Movie Recommendations

Fun adapations of the Marvel comic character. CGI brings this highly acrobatic superhero to life, but the best part is the chemistry between stars Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst. (Spider-Man 3 ruined everything. Why do so many super-hero sequels try to cram in so many villains? Never works.)

THE film about the American theater. Great performances all around, esp. by George Sanders, with Bette Davis, Gary Merrill, Anne Baxter, and a very young Marilyn Monroe. Has Davis’s classic line: Fasten your seatbelts. It’s going to be a bumpy evening.

Arthur Penn Warren’s revisionist look at nearly a century of American history, through the eyes of a white man/Indian raised in and moving between two very different cultures. A western only in part, it’s also a lengthy political statement cum diatribe against the scourge of modern times—the white man, species americanus predatorus. Made at the…

Topnotch Tennessee Williams play is given its due by a first-rate cast. Vivien Leigh won best actress Oscar honors for her portrayal of the fragile, mentally unstable Blanche DuBois, a refined lady who’s fallen on hard times. When she comes to stay with her more earthy sister, Stella, she sets in motion a tragic confrontation…

Though Austen’s magnum opus gets slightly filtered for modern audiences, this engaging adaptation is still quite faithful.

Judy Holliday’s tour de force as the dumb blonde who blossoms when her gangster boyfriend hires a reporter to improve her social grace.

Unstoppable killing machines are sent back in time to eliminate the leader of humanity’s resistance against the machines. T2 is one of the few sequels to match or even best its predecessor. Haven’t heard anything good about the other sequels, so haven’t bothered to watch them.

The apotheosis of college-reunion movies, this Lawrence Kasdan film offers a terrific ensemble cast and a classy soundtrack.

Those with a dark sense of humor will appreciate this story of hitman John Cusack’s return home for his 10-year high school reunion.

Another Hitchcock take on the innocent man on the run, this time with the charm of Cary Grant and Eva Marie Sainte.