True Grit (1969)
[7] John Wayne took home the Oscar for his performance as crotchety Rooster Cogburn, an alcoholic US Marshall recruited by a young girl (Kim Darby) to capture her father's killer and bring him to justice. Wayne is low key as…
Training Day (2001)
[7] Ethan Hawke plays a freshman L.A. narcotics officer crash-coursing with a rogue, undercover detective played by Denzel Washington. Training Day hits the ground running and turns into a taut, character-driven thriller that throws a few twists and surprises I…
American Beauty (1999)
[5]
SPOILER REVIEW
I really liked American Beauty when it was first released. Maybe I was wooed by its quirky introspection and aesthetic achievments. Or maybe it was screenwriter Alan Ball’s fresh new way of blending the real with the surreal. Or even the meditative lilt of Thomas Newman’s trend-setting score. But whatever the reason(s), watching the film ten years later, I realize — American Beauty ain’t all that. It’s kinda whack.
Network (1976)
[10] A suicidal TV news anchorman strikes a nerve with the public, prompting his network to bastardize their news hour with his crackpot proselytizing. Before long, the network embraces pure tabloid sensationalism -- live assassinations and all. Network is now…
To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)
[10]
Harper Lee’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel is lovingly adapted to film by director Robert Mulligan, screenwriter Horton Foote, and producer Alan J. Pakula. Gregory Peck earned the Best Actor Oscar for his portrayal of Atticus Finch, a lawyer of uncompromising morals who puts the safety of his family on the line to defend Tom Robinson (Brock Peters), a black man accused of raping a white woman. Finch is also a widower, raising his two young children with the help of his maid Calpurnia (Estelle Evans). The narrative is made a coming-of-age story through the eyes of Finch’s youngest, the feisty Jean Louise — or Scout (Mary Badham) as she’s nicknamed. Scout’s perspective on racism is balanced with her own fear and ignorance surrounding a neighbor named Boo Radley (Robert Duvall), who turns out to be her salvation when she and her brother are attacked by a bigot seeking revenge on their father.
The African Queen (1951)
[9]
Charm can take a movie a long, long way. With Katharine Hepburn and Humphrey Bogart in their only film together, The African Queen goes the distance. She’s Rosie, the prudish widow of a missionary, and he’s Charlie, the rough-around-the-edges steamboat captain. Director John Huston puts them in a small boat together and lets the sparks fly. We need only a simple plot to drive this movie forward — Charlie and Rosie are determined to sink a German gunship that blocks the mouth of the river, so they make their own torpedoes and head straight into danger. The story gives ample room for the characters to quarrel and, yes, fall in love.
Boys Town (1938)
[8] Spencer Tracy won his second (consecutive) Academy Award for his portrayal of Father Flanagan, a man who firmly believed "there are no bad boys." In the movie and in real life, Flanagan built an educational refuge for homeless and…