Filmed in pseudo-documentary fashion, this nail-biting underworld drama was a box-office smash in 1947 for fledgling director Anthony Mann, who immediately signed to MGM with now-legendary cinematographer John Alton. ...

Acclaimed filmmaker Errol Morris delves into this colorful, stranger-than-fiction mystery without taking sides, and allowing the inherent humor and absurdity of the story shine through. He cleverly plays up the saga’s ...

Conceived as a joint project by docu-ethnographer Flaherty ("Nanook of the North") and German expressionist director Murnau ("The Last Laugh"), this poignant, beautifully photographed Oscar winner has ...

Jeff Nichols’s creepily contemplative nail-biter seamlessly combines an unnerving doomsday scenario with a tale of encroaching mental illness and paranoia. To his credit, Nichols is confident enough in his story and his ...

Presented as a mock documentary complete with narration by radio ham Jackson Beck, Allen's hilarious directorial debut is nuttier and loaded with more gags than his later, more sophisticated New York films. But that's ...

A slyly subversive ode to love in all its myriad forms, "Talk to Her" is an intimate, involving tale that examines the dark and even perverse nature of masculinity with great compassion. As always, Almodovar, who won an ...

Deftly satirizing the culture of affluence in 1980s Japan, and cleverly alluding to genre classics like "Shane" and "The Seven Samurai," "Tampopo" is by turns hilarious, sensual, touching, and tragic. While several ...

Director Richard Linklater dares to sustain a drama on a single dingy set, and thanks to a biting script and superb performances, succeeds. Though Thurman expertly plays the pivotal role of Amy, less a victim than a ...

Financed by Roger Corman, who lent real-life aging horror star Karloff to newcomer Bogdanovich for two days, "Targets" is a compelling thriller loosely based on Charles Whitman's 1966 murder spree at the University of ...

Both Mamonov and Zaychenko deliver memorable, complex and often nearly unhinged performances in this oddball tale of masculine bonding. Director Lungin knows just how to draw us in, as we observe two seeming opposites- ...

Scorsese's dark vision of human alienation in an urban wasteland captures the seaminess of pre-Giuliani Manhattan, and DeNiro's career-making performance as Bickle is haunting, recalling those real-life outcasts who ...

Gibney’s pointed look at the Bush Administration’s global war on terror takes a dreadful incident as a starting point, illustrating Dick Cheney’s decision to use the tactics of torture and unlawful detention in pursuit ...

Canet is a big-name actor and teen heartthrob in France, but in his debut suspense thriller based on the novel by Harlan Coben, Canet proves he has directorial chops, too. Cluzet is the perfect Everyman, running from ...

HBO knocked it out of the park with this multiple Emmy award-winning tribute to a truly remarkable woman. Grandin takes on the tricky subject of autism with frankness and sensitivity, never stooping to schmaltz or ...

Shot on two digital video cameras mounted on the dashboard of a roving car, "Ten" has an illicit, candid-camera documentary feel, though the naturalistic exchanges between Akbari and her passengers-an old woman, a ...

Narrated by David Gulpilil of "Walkabout" fame, this colorful tale within a tale recounts a legend full of adventure, treachery, black magic, and ultimately sacrifice. Filmed in the Australian outback with ...

This unadorned gem, beautifully realized by Australian director Beresford from Horton Foote's brilliant, Academy Award winning script, is definitely an actor's showcase and Duvall makes the most of it, turning in a ...

Brimming with humanity, the poignant "Endearment" makes us laugh and cry in roughly equal measure. MacLaine netted a richly deserved Oscar playing Aurora, and Winger holds her own as long-suffering Emma. (Indeed, their ...

Heartbreaking and powerful, and anchored by a searing, Oscar-nominated turn by Jane Alexander, Testament remains one of the finest films to emerge from the nuclear scare era. Perhaps it’s director Littman’s own ...

Love stories doesn’t get much grander than this British entry, which reunited Olivier and Leigh for their finest screen pairing. Director Korda sets this forbidden, passionate affair against a vast canvas spanning many ...