One of Disney’s finest achievements of the sixties, and still a favorite of mine, “101 Dalmatians” is both a cheeky story of doggie romance and a thrilling detective tale with a villainous twist. (Guess what Cruella ...
Sidney Lumet's first feature film is a spare, powerful human drama of the first order. Fonda underplays expertly as the voice of reason, and his fellow jurors are played by some of the best character actors of the day, ...
One of the new flowerings of recent Romanian cinema, the award-winning black comedy "Bucharest" is a sterling example of stone-faced Eastern European wit and self-deprecating satire. Jderescu, a Romanian Charlie Rose, ...
Based on a true story (we’d hardly believe it otherwise) and essentially a one man showcase for the considerable talents of James Franco (who spends most of the film playing to a large rock), it’s pretty amazing just ...
This nail-biting existential thriller is based on actual incidents involving murder and high-rolling bettors. Filmed in stark, pristine black-and-white, "13 Tzameti" builds suspense first around Sébastien's journey to a ...
Rich's rendering of the classic Jules Verne tale by Walt Disney was, at the time, the most costly picture ever made, and it shows. The re-mastering of this beloved fantasy adventure is visually breathtaking, with ...
Above synopsis only begins to describe this most cosmic, dense and challenging of science fiction films, which director Kubrick co-wrote with sci-fi author Arthur C. Clarke. In this new two-disc, special edition, "2001" ...
Dreamy, entrancing, rapturous, and unabashedly romantic, Wong’s elegantly wrought tone poem is partly a sequel to his masterful “In the Mood for Love,” as it features Cheung and Leung reprising their roles as not-quite ...
Though the premise sounds - and is - frighteningly close to George Romero's zombie movies, this entry comes off fresh and fierce, thanks to Alex Garland's writing, an English setting and solid British actors, notably ...
This moody, dreamlike drama of psychological obsession was one of Altman's finest films of the 1970s, owing mostly to the oddities of his two female leads, Spacek and Duvall, whose performances are surreal and strangely ...
This strangely compelling, almost wordless romantic drama by Korean provocateur Kim Ki-duk ("Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter, and Spring") puts an odd twist on class resentment, slowly resolving the tension between its ...
Based on an Elmore Leonard story, Delmer Daves's film (in a new special edition) is a sharp psychological western in the vein of another better-known classic, "High Noon." Taut and suspenseful, "Yuma" also tells a very ...
Spare in dialogue but teeming with feeling, French filmmaker Claire Denis spikes every shot in 35 Shots of Rum with a sensuous twist. Lionel and Josephine’s father-daughter relationship carries an ambiguous charge but ...
“Girls” may be heartbreaking to watch, but it’s also essential viewing, as director Lee revisits an atrocity we should never forget. The overwhelming sense of personal loss and moral outrage is palpable. It's also ...
This searing indictment of a Romania then under the tyrannical rule of the Ceausescu regime won the Palme d’Or at Cannes, and the award was richly deserved. By choosing to focus on the friend of the girl who needs an ...
42nd Street is the quintessential backstage musical. Both Keeler and Powell are spirited as the juvenile leads, and Baxter's predicament gives the film added poignancy. Still, it's the culminating dance numbers ...
Putting a thrilling new spin on the buddy film with this gritty and gripping crime drama, director Walter Hill hit paydirt, combining Nolte's bearish, no-BS mien with fiery comedic talent Murphy (still a "Saturday Night ...
These remarkable short films by the Maysles brothers (“Grey Gardens”) highlight the transformative aesthetic and magical allure of such grandiose “wrapping” projects as “Islands,” in which the artists turned a Florida ...
Plumbing the same psychological terrain as personal documentaries like “Sherman’s March” and “Capturing the Friedmans,” Block’s aching auto-history is a kind of detective story that morphs into an extended meditation on ...
Actor/Director Crystal's well-known affection for both the game and the team permeates this reverent, affecting film from HBO, which scored at the Emmys with a whopping twelve nominations (it won two). His casting of ...

























