Wouldn't Change a Thing.
Of the hundreds of films I've seen, there are very few with no weak spots, where every piece fits together so perfectly I can't imagine changing a thing about them. Not the casting, acting, direction, script, production design. Nothing. Let by myself on an island for all eternity, these are the ones I'd want to take with me.
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- DirectorRidley ScottStarsHarrison FordRutger HauerSean YoungA blade runner must pursue and terminate four replicants who stole a ship in space and have returned to Earth to find their creator.Just like its characters, from its inception this film has always been uncertain of its identity, constantly reinventing and rewriting itself to suit someone else's whim. But every time a new version surfaced, the movie's theme of humanity (real or invented) fighting the "advances" of technology came through. Ironically Scott has never been the most empathetic of directors, but here his love of the look of things contrasts the warmth of his characters' flesh against the cold gloss of the future.
- DirectorLeonard NimoyStarsWilliam ShatnerLeonard NimoyDeForest KelleyTo save Earth from an alien probe, Admiral James T. Kirk and his fugitive crew go back in time to San Francisco in 1986 to retrieve the only beings who can communicate with it: humpback whales.
- DirectorTaylor HackfordStarsKathy BatesJennifer Jason LeighChristopher PlummerA big city reporter travels to a small town where her mother has been arrested for the murder of an elderly woman for whom she worked as a housekeeper.Plenty of movies have take Stephen King and dumbed him down ("Misery", for example, which somehow won Kathy Bates her Oscar), but this is one that really amps up the source material - making it smarter, more focused and much more involving than the book. Bates has never looked more beautiful than when she's standing triumphant over her husband in the half-light of an eclipse, and Leigh's terminally sullen movie face is for once justified by all her character goes through. Straitharn, normally likeable, you're glad to see the last of, and even behind a fake nose Plummer is better here than in many of his other films.
- DirectorPreston SturgesStarsBarbara StanwyckHenry FondaCharles CoburnA trio of classy card sharks targets a socially awkward brewery heir, until one of them falls in love with him.
- DirectorJoseph L. MankiewiczStarsBette DavisAnne BaxterGeorge SandersA seemingly timid but secretly ruthless ingénue insinuates herself into the lives of an aging Broadway star and her circle of theater friends.If your idea of a fun evening isn't line dancing, putt-putt, beer pong, skeet shooting, bingo, or anything you can get into with a coupon you found hanging on your doorknob*... If you like intelligent conversation, the arts, great drama, and most importanly the company of others who like the same... See this.
*Not judging any of these activities. - DirectorMorton DaCostaStarsRosalind RussellForrest TuckerCoral BrowneAn orphan goes to live with his free-spirited aunt. Conflict ensues when the executor of his father's estate objects to the aunt's lifestyle.Can't think of another movie where one central performance carries the entire movie like this. There are other actors in it, of course, and they're all very good, but it's Mame you come to see, and without Rosalind Russell in the title role no amount of supporting talent could save it. She owns every witty line and double-take.
- DirectorJames CameronStarsSigourney WeaverMichael BiehnCarrie HennDecades after surviving the Nostromo incident, Ellen Ripley is sent out to re-establish contact with a terraforming colony but finds herself battling the Alien Queen and her offspring.Perfect marriage between two completely different genres: high-tech geeky sci-fi and grungey fortress-storming commando action. A roller coaster with the longest first hill ever, then almost nonstop action once things really start moving. Sigourney Weaver kicks ass, forever the queen of all female action stars.
- DirectorRoman PolanskiStarsJack NicholsonFaye DunawayJohn HustonA private detective hired to expose an adulterer in 1930s Los Angeles finds himself caught up in a web of deceit, corruption, and murder.Best. Mystery. Ever.
- DirectorVictor FlemingKing VidorStarsJudy GarlandFrank MorganRay BolgerYoung Dorothy Gale and her dog Toto are swept away by a tornado from their Kansas farm to the magical Land of Oz, and embark on a quest with three new friends to see the Wizard, who can return her to her home and fulfill the others' wishes.Best kid's movie ever. Question authority, get out of the house, make friends, be brave, don't cry, stay out of bad weather, fight bullies. See what was right in front of you all along - you're special and you can make it.
- DirectorJames FrawleyStarsJim HensonFrank OzJerry NelsonKermit and his newfound friends trek across America to find success in Hollywood, but a frog legs merchant is after Kermit.It's rare to find a "kids" movie adults can enjoy too, but this is one. Possibly the best one ever. It's funny and knowing without being vulgar, with a goofy sense of humor and lots of heart. Plus celebrity cameos, Broadway-quality songs, and all the original Muppet Show performers playing the parts.
