Drama

Rated: G

• Running Time:
• My Rating: 0/5
• Directed by: Alfonso Cuarón, Agnieszka Holland
• Starring: Liesel Matthews, Eleanor Bron, Liam Cunningham, Rusty Schwimmer, Arthur Malet, Vanessa Lee Chester, Errol Sitahal, Heather DeLoach, Taylor Fry, Darcie Bradford, Rachael Bella, Alexandra Rea-Baum, Camilla Belle, Lauren Blumenfeld, Kelsey Mulrooney, Kaitlin Cullum, Alison Moir, Time Winters, Lomax Study, Vincent Schiavelli

Two of Frances Hodgson Burnett's most treasured children's novels come to the screen in wondrous adaptations. Alfonso Cuaron (Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban) directs A Little Princess, the magical story of a girl who uses her powers of imagination and zest for life to overcome hardships at a stern boarding school. And three lonely children are forever changed as they learn to trust each other while restoring and taking refuge in The Secret Garden. Agnieszka Holland (Europa Europa) directs and Francis Ford Coppola executive produces a luminous film in which magic and hope bloom.

Date added to my collection: 24 Feb 2007

My Comments:

Genre: Drama

• Rated: PG
• Running Time: 123
• My Rating: 0/5
• Directed by: Hugh Hudson
• Starring: Nicholas Farrell, Nigel Havers, Ian Charleson, Ben Cross, Daniel Gerroll, Ian Holm, John Gielgud, Lindsay Anderson, Nigel Davenport, Cheryl Campbell, Alice Krige, Dennis Christopher, Brad Davis, Patrick Magee, Peter Egan, Struan Rodger, David Yelland, Yves Beneyton, Jeremy Sinden, Gordon Hammersley

The come-from-behind winner of the 1981 Oscar for best picture, "Chariots of Fire" either strikes you as either a cold exercise in mechanical manipulation or as a tale of true determination and inspiration. The heroes are an unlikely pair of young athletes who ran for Great Britain in the 1924 Paris Olympics: devout Protestant Eric Liddell (Ian Charleson), a divinity student whose running makes him feel closer to God, and Jewish Harold Abrahams (Ben Cross), a highly competitive Cambridge student who has to surmount the institutional hurdles of class prejudice and anti-Semitism. There's delicious support from Ian Holm (as Abrahams's coach) and John Gielgud and Lindsay Anderson as a couple of Cambridge fogies. Vangelis's soaring synthesized score, which seemed to be everywhere in the early 1980s, also won an Oscar. "Chariots of Fire" was the debut film of British television commercial director Hugh Hudson (Greystoke) and was produced by David Puttnam. "--Jim Emerson"

Date added to my collection: 27 Aug 2006

My Comments: This is the story of two men who run...not to run...but to prove something to the world. They will sacrifice anything to achieve their goals...Except their honor.

Genre: Drama

• Rated: PG-13
• Running Time: 141
• My Rating: 0/5
• Directed by: Mira Nair
• Starring: Gabriel Byrne, Angelica Mandy, Roger Lloyd-Pack, Ruth Sheen, Kate Fleetwood, Reese Witherspoon, Lillete Dubey, Romola Garai, Tony Maudsley, Deborah Findlay, John Franklyn-Robbins, Paul Bazely, Rhys Ifans, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Charlie Beall, David Sterne, Bob Hoskins, Douglas Hodge, Meg Wynn Owen, Georgina Edmonds

Growing up poor in London, Becky Sharp (Witherspoon) defies her poverty-stricken background and ascends the social ladder alongside her best friend, Amelia.

Date added to my collection: 02 Sep 2006

My Comments: All's fair in love & war.

Genre: Action

• Rated: PG-13
• Running Time: 119
• Rating: 0/5
• Directed by: John G. Avildsen
• Starring: Sylvester Stallone, Talia Shire, Burt Young, Sage Stallone, Burgess Meredith, Tommy Morrison, Richard Gant, Tony Burton, Jimmy Gambina, Delia Sheppard, Mike Girard Sheehan, Michael Williams (III), Kevin Connolly, Elisebeth Peters, Hayes Swope, Nicky Blair, Jodi Letizia, Christopher Avildsen, Jonathan Avildsen, Don Sherman

A small time boxer gets a once in a lifetime chance to fight the heavyweight champ in a bout in which he strives to go the distance for his self-respect.

