Perhaps the greatest debut in movie history, "Citizen Kane" remains one of the most influential American films of all time, thanks to the genius of Welles, who constructed this brilliant, elaborate puzzler at the tender ...

A riveting PBS "American Experience" entry, Bagwell and Walker's film commemorates the Southern minister's courageous campaign to fight injustice and spread goodwill despite harassment from FBI director J. Edgar Hoover, ...

A silent released when the talkie sensation was in full bloom, Chaplin's "City Lights" still swept the box office by storm. Produced, directed, edited, and scored by Chaplin himself, "City Lights" melds the sweet, ...

This riveting, vibrant, hyper-kinetic crime film by the Brazilian director of "The Constant Gardener" details the harsh realities of daily life in the Rio slums, where gangs of youth battle for control of the illicit ...

Lu’s stunning, often harrowing historical epic unfolds with documentary-like realism. Gradually the black and white, handheld immediacy of the camerawork draws us in to certain individuals and the enormity of war ...

One of the "Six Moral Tales" that New Wave director Rohmer crafted in sequence, "Claire's Knee" is that rare film where the barest of plots - Jerome's inexplicable desire to touch the teen's eroticized knee - actually ...

Sautet’s second feature (released just weeks after Godard’s “Breathless”) was initially a box-office failure, but has since climbed the ranks of France’s noir canon. Ventura’s world-weary face alternately expresses ...

French director Olivier Assayas’s ever-whirling camera has never captured drama so tender. From a scenario riddled to the core with cliché, he spins movie gold, producing a profoundly moving meditation on growth and ...

This chilling psychological thriller by first-time director Kerrigan was filmed over two years off the coast of New Brunswick, and was one of the first films to depict the agonizing, subjective experience of ...

With "Cléo," photojournalist-turned-filmmaker Varda (wife of Jacques Demy) composes an effervescent visual homage to the City of Lights and the modern harried woman, beautifully capturing the faces of everyday Parisians ...

Academy Award-winning filmmaker Alex Gibney was able to convince Spitzer himself to appear in this compelling documentary, and the fallen progressive hero cuts a complex, fascinating figure, with his outsize flaws every ...

Top science fiction entry boasts Spielberg's trademark epic sweep, and one of Dreyfuss's shining moments as the afflicted Neary. Director Truffaut is on-hand in a rare acting turn as French scientist Claude Lacombe, and ...

This brilliant dramatic re-creation of an unusual case of criminal impersonation examines the conceits of cinema on one hand, but also the state of post-revolutionary Iranian society, where dire poverty and lack of ...

Menzel’s delightful charmer from the heyday of the Czech New Wave mostly avoids politics to spin the tale of an unambitious rural lad’s post-adolescent ennui. A wry, winsome lethargy defines the film’s light-comic tone ...

Apted's affecting, flavorful biopic is the tale of a young woman intent on using her musical gift to escape an impoverished mountain life, and also the unvarnished story of a real marriage, filled with bruises and ...

Ron Howard's delightful fantasy/comedy works, thanks to a script that never strains our credulity so much that the good-natured spell gets broken. The senior contingent all turn in peerless performances: Don Ameche even ...

Forget what you know about war films: Elem Klimov's scarifying "Come and See" will defy all your expectations and leave its indelible images in your brain forever. Anchored by young Kravchenko's devastating performance, ...

Based on a William Inge play, the wondrous "Sheba" soars on the strength of character actress Booth's wrenching portrayal of the lonely, used-up Lola, a role for which she deservedly won Best Actress over established ...

A love story to be sure, but also a highly original take on the human price of war. This riveting film is propelled by intense performances from the three leads, all of whom were Oscar-nominated (both Voight and Fonda ...

Based on William Wister Haines's Broadway hit, this impeccably acted drama focuses on the politicking and senior-decision-making behind managing a war--and homeland morale. Gable is superb as the tough-minded general ...