Combining film imagery, still photographs, and symbolic, stylized recreations of important events in her always colorful, endlessly fascinating public and private life, Varda’s “Beaches” is a revealing self-portrait ...

This tough, gritty crime drama doesn’t skimp on revealing the violent lengths to which the men in blue will go to get their man. In fact, they appear every bit as “beastly” as the bad guys equally intent on eluding ...

Acclaimed documentarians Albert and David Maysles (“Gimme Shelter”) capture the Liverpool pop stars on their maiden tour of America in this spirited verite-style film. Given unprecedented access to private hotel rooms ...

Tense Cold War thriller re-teams Poitier with Widmark (they first appeared together in Poitier's debut film, the 1950's "No Way Out"). Widmark is frightening as the cold, obsessive commander, and Poitier is riveting as ...

A nutty British comedy based on characters created by renowned English cartoonist Ronald Searle, Frank Launder’s “Belles” is farce with a capital “F.” In a delicious dual role, the great comic actor Alastair Sim plays ...

The actor John Barrymore, still in his prime, delivers a dashing, full-bodied performance in this swashbuckling costume adventure based on the exploits of the real-life Villon, who roused the lowlifes of Paris to defend ...

Originally made for Italian television, Giordano’s sweeping family drama is nothing short of triumphant. The story (by Sandro Perraglia and Stefano Rulli) interweaves the destinies and challenges of two very different ...

Thanks to William Wyler's expert, understated direction, each of the three characters that make up this remarkably sensitive, perceptive picture is subtly drawn, evoking the complex challenges that confronted returning ...

Memorable for its edgy dialogue and tense, sinister atmosphere, director Farrow's 1948 adaptation of Kenneth Fearing's novel boasts an ingenious plot device: two characters, one guilty and one innocent, both attempt to ...

Lewis's ultra-hard-boiled noir is savage and unstinting in its view of two men, one squarely on the side of the law and the other seemingly above it, locked in a battle of wills that may eventually destroy them both. ...

William Wyler's sprawling Western epic is aptly named, since everything about this film is big, including breathtaking panoramas, a close to three hour run time, and a larger-than-life, Oscar-winning performance from ...

This brutal, in-your-face noir thriller about organized crime and political graft by German ex-pat Lang is about as hardboiled as they come. For starters, the dialogue is sharp and blunt, like a smack in the jaw, and ...

Ace filmmaking team Joel and Ethan Coen ("Fargo") took more than a few pages from Raymond Chandler's seedy L.A. noir novels to create this absurdly comic caper masterpiece. Bridges is riotous as the unflappable aging ...

Scripted by William Faulkner from Raymond Chandler's complex detective novel, Howard Hawks's "The Big Sleep" is a Hollywood whodunit of the highest order. Bogart famously cemented his trench-coated, tough-guy persona ...

Miike’s best known for surreal horror flicks and yakuza epics like “Audition” and “Ichi the Killer,” but this soulful road movie finds him in a more subdued and contemplative mood, even if his characteristic bursts of ...

Undoubtedly one of Hitchcock's scariest films, the special effects are surprisingly effective for the time; you may never look at our winged friends quite the same again. Rod Taylor is stolid in a role Cary Grant might ...

Nominated for Best Film at the 1947 Oscars, Henry Koster's sweet, thoroughly charming "Bishop's Wife" was a big crowd-pleaser in its day, and has since become one of our more cherished holiday films. Cary Grant was ...

This fascinating adaptation of Walter Farley’s children’s classic depicts with uncommon intelligence and sensitivity the special bond that can develop between humans and animals. Avoiding children’s-movie clichés, ...

Filmed in grainy black-and-white to simulate actual amateur footage, Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sanchez's "Blair Witch" manages to create bone-chilling dread and atmospheric horror on a ridiculously low budget. ...

Von Sternberg's breakthrough vehicle for Marlene Dietrich was a smoldering drama in the Weimar era, and still packs some heat now (especially in the superior German version). While veteran Emil Jannings hams it up a ...