You Like It, You Name It
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- CreatorGlen A. LarsonRonald D. MooreStarsEdward James OlmosMary McDonnellJamie BamberWhen an old enemy, the Cylons, resurface and obliterate the 12 colonies, the crew of the aged Galactica protect a small civilian fleet - the last of humanity - as they journey toward the fabled 13th colony, Earth.Absolutely the best drama to ever fill a TV screen. Completely unpredictable, deeply thought provoking and, ultimately, quite addictive, BSG asks difficult questions about what makes a race worthy of survival.
Pitting Cylon (an artificial life form) monotheism against human polytheism, the line between terrorist and victim constantly shifts.
There are no easy answers aboard the Galactica and the ragtag fleet she protects. Her flawed crew struggles to survive and lead what's left of humanity to a Utopia called Earth. - DirectorWoody AllenStarsWoody AllenDiane KeatonMariel HemingwayThe life of a divorced television writer dating a teenage girl is further complicated when he falls in love with his best friend's mistress.Allen's love poem to NY is also a touching dramedy focusing on the ever neurotic Woody's search for love. (And prescient in his attraction to much younger women.)
Then there's that Gershwin score in Woody's best film. - DirectorStanley KubrickStarsKeir DulleaGary LockwoodWilliam SylvesterAfter uncovering a mysterious artifact buried beneath the Lunar surface, a spacecraft is sent to Jupiter to find its origins: a spacecraft manned by two men and the supercomputer HAL 9000.More a sociological event when released than merely a film, the transcendent "2001" still delivers on the tagline's promise to take us on, "The Ultimate Trip."
- DirectorLars von TrierStarsNicole KidmanPaul BettanyLauren BacallA woman on the run from the mob is reluctantly accepted in a small Colorado community in exchange for labor, but when a search visits the town she finds out that their support has a price.Von Trier's masterpiece uses a minimalist stage to put folksy Americana - here a society of hypocrites - under a powerful microscope. Von Trier casts a jaundiced eye on, and flips, the great American novel through drawing the inhabitants of "Dogville" as black-hearted opportunists.
Nicole Kidman is simply breathtaking, and the payoff is a hard punch in the gut. - DirectorSpike JonzeStarsNicolas CageMeryl StreepChris CooperA lovelorn screenwriter becomes desperate as he tries and fails to adapt 'The Orchid Thief' by Susan Orlean for the screen.Brilliant, brilliant and brilliant.
Like an infinite reflection in a mirror, Charlie Kaufman's screenplay creates a film and a film within the film within the film within. . . "Adaptation" is a clever, highly original and challenging meditation on insecurity and the writing process.
Cage shines as the Kaufman brothers: Charlie and the imaginary Donald. - DirectorMichael PowellEmeric PressburgerStarsDavid NivenKim HunterRobert CooteA British wartime aviator who cheats death must argue for his life before a celestial court, hoping to prolong his fledgling romance with an American girl.Powell and Pressburger's splendid romantic fantasy is both hopelessly dated and fresh as today. The universal theme of love- conquering-all is rarely given its due. "A Matter of Life and Death" does so with Technicolor whimsy and Black and White seriousness. Just remember it's 1946.
As filmed, the first ten pages are the most engrossing ever written. - DirectorJeff StanzlerStarsRobin WrightAbdellatif KechicheÉlodie BouchezAgainst the anxieties and fears of post-9/11 America, an Arab cab driver picks up a troubled professional woman with unexpected results.A worthy addition to the post-9/11 oeuvre, "Sorry, Haters" drips with anger, jealousy and the extreme need for retribution by an alienated woman played to perfection by Robin Wright-Penn.
The payoff in this low-budget Digital Indie is potent and unforgettable. - DirectorWilliam WylerStarsMyrna LoyDana AndrewsFredric MarchThree World War II veterans, two of them traumatized or disabled, return home to the American midwest to discover that they and their families have been irreparably changed.This moving story of sacrifice and adjustment to life after war overflows with sentimentality. A cast at their peak brings the truth in the text to life. The result stirs the soul.
A must see. - DirectorCameron CroweStarsOrlando BloomKirsten DunstSusan SarandonDuring a hometown memorial for his Kentucky-born father, a young man begins an unexpected romance with a too-good-to-be-true stewardess.The cost of success and failure in contemporary society underlies this tale of a man burying his father in a far off land called Kentucky. With a stopover on the way to fall in love with a radiant and appealing Kirsten Dunst.
The quirky "Elizabethtown" has much to say about life, love and sneakers. - DirectorDavid Hugh JonesStarsRobert De NiroKathy BakerEd HarrisTwo Vietnam vets search for the strength to face up to their horrific war experiences, but their friendship begins to splinter when one becomes romantically involved with the other's sister.This is a serious, three character drama of two Vietnam Vets - DeNiro and Harris - dealing (or not) with their pain.
In an amazing performance, Ed Harris plays a wracked by guilt, living-dead brother to lonely school teacher Baker. Years after serving together in the 'Nam, Harris detests DeNiro and tries to stymie his budding romantic interest in Baker.
An under appreciated and (sadly) vastly unknown gem - DirectorJoshua LoganStarsWilliam HoldenKim NovakBetty FieldEmotions are ignited among the complacent townsfolk when a handsome drifter arrives in a small Kansas community on the morning of the Labor Day picnic.Told over the course of summer's last few days, set in a podunk Midwestern town, this film of Inge's complex play considers the meaning of true beauty as told through the lives of a Mother, her two diametrically opposed daughters (one pretty, one smart), and a dangerous male interloper who disrupts their, and the town's, quiet, desperate lives.
