Movie studios, by and large, avoid controversial subjects like race the way you might avoid a hive of angry bees. So it's remarkable that Crash even got made; that it's a rich, intelligent, and moving exploration of the interlocking lives of a dozen Los Angeles residents--black, white, latino, Asian, and Persian--is downright amazing.
Steven Spielberg, proving he's one of the few modern filmmakers who has the visual fluency to be capable of making a great silent film, took a melodramatic, D.W. Griffith-inspired approach to filming Alice Walker's novel. His tactics made the film controversial, but also a popular hit.
Two cultures collide in this vast, lavish and truly spectacular film. Adapted from James A. Michener's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel and nominated for seven Oscars, this "majestic, gorgeously framed epic" is "adventuresome picture-making, a credit to the industry" (The Film Daily) and riveting entertainment. They came to bring God, but instead brought disease and destruction. The Rev.
Long before Unforgiven deconstructed the Western, or Blazing Saddles lampooned it, Cat Ballou poked the genre in the eye. An altogether enjoyable comedy, the film is full of small surprises, big laughs, and wonderful character turns. Catherine Ballou (Jane Fonda) is a schoolteacher until a hired thug kills her daddy. To protect what she loves, she collects two petty criminals, a wisecracking hired hand, and a hired killer, Kid Shelleen (Lee Marvin). Unfortunately, Shelleen is a raging drunk who is so inebriated and unsteady with a gun he literally misses the broad side of a barn.
A legend forged in a blaze of glory. Good weather for a hanging. Billy the Kid's outlaw ingrates are penned like sows in a Lincoln County pit and the Kid is strapped in a nearby hotel. But the hangman will go home disappointed tonight. Billy cleverly breaks himself - then his gang - free. One of the West's greatest legends lives to ride another day. By 1879, the Lincoln County Wars have ended but bad blood endures. Billy and his men look to Mexico for haven - if they can elude Billy's one-time friend, pursuing Sheriff Pat Garrett (William Petersen).
David Aames (Tom Cruise) appears to lead a charmed life. Handsome, wealthy and charismatic, the young New York City publishing executive's freewheeling existence is enchanting, yet he seems to be missing something. Then, in one night David meets Sofia (Penelope Cruz), the girl of his dreams, but loses her by making a small mistake. Thrust unexpectedly onto a roller-coaster ride of romance, comedy, suspicion, love, sex and dreams, David finds himself on a mind-bending search for his soul and discovers the precious, ephemeral nature of true love.
One of the touchstone movies of the 1980s, Tootsie stars Dustin Hoffman as an out-of-work actor who disguises himself as a dowdy, middle-aged woman to get a part on a hit soap opera. The scheme works, but while he/she keeps up the charade, Hoffman's character comes to see life through the eyes of the opposite sex. The script by Larry Gelbart (with Murray Schisgal) is a winner, and director Sydney Pollack brings taut proficiency to the comedy and sensitivity to the relationship nuances that emerge from Hoffman's drag act.
Two-time Academy Award-winner Tom Hanks writes, directs and stars in this heartwarming and humorous story about a one-hit-wonder rock band who get a taste of fame during the unforgettable summer of 1964. With a soundtrack of fun, energetic music evoking the rock bands of the early 1960s, That Thing You Do is first-rate entertainment for the entire family.
The director and stars of 1998's You've Got Mail scored a breakthrough hit with this hugely popular romantic comedy from 1993, about a recently engaged woman (Meg Ryan) who hears the sad story of a grieving widower (Tom Hanks) on the radio and believes that they're destined to be together. She's single in New York, he lives in Seattle with a young son, but the cross-country attraction proves irresistible, and pretty soon Meg's on a westbound flight. What happens from there is ...
Rocky battles his most powerful adversary yet - the ferocious Clubber Lang (Mr. T) - in this hard-hitting action film that comes out swinging with adventure, humor and emotionally charged human drama. For what may be the most exciting and fast-paced film in the series, Sylvester Stallone writes, directs and stars with explosive passion and intensity. As Rocky Balboa (Stallone) fights his way into the hearts of millions, life couldn't be better. He scores ten consecutive wins, lands lucrative endorsement contracts, and becomes famous throughout the world.
