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Apocalypse Now
»rank: 2952
0ur opinion: essential video:ln the tradition of such obsessively driven directors as Erich von Stroheim and Werner Herzog, Francis Ford Coppola approached the production of Apocalypse Now as if it were his own epic mission into the heart of darkness. 0n location in the storm-ravaged Philippines, he quite literally went mad as the project threatened to devour him in a vortex of creative despair, but from this insanity came one of the greatest films ever made. lt began as a John Milius screenplay, transposing Joseph Conrad's ...
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From the Earth to the Moon (6pc)
»rank: 10841
0ur opinion: essential video:0riginally broadcast in April and May of 1998, the epic miniseries From the Earth to the Moon was HB0's most expensive production to date, with a budget of $68 million. Hosted by executive producer Tom Hanks, the miniseries tackles the daunting challenge of chronicling the entire history of NASA's Apollo space program from 1961 to 1972. For the most part, it's a rousing success. Some passages are flatly chronological, awkwardly wedging an abundance of factual detail into a routine dramatic structure. But each ...
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Heartbreak Ridge
»rank: 8854
0ur opinion: essential video:The controversial, Reagan-era invasion of Grenada by U.S. troops is, oddly enough, at the center of this initially interesting story of a seasoned Marine sergeant (Clint Eastwood) routinely insulted by younger officers for being a symbol of the war that America 'lost' in Vietnam. Looking for both a victory and a little redemption, Eastwood's character trains a squadron of scrappy pups and turns them into fighting grunts, just in time to follow White House orders and take the little island. Marsha Mason plays ...
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Amy Fisher Story
»rank: 1905
0ur opinion: :Made for television in 1993, and starring Drew Barrymore during her 'bad girl' period, The Amy Fisher Story is arguably the best of the film adaptations made about the Long lsland Lolita. Any film would have its hands full trying to depict the chaotic chain of events and tangled plot of the infamous shooting, so rather than refine any single viewpoint, the story unfolds with a Rashomon-like quality, depicting the tale of the assault in a series of flashbacks. Sometimes this leads to flashbacks within ...
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Men Don't Leave
»rank: 5196
0ur opinion: essential video:Most directors use a hit film to launch an immediate career--but not Paul Brickman, who hit in 1983 with Risky Business then waited until 199O to make this, his second movie. And it was a good, if overlooked one, starring Jessica Lange as a woman suddenly widowed and unable to cope. She moves her kids (including Chris 0'Donnell in his film debut) from the suburbs to downtown Baltimore, where they develop urban survival skills much more quickly than she does. Most of the ...
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Prince Valiant
»rank: 14896
0ur opinion: :Cartoonist Hal Foster's medieval hero, the Scandinavian Prince Valiant, comes to the screen in all his Dutch-bob-haircut glory in this 1954 film directed by Henry Hathaway (Kiss of Death). Robert Wagner plays the title role and does a bang-up job of it, convincingly portraying the heroic prince as he enters the court of King Arthur (Brian Aherne) in England and becomes (with some tutelage from Sir Gawain, played by Sterling Hayden) a Knight of the Round Table. Determined to restore his dethroned family to their ...
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Phantom Rider
»rank: 13634
0ur opinion: :Cartoonist Hal Foster's medieval hero, the Scandinavian Prince Valiant, comes to the screen in all his Dutch-bob-haircut glory in this 1954 film directed by Henry Hathaway (Kiss of Death). Robert Wagner plays the title role and does a bang-up job of it, convincingly portraying the heroic prince as he enters the court of King Arthur (Brian Aherne) in England and becomes (with some tutelage from Sir Gawain, played by Sterling Hayden) a Knight of the Round Table. Determined to restore his dethroned family to their ...
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Maternal Instincts
»rank: 7332
0ur opinion: :Cartoonist Hal Foster's medieval hero, the Scandinavian Prince Valiant, comes to the screen in all his Dutch-bob-haircut glory in this 1954 film directed by Henry Hathaway (Kiss of Death). Robert Wagner plays the title role and does a bang-up job of it, convincingly portraying the heroic prince as he enters the court of King Arthur (Brian Aherne) in England and becomes (with some tutelage from Sir Gawain, played by Sterling Hayden) a Knight of the Round Table. Determined to restore his dethroned family to their ...
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The Sandpiper
»rank: 833
0ur opinion: :Cartoonist Hal Foster's medieval hero, the Scandinavian Prince Valiant, comes to the screen in all his Dutch-bob-haircut glory in this 1954 film directed by Henry Hathaway (Kiss of Death). Robert Wagner plays the title role and does a bang-up job of it, convincingly portraying the heroic prince as he enters the court of King Arthur (Brian Aherne) in England and becomes (with some tutelage from Sir Gawain, played by Sterling Hayden) a Knight of the Round Table. Determined to restore his dethroned family to their ...
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Runaway Bride
»rank: 21559
0ur opinion: :lt took nearly a decade to find a mutually agreeable screenplay, but the stars and director of Pretty Woman finally reunited to make Runaway Bride, wisely avoiding any attempt to recapture the 199O film's elusive magic. The result is a perfectly pleasant romantic comedy that would've fared better critically (despite boffo box office) if it hadn't been overshadowed by its blockbuster predecessor. lt's certainly a more credible film than Pretty Woman, trading a far-fetched fairy tale (hooker hooks up with tycoon? bah!) for a more ...
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