Double Reading

Disclaimer: I really only manage the top six or so entries. Things at the bottom of my queue are usually there because I added them recently. I often take things from the bottom and middle, then move them way up to the top when I want to see them. Point of the story: the order doesn’t make much difference.

1. Monster’s Ball
   
   Death row in the Louisiana State Penitentiary is the hothouse backdrop for this hard-hitting drama about racist prison guard Billy Bob Thornton, who falls in love with the wife (Best Actress Oscar winner Halle Berry) of a condemned man he helped execute. Peter Boyle plays Thornton’s hopelessly bigoted father, and rapper Sean “Puffy” Combs astonishes as Berry’s ill-fated, “dead man walking” husband.
2. Close Encounters of the Third Kind
   
   When Roy Neary (Richard Dreyfuss) encounters a UFO, he’s left with a sunburned face, a skeptical family and a shaken psyche. Soon, Roy begins seeking out others who’ve had similar “visions.” Among those he finds are Jillian (Melinda Dillon), a woman who’s lost her son to the aliens, and Claude (Francois Truffaut), a researcher preparing for Earth’s first contact with extraterrestrials in this Oscar-winning classic from director Steven Spielberg.
3. Unforgiven
   
   Long-retired gunslinger William Munny (Clint Eastwood) reluctantly takes one last job — and even more reluctantly accepts a boastful youth (Jaimz Woolvett) as a partner. Together, they discover how easily complicated truths are distorted into simplistic myths about the Old West. Gene Hackman (who won an Oscar) and Richard Harris stand out as old foes who have an unhappy reunion. Other Oscars include Best Picture and Director (Eastwood).
4. About Schmidt
   
   When insurance actuary Warren Schmidt (Jack Nicholson) retires and his wife dies, he looks for life’s meaning on a road trip to his daughter’s (Hope Davis) upcoming wedding to a waterbed salesman (Dermot Mulroney). But Warren can’t seem to get anything right. En route to the wedding, he shares his life through letters with a Tanzanian boy he’s sponsoring for 73 cents a day … and soon, Warren discovers renewed purpose.
5. The Iron Giant: Special Edition
   
   In rustic 1957 Maine, 9-year-old Hogarth finds a colossal but disoriented robot (of unknown origin), and the two form a strong bond of friendship. Before long, however, a government agent is on their trail — and he’s intent on destroying the automaton. This beautifully rendered parable based on British poet Ted Hughes’ feted short story features the voices of Jennifer Aniston, Vin Diesel, Harry Connick Jr. and Cloris Leachman.
6. Teddy Bears’ Picnic
   
   In Harry Shearer’s tongue-in-cheek comedy, a waiter at Zanbesu Glen (a chi-chi Northern California resort) uses his movie camera to spy on the annual communal vacation of a group of rich, white U.S. government and business leaders who drink and carouse to excess while plotting their next move on the global stage. His goal? To sell the embarrassing and incriminating footage to the media and expose the “leaders” for what they really are.
7. Do the Right Thing
   
   Spike Lee directs and stars in this controversial film that traces a sweltering summer day in the life of one of New York’s toughest neighborhoods. The stellar cast includes Danny Aiello, Ossie Davis, Ruby Dee, Richard Edson, Giancarlo Esposito, Samuel L. Jackson, Bill Nunn, Rosie Perez and John Turturro. This powerful portrait of urban racial tensions — which ultimately boil over into a climactic riot — earned popular and critical praise.
8. Spider
   
   A psychological thriller about a London man (Ralph Fiennes) trying to piece his life back together after being prematurely released from a mental institution. Writing in a journal, the man tries to discover the truth about his mysterious past and the death of his mother (Miranda Richardson), even as he struggles to preserve a fragile hold on his sanity. Directed by goremeister David Cronenberg.
9. The Dead Zone
   
   The missiles are flyin’ … hallelujah! Based on a best-seller by Stephen King and directed by horror veteran David Cronenberg, The Dead Zone is a wonderful addition to the pantheon of intelligent horror films. Johnny Smith (Christopher Walken) awakens from a 5-year coma blessed with second sight — and part of the future terror he can see involves Martin Sheen, a sleazebag on the fast track to the presidency of the United States.
10. The Pillow Book
    
    A bizarre mix of carnality and calligraphy, The Pillow Book is a lush foray into the aphrodisiacal pleasures of the flesh and mind. A woman (Vivian Wu) melds her love of life and literature in an unusual fashion — by seeking a lover who will write on her skin and allow her to do the same. Ewan McGregor costars.
11. Orlando
    
    Director Sally Potter adapts Virginia Woolf’s 1928 allegorical novel about a woman who lives for 400 years — the first half as a man — in this surrealist study of sex and gender roles throughout the ages. The transition from man to woman and from the 16th to the 20th century is realized by Tilda Swinton’s breakthrough performance and the film’s Oscar-nominated costumes and art direction. Quentin Crisp plays Queen Elizabeth I.
12. Dreamgirls
    
