How Green Was My Valley (1941)

How Green Was My Valley (1941)

[9] Director John Ford follows up The Grapes of Wrath with another powerfully moving, literary adaptation about working families weathering a crushing economic tide. How Green Was My Valley, based on the novel by Richard Llewellyn, centers around the warm-hearted Morgan family…
The Devil and Daniel Webster (1941)

The Devil and Daniel Webster (1941)

[10] William Dieterle's adaptation of Stephen Vincent Benet's The Devil and Daniel Webster is a winning combination of rustic Americana and dark fantasy. A cautionary tale of greed and power, the narrative centers around the character of Jabez Stone (James Craig), a…
Return of the Jedi (1983)

Return of the Jedi (1983)

[9] George Lucas wraps up his historic, original Star Wars trilogy with an entry that's widely considered inferior to the first two films -- but that's more a testimony to the unparalleled excellence of those prior films than a knock against it's…
The Empire Strikes Back (1980)

The Empire Strikes Back (1980)

[10] After deciding directing wasn't his favorite thing to do, George Lucas enticed his former film school teacher Irvin Kershner (Eyes of Laura Mars, Return of a Man Called Horse) to helm the dark second act of his historic Star Wars trilogy.…
Star Wars (1977)

Star Wars (1977)

[10] Writer/director George Lucas (American Graffiti) surprised the world with this unassuming and unheralded matinee-style fantasy adventure that, by all industry standards, would be dead on arrival at the box office. But then word-of-mouth catapulted Star Wars to the highest echelons of…
Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore (1974)

Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore (1974)

[9] Ellen Burstyn (The Exorcist, Requiem for a Dream) stars as a widowed mother who suddenly finds herself having to start a new life in this engaging comedy/drama from Martin Scorsese that became a popular TV sitcom (Alice). The feature film begins inside…
Skyfall (2012)

Skyfall (2012)

[9] It's so refreshing to watch heroes and villains who are over the age of 40. Skyfall repeatedly suggests that sometimes older is better, and as a middle-aged film fan, I couldn't agree more. Daniel Craig's third turn as James Bond matches…
Ben-Hur (1959)

Ben-Hur (1959)

[10] Charlton Heston stars as Judah Ben-Hur, a Jewish prince whose life is thrown into years of soul-crushing turmoil after being betrayed by a childhood friend. That friend, a Roman soldier named Messala (Stephen Boyd), turns against Judah after he refuses to…
Aliens (1986)

Aliens (1986)

[10] Writer/director James Cameron accomplishes a rare feat with a sequel that doesn't shame the original and succeeds on its own merits. Aliens is so different in tone than the original Alien, I think of it as a sequel only in name…
Moonstruck (1987)

Moonstruck (1987)

[9] In New York City's Little Italy, a widowed bookkeeper named Loretta (Cher) accepts a marriage proposal from a man she likes, but doesn't love (Danny Aiello). Before her fiancée heads out of town to tend to his ailing mother, he asks…