howard Zinn, to explore the volatility of the electoral process. A period-appropriate soundtrack features songs by Bob Dylan, Donovan and Elvis Costello.

Starring:  Gore Vidal, Gloria Steinem, Warren Beatty and Howard Zinn

Director: Stephen Vittoria

 

ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO'S NEST (1975) - 133 minutes

The first movie since IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT to win all five major Academy Awards (picture, director, actor, actress, screenplay), Cuckoo's Nest still has the ability to entertain and inspire. Implacable rabble-rouser Randle Patrick McMurphy (Jack Nicholson) is committed to an asylum and inspires his fellow patients to rebel against the authoritarian rule of head nurse Mildred Ratched (Louise Fletcher).

Starring: Jack Nicholson, Louise Fletcher. Danny Divito

Director: Milos Foreman

R Restricted. Under 17 requires parent or adult guardian.

 

ONE, TWO, THREE (1961) - 109 minutes

Director Billy Wilder's Cold War farce comes off at a breakneck pace that will leave your head spinning. C.J. McNamara (James Cagney) is a Coca-Cola executive who travels to Berlin to promote the product on the other side of the Iron Curtain. But he soon learns that his real job is baby-sitting his boss's teenage daughter, Scarlet (Pamela Tiffin), who has secretly married volatile Communist Otto Piffl (Horst Bucholz).

Starring: James Cagney, Horst Buchholz,
Director: Billy Wilder

 


OPEN CITY (1945) Italian language - 102 minutes

Director Roberto Rossellini's unsettling drama portrays the harrowing struggle of everyday women and children as they try to shield resistance forces from the Nazis and to maintain compassion and self-respect despite Rome's de facto occupation during World War II's waning days. Rossellini's landmark film, which received an Oscar nomination for Best Screenplay, brilliantly depicts the Italian people's weary despair and collective resolve

Starring: Anna Magnani, Aldo Fabrizi

Director: Roberto Rossellini

 

OUR HOSPITALITY / SHERLOCK JR. (1926) silent language - 119 minutes

Silent-film master Buster Keaton directs and acts in this double feature. Both films in this classic combo showcase Keaton's amazing physical comedy and captivating personality. In OUR HOSPITALITY, Keaton resurrects a long-standing Southern feud when he falls for a gal on the wrong side of the fence. Keaton's innovative visual effects earmark SHERLOCK JR., in which he plays a daydreaming movie projectionist in love with an unattainable woman.

TIME Magazine List: All-TIME 100 Movies

Starring: Buster Keaton, Natalie Talmadge

Director: Buster Keaton

 

ORPHEUS (1930) French language – ___ minutes

This trilogy from master filmmaker Jean Cocteau examines the roles of artists in modern society and how they function as observers, social critics and trailblazers in an increasingly fractured world.,

Starring: Enrique Rivero, Jean Marais, and Elizabeth Lee Miller
Director: Jean Cocteau

 

OUT OF SIGHT (1998) - 123 minutes

Florida bank robber Jack Foley (George Clooney) plays a genteel game of cat-and-mouse with Karen Sisco (Jennifer Lopez), the stunning federal marshal he meets in the trunk of a getaway car. Director Steven Soderbergh (Traffic) displays his trademark nonlinear storytelling in a film that received Oscar nominations for both its crack editing (Anne V. Coates) and its brilliant adaptation (Scott Frank) of Elmore Leonard's novel.

Starring: George Clooney, Jennifer Lopez,

Director: Steven Soderbergh

R Restricted. Under 17 requires parent or adult guardian.

 

OUT OF THE PAST (1947) - 97 minutes

Jacques Tourneur directs this definitive noir classic (remade in 1984 as Against All Odds with Jeff Bridges and Rachel Ward) about a trio to reckon with -- troubled private investigator Jeff Bailey (Robert Mitchum), drop-dead beauty Kathie (Jane Greer) and moneyed mobster Whit Sterling (Kirk Douglas. Bailey is hired to find Kathie, Sterling's former mistress. When he finds her, the unexpected occurs.

Starring: Robert Mitchum, Jane Greer, Kirk Douglas

Director: Jacques Tourneur

R Restricted. Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian

 


OUTFOXED: Rupert Murdoch's War on Journalism (2004) - 77 minutes

Finally, a no-holds-barred documentary on Rupert Murdoch's Fox News, which has been criticized in some quarters as running a "race to the bottom" in television news. Offering an in-depth look at the dangers of burgeoning corporations that take control of the public's right to know, the film explores Murdoch's ever-expanding media empire and its impact on society. Media experts such as Jeff Cohen and Bob McChesney are interviewed.

Director:  Robert Greenwald

 

 

THE OX-BOW INCIDENT (1943) -- 75 minutes

Director William Wellman's Western digs into the mob-led lynching of three innocent men. The film centers on cowboys Carter (Henry Fonda) and Croft (Harry Morgan), who reluctantly join a hunt for murderous cattle rustlers. Led by ex-soldier Tetley (Frank Conroy), the posse captures three transients (Dana Andrews, Anthony Quinn and Francis Ford). When Tetley calls for their execution without proof of their guilt, Carter faces a moral dilemma.

Starring: Henry Fonda, Dana Andrews,
Director: William A. Wellman

 

THE PALM BEACH STORY (1942) - 88 minutes

Preston Sturges helmed this screwball comedy about Gerry Jeffers (Claudette Colbert), a woman who'll do anything to help her struggling architect spouse, Tom (Joel McCrea), succeed. When she realizes Tom will never strike it rich, Gerry decides to divorce him, wed a wealthy man and finance Tom's projects -- so she heads to Palm Beach, Fla., where she tries to land eccentric billionaire John D. Hackensacker III (Rudy Vallee).

Starring: Claudette Colbert, Joel McCrea, Rudy Vallee and Mary Astor

Director: Preston Sturges

 

PANDORA'S BOX (1929) silent language - 133 minutes

A visually striking melodrama, G.W. Pabst's silent classic stars Louise Brooks in a mesmerizing performance as Lulu, a woman whose uninhibited sexuality leads to her downfall. After her wealthy lover, Dr. Schon (Fritz Kortner), marries her, Lulu inadvertently shoots him during a struggle with a gun. She's convicted of murder but escapes with Schon's love-struck son (Francis Lederer). Soon, their circumstances spiral downward, with tragic results.

Starring: Louise Brooks, Fritz Kortner

Director:  G.W. Pabst

 

PAPER MOON (1973) - 102 minutes

A con man (Ryan O'Neal) and his precocious "daughter" (Tatum O'Neal, in an Oscar-winning role as Best Supporting Actress) grift their way across the heartland of depression-era America in director Peter Bogdanovich's nostalgic look at the 1930s. As the two try desperately to scrounge up enough money to live on, their "father/daughter relationship" soon becomes a business partnership when they realize they need each other for survival.

Starring: Ryan O'Neal, Tatum O'Neal,
Director: Peter Bogdanovich

PG Parental guidance suggested. Some material may not be suitable for children

 

THE PASSION OF JOAN OF ARC (1928) silent language - 82 minutes

Widely considered director Carl Theodor Dreyer's finest achievement and one of the greatest movies of all time, this stunning emotional drama recounts the events surrounding Joan of Arc's 1431 heresy trial, burning at the stake and subsequent martyrdom. Maria Falconetti turns in a haunting performance as the young French saint. The film's original version, thought to have been lost to fire, was miraculously found in perfect condition in 1981.

 Starring: Maria Falconetti

Director: Carl Theodor Dreyer

PEEPING TOM (1960) - 101 minutes

A disturbed filmmaker (Carl Boehm) literally kills with his camera in this ahead-of-its-time shocker from revered British director Michael Powell. Like the same year's Psycho, this film's combination of voyeurism, eroticism and horror repelled some 1960 critics, but its cult reputation soared in later years. Moira Shearer (star of Powell's The Red Shoes) makes an appearance, as does Powell himself (as Boehm's father in flashback).

Starring:  Nigel Davenport

Director:  Michael Powell

 

PERSONA (1967) Swedish language - 83 minutes

To achieve more effective treatment, a nurse (Bibi Andersson) and her patient (Liv Ullmann), an actress who's lost the power of speech, check into a private cottage by the sea. Isolated from most of the rest of society, the two women become co-dependent and insanely jealous of each other. It's a case of the cure being worse than the affliction in this classic directed by Swedish master Ingmar Bergman. TIME Magazine List: All-TIME 100 Movies

Starring: Bibi Andersson, Liv Ullmann

Director: Ingmar Bergman

 

PICKPOCKET (1959) French language - 75 minutes

Acclaimed French director Robert Bresson helms this stylized black-and-white drama following the trials of a Paris pickpocket named Michel (Martin LaSalle), a thief who grows so successful at his craft that he worries his luck will run out. Despite his own fears -- and the persistent pleas from his girlfriend and ailing mother that he take up a more honorable profession -- Michel remains chained to his compulsion to steal.

Starring: Martin LaSalle
Director: Robert Bresson

 

PICKUP ON SOUTH STREET (1953) - 80 minutes

A routine subway ride turns out to be anything but when Candy (Jean Peters) is mugged by a man named Skip McCoy (Richard Widmark), who's in search of valuable microfilm that Candy is carrying. Aware of the film's important nature but not its exact contents (government secrets intended for Communist spies), Candy must now enlist the help of her ex-boyfriend Joey (Richard Kiley) to find the thief and get the microfilm back.

Starring: Jean Peters, Richard Widmark, and Richard Kiley

Director: Samuel Fuller

 

THE PLAYER (1992) - 123 minutes

Director Robert Altman's viciously funny masterpiece follows a happenin' Hollywood studio executive (Tim Robbins) whose life is falling apart (a rival wants his job, and he's facing a murder rap). Will Robbins face the music or turn his liabilities into assets? Packed with irreverence, myriad star cameos, and DVD extras about the improbable but true tales behind the film. 1993 Independent Spirit Awards®: Best Feature            GCTOP10

Starring:  Tim Robbins, Whoopi Goldberg

Director:  Robert Altman

R For language, and for some sensuality

 


PLAYTIME (1967) French language - 124 minutes

The celebrated Jacques Tati directs and stars in this brilliantly eccentric ode to humanity. Tati plays Monsieur Hulot, a Parisian who's befuddled by the changes he witnesses in his beloved city, which has grown increasingly touristy. As Hulot roams the uncomfortably modern Paris with a group of American tourists, his story epitomizes the struggle of modern man to maintain a soul in the face of an impersonal world.

Starring: Jacques Tati, Barbara Dennek

Director: Jacques Tati

PONETTE (1996) French language - 95 minutes

When her mother dies in a car accident, 4-year-old Ponette (Victoire Thivisol) is left physically and emotionally scarred and in the care of her grief-stricken father. Sent to live with family for a while, Ponette sullenly navigates a world made up mostly of children's faces and slowly comes to terms with her loss. Thivisol's powerful, haunting performance earned her a Best Actress award at the Venice Film Festival in 1996.

Starring: Victoire Thivisol

Director: Jaques Doillon

 

POWWOW HIGHWAY (1989) - 87 minutes

This offbeat road film, awarded the Filmmaker's Trophy at the Sundance Film Festival, tracks the journey of mellow Philbert Bono (Gary Farmer), a Montana Cheyenne tribe member who has to drive hundreds of miles to pick up a sister arrested in Santa Fe. Accompanying him is the intensely political Buddy Red Bow (A Martinez). Together, the two discover that they have much to learn from each other about life and strife.  Co-authored by Janet Heaney, my writing partner (1992-1996).  Her first big break.  Two thumbs up from Siskal & Ebert

Starring: Gary Farmer, A Martinez

Director: Joanelle Nadine Romero, Jonathan Wacks

 

THE PRIDE OF THE YANKEES (1942) - 121 minutes

One of the great American stories about one of the great American heroes: baseball phenomenon Lou Gehrig. The film follows the Iron Horse (Gary Cooper) from childhood to his later glory on the diamond. Gehrig embodied the American ethic of humility and hard work, playing in 2,130 consecutive games until he was forced to retire because of the disease that now bears his name.

Starring: Gary Cooper, Walter Brennan

Director:  Sam Wood

 

PROJECT A #2 (1991) - 101 minutes

After he defeats an evil pirate at sea, Dragon Mao (Jackie Chan) gets offered the lead slot on the municipal police squad. But when he discovers corruption seeded deep within the department, he must keep one eye on the locals and the other on his fellow officers. He soon finds himself at the center of a jewelry robbery, framed by malevolent forces who want him destroyed. Chan also directed this sequel to Project A 1.