Date added to my collection: 27 Aug 2006

My Comments: His whole life was a million-to-one shot.

Rated: R
Release Date:1976
Running Time: 113
My Rating: 0/5
Directed by: Martin Scorsese
Starring: Robert De Niro, Cybill Shepherd, Peter Boyle, Jodie Foster, Harvey Keitel, Leonard Harris, Albert Brooks, Diahnne Abbott, Frank Adu, Gino Ardito, Victor Argo, Garth Avery, Harry Cohn, Copper Cunningham, Brenda Dickson-Weinberg

"Taxi Driver" is the definitive cinematic portrait of loneliness and alienation manifested as violence. It is as if director Martin Scorsese and screenwriter Paul Schrader had tapped into precisely the same source of psychological inspiration ("I just knew I had to make this film," Scorsese would later say), combined with a perfectly timed post-Watergate expression of personal, political, and societal anxiety. Robert De Niro, as the tortured, ex-Marine cab driver Travis Bickle, made movie history with his chilling performance as one of the most memorably intense and vividly realized characters ever committed to film. Bickle is a self-appointed vigilante who views his urban beat as an intolerable cesspool of blighted humanity. He plays guardian angel for a young prostitute (Jodie Foster), but not without violently devastating consequences. This masterpiece, which is not for all tastes, is sure to horrify some viewers, but few could deny the film's lasting power and importance. "--Jeff Shannon"

Date added to my collection: 22 Oct 2005

My Comments: On every street in every city, there's a nobody who dreams of being a somebody.

Rated: PG
Release Date:1995
Running Time: 103
My Rating: 0/5
Directed by: John Sayles
Starring: Jeni Courtney, Pat Slowey, Dave Duffy, Declan Hannigan, Mairéad Ní Ghallchóir, Eugene McHugh, Tony Rubini, Mick Lally, Eileen Colgan, Richard Sheridan, Micheal MacCarthaigh, Fergal McElherron, Brendan Conroy, John Lynch, Frankie McCafferty

As one of the most respected American independent filmmakers, John Sayles has created a body of work as distinguished in its diversity as for its consistent quality and inspiring originality. He's never been one to march to the commercial beat, but chooses instead to follow his creative impulse wherever it leads him. "The Secret of Roan Inish" led Sayles to the beautiful and moody West Coast of Ireland; it is a tale of a girl who discovers that her family has been touched by myth and magic throughout the years. Following the death of her mother, young Fiona (Jeni Courtney) is sent to live with her grandparents on the Irish coast across from Roan Inish, the island where her family once lived. She's told stories about the "selkies"--seals that can turn into humans--who have been connected with Fiona's family over the ages. At first she's not sure if the selkies are real or mythological, but she later realizes that they hold the key to reclaiming her family heritage.
What's remarkable about this film (which Sayles adapted from Rosalie Fry's novel "Secret of the Ron Mor Skerry") is that it's not told as a cute fantasy for children, but as a straightforward, unsentimental story of a young girl's family history. That gives the film--which was beautifully photographed by master cinematographer Haskell Wexler--an understated charm that is completely absorbing in its atmosphere and subtle tone. There's magic as well, to be sure--you could almost swear that the seals and seagulls in the film took direction from Sayles as well as any human actor! "--Jeff Shannon"

Date added to my collection: 22 Oct 2005

My Comments: The secret's out!

Rated: R
Release Date:2002
Running Time: 117
My Rating: 0/5
Directed by: Sam Mendes
Starring: Tyler Hoechlin, Rob Maxey, Liam Aiken, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Tom Hanks, Paul Newman, Daniel Craig, Ciarán Hinds, Craig Spidle, Ian Barford, Stephen P. Dunn, Paul Turner, Kathleen Keane, Brendan McKinney, Jackie Moran

In "Road to Perdition", Tom Hanks plays a hit man who finds his heart. Michael Sullivan (Hanks) is the right-hand man of crime boss John Rooney (Paul Newman), but when Sullivan's son accidentally witnesses one of his hits, he must choose between his crime family and his real one. The movie has a slow pace, largely because director Sam Mendes ("American Beauty") seems to be in love with the gorgeous period locations. Hanks gives a deceptively battened-down performance at first, only opening up toward the very end of the film, making his character's personal transformation all the more convincing. Newman turns in a masterful piece of work, revealing Rooney's advancing age but at the same time, his terrifying power. Jude Law is also a standout, playing a hit man-photographer with chilling creepiness. This movie requires a little patience, but the beautiful cinematography and moving ending make it well worth the wait. "--Ali Davis"

