West Side Story (1961)

West Side Story (1961)

[8] Tension between rival New York City gangs the Jets and the Sharks is wound to a tragic snapping point after one young Jet falls head over heels for the sister of the Sharks' leader. West Side Story is based…
Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966)

Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966)

[8] An associate History professor (Richard Burton) and his wife, the university president's daughter (Elizabeth Taylor), invite a new biology faculty member (George Segal) and his wife (Sandy Dennis) to their house for drinks. But the evening goes hellishly south…
The Great Gatsby (1974)

The Great Gatsby (1974)

[7] F. Scott Fitzgerald's most required reading is faithfully script-adapted by Francis Ford Coppola, with Jack Clayton directing a production as lavish as required for the story of the uber-wealthy but mysterious Jay Gatsby. We enter into Gatsby's opulent world…
Dangerous Liaisons (1988)

Dangerous Liaisons (1988)

[7] It's 18th century France and everyone's the Vavavoom de Floofenberg dressed to the nines and powdered like a doughnut. Yes, Dangerous Liaisons is one of those dreaded costume dramas. But like any good one, if you strip away the…
Little Women (2019)

Little Women (2019)

[8] If someone is going to pick up Louisa May Alcott's much-loved literary classic, dust it off, and serve up a retelling, let it be the Oscar-nominated writer/director of Lady Bird. Greta Gerwig is respectably faithful to the material, but…
Cleopatra (1963)

Cleopatra (1963)

[3] Elizabeth Taylor plays the powerful and sexy Egyptian queen who fends off Roman conquest while falling in love with its leaders -- first Rex Harrison's Caesar, and then Richard Burton's Antony. First I'll be nice to Cleopatra. The sets…
Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing (1955)

Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing (1955)

[7] Jennifer Jones and William Holden star as a widowed Eurasian doctor and a married American news correspondent who fall in love despite cultural differences and wartime separations during China's communist revolution. Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing is one of…
Black Panther (2018)

Black Panther (2018)

[6] Somewhere in Africa, there's a secret society hidden away by fancy technology. They have, like, a really super-strong metal there that the rest of the world wants, but the secret African people know the rest of the world will…
Moulin Rouge! (2001)

Moulin Rouge! (2001)

[8] A lonely writer falls in love with a singing, dancing courtesan in this bawdy musical that soars on the charms of co-stars Nicole Kidman and Ewan McGregor. The song numbers cannibalize lyrics from love songs over the past century,…
An American in Paris (1951)

An American in Paris (1951)

[4] Near the end of both Singin' in the Rain and An American in Paris, there is a big, epic dance number that feels very out of place. It's the only thing I don't like about Singin' in the Rain,…