Movie Recommendations

Helen Mirren’s signature performance as London’s DCI Jane Tennison, who must track down a serial killer while battling sexism in the police department.

Tennis star Farley Granger is sucked into a madman’s plans for a Criss-Cross Murder. Topnotch Hitchcock.

Very good Hitchcock, based on Daphne du Maurier’s fable of avian terrorism. So-so performance by Tippi Hedren mars an otherwise classy film with fine performances from Rod Taylor, Suzanne Pleshette, and Jessica Tandy.

Bright romantic comedy about a movie star who may or may not be falling for an ordinary bloke. While Hugh Grant and Julia Roberts are good, the one you’ll remember is Rhys Ifans as Hugh’s uninhibited and totally winning housemate. Warm story handled deftly by all, with a great soundtrack.

Lots of fun as the masked Curse of Capistrano fights corruption in early California.

Illegal immigrants—one with a mysterious past—navigate the hazards of London’s unseen underbelly. People come to hotels at night to do dirty things. It is our job to make them look pretty.

The letter announces that their friend and sometime rival has run off with one of their husbands… but doesn’t say which. Stranded on a daylong boat ride, the wives replay their marriages and wonder who has been abandoned.

Surreal movie about the tribulations of making an independent movie is also an entertaining glimpse at the world of special effects.

Barry Levinson’s pæan to 1950s Baltimore features a human script and a nice ensemble of young actors.

Fun fantasy of doomed lovers Rutger Hauer and Michelle Pfeiffer and their attempt to escape an evil bishop’s curse with the help of thief Gaston the Mouse (Matthew Broderick).