Starring: Jackie Chan, Maggie Cheung

Director: Jackie Chan

 


PUNK: ATTITUDE (2005) - 88 minutes

From London's 1970 mod scene to Sonic Youth, punk music has always been about attitude and anarchy. This comprehensive rockumentary traces the roots of punk, from The Velvet Underground and the New York Dolls to the Sex Pistols and The Clash. Punkers Henry Rollins, Jello Biafra, Tommy Ramone and David Johansen share their wild stories, and there's vintage performance footage of the Sex Pistols, the Ramones, The Clash, The Damned and much more.

Starring: Henry Rollins, Jello Biafra, Tommy Ramone and David Johansen

Director: Don Letts

 

QUEEN CHRISTINA (1933) - 99 minutes

Hollywood icon Greta Garbo puts her ambisexual persona to good use in this portrait of Sweden's Queen Christina, a cross-dressing 17th century monarch who felt more comfortable in men's clothing than in the frilly finery of females. John Gilbert (who previously co-starred with Garbo in a string of silent films) appears as Antonio, the queen's love interest, in one of his final film roles before his death in 1936.

Starring: Greta Garbo, John Gilbert

Director: Stanley Donen

 

QUEEN KELLY (1929) silent language - 101 minutes

Kitty Kelly (Gloria Swanson), a young woman living in a convent, is charmed by a prince who later kidnaps her. When the Queen interrupts the intended tryst, the girl is beaten and humiliated to the brink of suicide. Before she can kill herself, however, Kitty receives a letter from her aunt who runs a brothel in East Africa and soon embarks on a series of adventures … before things come full circle with the prince who started it all.

Starring: Gloria Swanson, Walter Byron

Director: Erich von Stroheim

 

RAGING BULL (1980) - 129 minutes

Robert De Niro won the Oscar for his portrayal of self-destructive boxer Jake Lamotta in Martin Scorsese's widely acclaimed biopic. De Niro's powerful performance, combined with Scorsese's black-and-white realism, paints a raw portrait of a tormented soul unable to control his violent outbursts. Cathy Moriarty and Joe Pesci also star. This edition includes commentary from Scorsese, producer Irwin Winkler and Lamotta himself, among others.

Starring: Robert De Niro, Jake Lamotta Cathy Moriarty and Joe Pesci

Director: Martin Scorsese

R For thematic material, violence and sexual content

 

RALPH NADER: An Unreasonable Man (2006) - 121 minutes

The personal and professional life of Ralph Nader, one of America's most controversial consumer advocates and political activists, is the subject of this biographical documentary. Nader's willingness to take on big industry earned him a reputation as both a working-class hero and a public pariah. Interviews and archival footage help illuminate this in-depth profile of one of the most influential political figures in modern history

Starring: Ralph Nader

Director: Henriette Mantel, Steve Skrovan

 


RASHOMON (1950) Japanese language - 88 minutes

Considered one of Japanese director Akira Kurosawa's masterpieces, this Oscar-winning crime drama unfolds as four witnesses to a rape and murder report their versions of the attack. But the chain of events depicted by the bandit (Toshiro Mifune), the rape victim (Machiko Kyo), the murdered man's ghost (Masayuki Mori) and the woodcutter (Takashi Shimura) are not only different; they're incompatible in Kurosawa's examination of the nature of truth

Starring: Toshirô Mifune, Machiko Kyo

Director: Akira Kurosawa

 

REAR WINDOW (1954) - 115 minutes

As his broken leg heals, wheelchair-bound L.B. Jeffries James Stewart becomes absorbed with the parade of life across the courtyard: A dancer, a lonely woman, a composer and a bedridden woman and her husband become like creatures in Needham's voyeuristic zoo. But when one of them disappears, Needham suspects foul play -- and suddenly he finds himself in the center of the action with nowhere to run.

Starring: James Stewart, Grace Kelly

Director: Alfred Hitchcock

 

RED BEARD (1965) Japanese language - 185 minutes

A testament to the goodness of humankind, Akira Kurosawa's Red Beard (Akahige) chronicles the tumultuous relationship between an arrogant young doctor and a compassionate clinic director. Toshiro Mifune, in his last role for Kurosawa, gives a powerhouse performance as the dignified yet passionate director who guides his embittered intern to maturity, teaching him to appreciate the lives of his destitute patients.

Starring: Toshirô Mifune,

Director: Akira Kurosawa

 

RED RIVER (1948) - 133 minutes

It's mutiny on the cattle drive when irascible, ironfisted trail boss Tom Dunson (John Wayne) relentlessly brutalizes his drovers, causing adopted son Matt Garth (Montgomery Clift, in his first film appearance) to intercede and take charge. Tom vows vengeance for Matt's unpardonable offense, leading to the quintessential Western showdown. Walter Brennan costars as the ornery camp cook in director Howard Hawks' immortal sagebrush saga. Best Western!

Starring: John Wayne, Montgomery Clift,
Director: Howard Hawks

 

REDS (1981) - 195 minutes 2 DISCS

A Best Director Oscar went to Warren Beatty for this sweeping epic that deftly interweaves romance and history. Beatty also heads the cast as radical American correspondent John Reed, who, along with his paramour, Louise Bryant (Diane Keaton), gets caught up in the spirit, euphoria and aftermath of Russia's 1917 Bolshevik Revolution. Maureen Stapleton received an Oscar for her supporting turn as anarchist Emma Goldman.

1982 Oscar for Best Cinematography

Starring: Warren Beatty, Diane Keaton, and Jack Nicholson

Director: Warren Beatty

 


RESERVOIR DOGS (1992) - 100 minutes

Quentin Tarantino's directorial debut is raw, violent, often mimicked -- and unforgettable. A botched robbery indicates a police informant, and the pressure mounts in the aftermath at a warehouse. Crime begets violence as the survivors -- veteran Mr. White (Harvey Keitel), newcomer Mr. Orange (Tim Roth), psychopathic parolee Mr. Blonde (Michael Madsen), bickering weasel Mr. Pink (Steve Buscemi), and Nice Guy Eddie (Chris Penn) -- unravel.

Starring: Harvey Keitel, Tim Roth, Steve Buscemi, Laurence (local 416) Tierney, Chris Penn

Director: Quentin Tarantino

R Restricted. Under 17 requires parent/guardian

 

RIFIFI (1955) French language - 118 minutes

Jules Dassin won the Best Director award at the Cannes Film Festival for this French noir caper (with English subtitles) in which jewel thieves pull off an elaborate store heist. Recently released from prison, Tony le Stephanois (Jean Servais) gathers criminals Jo, Mario and Cesar for one last heist. But when Tony refuses to give part of the loot to rival gangster Pierre, Pierre retaliates by kidnapping Jo's son. (See Big Deal On Madonna Street)

Starring: Jean Servais, Carl Mohner,
Director: Jules Dassin

 

ROAD TO RIO (1947) - 100 minutes

In their fifth "road" comedy, Bob Hope and Bing Crosby are framed for starting a fire and hop a boat to Rio de Janeiro. Naturally, they meet Dorothy Lamour there and must rescue her from her evil aunt (Gale Sondergaard, the queen of movie evil aunts). Bing serenades Dorothy with "But Beautiful," and even the Andrews Sisters show up to croon a tune.

Starring: Bob Hope, Bing Crosby and Dorothy Lamour
Director: Norman Z. McLeod

 

ROAD TO ZANZIBAR (1941) - 92 minutes

The second installment of the "road" series is a hilarious spoof of jungle-adventure movies. Chuck (Bing Crosby) and Hubert (Bob Hope) are scheming carnival performers in Africa who thrive on trouble: They set fire to the carnival, sell a phony diamond and pair up with two attractive women. But when Chuck spends all the money to rescue Donna (Dorothy Lamour) from a slave market, he's unaware they're being scammed for a trip around Africa.

Starring: Bob Hope, Bing Crosby and Dorothy Lamour
Director: Victor Schertzinger

 

THE RULES OF THE GAME (1939) French language - 106 minutes

When affluent Marquis Robert de la Chesnaye (Marcel Dalio) hosts a party at his sprawling property, emotions run high. Guests include Robert's mistress Genevieve (Mila Parely) and pilot Andre Jurieu (Roland Toutain), who fancies Robert's wife, Christine (Nora Gregor). Meanwhile, Schumacher (Gaston Modot) is trying to keep Marceau (Julien Carette) from hitting on his wife (Paulette Dubost). All the while, the servants watch with great interest.  The Rules of the Game is ranked #1 on many film critic lists.

Starring: Marcel Dalio, Mila Parely, and Gaston Modot

Director: Jean Renoir

 


RUN LOLA RUN (1998) German language - 80 minutes

A thrilling roller-coaster ride, Run Lola Run is the internationally acclaimed sensation about two star-crossed lovers who have only minutes to change their lives. Set to a throbbing techno score, Run Lola Run will thrill you! 2000 Independent Spirit Awards®: Best Foreign Film

Starring: Franka Potente, Moritz Bleibtreu

Director: Tom Tykwer

 

SABRINA (1954) - 113 minutes

Industrious tycoon Linus Larrabee (Humphrey Bogart) has no room for love in his appointment book. But when a burgeoning romance between his libertine brother David (William Holden) and the family chauffeur's daughter, Sabrina Fairchild (Audrey Hepburn), jeopardizes Linus' pending business merger, the workaholic CEO clears his calendar to derail the dalliance. The film collected an Oscar for Best Costume Design.

Starring: Humphrey Bogart, Audrey Hepburn, William Holden
Director: Billy Wilder

 

THE SACRIFICE (1988) Russian language - __ minutes

Russian director Andrei Tarkovsky opens his final film with friends gathering to celebrate Alexander's (Erland Josephson) birthday. The party is interrupted when it's announced that World War III has begun and mankind is hours away from annihilation. Alexander responds with a promise to God that he'll give up everything, including his child, if war is averted. The film won four awards at the Cannes Film Festival, including the Grand Prix.                           Director: Andrei Tarkovsky

SAFETY LAST (1923) silent language - ___ minutes

Comic genius of the silent screen Harold Lloyd stars in this collection of eight short and feature-length classics, representing some of the comedian's best work. In GIRL SHY (1924), gawky Harold surprises everyone when he writes a love manual and woos a lovely lass. In THE MILKY WAY (1936), a mild-mannered milkman becomes a boxing champ. And in the famous SAFETY LAST (1923), a green country boy takes on the big city by scaling a skyscraper.

Starring: Harold Lloyd

Director: Harold Lloyd

 

SCARLET STREET (1945) - 103 minutes

Unassuming cashier Christopher Cross (Edward G. Robinson) falls hard when he meets Kitty (Joan Bennett). They become involved, but Kitty keeps a petty crook, Johnny (Jess Barker), on the side as her real love interest. Hoping to impress Kitty, Cross embezzles funds from his employer. What he doesn't realize is that Kitty and Johnny are getting rich on Cross's paintings, which have become a huge success under Kitty's name. Dark, audacious film noir classic

Starring: Edward G. Robinson, Joan Bennett

Director: Fritz Lang 

 


SCHINDLER'S LIST (1993) - 133 minutes disc #1

Steven Spielberg's Holocaust epic won seven Academy Awards (including Best Picture) and is an unforgettable testament to the possibility of human goodness. Greedy factory owner Oskar Schindler (Liam Neeson) was exploiting cheap Jewish labor, but in the midst of WWII became an unlikely humanitarian, losing his fortune by helping to save 1,100 Jews from Auschwitz. Film spans two discs.

Starring: Liam Neeson, Ben Kingsley

Director: Steven Spielberg

R For language, some sexuality and actuality violence

 

SCHINDLER'S LIST (1993) - 133 minutes disc #2

Steven Spielberg's Holocaust epic won seven Academy Awards (including Best Picture) and is an unforgettable testament to the possibility of human goodness. Greedy factory owner Oskar Schindler (Liam Neeson) was exploiting cheap Jewish labor, but in the midst of WWII became an unlikely humanitarian, losing his fortune by helping to save 1,100 Jews from Auschwitz. Starring: Liam Neeson, Ben Kingsley

Director: Steven Spielberg

R For language, some sexuality and actuality violence

 

THE SECRET (2006) - 89 minutes

Believed to have been in existence for thousands of years, The Secret is only now being shared to the world. It's supposedly what brought success to such greats as Plato, Leonardo da Vinci, Albert Einstein and Andrew Carnegie. In this video, The Secret is revealed and taught by over 50 teachers, including writers, philosophers, doctors and scientists, to empower viewers to achieve success in their careers, relationships and health.

