Spielberg creates movie magic with this warm-hearted yet gripping fantasy tale. ET himself is a creative marvel, the cutest, most non-threatening alien in sci-fi history. The child actors are uniformly good, ...

Simple yet poignant, this beautifully photographed story of Japanese family life and the changing role of women in postwar society contrasts the values of elders and the impulses of youth, an abiding theme in Ozu's ...

Long recognized, along with Sergei Eisenstein, as one of the groundbreaking early masters of silent cinema, Dovzhenko managed to craft films of extraordinary intelligence and creativity, even if his first allegiance was ...

This child's-eye view of historic unrest in newly postcolonial India, which erupted in violence after independence and the creation of Muslim Pakistan, is a timely film about ethnic and religious conflict wrapped around ...

Another ‘50s Kazan landmark, “Eden” boasts vibrant color and atmosphere, top-flight performances and a dazzling screenplay adapted from the Steinbeck novel by Oscar nominated Paul Osborn. Oscar-nominated Dean, Harris, ...

Little seen by Western audiences, goofy propaganda musicals like "Volga, Volga" (which Stalin himself watched over 100 times) and the proto-feminist fantasy "My Wife Wants to Sing" were clearly inspired by Hollywood's ...

This Academy Award-nominee for Best Foreign Language Film manages to generate an epic sweep, while evoking the grim claustrophobia of communal living in the Stalin era via spot-on production design and evocative camera ...

In this joyous musical romp, MGM producer Arthur Freed paired Garland with the recently "retired" Astaire after original lead Gene Kelly injured his ankle. Combining Astaire's moves and Garland's pipes with a ...

The great Preston Sturges (“Sullivan’s Travels”) penned this farcical, rags-to-riches romance, in which an innocent secretary is assumed by her snitty coworkers and a hotelier to be the mistress of an older, married ...

The ultimate counter-culture classic, Hopper's " Rider" jolted a Hollywood in transition when it became an unexpected hit in 1969, encapsulating the freewheeling spirit of the times and the divide between the youth ...

Though the film is Taiwanese, the emotions and issues feel universal, as captured by "Wedding Banquet" director Ang Lee. Exploring the conflicts and disappointments that arise in the daughters' personal lives and how ...

This suitably quirky, beautifully acted homage to real-life B-movie hack Ed Wood, creator of "Plan 9 from Outer Space" and other bizarre turkeys, could have played the facts of his strange life strictly for laughs. ...

Director Ritt, recently off the blacklist, directs the first of his many socially conscious films that would eventually include “Sounder” and “Norma Rae”. Poitier’s grounded, sympathetic portrayal of Tommy brought him ...

Tracy gives one of his warmest performances in this engaging, entertaining look at the legendary tinkerer’s outsize life and career. Not surprisingly, the film mainly focuses on the great man’s work, and builds ...

Based on the stage play by Willy Russell, this buoyant, tartly funny drama of love, class, heartbreak, and literary aspiration retums "Alfie" director Lewis Gilbert with his ruffled, effortlessly charming star, Michael ...

Peter Watkins's fascinating biopic about a troubled, nontraditional figure is itself iconoclastic, as it approaches telling Munch's life story through a mosaic of re-enactments, personal diary readings, and faux ...

Essentially a lovely, melancholy parable about conformity and the pain of being misunderstood by writer-director Burton, this film is a winner thanks to Depp's sensitive performance as a freaky, fragile creature with ...

Fassbinder fave Hanna Schygulla gives one of her saddest and most moving performances in “Effi Briest,” adapted from the 19th-century novel, playing a young woman exploited by everyone around her and ultimately cast out ...

Writer/Director Sayles’s riveting slice of sports history feels totally authentic, with rich period flavor, and his smart, perceptive script does full justice to this tragic story, representing the worst blot ever on ...

From the cinematography to the set design, costumes to character detail, Eisenstein's operatic sound epics are world-class examples of film as high art, with vigorous storytelling adding to the dazzling, still ...