Movie Recommendations

A beautiful movie about movies, and growing up, in a small Italian village. The original 1989 film is wonderful, but the main character’s romance lacks closure—nearly an hour was chopped out for American distribution. Watch the extended Director’s Cut if at all possible. (subtitled)

The best Bond movie, made before the series went over the top. (And of course the younger Sean Connery is the best Bond.)

Paul Newman’s tortuous journey from pool shark to pool player is an engrossing look at life on the down side.

Viciously cynical and paranoid conspiracy film about a brainwashed assassin. Angela Lansbury is outstanding in an against-type-casting role.

Heroes! Monsters! Magic! Miracles! True Love!

Mystery mindgames turn fatal between Michael Caine and cuckolded husband Laurence Olivier.

Jack Benny’s theater troupe plays a dangerous game to aid the Polish underground. Some feel that joking about the Third Reich is tasteless; fans of the film find it funny and human.

Life is a banquet, and most poor suckers are starving to death. Mame may be a kook, but she’s an inspiring, lovable kook who opens doors for everyone around her. Don’t miss out.

Can one word sum up an entire life, particularly one as complex as that of William Randolph Hearst—uh, Charles Foster Kane? More than 70 years later, the cinematography, direction, and script are still ground-breaking.

Bittersweet story of nebbish Woody Allen’s agreement to front for a blacklisted friend in the 1950s.