 

THE SEARCHERS (1956) - 119 minutes

John Wayne and Jeffrey Hunter spend years searching for Wayne's niece (Natalie Wood), who was abducted as a child by Comanches. Far from a picaresque adventure yarn, The Searchers is director John Ford's forceful meditation on racism, revenge and obsession -- one of the most powerful ever filmed. And Wayne's portrayal of a brutishly obsessed "savior" is downright frightening. TIME Magazine List: All-TIME 100 Movies  Best Western!

Starring: John Wayne, Natalie Wood

Director: John Ford

 

SERGEANT YORK (1941) - 134 minutes

In a career-defining performance that earned him his first Academy Award, Gary Cooper stars as Alvin York, a poor Appalachian pacifist drafted into World War I. Placed in an impossible position, York single-handedly captures an entire enemy platoon and becomes a national hero. This World War II-era Hollywood classic based on the real-life war hero received 11 Academy Award nominations, including one for director Howard Hawks.

Starring: Gary Cooper, Walter Brennan

Director:  Howard Hawks

 

THE SERVANT (1963) - 115 minutes

Using his own sister as a sexual pawn, power-hungry manservant Barrett (Dirk Bogarde) lures his pampered playboy employer (James Fox) into decadent distraction. Meanwhile, Barrett takes control of his master's affairs with sinister subtlety. The first of director Joseph Losey's brilliant collaborations with playwright Harold Pinter, The Servant was nominated for eight British Academy Awards and won three, including Best Actor for Bogarde.

Starring: Dirk Bogarde, James Fox, Sarah Miles

Director: Joseph Losey

SEVEN CHANCES (1925) silent language - 96 minutes

Buster Keaton portrays Jimmie Shannon, a young man who stands to inherit $7 million by 7:00 p.m. … today. But Jimmie must be married to receive his inheritance. His long-time love, Mary Brown (Ruth Dwyer), repeatedly refuses him, as she doesn't believe he's sincere. Upon learning of this soon-to-be-wealthy man, thousands of hopeful women chase Jimmie through city streets to vie for the position of Mrs. Shannon, but his heart lies with only one.

Starring: Buster Keaton, Ruth Dwyer

Director: Buster Keaton

 

SEVEN SAMURAI (1954) Japanese language - 185 minutes

Akira Kurosawa's heroic tale of honor and duty begins with master samurai Kambei (Takashi Shimura) posing as a monk to save a kidnapped child. Impressed by his bravery, a group of farmers begs him to defend their village from encroaching bandits. Kambei agrees and assembles a group of six other samurai, and together they build a militia with the villagers while the bandits loom nearby. Soon the raids begin, culminating in a bloody battle. Remade as THE MAGNIFICENT 7

Starring: Toshirô Mifune,

Director: Akira Kurosawa

 

SEVEN YEAR ITCH (1955) - 105 minutes

After packing off wife and son for the summer, doughy middle-aged publisher Richard Sherman (Tom Ewell) lets his imagination run wild, fantasizing about erstwhile ladyloves -- and his curvaceous new neighbor (Marilyn Monroe). Inviting her over for a drink, Richard plans to sweep her off her feet and into the bedroom. But then he imagines that his flights of fancy are airing nationwide, with his wife in the audience.

Starring: Marilyn Monroe, Tom Ewell
Director: Billy Wilder

 

THE SEVENTH SEAL (1957) Swedish language - 96 minutes

Exhausted and disillusioned, a medieval knight (Max von Sydow) makes the journey home after years of combat in the Crusades. When the black-robed figure of Death confronts him, the knight challenges him to a game of chess. A powerful meditation on the existence of God and the meaning of life, this drama is considered one of Ingmar Bergman's best and took the Cannes Film Festival Prize in 1957.

Starring: Max von Sydow
Director: Ingmar Bergman

 

SEX PISTOLS: NEVER MIND THE BOLLOCKS (2002) - 100 minutes

Talk about unplugged! Get the definitive story behind one of the classic albums from the British punk era, and see surviving band members of the Sex Pistols talk about how it all came together. Features classic tracks such as "God Save the Queen (She Ain't No Human Bein')" and "Anarchy in the UK." It's anything but … rotten.

Starring: Sex Pistols

Director: Matthew Longfellow

 


SHADOW OF THE THIN MAN (1941) - 97 minutes

Retired from the sleuthing game, Nick Charles (William Powell) would like nothing more than to enjoy life with his charming wife, Nora (Myrna Loy), young son and family pooch, Asta. But when a jockey is murdered at the local track, Nick and Nora return to familiar turf, weeding through a rogues' gallery of suspects that includes a pair of high rollers and a small-time tout. Co-stars Barry Nelson and Donna Reed provide first-rate support

The Thin Man (1934) After … (1936) Another ... (1939) Shadow Of … (1941) ...Goes Home (1945) Song Of … (1947)Starring: William Powell, Myrna Loy

Director: W. S. Van Dyke

 

SHAMPOO (1975) - 109 minutes

Warren Beatty stars in this farcical satire of '70s sexual practices, which was chosen as one of the AFI's 100 funniest movies. Beatty plays George, a Beverly Hills hairdresser who simply can't resist the women he glamorizes. He promises his girlfriend, Jill (Goldie Hawn, in a stand-out performance), that they'll settle down once he owns his own salon -- the catch is that he only has 48 hours to borrow the cash he needs. 1976 Oscar Best Supporting Actress: Lee Grant

Starring: Warren Beatty, Goldie Hawn, Jack Warden

Director: Hal Ashby

Screenwriter: Robert Towne

R Restricted. Under 17 requires parent/guardian

 

SHANE (1953) - 117 minutes

Amid stunning vistas, this Oscar-winning Western from director George Stevens follows reformed gunslinger Shane (Alan Ladd), whose determination to avoid a fight is tested when greedy cattle barons threaten the community of homesteaders he's joined. Jack Palance plays Shane's unabashedly evil nemesis, and the film's enigmatic ending -- after Shane realizes he's become a disruptive force in the family that's taken him in -- is a cinema classic. Best Western!

Starring: Alan Ladd, Jack Palance, and Jean Arthur
Director: George Stevens

 

THE SHINING (1980) - 143 minutes

All work and no play make Jack a bloodthirsty boy. On the wagon after his alcoholism created family troubles, aspiring novelist Jack Torrance (Jack Nicholson) accepts a position as off-season custodian at an elegant but eerie hotel so he can write undisturbed. No sooner have Jack, his wife (Shelley Duvall) and son Danny settled in than the ominous hotel starts to wield its sinister power over father and son.

Starring: Jack Nicholson, Shelley Duvall

Director: Stanley Kubrick  

R Restricted. Under 17 requires accompanying parent/guardian

 

SHOOT THE PIANO PLAYER (1960) - 84 minutes

Charlie (Charles Aznavour), a once-famous pianist, is now stroking the keys in a Parisian saloon. When his brothers get in trouble with gangsters, Charlie inadvertently gets swept up in the chaos and is forced to rejoin the family he once fled. This highly stylized melodrama from director François Truffaut employs all of the hallmarks of French new wave cinema: extended voice-overs, out-of-sequence camera shots, sudden jump-cutting and more.

Starring: Charles Aznavour

Director: François Truffaut

 


THE SHOP AROUND THE CORNER (1940) - 98 minutes

In Ernst Lubitsch's charming, Budapest-set romance -- later remade as You've Got Mail -- Klara (Margaret Sullavan) and Alfred (James Stewart) fall in love, even though they've met only as pen pals and don't know each other's names. Over Alfred's objections, Klara is hired in the shop where he works. As they continue their loving correspondence, they embark on a combative working relationship. What will happen when the truth comes to light?

TIME Magazine List: All-TIME 100 Movies

Starring: James Stewart, Margaret Sullivan

Director: Ernst Lubitsch

 

A SIMPLE PLAN (1998) - 121 minutes

When two brothers (Bill Paxton and Billy Bob Thornton) find a body and a bundle of cash in a downed plane, they plot to hide the loot and split it later. It's a simple plan … until things go murderously awry. Director Sam Raimi's adaptation of Scott B. Smith's best-selling novel contains masterful performances and a bone-chilling sense of mounting evil.

Starring: Bill Paxton, Billy Bob Thornton, Bridget Fonda

Director: Sam Raimi

R For violence and language

 

SINGIN' IN THE RAIN (1952) - 103 minutes

Gene Kelly, Debbie Reynolds and Donald O'Connor combine their talents in one of the best musicals ever made. When Hollywood attempts the transition from silent movies to talkies, matinee idol Kelly hopes to make the cut. Jean Hagen stands out as a silent movie queen with a fingernails-on-a-blackboard voice. Musical fare includes "Good Morning," "Make 'Em Laugh" and the title tune.

Starring: Gene Kelly, Debbie Reynolds and Donald O'Connor

Director: Stanley Donen

 

SLING BLADE (1996) - 135 minutes

A tour de force from writer-director-star Billy Bob Thornton, Sling Blade is the story of Karl Childers, a man released from a psychiatric hospital where he had been incarcerated since age 12 for murdering his mother and her lover. Returning to his hometown, Karl (though mentally handicapped) lands a job at a garage fixing motors and befriends a young boy. But can he outrun his past? 1997 Oscar Best Adapted Screenplay

Starring: Billy Bob Thornton, Dwight Yoakum, John Ritter

Director: Billy Bob Thornton

R Restricted. Under 17 requires accompanying parent/

 


SOME LIKE IT HOT (1959) - 122 minutes

With its transvestitism, palpable sex and murder, Billy Wilder's legendary screwball comedy reveals dark, hilarious roots. Musicians Jack Lemmon and Tony Curtis accidentally witness the St. Valentine's Day Massacre and get out of town the only way they know -- dressed as women. On the road to Florida with an all-girl band, they meet Sugar Kane (Marilyn Monroe), and things start to heat up in this legendary farce. AFI: ALL TIME BEST film comedy          GCTOP10

Starring: Marilyn Monroe, Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon
Director: Billy Wilder

 

SONG OF THE THIN MAN (1947) - 86 minutes

In the sixth (and last) entry in the popular series, high-class sleuths Nick (William Powell) and Nora (Myrna Loy) are called upon to investigate bandleader Tommy Drake's murder. While the cops zero in on gaming-ship owner Phil Brant (Bruce Cowling) -- who was soon to lose Drake to a rival -- Nick and Nora pursue other suspects, including curvaceous chanteuse Fran Page (Gloria Grahame). Dean Stockwell plays the detective duo's 5-year-old son.

The Thin Man (1934) After … (1936) Another ... (1939) Shadow Of … (1941) ...Goes Home (1945) Song Of … (1947)

Starring: William Powell, Myrna Loy, Gloria Grahame

Director: Edward Buzzell

 

STAGECOACH (1939) - 100 minutes

With rumors buzzing about a potential Indian raid, a mélange of troubled passengers climbs aboard the Overland Stage headed for Lordsburg. En route they run into the Ringo Kid John Wayne, a notorious outlaw who's bolted from jail seeking vengeance on the men who framed him for murder. But the true threat looms down the road, where marauding Apaches could strike without warning. Will the travelers band together -- or unravel under the pressure?   Oscars Best Music Score, Best Supporting Actor: Thomas Mitchell

Starring: John Wayne, Thomas Mitchell

Director: John Ford

 

STALAG 17 (1953) - 120 minutes

For the Allied prisoners of Stalag 17, every escape attempt ends the same way -- in disaster. The cynical Sgt. Sefton (William Holden, in his Oscar-winning role) thinks they're all fools for trying … but soon his hectoring starts to raise suspicions that there's a German spy in the prison camp -- and that spy is him! Director Billy Wilder effortlessly mixes broad comedy and high-tension drama in this World War II classic

Starring: William Holden, Otto Preminger
Director: Billy Wilder

 

STEAMBOAT BILL, JR. (1928) silent language - 111 minutes

A young dandy (Buster Keaton) gets caught in the midst of a feud between his father, Steamboat Bill Sr. (Ernest Torrence), and rival riverboat proprietor J.J. King (Tom McGuire). As Bill Sr. goes about toughening up his foppish son, Junior is busy falling for -- who else? -- King's daughter (Marion Bryan). The kids attempt to defuse the rivalry, but when Bill Sr. ends up in the clink for decking J.J., the lovebirds have their work cut out.

