A big-budget summer epic with money to burn and a scale worthy of its golden Hollywood predecessors, Ridley Scott's Gladiator is a rousing, grisly, action-packed epic that takes moviemaking back to the Roman Empire via computer-generated visual effects. While not as fluid as the computer work done for, say, Titanic, it's an impressive achievement that will leave you marveling at the glory that was Rome, when you're not marveling at the glory that is Russell Crowe.
Three days in the summer of 1863, at a place called Gettysburg. Based on Michael Shaara's book The Killer Angels, this film takes a refreshingly slow, thorough approach to the intricacies of battle. In ordinary circumstances, those intricacies might seem of importance only to fans of military strategy or Civil War enthusiasts, yet in Gettysburg they come across as the very stuff of life, death, and unexpected heroism.
Winner of four Academy Awards®, including Best Visual Effects, Best Sound Effects, Best Music, and Best Sound, E.T. The Extra Terrestial is the heart-warming family classic from director Steven Spielberg. When an alien (E.T.) is inadvertently left behind on Earth, he finds refuge with youngster Elliot (Henry Thomas). As Elliot and E.T. bond as friends, it soon becomes clear that E.T. must find his way home before government officials capture him for study. Together, E.T., Elliot, and Elliot's family and friends help unite E.T. with his spaceship.
It's Awesome! Totally Awesome! Fast times at Ridgemont High, directed by Amy Heckerling (Clueless), is simply a modern cult classic. First-time screenwriter Cameron Crowe (Jerry Maguire), went undercover as a high school student and came back with the straight dope on sex, drugs, and rock 'n' roll, while capturing some of the most memorable screen characters ever.
Jack Campbell (Nicolas Cage) is the quintessential Wall Street shark, scoring killer deals by day and shallow escort sex by night. His round-the-clock routine of empty luxuries is disturbed one lonely Christmas Eve when a gun-packing punk (Don Cheadle)--perhaps an angel of mercy--responds to an altruistic gesture from Jack by giving him "a glimpse" of the life he could have had.
Clint Eastwood held the dual role of director and star of this 1975 spy thriller, which makes up for sluggish pacing with a breathtaking climax on a treacherous peak in the Swiss Alps. The plot kicks into gear when Eastwood, playing a retired assassin, is recruited back into a secret organization to avenge the murder of an old friend. He's then blackmailed into making a second "hit"; this time his target is one of three men who will be attempting to conquer the Eiger, a dangerous peak in Switzerland.
This is the TV movie that put Steven Spielberg on the map, shortly before he made The Sugarland Express. Working from a script by Richard Matheson, the film stars Dennis Weaver as a mild-mannered traveling salesman who unintentionally angers the driver of a semi truck. Suddenly, the truck is not only riding his tail but trying to run him off the road. No matter what he does (pulling over, stopping at a diner, calling the cops), he can't get rid of it. Spielberg makes the wise decision of never showing the driver, even as he cranks the voltage on the film's suspense elements.
Jason Scott Lee and Lauren Holly star in this unforgettable glimpse into the life, love and the unconquerable spirit of the legendary Bruce Lee. From a childhood of rigorous martial arts training, Lee realizes his dream of opening his own kung-fu school in America. Before long, he is discovered by a Hollywood producer (Robert Wagner) and begins a meteoric rise to fame and an all-too-short reign as one of the most charismatic action heroes in motion picture history.
Sean Connery plays a master thief thought to be long retired, while Katherine Zeta-Jones is his foil, a hotshot insurance investigator assigned to his case. They both have a little something to hold over each other's heads, until it turns out that Zeta-Jones is a professional art thief herself and is playing on both sides of the fence. At first they eye each other with mutual distrust until they team up for a job, which goes off without a hitch.
Alfred Hitchcock's final film is understated comic fun that mixes suspense with deft humor, thanks to a solid cast. The plot centers on the kidnapping of an heir and a diamond theft by a pair of bad guys led by Karen Black and William Devane. The cops seem befuddled, but that doesn't stop a questionable psychic (Barbara Harris) and her not overly bright boyfriend (Bruce Dern, in a rare good-guy role) from picking up the trail and actually solving the crime. Did she do it with actual psychic powers? That's part of the fun of Harris's enjoyably ditsy performance.
