Director James Foley and cinematographer Mark Plummer deftly conjure the sense of stifling containment that drives these characters to drink or sin, but Robert Redlin's screenplay fails to fully animate their personalities. Patric gives a tremendous, smoldering performance, but Ward fails to convey the mysterious radiance of a convincing femme fatale. Dern rounds out the unappetizing triangle with an unpleasant performance, proving himself a worthy contender in the Dennis Hopper/Harry Dean Stanton creepstakes.

Hollywood's attempt to capitalize on student rebellion looked trivial in comparison to real events (the shootings at Kent State occured in the same year), but Getting Straight, buoyed by Gould's eccentric screen presence and Kovacs' stylish camerawork, holds up surprisingly well.

First and foremost a celebration of Cuban dance and music.

Under veteran helmer Roy Ward Baker's solid direction, Kruger makes a surprisingly sympathetic "enemy" protagonist, and one can't help but root for the brave and determined young German in his escape attempt.

This is a landmark western, redefining what the genre was capable of doing, and is one of Daves's best works.

A vibrant, cinematically radical, and extremely accomplished work which went on to become one of the most celebrated movies ever made.

Even though the screen is often divided into a Mondrian-like grid, each individual box containing its own discreet moving image, McDonald's film is surprisingly fluid and easy to follow.

The execution is masterful and even as you see the building blocks of the climax being put into place, it's a delight to watch them fit JUST SO.

Lundgren, an inexpressive actor, is perfect as a graphic cipher: his face was made to be drawn in ink and filled in with broad washes of color. Carefully tended facial stubble trimmed to give him a skull-like appearance, Lundgren is truly impressive as a character defined by emotional emptiness.

Shot in neorealist black-and-white, it opens like a gritty slice of social drama, then takes a sharp turn into bleak, existential horror.

A minor classic of the genre, this is a memorable addition to the vampire tradition in the horror film.

Likably low-key, character-driven dramatic comedy.

Harsh, funny, grim, and, like all Bob Fosse's films, primarily concerned with the intersection of life and showbiz.

Fans of Lehane's Kenzie-Gennaro books will lament the fact that starting with the fourth book means losing the couple's extensive backstory, but the essence of their fragile, damaged bond comes through even if you don't know what shaped it.

Doesn’t break any new documentary ground, but it does exactly what it sets out to do: Preserve a live event and make it available to a broader audience.

Claustrophobic and nightmarishly atmospheric, ISLE OF THE DEAD is kept moving along by director Mark Robson at a deliberate pace which becomes more and more creepy until the moment of the premature burial.

An intriguing Hitchcock thriller which probes the dark recesses of a man's mind through psychoanalytic treatment and the love of a woman.

One of the most intelligent and terrifying horror films of the 1980s.

The film is by turns strident, obvious, righteously angry and inspired.

With both Lorre and Price having a grand time poking fun at the material and themselves. The final story has several memorable moments.

The funniest of all the Cheech and Chong movies, UP IN SMOKE provides a feast of gags for the sympathetically minded.

A dry, thoroughly modern reminder that while mores change, human nature doesn't.

The story gets silly from time to time, stretching credibility to the breaking point, but the final result is an old-fashioned love triangle made new by the third party's being electronic.

A sentimental film that works because of its unsentimental moments--in particular, its sometimes embarassingly honest portrayal of what interests boys and how they talk about it. Reiner elicits some excellent performances from his young cast (River Phoenix is a standout) and Kiefer Sutherland is memorable as a menacing teen hood.

Based on the comic strip created by Charles Schulz, this is the fourth and the best of the animated films devoted to the charming antics of the "Peanuts" gang.

Goldbacher's film is lovely to look at, but the blurry heart of the film only suffers by the comparison.

It's a spectacular adventure story with romance, because while they fight with wild animals and cannibals, they fall in love.

An early cinema staple, the chase film, is resurrected, pure and simple, by star-producer-director Cornel Wilde.