Starring: Buster Keaton,

Director: Buster Keaton

 

THE STORY OF QIU JU (1993) Chinese language - 100 minutes

Gong Li delivers a superbly nuanced performance as the titular heroine in director Yimou Zhang's droll take on the absurdities of bureaucratic impotency. Set in a remote Chinese province, the film follows pregnant peasant Qui Ju on her resolute quest for justice after the village elder kicks her husband in the family jewels. Merely seeking an apology from the stubborn chief, Qui Ju soon gets caught in the cogs of an exasperating legal system.

Starring: Gong Li Director: Yimou Zhang  

THE STRANGER (1946) - 95 minutes

Directed by and starring Orson Welles, this Academy Award-nominated film tells the story of Franz Kindler, a Nazi war criminal who has fled to Connecticut and assumed a new identity: Prof. Charles Rankin. While an Allied War Crimes Commission detective (the indomitable Edward G. Robinson) hunts down Kindler without knowing how he looks, Kindler's new wife (Loretta Young) discovers the ugly truth about her husband's evil past.

Starring: Orson Welles, Edward G. Robinson, and Loretta Young

Director: Orson Welles

 

STRANGERS ON A TRAIN: Special Edition (1951) - 101 minutes

Bruno Anthony (Robert Walker) is a mamma's boy a couple cans short of a six-pack who meets tennis star Guy Haines (Farley Granger) on a train. Bruno desperately wants his rich father dead; Guy wants a divorce from his shrewish wife so he can marry a senator's daughter and mount a career in politics. Guy laughs off Bruno's suggestion that they "trade" murders. But Bruno remains undeterred!

Starring: Farley Granger , Robert Walker

Director: Alfred Hitchcock

 

STRAY DOG (1949) Japanese language - 117 minutes

Murakami (Toshirô Mifune), a young police officer in 1940s Tokyo, finds that his gun was stolen while he was riding a packed bus. With his position in jeopardy, Murakami, aided by veteran officer Sato (Takashi Shimura), tries to locate his missing weapon. Together, they head to some of the worst parts of the city … and to the forefront of crime. When Murakami learns that his gun has been used in a murder, his search escalates.

Starring: Toshirô Mifune,

Director: Akira Kurosawa

 

A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE (1951) - 125 minutes

Marlon Brando spellbinds as the brutish Stanley Kowalski in Tennessee Williams' classic rumination on carnal attraction and faded gentility. After losing the family plantation to creditors, Blanche DuBois (Vivien Leigh) travels to New Orleans hoping to find comfort with her sister (Kim Hunter), Stanley's wife. But Blanche gets more than she bargained for. Oscars to Vivien Leigh, Kim Hunter & Karl Malden for their monumental performances.

Starring: Marlon Brando, Vivien Leigh, Kim Hunter & Karl Malden

Director: Elia Kazan

 

SULLIVAN'S TRAVELS (1942) - 90 minutes

 

Joel McCrea plays a Hollywood director, tired of churning out comedies, decides to write a serious, socially responsible film about human suffering. After his producers point out that he knows nothing of hardship, he hits the road as a hobo. On his journey he finds the lovely Veronica Lake and more trouble than he ever dreamed of.

Starring: Joel McCrea, Veronica Lake
Director: Preston Sturges

 


SUNSET BOULEVARD (1950) - 110 minutes

Billy Wilder's noir classic about Hollywood decadence remains as razor-sharp as ever. Norma (Gloria Swanson), a faded silent film star plotting her return, employs Joe (William Holden), a struggling screenwriter, to help edit a script that she has penned. As the work progresses, Norma draws closer to Joe, engulfing him in her fiery throes, but Joe wants out.     GCTOP10

Starring: Gloria Swanson, William Holden, and Erich von Stroheim
Director: Billy Wilder

 

SUSPICION (1941) - 99 minutes

Joan Fontaine won an Oscar for her performance as a young wife who fears for her life in this Hitchcock thriller. Lina (Fontaine), a beautiful, shy woman from a wealthy family, meets handsome gambler Johnny (Cary Grant) on a train and falls head over heels for him. But after a whirlwind romance and elopement, Lina's happiness slowly turns to dread as she discovers the true nature of Johnny's carefree ways and gets a glimpse at his dark past.

Starring: Cary Grant, Joan Fontaine

Director: Alfred Hitchcock

 

SWEET SMELL OF SUCCESS (1957) - 96 minutes

Walter Winchell-style columnist J.J. Hunsecker (Burt Lancaster) uses his power to steamroll both friends and enemies. Fawning press agent Sidney Falco (Tony Curtis), desperate to promote his client in Hunsecker's column pesters Hunsecker until he's finally drawn into the columnist's devious plan to ruin a jazz guitarist who's angered Hunsecker by daring to date his sister. No one is left unscathed in this sinister tale of greed and corruption. 

TIME Magazine List: All-TIME 100 Movies

Starring: Burt Lancaster, Tony Curtis,

Director:  Alexander Mackendrick

 

SWING TIME (1936) - 104 minutes

Many claim that this is the best of the 10 Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers movies, and Time Magazine named it one of its All-Time 100 Movies. In this classic musical, Astaire plays Lucky, a gambler who misses his wedding to a young socialite and must come up with $25,000 for another chance at her hand. He ends up meeting the lovely Penny, a dance instructor, and soon forgets about his old flame. Songs include "The Way You Look Tonight."

Starring: Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers

Director: George Stevens

 

THE TESTAMENT OF DR. MABUSE (1933) German language – 121 minutes

Seasoned criminal Doctor Mabuse (Rudolf Klein Rogge) has been locked in an asylum for the past 10 years, straddling the line between life and death. One of his last projects involves a mysterious manifesto that sets in place a crime-filled future. Discovering that the creepy article's text seems to predict disturbing events, detective Lohmann (Otto Wernicke) tries to put together the pieces of this mind-bending case.

Starring: Otto Wernicke, Rudolf Klein Rogge

Director: Fritz Lang

 


TESTAMENT OF ORPHEUS (1946) French language - ___  minutes

This disc includes the film Testament of Orpheus. Jean Cocteau's last film is just as dreamy and brilliant as the ones that came before. Testament of Orpheus has him interacting with gypsies and dead poets, and features cameos by Yul Brynner, Pablo Picasso and more. This disc also features a 16mm film by Cocteau, Villa Santo Sospir, along with the director's thoughts on the movie.

Starring:

Director: Jean Cocteau

 

THERE'S SOMETHING ABOUT MARY (1998) - 119 minutes

The Farrelly brothers nail the laughs in this hugely in style comedy about a hugely popular girl. Mary (Cameron Diaz) is the ideal girlfriend of every guy she meets, especially frustrated high school suitor Ted (Ben Stiller). But he's got plenty of competition from Matt Dillon and other unexpected rivals. This special edition disc includes the original theatrical version and a new extended version with 15 minutes of extra footage.  Very stupid, very funny!

Starring: Ben Stiller, Cameron Diaz, and Matt Dillon

Director: Farrelly brothers

PG For strong comic sexual content and language

 

THE THIN MAN (1934) - 91 minutes

The Thin Man, the first installment in one of the most successful detective serials in film history, introduces stylish sleuthing spouses Nick (William Powell) and Nora Charles (Myrna Loy). Powell and Loy's quick-witted repartee set a Hollywood tradition in their crackling debut as they investigate the disappearance of a wealthy inventor. The convoluted mystery plot moves at a rapid-fire pace that will delight modern viewers.

The Thin Man (1934) After … (1936) Another ... (1939) Shadow Of … (1941) ...Goes Home (1945) Song Of … (1947)

Starring: William Powell, Myrna Loy

Director: W. S. Van Dyke

 

THE THIN MAN GOES HOME (1945) - 100 minutes

Director Richard Thorpe puts the accent on levity in this breezy installment of the stylish detective series. High-toned sleuths Nick (William Powell) and Nora (Myrna Loy) head to Nick's leisurely hometown of Sycamore Springs for a vacation, only to find themselves enmeshed in a string of homicide cases and intercontinental intrigue. The slate of eccentric murder suspects includes Leon Ames, Gloria De Haven and Anne Revere.

The Thin Man (1934) After … (1936) Another ... (1939) Shadow Of … (1941) ...Goes Home (1945) Song Of … (1947)

Starring: William Powell, Myrna Loy

Director: Richard Thorpe

 

THE THIRD MAN (1949) - 104 minutes

Who was Harry Lime? And who killed him? And is he really dead? These are just a few of the questions writer-turned-sleuth Holly Martins (Joseph Cotten) tries to answer as he trolls the shadowy streets of postwar Vienna. Director Carol Reed turns Graham Greene's classic mystery into a film noir without equal. You'll be humming the zither theme for weeks!  1950 Oscar: Best Director                                                                      GCTOP10

Starring: Orson Welles, Joseph Cotton
Director: Carol Reed

 


THE 39 STEPS (1935) - 87 minutes

Richard Hannay (Robert Donat) is vacationing in England when he gets caught in a web of mystery in this early Hitchcock thriller. Shots ring out at a show, and a terrified woman (Lucie Mannheim) begs Hannay to help her. He's certain she's crazy -- until she appears at his flat with a map in hand and a knife in her back, muttering something about 39 steps. Eluding the police, Hannay travels through Scotland to unearth the truth.

Starring: Robert Donat

Director: Alfred Hitchcock

 

THIS GUN FOR HIRE (1942) - 81 minutes

Phillip Raven (Alan Ladd) is an assassin whose latest murder assignment is paid for with counterfeit money by turncoat Willard Gates. Ellen Graham (Veronica Lake), an entertainer and the girlfriend of the police lieutenant who's trying to bring Raven down, is recruited by the government to probe Gates's illegal activities. When Raven happens to meet Ellen on a train, they use their relationship to get what they want -- and exact revenge.

Starring: Alan Ladd, Veronica Lake

Director: Frank Tuttle

 

THREE AGES (1923) - 111 minutes

Using a trio of story lines and a common theme -- the timelessness of courtship -- Buster Keaton hilariously skewers romance. Keaton portrays a hapless suitor in three historic eras who vies for the girl (Margaret Leahy) against a stronger rival (Wallace Beery). In the Stone Age, Keaton faces a test of brute strength; in ancient Rome, he's challenged to a chariot race; and in the modern epoch, he's pitted against his adversary on the gridiron.

Starring: Buster Keaton, Wallace Beery

Director: Buster Keaton, Eddie Cline

 

THREE DAYS OF THE CONDOR (1975) - 117 minutes

His name is Joe Turner -- code name, Condor. In the next 24 hours, everyone he trusts will try to kill him. Robert Redford stars as the CIA researcher who returns from lunch to find all his co-workers murdered. Double-crossed and forced to go underground, he kidnaps a young woman (Faye Dunaway) and holds her hostage as he unravels the mystery. Conspiracy films don't come any better.

Starring: Robert Redford, Faye Dunaway

Director: Sydney Pollack

 

THRONE OF BLOOD (1957) Japanese language - 109 minutes

Director Akira Kurosawa's magnificent rumination on Shakespeare's tragic "Macbeth" is a dark samurai drama set in feudal Japan. Two soldiers -- Washizu (Toshiro Mifune) and Miki (Minoru Chiaki) find themselves lost in a dense forest during a powerful thunderstorm. There, they encounter a ghostly old woman who predicts that Washizu will soon rise to power. Indeed, Washizu embarks on a murderously ambitious path and quickly fulfills the prophecy.

Legendary film critic Bosley Crowther called it an improvement on the original play.  Starring: Toshiro Mifune, Isuzu Yamada                                   GCTOP10

Director: Akira Kurosawa

 


TIME AFTER TIME (1979) – 112 minutes

Jack the Ripper (David Warner) is back to continue his ghastly reign of terror; this time, he's found his way to the late 1970s, intent on taking care of unfinished business. H.G. Wells (Malcolm McDowell) uses a time machine to pursue Jack into the future, where he meets Amy (Mary Steenburgen), a bank clerk who teaches Wells about life in the '70s while helping him hunt for Jack.

Starring: Malcolm McDowell, Mary Steenburgen, and David Warner
Director: Nicholas Meyer

 

TITANIC (1997) - 194 minutes

Winner of 11 Oscars, director James Cameron's effects-filled blockbuster weds the historical tale of the doomed ocean liner with a fictional romance between two of the ship's ill-fated passengers -- putting a human face on a tragedy of epic proportions. Society girl Rose Dewitt Bukater (Kate Winslet) and penniless artist Jack Dawson (Leonardo DiCaprio) struggle to survive both the sinking ship and the wrath of Rose's wealthy fiancé (Billy Zane).

