Movie Recommendations

Danny Kaye at his best. Tongue-twisting songs, mistaken identity, and a hysterical parody of every Robin Hood movie ever made. Remember: The pellet with the poison’s in the vessel with the pestle; the chalice from the palace has the brew that is true.

Together with From Russia with Love, this film marks the high point of the James Bond series. Although you can see the beginnings of the campiness and gadgetry that mar most later entries, Goldfinger still packs a punch. The showdown with Oddjob in Fort Knox is classic.

Two landowners scheme to ruin an idealistic, hunchbacked lawyer-turned-farmer whose land contains a vital water source. (subtitled)

Gary Cooper as the small-town tuba player and poet who inherits a fortune and must deal with slick lawyers, hangers-on, and a media frenzy whipped up by ace reporter Jean Arthur.

Montgomery Clift takes on patriarch John Wayne in this tale of mutiny on the trail.

A New Hope (the original Star Wars movie) is a nonstop extravaganza of heroes, villains, aliens, and magic. The Empire Strikes Back (1980), although in some ways a richer film, rates an F from me just because nothing could match the magic of the original. Return of the Jedi garners only an M for its…

Harrison Ford as a cop trained to kill replicant humans. But how can you tell the artificial from the real?

Gerard Depardieu handles the role with aplomb; exquisite sets and costumes complement an intelligent Roxane and sympathetic Christian. (subtitled)

Another definitive film, this time of the antebellum and Reconstruction Era South. Not actually my cup of tea, but a must-see for anyone seeking cinema literacy.

For those into wry gallows humor. Slighted by his aristocratic relatives, Henry realizes that only eight people—all played by Alec Guinness—stand between him and the dukedom.