From the very first shot of Restrepo, in which a humvee hits an IED while on patrol, you find yourself fully immersed in the world of Battle Company. By the film’s end, you’ll be surprised that the filmmakers ...

Narrated by Tom Hanks, “Honor” is a sobering film about a little-known aspect of post-WWII combat: the grueling experience of downed pilots and soldiers who lived, often for years, imprisoned behind enemy lines. Some ...

Two couples find their lives entwined in surprisingly cathartic ways in Gotz Spielmann’s tense, Oscar-nominated dramatic thriller “Revanche,” which effectively collides portraits of seamy city life and the sleepier ...

This brilliant, bizarre entry from world-class filmmaker Ichikawa (“Fires on the Plain”) draws much of its look and feel from the ritualized world of Kabuki theater; the result is a marriage of cinema and stagecraft ...

Director Schroeder's fascinating "Fortune" dramatizes the bizarre but very real 1980 crime and trial that hit the ultra-wealthy Newport set (and the rest of us) like a time bomb. The bravura performances of the stars ...

Olivier’s perversely wicked turn in Shakespeare’s “Richard III” ranks as one of the legendary British thespian’s most riveting screen roles. Outfitted in a black wig and prosthetic makeup, he is the monstrous ...

Crisp, flavorful entry benefits from poignant premise of two tired, outmoded cowboys struggling to survive in a world they barely recognize (and that barely recognizes them). Veterans McCrea and Scott play off each ...

The great Zhang Yimou is best known in the States for his high-wire swordplay epics, “Hero” and “House of Flying Daggers.” But after these fantasy-laden odes to Chinese history, Zhang returns to gorgeous, humanistic ...

Featuring archival footage of the period and a folk song score from Woody Guthrie (and other balladeers of the time), the films' most memorable sequences are the interviews with the now elderly, respectable folks ...

Viewed nearly six decades after release, "Rififi" retains all its gritty realism and tense, claustrophobic atmosphere. The famous heist sequence, done completely in silence, is riveting, and Jean Servais's lead ...

Superb feature recreates a forgotten, life-transforming moment in time with admirable balance, insight, and sensitivity. Particularly intriguing is that Griffith was in fact a closeted gay, and that Paret's thoughtless ...

With its creepy premise and tense, unsettling atmosphere, Nakata's made-for-TV psychological horror film became a surprise blockbuster in Japan, inspiring two sequels and an inferior American remake. What makes the ...

Hawks's colorful, exciting western boasts an archetypal, larger-than-life turn from the Duke, and perhaps Martin's finest acting job ever as Dude. Film neatly blends pathos, suspense, comedy, even songs to create ...

“Rivers and Tides” is an observational documentary as pure in its artistic intentions as its remarkable subject. Riedelsheimer simply witnesses a man at work, doing what he does best: creating art from nature’s ...

The third (and best) of the seven Hope/Crosby “Road” films, “Morocco” reunites the leads for a slaphappy adventure romance that provided wartime audiences with much needed comic escape. Hope and Crosby always had an ...

Italian master of neorealism Roberto Rossellini pioneered the use of location shooting, nonprofessional actors, and a meld of documentary and cinema techniques in his world-renowned and deeply moving trilogy from the ...

A film of sizeable sweep and authenticity, "Rocco" is another near-masterpiece by Visconti. Though each Parondi brother is profiled, it's the emerging rivalry between Rocco and the mercurial Simone that ...

Based on a short story by D.H. Lawrence, Pelissier's film makes a fantastic premise feel poignant and real, as Paul's concern for his distracted mother imbues him with powers beyond his understanding. Mills (who also ...

Penned by a young Stallone, the script for "Rocky" was sold with the proviso that its writer, who was a nobody himself in 1976, would star in the low-budget film. Stallone got his wish, and like Rocky, made good on the ...

With his hilarious first feature, America’s most celebrated wiseass pundit created the basic template for his iconoclastic mix of populist humor and confrontational filmmaking. Armed only with a microphone and ...