Last hour worth the admission price, despite glaring flaws, a pretty good film.

Starring: Kate Winslet, Leonardo DiCaprio, Billy Zane

Director: James Cameron 

PG-13 For a scene of sexual assault and other violent areas

 

TO BE OR NOT TO BE (1942) - 99 minutes

This 1942 comedy manages to eke out barrels of laughs from a contentious time in history, World War II. Joseph Tura (Jack Benny) leads a ragtag band of actors in Poland who come to the aid of an American soldier (Robert Stack) who needs help carrying out his work in the Resistance efforts. But it turns out that Tura's wife (Carole Lombard) is having an affair with the military man, which severely undercuts Tura's sympathies for the soldier.

Starring: Jack Benny, Carole Lombard

Director: Ernst Lubitsch

 

TO DIE FOR (1995) - 106 minutes

Suzanne Stone (Nicole Kidman) has always harbored one dream: being on TV. She's dead-set on making that dream come true, but there's one obstacle: her husband (Matt Dillon), who just wants her to stay at home, cook the pasta and make babies. Some career path that is! So, Suzanne convinces a love-struck teenager (Joaquin Phoenix) to get Larry out of the way -- for good.  Written by Buck Henry.

Starring: Nicole Kidman, Joaquin Phoenix, and Matt Dillon

Director: Gus Van Sant

R For strong sexual content and language

 

TO HAVE AND HAVE NOT (1944) – 100 minutes

Dynamic duo William Faulkner and Jules Furthman scripted this Howard Hawks classic starring Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall (who, rumor has it, fell in love on the set) that's supposedly based on an Ernest Hemingway tome. Bogie is Harry Morgan, a charter boat owner who falls for Bacall's seductive petty thief, Marie Browning. Can't-miss scenes include the now-legendary "You know how to whistle, don't you?" exchange b/t Bogie & Bacall.

Starring: Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall, Walter Brennan

Director: Howard Hawks

 


TO LIVE (1994) Chinese language - 133 minutes

A bold, energetic masterpiece from Zhang Yimou, the foremost director from China's influential "fifth generation" of filmmakers. Continuing his brilliant collaboration with China's best-known actress, Gong Li, Zhang weaves a tapestry of personal and political events, following the struggles of an impoverished husband and wife (Ge You and Li) from their heyday in the 1940s to the hardships that accompanied the Cultural Revolution in the 1960s.

Starring: Gong Li, Ge You

Director: Yimou Zhang

 

TOUCH OF EVIL (1958) - 111 minutes

Straight-arrow narcotics detective Mike Vargas (Charlton Heston) sees his honeymoon cut short when a car crossing the U.S.-Mexico border explodes before his eyes. Vargas forsakes his bride (Janet Leigh) to mount an investigation but soon locks horns with corpulent Sheriff Hank Quinlan (Orson Welles), a shady cop who's not above planting evidence or colluding with the local crime lord to keep Vargas from discovering the ugly truth.

Starring: Charlton Heston, Janet Leigh, Marlene Dietrich, and Orson Welles

Director: Orson Welles

PG-13 Parental guidance suggested.

 

TOKYO STORY (1953) Japanese language - 135 minutes

Director Yasujiro Ozu focuses on an elderly couple in post-World War II Japan who travel to Tokyo to visit their children. The parents (Chishu Ryu and Chieko Higashiyama) are received coldly by their two children; the only one who is happy to see them is their widowed daughter-in-law (Setsuko Hara). The children shuttle their aging parents off to a health spa in an attempt to get them out of the way, a decision that could come back to haunt them. TIME Magazine List: All-TIME 100 Movies

Starring: Chishu Ryu, Chieko Higashiyama

Director: Yasujiro Ozu

 

TOOTSIE (1982) - 119 minutes

Few out-of-work actors go as far as Michael Dorsey (Dustin Hoffman) does to bag a part. He transforms himself into everything he isn't: sweet, employed and ... a woman! When his alter ego, Dorothy Michaels, gets cast in a soap opera, Michael has reason to celebrate. But he also has a problem: He's fallen for co-star Jessica Lange, who doesn't know Michael is male! Best Supporting Actress Oscar: Jessica Lange

Starring: Jessica Lange, , Dustin Hoffman) , Dabney Coleman,

Director: Sydney Pollack

PG Parental guidance suggested.

 

TOUCING THE VOID (2003) – 107 minutes

 

Mixing interviews with dramatic re-enactments of the event, this gripping docudrama retells the mountaineering trek gone awry of Simon Yates (Nicholas Aaron) and Joe Simpson (Brendan Mackey). While climbing in the Andes, Simpson falls and breaks his leg. Yates, who's tethered to him, attempts to lower him to safety but fails. He makes a pivotal decision that may or may not save both of their lives. Was he right?

Starring: Brendan Mackey, Nicholas Aaron
Director: Kevin MacDonald

R for language

 


THE TREASURE OF THE SIERRA MADRE (1948) - 126 minutes

John Huston won Oscars for writing and directing this powerful saga that pits gold against greed in the wilds of Mexico. Three poverty-stricken dreamers (Walter Huston, Humphrey Bogart and Tim Holt) head to the mountains south of the border in search of gold. Their fortune and friendship grow at first, but soon, paranoia and greed begin to take over, endangering all that they've gained. Walter Huston also won an Oscar for his role.      GCTOP10                                                                                           GCTOP10

Starring: Humphrey Bogart, Walter Huston, and Robert Blake
Director: John Huston

 


UMBERTO D. (1952) Italian language - 89 minutes

See The Bicycle Thief (1948)

Bankrupt and lonely, an old man (Carlo Battisti) considers committing suicide. Since he has only a devoted dog and a maid (Lina Genneri) as his companions, things look bleak -- until one day when the old man's luck changes, giving him new hope. Director Vittorio De Sica's touching portrait of one man's effort to retain his pride in the face of adversity is a treasure of Italian post-war cinema.

Starring: Carlo Battisti, Maria-Pia Casilio,
Director: Vittorio De Sica

 

UN CHIEN ANDALOU (1929) silent language – 17 minutes

Artist Salvador Dali and novice (at the time) director Luis Buñuel came together to craft this unique film consisting of a jarring collage of absurd and deplorable images aimed at raising more than a few eyebrows.  Extras: Interview with director's son; featurette; audio commentary.  Originally a silent film; a score was later added.

Starring: Pierre Batcheff, Salvador Dali

Director:  Luis Buñuel  

 

UNCOVERED: The War on Iraq (2004) - 83 minutes

The updated version of this controversial documentary -- which takes you behind the walls of the U.S. government as CIA, Pentagon and Foreign Service experts address the government's reasons for launching the "preemptive" war on Iraq in 2003 -- includes almost 30 minutes of brand new footage. Paired with this title is director David O. Russell's controversial antiwar documentary, Soldier's Pay.

Director: Robert Greenwald, David O. Russell

 

UNFAITHFULLY YOURS (1948) – 105 minutes

In this pitch-black comedy from legendary writer-director Preston Sturges, Rex Harrison stars as Sir Alfred De Carter, a world-famous symphony conductor consumed with the suspicion that his wife's having an affair. During a concert, the jealous De Carter entertains elaborate visions of vengeance, set to three separate orchestral works. But when he attempts to put his murderous fantasies into action, nothing works out quite as planned.

Starring: Rex Harrison
Director: Preston Sturges

 


VALLEY GIRL (1983) - 99 minutes

A punk named Randy (Nicolas Cage) from the wrong side of the Hollywood Hills falls for Julie (Deborah Foreman), a mall-dwelling Valley Girl, and they begin a Romeo-and-Juliet-like romance … that is, until peer pressure gets to Julie and she cuts off their relationship. But love-struck Randy refuses to give up on Julie. Will he convince her that they're meant to be together?

Starring: Nicolas Cage, Deborah Foreman

Director: Martha Coolidge

R Restricted. Under 17 requires accompanying parent/guardian

 

VIRIDIANA (1961) Spanish language - 90 minutes

Celebrated surrealist Luis Bunuel directs this controversial satire, which was banned by the Spanish government for obscenity and blasphemy. Before taking her final vows, the young nun Viridiana (Silvia Pinal) visits her uncle Don Jaime (Fernando Rey), who's supported her for years. But Jaime, fixated on his niece because of her resemblance to his late wife, sets out to corrupt her. Viridiana won the Golden Palm at the 1961 Cannes Film Festival.   One of my very favorites since I first saw it as a teenager.                         GCTOP10

Starring: Silvia Pinal, Fernando Rey

Director: Luis Bunuel

 

WAGES OF FEAR (1952) French language - 148 minutes

An oil company enlists four destitute drifters -- Mario (Yves Montand), Luigi (Folco Lulli), Bimba (Peter Van Eyck) and Jo (Charles Vanel) -- for a dangerous mission transporting volatile explosives across Central America's treacherous terrain. Packed with nerve-racking tension that never lets up, director Henri-Georges Clouzot's gritty masterpiece took home the Grand Prize at the 1953 Cannes Film Festival.

Starring: Yves Montand,

Director: Henri-Georges Clouzot

 

WAL-MART: THE HIGH COST OF LOW PRICE (2005) - 95 min

Producer, director and activist Robert Greenwald takes aim at the corporate giant that's come to symbolize big business in America: Wal-Mart. Blasting the box-store Goliath for allegedly paying substandard wages, skimping on employee health benefits and eviscerating communities, this hard-hitting, emotional documentary profiles the struggle of everyday folks from around the country who've committed themselves to fighting the mega-retailer.

Director: Robert Greenwald

 

WHITE HEAT (1949)  - 114 minutes

 "Made it, Ma, top of the world!" James Cagney is riveting as homicidal gangster Cody Jarrett (complete with an "insane mother" complex) in this hard-boiled movie that costars Virginia Mayo as his two-timing wife. Edmund O'Brien's the cop who infiltrates Cody's gang to bring him down -- and that he does in the legendary finale that plays out in an industrial yard filled with giant fuel tanks. Better watch those stray bullets! Raoul Walsh directs.

Starring: James Cagney, Virginia Mayo,
Director: Raoul Walsh

 

 


WHO KILLED THE ELECTRIC CAR? (2006) - 91 minutes

Amid ever-increasing gas prices, this documentary delves into the short life of the GM EV1 electric car -- once all the rage in the mid-1990s and now fallen by the roadside. How could such an efficient, green-friendly vehicle fail to transform our garages and skies? Through interviews with government officials, former GM employees and concerned celebs (such as EV1 driver Mel Gibson), Chris Paine (former EV1 owner) seeks to answer the question.

Starring: Martin Sheen, Mel Gibson, Tom Hanks 

 

THE WILD BUNCH (1969) - 133 minutes

Faced with the prospect of retirement, a group of aging desperadoes -- led by the venerable Pike Bishop (William Holden) -- agrees to pull off one last job. But when a kink in their plans forces them south of the border, hooking up with an evil Mexican general (Emilio Fernández) is the only way they'll get their loot. The special edition of Sam Peckinpah's Western classic includes never-before-seen outtakes and a trio of exclusive documentaries.

Starring: William Holden, Ernest Borgnine, Robert Ryan, Warren Oates

Director: Sam Peckinpah

 

WILD STRAWBERRIES (1957) Swedish language - 91 minutes

This contemplative Ingmar Bergman film explores the disillusionment of aging physician Isak Borg (Victor Sjöström) as he reflects on his life. Borg travels to Lund, Sweden, to receive an honorary degree. Along the way, a string of encounters causes him to experience dreams and hallucinations exposing his darkest fears, and he realizes that the choices he's made have rendered a life devoid of meaning. Can he find redemption before it's too late?

Starring: Victor Sjostrom, Bibi Andersson,
Director: Ingmar Bergman

 

WING CHUN (1994) Chinese language - 93 minutes

Martial arts expert Wing Chun (Michelle Yeoh) battles bandits in this magical film that provides as many laughs as it does wallops. Besides horse thieves, Wing Chun must deal with the men around her who simply can't handle a strong, independent woman. Ultimately, she must dish out "lessons" again and again until the respect for her remarkable skills is finally won.