Novak and Holden's palpable chemistry ignites the fireworks. Man, can they dance. - DirectorBilly WilderStarsKirk DouglasJan SterlingRobert ArthurA frustrated former big-city journalist now stuck working for an Albuquerque newspaper exploits a story about a man trapped in a cave to rekindle his career, but the situation quickly escalates into an out-of-control circus.Kirk Douglas is stellar as a washed up, desperate newspaper reporter who prolongs a story for material gain. With tragic results.
Jan Sterling's performance as a bottle blonde, hard-boiled dame is mesmerizing.
Wilder's cynicism has never been as bitter and sharp. In the mirror he holds up to American society is an an ugly, corrupt reflection. - DirectorElia KazanStarsAndy GriffithPatricia NealAnthony FranciosaA female radio reporter turns a folk-singing drifter into a powerful media star.You'll never look at lovable Sheriff Andy Griffith the same way after watching his performance as a monster who, abetted by Patricia Neal, skyrockets from a mean-as-a-snake, alcoholic drifter to national prominence as a folksy TV performer, Kingmaker and false God.
This companion piece to "King of Comedy" is a scathing indictment of America's loss of identity in a forest of TV antennas. - DirectorRowdy HerringtonStarsPatrick SwayzeKelly LynchSam ElliottA bouncer hired to clean up the baddest honkytonk in a Missouri town. Armed with a black belt in karate and a degree in philosophy, Patrick Swayze sets out to tame the Double Deuce for its owner.A most gilded guilty pleasure, "Road House" is truly awful. So bad it's good.
Try to resist: Swayze is an Ivy League grad with a philosophy degree who travels the country as a highly paid Super Bouncer. He's hired to clean up a dive in a small town run by the evil Ben Gazzara (whose scenery chewing is not to be missed).
One minute Swayze spouts philosophy and woos Kelly Preston, the next he's ripping out a thug's neck. Pure, countrified hokum for the Drive-In crowd. And a real hoot! - DirectorRoss McElweeStarsRoss McElweeDede McElweeRoss McElwee Jr.Documentary filmmaker Ross McElwee sets out to make a movie about Union General Sherman's March to the Sea towards the end of the American Civil War, but keeps getting sidetracked by his own love life.Plagued nightly by dreams of nuclear annihilation, Sad Sack Ross McElwee follows Sherman's path through the South not to conquer but to find love.
This courageous, highly personal documentary is filled with unforgettable characters, not the least being McElwee himself. - DirectorMartin BrestStarsBrad PittAnthony HopkinsClaire ForlaniDeath, who takes the form of a young man killed in an accident, asks a media mogul to act as his guide to teach him about life on Earth and, in the process, he falls in love with the mogul's daughter.An update of "Death Takes a Holiday," Pitt is terrific as the curious Angel of Death, aka Joe Black. Offering a blunt take-it-or leave-it deal, Mr. Black grants media mogul Anthony Hopkins a short reprieve in return for an introduction to his life on Earth.
Claire Forlani also shines as the Doctor, Hopkin's daughter, who falls in love with the enigmatic Black.
This touching romance is unparalleled in its delicacy and depth. - DirectorPeter BogdanovichStarsBarbra StreisandRyan O'NealMadeline KahnThe accidental mix-up of four identical plaid overnight bags leads to a series of increasingly wild and wacky situations.Under Peter Bogdanovich's capable direction, "What's Up, Doc?" is fall off the couch funny as the smitten Streisand chases the highly reluctant O'Neal. Her quest causes more damage to San Francisco than the '06 quake.
Wild, wacky and filled with memorable comedic moments and performances. Which plaid bag is which? - DirectorNorman Z. McLeodStarsW.C. FieldsKathleen HowardJean RouverolA henpecked New Jersey grocer makes plans to move to California to grow oranges, despite the resistance of his overbearing wife.His funniest film, WC drags a kicking-and-screaming family cross-country to settle on an orange grove.
Only 68 minutes long, there's nary a chance to catch your breath between the laughs.
LaFong, Carl LaFong. Capital L, small a, capital F, small o, small n, small g. LaFong! - DirectorMichael PowellEmeric PressburgerStarsDeborah KerrDavid FarrarFlora RobsonA group of nuns struggle to establish a convent in the Himalayas, while isolation, extreme weather, altitude, and culture clashes all conspire to drive the well-intentioned missionaries mad.Spectacular Powell/Pressburger in knock-your-eyes-out Technicolor courtesy cinematographer Jack Cardiff.
High in the Himalayas, five Nuns sequester to open a school and hospital in a former Seraglio - a concubines home. In the sensual environment tensions mount past boiling.
This fascinating tale features a tour-de-force performance by Kerr as the head Nun. - DirectorFrank CapraStarsRonald ColmanJane WyattEdward Everett HortonWhen a revered diplomat's plane is diverted and crashes in the peaks of Tibet, he and the other survivors are guided to an isolated monastery at Shangri-La, where they wrestle with the invitation to stay.Mr. Capra's best, this touching film of the book follows a war-weary diplomat's discovery of Utopia hidden in a remote valley.
Much edited, seek the AFI reconstruction of the full version Capra intended.
The best films offer timeless themes. "Lost Horizon," then, is far more relevant today than it was in the chaotic post-depression, pre-WWII Thirties.