Date added to my collection: 22 Oct 2005

My Comments: Pray for Michael Sullivan

Rated: PG-13
Release Date:2002
Running Time: 135
My Rating: 0/5
Directed by: Ron Howard
Starring: Russell Crowe, Ed Harris, Jennifer Connelly, Christopher Plummer, Paul Bettany, Adam Goldberg, Josh Lucas, Anthony Rapp, Jason Gray-Stanford, Judd Hirsch, Austin Pendleton, Vivien Cardone, Jill M. Simon, Victor Steinbach, Tanya Clarke

After a brilliant but asocial mathematician accepts secret work in cryptography, his life takes a turn to the nightmarish.

Date added to my collection: 26 Feb 2006

My Comments: He Saw The World In A Way No One Could Have Imagined.

Rated: R
Release Date:1999
Running Time: 170
My Rating: 0/5
Directed by: Steven Spielberg
Starring: Tom Hanks, Tom Sizemore, Edward Burns, Barry Pepper, Adam Goldberg, Vin Diesel, Giovanni Ribisi, Jeremy Davies, Matt Damon, Ted Danson, Paul Giamatti, Dennis Farina, Joerg Stadler, Max Martini, Dylan Bruno

When Steven Spielberg was an adolescent, his first home movie was a backyard war film. When he toured Europe with "Duel" in his 20s, he saw old men crumble in front of headstones at Omaha Beach. That image became the opening scene of "Saving Private Ryan", his film of a mission following the D-day invasion that many have called the most realistic--and maybe the best--war film ever. With 1998 production standards, Spielberg has been able to create a stunning, unparalleled view of war as hell. We are at Omaha Beach as troops are slaughtered by Germans yet overcome the almost insurmountable odds.
A stalwart Tom Hanks plays Captain Miller, a soldier's soldier, who takes a small band of troops behind enemy lines to retrieve a private whose three brothers have recently been killed in action. It's a public relations move for the Army, but it has historical precedent dating back to the Civil War. Some critics of the film have labeled the central characters stereotypes. If that is so, this movie gives stereotypes a good name: Tom Sizemore as the deft sergeant, Edward Burns as the hotheaded Private Reiben, Barry Pepper as the religious sniper, Adam Goldberg as the lone Jew, Vin Diesel as the oversize Private Caparzo, Giovanni Ribisi as the soulful medic, and Jeremy Davies, who as a meek corporal gives the film its most memorable performance.
The movie is as heavy and realistic as Spielberg's Oscar-winning "Schindler's List", but it's more kinetic. Spielberg and his ace technicians (the film won five Oscars: editing (Michael Kahn), cinematography (Janusz Kaminski), sound, sound effects, and directing) deliver battle sequences that wash over the eyes and hit the gut. The violence is extreme but never gratuitous. The final battle, a dizzying display of gusto, empathy, and chaos, leads to a profound repose. "Saving Private Ryan" touches us deeper than "Schindler" because it succinctly links the past with how we should feel today. It's the film Spielberg was destined to make. "--Doug Thomas"

Date added to my collection: 19 Oct 2005

My Comments: The mission is a man.

Rated: PG
Release Date:1942
Running Time: 102
My Rating: 0/5
Directed by: Michael Curtiz
Starring: Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman, Paul Henreid, Claude Rains, Conrad Veidt, Sydney Greenstreet, Peter Lorre, S.Z. Sakall, Madeleine LeBeau, Dooley Wilson, Joy Page, John Qualen, Leonid Kinskey, Curt Bois

A truly perfect movie, the 1942 "Casablanca" still wows viewers today, and for good reason. Its unique story of a love triangle set against terribly high stakes in the war against a monster is sophisticated instead of outlandish, intriguing instead of garish. Humphrey Bogart plays the allegedly apolitical club owner in unoccupied French territory that is nevertheless crawling with Nazis; Ingrid Bergman is the lover who mysteriously deserted him in Paris; and Paul Heinreid is her heroic, slightly bewildered husband. Claude Rains, Sydney Greenstreet, Peter Lorre, and Conrad Veidt are among what may be the best supporting cast in the history of Hollywood films. This is certainly among the most spirited and ennobling movies ever made. "--Tom Keogh"

Date added to my collection: 22 Oct 2005

My Comments: Black and White