Starring: Michelle Yeoh, Donnie Yen

Director:  Yuen Woo-ping

 

WITNESS FOR THE PROSECUTION (1957) - 116 minutes

Based on an Agatha Christie play, this Oscar-nominated mystery directed and co-written by Billy Wilder concerns an esteemed and aging lawyer (Charles Laughton). On the eve of retiring, he takes on the defense of an alleged murderer (Tyrone Power, in his final film performance) accused of killing a wealthy widow. Things get complicated when the accused's only alibi, his wife (Marlene Dietrich), decides to testify for the prosecution.

Starring: Marlene Dietrich, Charles Laughton, Tyrone Power
Director: Billy Wilder

 


THE WIZARD OF OZ (1939) - 103 minutes

Dreams really do come true. … Dorothy, the Tin Man, the Munchkins and all of Oz's other fantastic characters spring to life in this restored version of the 1939 classic starring Judy Garland. Featuring commentary from film historian John Fricke and several cast members, this renewed version will send fans soaring over the rainbow. Also included: a featurette about the restoration process, a storybook and more. 1940 Oscars Best Song, Best Music Score

Starring: Judy Garland

Director: Victor Flemin

 

A WOMAN IS A WOMAN (1961) French language - 84 minutes

Beautiful striptease artist Angela (Anna Karina) is desperate to have a child, but her boyfriend, Emile (Jean-Claude Brialy), isn't as anxious. Although he cares for Angela and wants to keep their relationship going, he's not ready for a child. Instead, he suggests that she get together with his buddy Alfred (Jean-Paul Belmondo) -- a proposal Angela ultimately accepts, to Emile's shock and dismay.

Starring: Anna Karina, Jean-Paul Belmondo, and Jean-Claude Brialy),

Director: Jean-Luc Godard

 

 

YOJIMBO (1961) Japanese language - 110 minutes

Masterless samurai Sanjuro Kuwabatake (Toshirô Mifune) finds himself in a feud-torn Japanese village in legendary director Akira Kurosawa's darkly comic film. After pretending to work for merchants on both sides of the feud, Kuwabatake is imprisoned for treachery. He escapes in time to watch the two warring factions destroy each other, just as he had intended. Yojimbo served as the prototype for Clint Eastwood's A Fistful of Dollars.

TIME Magazine List: All-TIME 100 Movies

Starring: Toshirô Mifune,

Director: Akira Kurosawa

 

YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN (1974) - 106 minutes

Shot in glorious black and white, writer-director Mel Brooks' finest work both parodies and salutes the 1930s Frankenstein movies. Co-writer Gene Wilder soars as mad scientist Frederich Frankenstein ("Fronkensteen!" he insists), with hilarious support from Marty Feldman as Igor, Peter Boyle as the monster, Teri Garr, and the late, great Madeline Kahn. The DVD provides a beaker full of extras

Starring: Gene Wilder, Madeline Kahn, Teri Garr

Director: Mel Brooks'

PG Parental guidance suggested..

 

Z (1969) French language - 127 minutes

Based on true events, director Costa-Gavras's Oscar-winning Best Foreign Language film chronicles the overthrow of the democratic government in Greece. The edge-of-your-seat action closely parallels the real-life assassination of Gregorios Lambrakis, a Greek doctor and humanist whose murder in 1963 led to an abortive public scandal. Part mystery and part thriller, Z made its mark as a groundbreaking political roman à clef, and it resonates even today.

Starring: Yves Montand, Irene Papas, and Jean-Louis Trintignant

Director: Costa-Gavras

 

 

 

TV TV TV TV TV TV TV TV TV TV TV TV TV TV TV TV TV TV TV TV

 

ABSOLUTELY FABULOUS: TV Season 1 (1992)

Full of fashion, fun and wit, this award-winning British comedy centers on over-the-top Edina (Jennifer Saunders) and promiscuous Patsy (Joanna Lumley) -- best friends with a fondness for drugs, drink and outrageous behavior. In Episodes 1 through 6, Edina and Patsy stage a Bizarre Fashion Show, confront the seemingly useless action of Exercise, "celebrate" Edina's 40th birthday and help Edina's daughter with a School Project.

Starring: Jennifer Saunders, Joanna Lumley, and Julia Sawalha Director:  Bob Spiers

 

ABSOLUTELY FABULOUS: TV Season 2 (1994)

Full of fashion, fun and wit, this award-winning British comedy series centers on over-the-top Edina (Jennifer Saunders) and promiscuous Patsy (Joanna Lumley) -- best friends with a fondness for drugs, drink and outrageous behavior. In Episodes 7 through 12, Edina and Patsy continue their winning ways through Face-Lifts, an encounter with a couple's New Baby, a Trip To Morocco and a Fire that nearly burns down Patsy's house.

Starring: Jennifer Saunders, Joanna Lumley, and Julia Sawalha Director:  Bob Spiers

 

ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN: TV Season 1 (1951)

Before Christopher Reeve soared across the big screen in the 1978 blockbuster, the "original" Superman, George Reeves, was starring in this 1950s black-and-white television series. Following the double life of mild-mannered Daily Planet reporter Clark Kent and his secret pastime of saving the world, the series' first season features Phyllis Coates as plucky newswoman Lois Lane and Jack Larson as crack photographer Jimmy Olsen. Generally acknowledged as the best of the series. The first 2 seasons were gritty and far more adult than subsequent seasons. There is a very real Film Noir feel to the episodes

 

ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN: TV Season 2, disc #1 (1953)

Fans held their breath for the second exciting season of "The Adventures of Superman," which aired two full years after the show's 1951 debut. In the time that elapsed, the role of Lois Lane had to be recast (Phyllis Coates was replaced by Noel Neill), but most of the original characters -- including photographer Jimmy Olsen (Jack Larson) and the Man of Steel himself (George Reeves) -- were back to save the world.  "Five Minutes to Doom," "The Big Squeeze," "The Man Who Could Read Minds," "Jet Ace," "Shot in the Dark" and "The Defeat of Superman."

 

ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN: TV Season 2, disc #2 (1953)

This disc includes the following episodes: "Superman in Exile," "A Ghost for Scotland Yard," "The Dog Who Knew Superman, "The Face and the Voice," "The Man in the Lead Mask" and "Panic in the Sky."

 


ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN: TV Season 2, disc #5 (1953)

This disc includes the following episodes: "The Whistling Bird" and "Around the World with Superman." Extras include commentaries on two episodes, "The First Lady of Metropolis," a featurette about the return of Noel Neil to the role of Lois Lane, and "Stamp Day for Superman," a specially produced short episode that was distributed to schools in 1954 to promote the U.S. Treasury Department's Savings Stamp program.

 

THE BEST OF THUNDERBIRDS (1965) – TV Season disc #1

Using an uncommon type of puppetry called super-marionation, Gerry Anderson successfully created a sci-fi television series that ran from 1964 to 1966 and developed a cult following. "Thunderbirds" tracked a family of vigilantes whose sole purpose was to journey through the outer galaxies searching for those in need of rescue. This special collection was chosen directly by the show's fans and features the very best episodes. This disc includes the following episodes: "Trapped in the Sky," "Sun Probe," "The Uninvited" and "The Perils of Penelope

 

THE BEST OF THUNDERBIRDS (1965) - TV Season disc #2 

This disc includes the following episodes: "Terror in New York City" and "Attack of the Alligators!" Also includes bonus features such as a pop-up trackv, a profile of creator Gerry Anderson, character information, "The Thunderbirds Story" featurette, a photo gallery and more.

 

BLACK ADDER: TV Season 2 (1986)

Set in separate centuries for each six-episode sequence, this droll British TV series chronicling the exploits of the duplicitous Blackadder dynasty aired four seasons between 1983 and 1989. In season two (spanning the years 1558-1603), the reprehensible Lord Edmund (Rowan Atkinson) -- abetted as usual by grungy manservant Baldrick (Tony Robinson) -- incessantly seeks the benevolence of batty Queen Elizabeth I (Miranda Richardson).  Hilarious!

Starring: Rowan Atkinson, Miranda Richardson

Director: Mandie Fletcher

 

BLACK ADDER: TV Season 3 (1987)

In season three of the successful British sitcom, Edmond Blackadder (Rowan Atkinson) finds himself booted from upper-crust society and serving the incompetent Prince Regent (Hugh Laurie). This collection includes the first six episodes of season three, each cleverly named to mimic a Jane Austen novel title: "Dish and Dishonesty," "Ink and Incapability," "Nob and Nobility," "Sense and Senility," "Amy and Amiability" and "Duel and Duality."

Starring: Rowan Atkinson, Hugh Laurie, Tony Robinson, Miranda Richardson

Director: Mandie Fletcher

 

BLACK ADDER: TV Season 4 (1989)

Rowan Atkinson portrays the clever but arrogant British Capt. Edmund Blackadder, who'll do anything to avoid becoming a casualty during World War I, including staging hilarious escape antics. Black Adder Goes Forth (the last of the "Black Adder" series) contains six half-hour episodes full of sarcasm and wit underscoring the futility of war; a shocking finale; a "Black Adder" Who's Who; and historical background.

Starring: Rowan Atkinson, Hugh Laurie, Miranda Richardson

Director: Mandie Fletcher


THE BOB NEWHART SHOW: TV Season 3 (1974)

Despite his successful career, Chicago psychologist Dr. Robert Hartley (Bob Newhart) has a knack for bungling his own personal problems. In the third season of this popular 1970s sitcom, Bob takes two of his therapy groups on an outing in the woods; the Hartley’s decide that they should take up separate residences; and Bob agrees to run for chairman of the local school board against an incumbent who's neglected his duties.

Starring: Bob Newhart, Suzanne Pleshette

 

 

THE CAROL BURNETT SHOW: TV Show Stoppers (2001)

Fans of the beloved Carol Burnett show won't want to miss this hilarious reunion show! Nearly 30 million viewers tuned in to this CBS special when it aired in 2001. You'll see Burnett, Harvey Corman, Vicki Lawrence and Tim Conway in vintage clips from some of the show's most uproarious skits. This retrospective special also includes exclusive outtakes and footage of the reunited cast reminiscing and answering audience questions.

Starring: Carol Burnett, Harvey Corman, Vicki Lawrence and Tim Conway

 

THE CAROL BURNETT SHOW: Let's Bump Up The Lights! (2004) - 42 minutes

Cast members of Carol Burnett's Emmy-winning CBS television variety show -- including Harvey Korman, Tim Conway, Vicki Lawrence and Lyle Waggoner -- reunite with Burnett before an audience to discuss the question-and-answer segment featured on each show and to run clips of their favorite moments while talking with audience members. It's completely off the cuff ... a classic example of a performance genre that's now extinct.

 

COMBAT! : (1962) TV Season 1

One of television's most popular series, the groundbreaking "Combat" offers a gritty, searing look at American soldiers battling in Europe during World War II and confronting imposing odds while demonstrating remarkable courage and ingenuity. Vic Morrow and Rick Jason head a stellar cast in the first season of this long-running war series. Guest stars in "Campaign 1" include Tab Hunter, Jeffrey Hunter, Walter Koenig, Ted Knight and many more.

Starring: Vic Morrow, Rick Jason

Director: Robert Altman, Richard Donner and more

 

THE DICK CAVETT SHOW: Hollywood Greats (1971) disc 2

Some of Hollywood's most legendary movie stars take turns sitting in Dick Cavett's guest chair in this four-disc compilation of memorable episodes from "The Dick Cavett Show." An impressive lineup of A-listers includes bonus footage capturing outtakes from Cavett's interview with Katharine Hepburn.

Bette Davis, Groucho Marx, Debbie Reynolds & Kirk Douglas.

 

THE DICK CAVETT SHOW: Hollywood Greats (1971) disc 3

Some of Hollywood's most legendary movie stars take turns sitting in Dick Cavett's guest chair in this four-disc compilation of memorable episodes from "The Dick Cavett Show." An impressive lineup of A-listers includes bonus footage capturing outtakes from Cavett's interview with Katharine Hepburn.

Mel Brooks, Frank Capra, Robert Altman, Peter Bogdanovich, John Huston, Marlon Brando

 


THE DICK CAVETT SHOW: Hollywood Greats (1971) disc 4

Some of Hollywood's most legendary movie stars take turns sitting in Dick Cavett's guest chair in this four-disc compilation of memorable episodes from "The Dick Cavett Show." Special features include the featurette "Seeing Stars with Dick Cavett and Robert Osborne."

Robert Mitchum, Orson Welles, Alfred Hitchcock

 

DINOSAURS: 1st and 2nd Seasons: disc 1 – (’91,’92)

This disc includes the following episodes: "The Mighty Megalosaurus," "The Mating Game," "Hurling Day," "High Noon" and "The Howling."

