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.
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.
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."
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
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.
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.
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.
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!
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.
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.
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?
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!
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.
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.