    Twenty-five years after its Broadway debut, the definitive girl-group musical, earning the most Oscar nods in 2007, finally makes its way to the screen with Bill Condon at the helm and a dream cast that includes Jamie Foxx and Beyoncé Knowles. A trio of women have high hopes for fame but end up paying a high price for it. Eddie Murphy plays James Early (in an Oscar-nominated role), and Jennifer Hudson took home the golden statuette for playing strong but slighted Effie.
13. Dead Calm
    
    The Ingrams — John (Sam Neill) and Rae (Nicole Kidman) — set off for an extended sailing trip after their young son dies tragically in a car crash. When they come across another seafarer (Billy Zane) feverishly paddling away from a sinking schooner, they bring him aboard — and quickly realize he’s a murderous sociopath. Masterfully directed by Phillip Noyce, this violent, psychological thriller helped launch Kidman’s film career.
14. Single White Female
    
    Up-and-coming fashion designer Allison (Bridget Fonda) lives the urban dweller’s dream life in a gorgeous Manhattan apartment with boyfriend Sam (Steven Weber). When infidelity is revealed and Sam moves out, Allison places a classified ad to find a roommate. Quiet, mousy Hedy (Jennifer Jason Leigh) fits the bill until her enviousness toward Allison turns her into the roommate from hell in director Barbet Schroeder’s dark psychological thriller.
15. Crash
    
    Adapted from the novel of the same name by J.G. Ballard, David Cronenberg’s controversial film explores the titillating link between car crashes and human desire. After being seriously scarred in a near-fatal collision, television director James Ballard (James Spader) finds his soul mate in fellow crash victim Dr. Helen Remington (Holly Hunter). Together, the pair probes the eroticism of the automobile and the sexual violence of auto accidents.
16. The Hand that Rocks the Cradle
    
    A suburban family chooses seemingly sweet Peyton Flanders (Rebecca De Mornay) as their newborn’s nanny. Only much later does the infant’s mother, Claire Bartel (Annabella Sciorra), realize Peyton’s true intentions — to destroy Claire and replace her in the family. The nail-biting suspense builds quickly in this chilling psychological thriller about deception and bitter revenge. Julianne Moore co-stars as Claire’s sassy real-estate-agent friend.
17. L.A. Confidential
    
    A must-see whodunit that’s praised as one of the best films of the 1990s. In 1950s Los Angeles, three wildly different cops (Guy Pearce, Russell Crowe and Kevin Spacey) form an uneasy alliance to ferret out deep-seated police corruption. Brian Helgeland’s script adaptation won an Oscar, as did Kim Basinger for her supporting role as a hooker who seduces haunted tough-guy Crowe.
18. That Obscure Object of Desire
    
    This Oscar-nominated erotic dark comedy was Luis Buñuel’s final film. The story follows, in flashback, middle-aged Mathieu (Fernando Rey) and his obsession for the much younger, moody Conchita (played by both Carole Bouquet and Angela Molina). The two play a continuous tug-of-war with each other’s desires, each trying to outlast the other at their own game.
19. Death in Venice
    
    Italian legend Luchino Visconti made a visually stunning adaptation of the Thomas Mann novella about an older gay man, composer Gustav von Aschenbach (Dirk Bogarde), who goes to Venice to escape past loves and professional failures. All his woes are forgotten when he sees an angelic blond Polish boy whom he follows everywhere (without ever approaching). Soon, his life is transformed in ways he could never have imagined.
20. The Seventh Seal
    
    Exhausted and disillusioned, a medieval knight (Max von Sydow) makes the journey home after years of combat in the Crusades. When the black-robed figure of Death confronts him, the knight challenges him to a game of chess. A powerful meditation on the existence of God and the meaning of life, this drama is considered one of Ingmar Bergman’s best and took the Cannes Film Festival Prize in 1957.
21. The Kid
    
    Considered one of Charlie Chaplin’s best films, The Kid also made a star of little Jackie Coogan, who plays a boy cared for by The Tramp when he’s abandoned by his mother, Edna (Edna Purviance). Later, Edna has a change of heart and circumstances and aches to be reunited with her son. When she finds him and wrests him from The Tramp, it makes for what turned out be one of the most heart-wrenching scenes ever included in a comedy.
22. Soldier’s Girl
    
    This powerful drama tells the true story of a young soldier, Pfc. Barry Winchell (Troy Garity), who meets and falls for a beautiful transgendered performer (Lee Pace) while on a drunken outing with fellow soldiers. But the relationship is frowned upon by the other soldiers and eventually leads to Barry’s brutal death at the hands of his homophobic roommate. Garity and Pace were both nominated for Independent Spirit Awards for their performances.
23. The Quiet American
    