 

DINOSAURS: 1st and 2nd Seasons: disc 2 – (’91,’92)

This disc includes the following episodes: "The Golden Child," " Family Challenge," "I Never Ate for My Father," "Charlene's Tale," "Endangered Species," "Employee of the Month," "When Food Goes Bad" and "Career Opportunities."

 

DINOSAURS: 1st and 2nd Seasons: disc 3 – (’91,’92)

This disc includes the following episodes: "Unmarried With Children," "How to Pick Up Girls," "Switched At Birth," "Refrigerator Day," "What "Sexual Harris" Meant," 'Fran Live," Power Erupts" and "The Clip Show."

 

DINOSAURS: 1st and 2nd Seasons: disc 4 – (’91,’92)

This disc includes the following episodes: "A New Leaf," "The Last Temptation Of Ethel," "Nuts to War (Part 1)," "Nuts to War (Part 2)," "And the Winner Is...," "Slave to Fashion," "Leader of the Pack" and "Wesayso Knows Best."

 

 THE DONNER PARTY: American Experience TV (2000) - 90 minutes

From the PBS series The American Experience comes this documentary about a harrowing struggle for survival. Like many others with the pioneering spirit, the Donner party headed west for California in 1846, following their American Dream. Hitting difficult terrain and weather, they were forced into some of the most excruciating survival techniques known to man, and their name became synonymous with their hardship  and their curse. TV at its best!

Director:  Ric Burns

 

 

THE EDWARD R. MURROW COLLECTION

Distinguished journalist Edward R. Murrow is honored in this extensive series hosted by Walter Cronkite, Dan Rather and other top journalists. Included are rare clips from Murrow's Person to Person chats with Marilyn Monroe, Frank Sinatra and Marlon Brando; highlights from Murrow's documentary series "See It Now"; an in-depth look at Murrow's anti-McCarthy Era coverage; Murrow's expose on the plight of migrant farm hands; and more.

 

F TROOP: TV Favorites (1965)

Fort Courage was the setting for this mid-1960s TV series that featured plenty of street-smart Indians and dimwit troopers. Bumbling Capt. Wilton Parmenter (Ken Berry) finds himself in charge of the fort and must deal with the local Indian population and amorous attentions of Miss Jane (Melody Patterson). Forrest Tucker and Larry Starch co-star in this hammy comedy. This disc features six episodes from the show. Early example of political incorrectness and very funny!

Starring: Ken Berry, Forrest Tucker, and Larry Storch Director:

FAWLTY TOWERS: TV Disc 1 (1975)

This disc contains the following episodes: "A Touch of Class," "The Builders," "The Wedding Party" and "Hotel Inspectors."  Funniest TV show of all time!

Starring: John Cleese, Connie Booth, and Prunella Scales

Director: John Howard Davies, Bob Spiers

 

FAWLTY TOWERS: TV Disc 2 (1975)

Former Monty Python members John Cleese and Connie Booth star in this award-winning, comedy series from the BBC. Basil Fawlty (Cleese) and his overbearing wife Sybil (Prunella Scales) run the struggling Fawlty Towers Hotel, but with his short fuse, arrogance and general incompetence, they find themselves digging deeper into a financial hole. Both the Python influence and Cleese's distinct style are ever-present in the following episodes: "Gourmet Night," "The Germans," "Communication Problems" and "The Psychiatrist."  Funniest TV show of all time!

Starring: John Cleese, Connie Booth, and Prunella Scales

Director: John Howard Davies, Bob Spiers

 

FAWLTY TOWERS: TV Disc 3 (1975)

This disc contains the following episodes: "Waldorf Salad," "The Kipper and the Corpse," "The Anniversary" and "Basil the Rat." Funniest TV show of all time!

Starring: John Cleese, Connie Booth, and Prunella Scales

Director: John Howard Davies, Bob Spiers

 

THE FOG OF WAR (2003) – 107 minutes

Former Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara worked for both Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson, playing a key role in shaping both administrations' approaches to the Vietnam War. This Oscar-winning documentary directed by Errol Morris traces McNamara's career from government to the World Bank; but it's his work during the Vietnam years that's highlighted in this film, which features extensive archival footage and interviews.

Starring: Robert McNamara

Director: Errol Morris

 

GET A LIFE: TV Season 1, Disc 2 (1990)

Chris Peterson (Chris Elliott) may just be the reason the term slacker was coined. A bathrobe-wearing 30-year-old who still lives with his parents, Chris delivers newspapers as a means of income, which is pretty much as ambitious as he wants to get. This surreal and infinitely wacky 1990s sitcom co-stars Bob (& Ray) Elliott, Elinor Donahue, and Brian Doyle-Murray.

 

GHOSTS OF RWANDA: Frontline TV (2004) 120 minutes

A decade after the genocide in which Hutu extremists killed some 800,000 Rwandans; PBS's Frontline takes a hard look at how such an atrocity occurred. The program examines the social, political and diplomatic conditions at the time of the genocide, provides firsthand accounts of the situation through interviews with officials, relief workers, U.N. peacekeepers, diplomats and survivors, and explores whether a similar situation could occur again.

Director: Eddie Cline

 


GIGANTOR: (1965) TV Season 1

Premiering in the mid-1960s, the "Gigantor" series blazed a new trail for Japanese animation. The first of many friendly giant robots, Gigantor was controlled by Jimmy Sparks, son of the man who created him. Using a remote-control joystick, Jimmy sent the huge fighting machine into battle, defending the Earth against continuous assaults by hostile robots and aliens.

 

HAVE GUN WILL TRAVEL: TV Season 1, disc 1 - (1957)

Richard Boone stars as the first "man in black," Paladin, in this seminal 1950s Western TV series. As well-versed in Shakespeare as in gunplay, Paladin is a mercenary gun-for-hire who always seems to fight with the white hats on the right side of any issue. Thirty-nine episodes of this cult favorite are included in the first season, which featured guest appearances by Jack Lord, Charles Bronson and Angie Dickinson

Starring: Richard Boone, Lisa Lu

Director: Andrew McLaglen, Lewis Milestone, and Lamont Johnson

 

HAVE GUN WILL TRAVEL: Season 2, disc 1 - (1958)                                                                                       Catch all the episodes from the action-packed second season of this popular Western TV series chronicling Paladin (Richard Boone), a mysterious Renaissance man who resides in San Francisco's Hotel Carlton. A detective with a penchant for seeking the toughest cases, he and his squire (Kam Tong) fear nothing and no one -- except perhaps failure. Sophomore season guest stars include Angie Dickinson, Jack Lord, June Lockhart and Charles Bronson.                                                                                                                                    Starring: Richard Boone, Kam Tong                                                                                Director: Andrew McLaglen, Lewis Milestone, and Lamont Johnson

Howard Zinn: YOU CAN'T BE NEUTRAL ON A MOVING TRAIN (2004) - 78 minutes

Author of the pivotal A People's History of the United States, historian and activist Howard Zinn has been at the forefront of progressive thought in America for decades. Through archival materials, interviews with Noam Chomsky, Marian Wright Edelman, Daniel Ellsberg, Tom Hayden and Alice Walker, and commentary from Zinn himself, this documentary chronicles the influential thinker's inspiring commitment to social change. Matt Damon narrates.     

Starring: Daniel Ellsberg, Tom Hayden, and Alice Walker

Director: Deb Ellis

 

IRAQ FOR SALE: The War Profiteers (2006) – 75 minutes

Private contractors are getting rich while everybody else is suffering: This is the point director Robert Greenwald makes -- passionately -- in this 2006 documentary. Using whistleblower testimony, firsthand accounts, financial records and classified documents, Greenwald levels charges of greed, corruption and incompetence against private contractors and shows the subsequent devastating effect on Americans and Iraqis.

Director: Robert Greenwald

 

THE JACK BENNY SHOW: Vol. 1 (1952) TV Season 1

Comedian Jack Benny -- America's favorite violin-playing skinflint -- was a staple of vaudeville, radio and the movies. But he was never seen to better effect than on his television show, surrounded by his reliable stock company of characters, including Eddie "Rochester" Anderson. This quartet of vintage episodes features guest appearances by some of Hollywood's biggest stars. "Oh, Rochester ... "

 


THE JACK BENNY SHOW: TV Season 2 (1952)

Comedian Jack Benny -- America's favorite violin-playing skinflint -- was a staple of vaudeville, radio and the movies. But he was never seen to better effect than on his television show, surrounded by his reliable stock company of characters, including Eddie "Rochester" Anderson and singer Johnnie Ray. This quartet of vintage episodes features guest appearances by some of Hollywood's biggest celebrities. "Oh, Rochester …"

Starring: Jack Benny, Eddie "Rochester" Anderson, Liberace

 

THE JACK BENNY SHOW: Vol. 3 (1950)

Comedian Jack Benny -- America's favorite violin-playing skinflint -- was a staple of vaudeville, radio and the movies. But he was never seen to better effect than on his television show, surrounded by his reliable stock company of characters, including Eddie "Rochester" Anderson and singer Johnnie Ray. This quartet of vintage episodes features guest appearances by Fred MacMurray, Kirk Douglas, Dan Dailey and Dick Powell. "Oh, Rochester … "

 

JESUS CAMP (2006) – 84 minutes

This riveting documentary offers an unfiltered look at a revivalist subculture where devout Christian youngsters are being primed to deliver the fundamentalist community's religious and political messages. Building an evangelical army of tomorrow, the Kids on Fire summer camp in Devil's Lake, N.D., is dedicated to deepening the preteens' spirituality and sowing the seeds of political activism as they're exhorted to "take back America for Christ."

Starring: Pastor Ted Haggard

Director: Heidi Ewing, Rachel Grady

 

THE LARRY SANDERS SHOW: TV Season 1 (1992) disc 1 

This award-winning comedy show ran from 1992 to 1998 and relentlessly skewers the talk show industry with wit, ingenuity and biting humor. Featuring Garry Shandling as the sheltered host, Jeffrey Tambor as his insecure sidekick, Rip Torn as Larry's gruff producer, and a slew of celebrity guests, the talk show that airs is the least of the fun. The real laughs are in the crew's interactions while the camera's not rolling. … This disc includes the following episodes: 1. "What Have You Done For Me Lately," "Promise," "Spiders," "The Guest Host."

Starring: Garry Shandling, Rip Torn, Janeane Garofalo

 

THE LARRY SANDERS SHOW: Season 1: disc 2 

This disc includes the following episodes: "The New Producer," "The Flirt," "Hank's Contract," "Out of the Loop."

Starring: Garry Shandling, Rip Torn, and Janeane Garofalo

 

THE LARRY SANDERS SHOW: Season 1: disc 3

This disc includes the following episodes: "The Talk Show," "The Party," "Warmth," "A Brush with the Elbow of Greatness," "Hey Now."

Starring: Garry Shandling, Rip Torn, and Janeane Garofalo

 


LIFE IN THE UNDERGROWTH: disc 1 (2005) – ___ minutes

In this landmark five-part documentary, actor David Attenborough serves as your guide to a microscopic hidden world bustling with life … and death. Thanks to astounding technological advances, you'll get up close and personal with antler moths, cicadas, desert locusts, glowworms, silk-spinning spiders and a swarm of other invertebrates. Despite their diminutive size, these remarkable creatures live on a grand scale.

 

LIFE IN THE UNDERGROWTH: disc 2 (2005) – ___ minutes

In this landmark five-part documentary, actor David Attenborough serves as your guide to a microscopic hidden world bustling with life … and death. Thanks to astounding technological advances, you'll get up close and personal with antler moths, cicadas, desert locusts, glowworms, silk-spinning spiders and a swarm of other invertebrates. Despite their diminutive size, these remarkable creatures live on a grand scale.

 

 

MAMA'S FAMILY: TV Season 1 (1983)

The squabbling, dysfunctional, blue-collar Harper clan provides plenty of laughs in the first season of this long-running early-'80s sitcom. When sharp-tongued Thelma "Mama" Harper (Vicki Lawrence) and her spinster sister, Fran (Rue McClanahan), open up their home to Thelma's recently divorced son, Vinton (Ken Berry), and his two teenagers, life's about to get a bit bumpier for everyone. This two-disc set contains 13 episodes from Season 1.

