Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)

Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)

[7] Writer/director Steven Spielberg follows up his immensely successful Jaws with this tale of extra-terrestrials and government conspiracy. Richard Dreyfuss stars as a family man whose encounter with a UFO brings him into contact with a grieving mother (Melinda Dillon)…
Mission: Impossible (1996)

Mission: Impossible (1996)

[4] It's a testament to Tom Cruise's raw charisma and screen presence that I was able to make it through director Brian DePalma's boring big screen upgrade of the '60s television show Mission: Impossible. Because despite having a script co-written…
Red Rocket (2021)

Red Rocket (2021)

[3] As much as I like Tangerine and The Florida Project, director Sean Baker leaves me cold with Red Rocket. Former adult film actor Simon Rex stars as Mikey, a middle-aged douchebag porn star who flees Hollywood to lick his…
The Florida Project (2017)

The Florida Project (2017)

[8] Tangerine co-writer/director Sean Baker applies his 'quasi-cinéma vérité' style to this examination of Moonee, an unsupervised six-year old child (Brooklynn Prince) running free-range in an impoverished motel community positioned immediately outside Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida. Along with…
Trading Places (1983)

Trading Places (1983)

[8] Dan Aykroyd and Eddie Murphy headline this comedy from director John Landis (Animal House, The Blues Brothers) in which a snobby stockbroker (Aykroyd) and a petty street hustler (Murphy) are forced to trade places by two wealthy brothers as…
Boogie Nights (1997)

Boogie Nights (1997)

[9] Writer/director Paul Thomas Anderson's ode to the '70s porn industry brings poignant depth to its sensational subject matter. It's also an amazing showcase of top-notch acting and directing. Anderson is a rare creative talent, as skilled with actors as…
The Pirates of Blood River (1962)

The Pirates of Blood River (1962)

[4] Kerwin Mathews (The 7th Voyage of Sinbad) and Christopher Lee star in this would-be swashbuckler about pirates who lay siege to a Huguenot settlement in search of treasure the villagers insist they do not have. Mathews plays the outcast…
Another 48 Hrs. (1990)

Another 48 Hrs. (1990)

[4] Eddie Murphy and Nick Nolte return eight years after the success of 48 Hrs. for a sequel too afraid to stray from formula. Nolte's cop character once again gets Murphy's convict character out of prison to help him identify…
Platoon (1986)

Platoon (1986)

[8] Oliver Stone's Platoon was one of the first major motion pictures to deal with the Vietnam war. Charlie Sheen stars as an infantry volunteer who finds himself in a moral quandry, torn between two sergeants of differing philosophies. Tom…
Shane (1953)

Shane (1953)

[8] George Stevens (A Place in the Sun, Gunga Din) directs this Western morality tale based on the novel by Jack Schaefer. Alan Ladd plays the title character, a drifting cowboy who wanders into a sprawling Wyoming valley in the…