- DirectorAlfred HitchcockStarsJames StewartGrace KellyWendell CoreyA wheelchair-bound photographer spies on his neighbors from his Greenwich Village courtyard apartment window and, despite the skepticism of his fashion-model girlfriend, becomes convinced one of them has committed murder.The ultimate Hitchcock point-of-view movie, where 99% of what you see is through Jimmy Stewart's eyes. So what does he see? That Grace Kelly is a threat to his batchelorhood. Poor guy. What doesn't he see? The murder right in front of him. The danger he's put himself and everyone else in. A flying racecar, apparently. And that Grace will save his life.
- DirectorAlfred HitchcockStarsAnthony PerkinsJanet LeighVera MilesA Phoenix secretary embezzles $40,000 from her employer's client, goes on the run and checks into a remote motel run by a young man under the domination of his mother.What is there to add to everything that's been said about this classic? Every utterance has a double meaning, every angle its cutting edge, every relationship a hidden twist. In this world, where is there left to run? What haven is safe enough to escape the traps you set for yourself? There's nowhere to go except within your own mind - and if we all go a little mad sometimes... what then?
- DirectorBilly WilderStarsTyrone PowerMarlene DietrichCharles LaughtonA veteran British barrister must defend his client in a murder trial that has surprise after surprise.Most entertaining adaptation of Agatha Christie. Star power galore, nimble direction and a script that dares to add twists the author hadn't thought of herself.
- DirectorMartin CampbellStarsPierce BrosnanSean BeanIzabella ScorupcoYears after a friend and fellow 00 agent is killed on a joint mission, a secret space based weapons program known as "GoldenEye" is stolen. James Bond is assigned to stop a Russian crime syndicate from using the weapon.If only the rest of the Brosnans were this good. He slipped into the role (finally) like he was born to it - nonchalant, wry, sexy, tortured - then for three more movies he looked bored and overwhelmed by the technology.
- DirectorJohn GlenStarsTimothy DaltonRobert DaviCarey LowellA vengeful James Bond goes rogue to infiltrate and take down the organization of a drug lord who has murdered his friend's new wife and left him near death.
- DirectorGuy HamiltonStarsSean ConneryJill St. JohnCharles GrayA diamond smuggling investigation leads James Bond to Las Vegas where he uncovers an evil plot involving a rich business tycoon.Yes it's campy and no you can't take any of it seriously, but is any other Bond movie as much fun to watch as this one? Possibly MWTGG, but this benefits from having the slyest, wickedest Blofeld of all.
- DirectorGuy HamiltonStarsRoger MooreChristopher LeeBritt EklandJames Bond is targeted by the world's most expensive assassin, while he attempts to recover sensitive solar cell technology that is being sold to the highest bidder.Christopher Lee is funny and scary and just a little bit sexy, all at the same time. The way he combines all three, along with a kick-ass villain's lair and creepy little sidekick, makes this one of the best entries in the series.
- DirectorStanley KubrickStarsJack NicholsonShelley DuvallDanny LloydA family heads to an isolated hotel for the winter where a sinister presence influences the father into violence, while his psychic son sees horrific forebodings from both past and future.King again, his basic story twisted and reinterpreted by a director with all his own themes and obsessions. It isn't strictly faithful to the novel, but with so many of Kubrick's touches to unravel, so many odd corners to explore and find meaning in, who cares? It strangely manages to capture the author's creeping dread better than almost any of King's other works.
- DirectorSteven SpielbergStarsHarrison FordKaren AllenPaul FreemanIn 1936, archaeologist and adventurer Indiana Jones is hired by the U.S. government to find the Ark of the Covenant before the Nazis can obtain its awesome powers.Who takes a 50 or 60-year-old genre and totally reinvents it for a new generation? A couple of geniuses, that's who.
- DirectorWilliam FriedkinStarsKenneth NelsonPeter WhiteLeonard FreyTempers fray and true selves are revealed when a heterosexual accidentally intrudes on a homosexual party.No, it's hardly an ideal portrait of gay life. But. It captures the period, and many of the problems and attitudes of the Stonewall era it dramatizes still remain today. Regardless of whether you like the characters and the ways they behave, any gay man I've ever known could see at least a part of himself in these characters.
- DirectorWill FinnJohn SanfordStarsJudi DenchCuba Gooding Jr.Jennifer TillyTo save their farm, the resident animals go bounty hunting for a notorious outlaw.Nothing epic, but in its own small way a hilarious sendup of a ton of tired Western movie cliches. Perfect voice cast, with lots of surprises if you know who to listen for. And anyone who claims hand-drawn animation is dead needs to see this.
- DirectorCarl ReinerStarsSteve MartinLily TomlinVictoria TennantA dying millionaire has her soul transferred into a younger, willing woman. However, something goes wrong, and she finds herself in her lawyer's body - together with the lawyer.An ideal pairing of two of the goofiest actors in movies, each showcasing their signature style and playing off the other almost effortlessly. Funny, occasionally dirty, only slightly profound and endlessly sweet. If only Martin and Tomlin had only reteamed again... then this one wouldn't be so special.