 

MAMA'S FAMILY: TV Season 2 (1983)

The squabbling, dysfunctional, blue-collar Harper clan provides plenty of laughs in the first season of this long-running early-'80s sitcom. When sharp-tongued Thelma "Mama" Harper (Vicki Lawrence) and her spinster sister, Fran (Rue McClanahan), open up their home to Thelma's recently divorced son, Vinton (Ken Berry), and his two teenagers, life's about to get a bit bumpier for everyone. This two-disc set contains 13 episodes from Season 1.

 

 

MARY TYLER MOORE: TV Season 1: Disc 1

This disc includes the following episodes: "Love Is All Around (with commentary)," "Today I Am a Ma'am," "Bess, You Is My Daughter Now," "Divorce Isn't Everything," "Keep Your Guard Up," "Support Your Local Mother (with commentary)," "Toulousse-Lautrec Is One of My Favorite Artists" and "The Snow Must Go On."

 

MYSTERY SCIENCE THEATER 3000: Mr. B's Lost Shorts (1993)

The menacing Dr. Clayton Forrester serves up yet another piece of rib-tickling torture for his captives: "Mystery Science Theater 3000" host Joel Hodgson and his sidekicks, the robots Crow and Tom. The trio's cinematic victim? A short titled "Mr. B. Natural," a disturbingly strange film about a weird and overly friendly gnome who uses his musical talent to seduce a young boy (which, of course, sends the trio over the moon with witty criticisms).

 

Noam Chomsky: DISTORTED MORALITY: America's War on Terror? (2002) 115 min

Noam Chomsky offers an eye-opening critique of America's current "War on Terror" in this DVD featuring two of his lectures -- one at Harvard University and one at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where Chomsky's been a professor for over 40 years. Arguing that it's a logical impossibility for such a war to be taking place, Chomsky presents his reasoning with astonishing clarity by drawing from a wealth of historical knowledge and analysis.

Starring: Noam Chomsky

 

Noam Chomsky: IMPERIAL GRAND STRATEGY (2006) - 120 minutes

In two lectures and a 45-minute interview, intellectual and political activist Noam Chomsky -- credited as the father of modern linguistics -- delivers an unabashed criticism of the Bush administration's record on terrorism, framing the president's invasion of Iraq as part of an "imperial grand strategy." Filmed in 2003, this collection of Chomsky's personal views also provides an effective overview of the global political climate.

Starring: Noam Chomsky

 

Noam Chomsky: MANUFACTURING CONSENT (1993) - 167 minutes

Funny and provocative, this 1992 documentary explores the political life and ideas of Noam Chomsky, a world-renowned linguist, intellectual and political activist. Chomsky illustrates how the media tacitly manipulates public opinion to further the agendas of the powerful. A compelling examination of the suppression of news about the U.S.-supported Indonesian invasion and subjugation of East Timor brings home the point.

 

Noam Chomsky: POWER AND TERROR (2002) - 72 minutes

The focus here is on intellectual Noam Chomsky and his post-9/11 political views. The documentary includes an in-depth personal interview, along with snippets from lectures Chomsky delivered around the country in 2001-2002. Known more for his stance as a political theorist and charismatic speaker than for his work as an M.I.T. linguist, Chomsky is revered by academics, intellectuals and leftist thinkers around the world.                                       

Director: John Junkerman

 

Noam Chomsky: REBEL WITHOUT A PAUSE (2003) – 75 minutes

MIT professor and respected political analyst Noam Chomsky speaks his mind on sober issues including the U.S. war on terrorism, anti-American sentiment, media manipulation, the after-effects of 9/11, and social activism at high-profile gatherings. The film also features interviews with his wife, activists, fans and critics, and examines the truths and myths surrounding the anti-capitalist and longtime advocate of liberty and justice.

Starring: Noam Chomsky

Director: Will Pascoe

 

PETER GUNN TV Season 1  (1958)

In this TV series created and produced by Blake Edwards, Peter Gunn (as portrayed by the inimitable Craig Stevens) is smart, handsome and straight-shooting -- and tough enough to win over the mob, the cops and the critics. With a girlfriend who can melt butter at 20 yards and a network of informants throughout the Los Angeles underworld, Peter Gunn is the perfect American noir detective.

Starring: Craig Stevens

Director: Blake Edwards

 

PUNK: ATTITUDE (2005) - 88 minutes

From London's 1970 mod scene to Sonic Youth, punk music has always been about attitude and anarchy. This comprehensive rockumentary traces the roots of punk, from The Velvet Underground and the New York Dolls to the Sex Pistols and The Clash. Punkers Henry Rollins, Jello Biafra, Tommy Ramone and David Johansen share their wild stories, and there's vintage performance footage of the Sex Pistols, the Ramones, The Clash, The Damned and much more.

Starring: Henry Rollins, Jello Biafra, Tommy Ramone and David Johansen

Director: Don Letts

 

SECRET AGENT A.K.A. DANGER MAN TV Season 1 (1960)

Before he was The Prisoner, Patrick McGoohan was Secret Agent John Drake, a hip super spy who relied on wits instead of weapons to get the job done. A cult hit in England (where it was known as "Danger Man"), the series may now be best known for its chart-topping theme song -- Johnny Rivers' "Secret Agent Man." The series has been digitally restored for its DVD release, and the episodes shown here are uncut.

 

SEINFELD: TV Season 1 (1989)

See how NBC's famous show "about nothing" -- one of the most popular sitcoms of all time -- first became "must-see TV." Jerry (Jerry Seinfeld) leads the Manhattan foursome that also includes frustrated George (Jason Alexander), sometimes-shrill Elaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) and, of course, Kramer (Michael Richards), Jerry's big-haired, eccentric neighbor with a knack for unique entrances. Keep an ear peeled for your favorite catchphrases. ...

 

SGT. BILKO (1955) TV Season 1

Sgt. Bilko (Phil Silvers) always has a handful of tricks up his sleeve, proving him to be one of the most likeable hustlers the military has ever seen. Celebrate his brazen and hilarious disregard for law and order in pursuit of the big payday in this collection of the television series' most memorable episodes. Extras include Silver's appearances at the Emmy Awards, at the Friar's Stag Roast for Humphrey Bogart and much more.

Starring: Phil Silvers

 

SID CAESAR TV Season 1

Celebrated comic genius Sid Caesar was a champion of sketch comedy long before anyone had ever heard of "Saturday Night Live." This collection includes some of the renowned comic's best work from his 1950s television shows "Your Show of Shows" and "Caesar's Hour." Gather together for some of the most hilariously popular Caesar sketches, sure to produce hours of laughter for fans of his landmark sketch comedy

Starring:  Sid Caesar, Imogene Coca, Mel Brooks, Woody Allen

 

SID CAESAR TV Season 2

Celebrated comic genius Sid Caesar was a champion of sketch comedy long before anyone had ever heard of "Saturday Night Live." This collection includes some of the renowned comic's best work from his 1950s television shows "Your Show of Shows" and "Caesar's Hour." Gather together for some of the most hilariously popular Caesar sketches, sure to produce hours of laughter for fans of his landmark sketch comedy

Starring:  Sid Caesar, Imogene Coca, Mel Brooks, Woody Allen

 

SID CAESAR TV Season 3

Celebrated comic genius Sid Caesar was a champion of sketch comedy long before anyone had ever heard of "Saturday Night Live." This collection includes some of the renowned comic's best work from his 1950s television shows "Your Show of Shows" and "Caesar's Hour." Gather together for some of the most hilariously popular Caesar sketches, sure to produce hours of laughter for fans of his landmark sketch comedy

Starring:  Sid Caesar, Imogene Coca, Mel Brooks, Woody Allen

 


UNCOVERED: The War on Iraq (2004) - 83 minutes

The updated version of this controversial documentary -- which takes you behind the walls of the U.S. government as CIA, Pentagon and Foreign Service experts address the government's reasons for launching the "preemptive" war on Iraq in 2003 -- includes almost 30 minutes of brand new footage. Paired with this title is director David O. Russell's controversial antiwar documentary, Soldier's Pay.

Director: Robert Greenwald, David O. Russell

 

WAL-MART: THE HIGH COST OF LOW PRICE (2005) - 95 min

Producer, director and activist Robert Greenwald takes aim at the corporate giant that's come to symbolize big business in America: Wal-Mart. Blasting the box-store Goliath for allegedly paying substandard wages, skimping on employee health benefits and eviscerating communities, this hard-hitting, emotional documentary profiles the struggle of everyday folks from around the country who've committed themselves to fighting the mega-retailer.

Director: Robert Greenwald

 

WEEDS: Season 1, disc #1

Living the high life as a suburban mom turned pot dealer, Nancy Botwin (Golden Globe winner Mary-Louise Parker) manages motherhood and marijuana on a daily basis. Desperate times call for desperate dealings once Nancy is struck with the need to provide for her family in this hilarious and poignant tale of unique entrepreneurial opportunities. The Season 1 DVD from the Showtime hit series features cast commentary and smokin' bonus material. "You Can't Miss the Bear," "Free Goat," "Good Shit Lollipop," "Fashion of the Christ," "Lude Awakening" and "Dead in the Nethers

Starring: Mary-Louise Parker
Director: Brian Dannelly

 

WEEDS: Season 1, disc #2

This disc includes the following episodes (7-10): "Higher Education," "The Punishment Light," "The Punishment Lighter" and "The Godmother."

Starring: Mary-Louise Parker
Director: Brian Dannelly

 

WHO KILLED THE ELECTRIC CAR? (2006) - 91 minutes

Amid ever-increasing gas prices, this documentary delves into the short life of the GM EV1 electric car -- once all the rage in the mid-1990s and now fallen by the roadside. How could such an efficient, green-friendly vehicle fail to transform our garages and skies? Through interviews with government officials, former GM employees and concerned celebs (such as EV1 driver Mel Gibson), Chris Paine (former EV1 owner) seeks to answer the question.

Starring: Martin Sheen, Mel Gibson, Tom Hanks 

 

WKRP IN CINCINNATI: (1978) TV Season 1: Disc 1

When ambitious program director Andy Travis (Gary Sandy) arrives at WKRP, he shakes things up at the sleepy radio station by changing to a rock format, in spite of opposition from the station owner and the Lawrence Welk fan base. Hip DJs Dr. Johnny Fever (Howard Hesseman) and Venus Flytrap (Tim Reid) keep things hopping, while levelheaded blonde bombshell receptionist Jennifer Marlowe (Loni Anderson) always manages to smooth over problems.Episodes: "Pilot: Part 1," "Pilot: Part 2," "Les On a Ledge," "Hoodlum Rock," "Hold-Up," "Bailey's Show," "Turkeys Away" and "Love Returns."

 

WKRP IN CINCINNATI: (1978) TV Season 1: Disc 2

This disc includes the following episodes: "Mama's Review," "A Date With Jennifer," "The Contest Nobody Could Win," "Tornado," "Goodbye, Johnny," "Johnny Comes Back," "Never Leave Me, Lucille" and "I Want to Keep My Baby."

Starring: Howard Hesseman, Tim Reid, Loni Anderson

Director: Jay Sandrich, Asaad Kelada, Michael Zinberg

 

WKRP in Cincinnati: (1978) TV Season 1: Disc 3

This disc includes the following episodes: "A Commercial Break," "Who is Gordon Sims?," "I Do, I Do…For Now," "Young Master Carlson," "Fish Story" and "The Preacher."

Starring: Howard Hesseman, Tim Reid, Loni Anderson

Director: Jay Sandrich, Asaad Kelada, Michael Zinberg

 

YOU BET YOUR LIFE: Best TV Episodes (disc 1)

Featuring 6 riotous episodes from what may be one of the most hilarious game shows ever to grace the small screen, Groucho Marx's witty "You Bet your Life," this three-disc collection boasts cameos from legendary guest stars such as Edgar Bergen and his daughter, Candice; cinematic strongman Johnny Weismuller; boxer Joe Louis; comedian Phyllis Diller; and the show's eventual trademark Duck. Extras include three TV pilots by Marx

 

YOU BET YOUR LIFE: Best TV Episodes (disc 2)

The disc includes six episodes featuring Joe Louis, Boots Bootzin, Edouard Cournand, Max Shulman and more. Extras include "What Do You Want?" pilot filmed in January 1961, a "You Bet Your Life" stag reel, commercials and outtakes.

 

YOU BET YOUR LIFE: Best TV Episodes (disc 3)

This disc includes six episodes featuring Wild Red Berry, Phyllis Diller, Fencing Master & Miss Finland, Joy Harmon and more. Extras include "Tell It to Groucho" pilot filmed in 1961, a "You Bet Your Life" stag reel, commentary by Phyllis Diller and outtakes.