    Based on the novel by Graham Greene, this murder mystery centers on a love triangle set against the French Indochina War in 1952 Vietnam — a world suffused with opium, intrigue and betrayal. A British reporter, Fowler (Michael Caine, in an Oscar-nominated performance), falls in love with a young Vietnamese woman, Phuong (Do Thi Hai Yen), and is dismayed when American CIA agent Pyle (Brendan Fraser) also begins vying for her attention.
24. Tae Guk Gi: The Brotherhood of War
    
    Jin-Tae (Jang Dong-Gun) shines shoes, hoping to save enough money to send his younger brother, Jin-Seok (Won Bin), to university. Their mother runs a noodle shop and wishes the best for her two sons, even though things have been tough since her husband died. But all bets are off when the Korean War erupts and Jin-Seok is unwillingly conscripted into the war, which forces Jin-Tae to enlist just so he can save his brother.
25. Moon Child
    
    Japanese filmmaker Takahisa Zeze weaves a surreal world of crime and grit called Maleppa in this gory tale about Sho (pop star Gackt), his vampire friend Kei (Hyde), their buddy, Son (Wong), and his sister, Yi-che (Zeny Kwok). The group’s bond is put to the test, and Sho and Kei are torn apart — only to meet up later as enemies.
26. O Fantasma
    
    By day, brooding, lonely Sergio (Ricardo Meneses) works as a trash collector in the streets of Lisbon. By night, he embarks on an increasingly intense odyssey of random, anonymous sexual encounters. Before long, he becomes fixated on a hot, young stranger and begins to retreat further and further into his dark dream life, blurring the lines between fantasy and reality, love and obsession. Joao Pedro Rodrigues directs.
27. Proof of Life
    
    This flick branded Russell Crowe and Meg Ryan a scorching Hollywood item. Ripping a page from Casablanca’s playbook, Proof of Life mixes action, suspense, foreign intrigue and forbidden romance in immoderate doses. When terrorist thugs in South America kidnap Ryan’s husband (David Morse), hostage negotiator Crowe is sent in to get him out alive.
28. Elephant
    
    Elephant is a tale about high school violence that unfolds on an ordinary school day, inside a typical American high school filled with the usual goings-on — schoolwork, football, gossip and peer pressure. For each of the students we meet, high school is a different experience: stimulating, friendly, traumatic, lonely or just plain hard. Directed by indie film auteur Gus Van Sant.
29. Another Day in Paradise
    
    James Woods talks a mile a minute as a schizoid hood in Another Day in Paradise; Melanie Griffith co-stars as his junkie wife. Both serve as unlikely parental figures, taking two budding crooks under their wings. For a while, life is perfect — and then everything goes wrong. Another Day in Paradise builds an increasing sense of dread as Woods’ true colors are revealed.
30. Criminal
    
    Con man Richard Gaddis (John C. Reilly) teams up with newbie Rodrigo (Diego Luna) for a heist that’s a little bigger than his usual projects: They’ll filch an antique currency note from a customer when he blows into town at the casino where Gaddis trolls for victims. But it seems the pair will need help, which lessens Gaddis’s take. Plus, his sister (Maggie Gyllenhaal) seems dead-set on spoiling his criminal fun. (Remade from Nine Queens.)
31. Spellbound
    
    This documentary presents the intense, real-life experience of the National Spelling Bee as seen through the eyes of eight young spellers. We share in their private lives as they train for and compete in this ultimate intellectual showdown. Within these stories, we discover not only their idiosyncrasies, their obsessive study habits and their sometimes heartbreaking, sometimes inspiring family dynamics, but also the story of America itself.
32. Feed
    
    Hit the campaign trail with politicians Bill Clinton, Jerry Brown, Pat Buchanan, Paul Tsongas and others as they try to win the hearts — and votes — of New Hampshire constituents in the state’s 1992 presidential primary. Packed with comic outtakes and illuminating vignettes, this satiric documentary offers a microscopic view of the candidates — along with a mother lode of mortifying moments — as they stump to win the White House.
33. Full Metal Jacket
    
    One of the most authentic portraits of warfare ever captured on film, Stanley Kubrick’s Full Metal Jacket teems with howling madness, stark images and troubling questions about duty, honor and sacrifice. Raw recruits (including Matthew Modine) suffer the grueling ordeal of basic training and battle with the Viet Cong over the city of Hue during the Tet Offensive.
34. Apocalypse Now Redux
    
    Francis Ford Coppola’s 1979 masterpiece follows Capt. Willard (Martin Sheen) as he journeys upriver during the Vietnam War in search of the mysterious — and completely insane — Col. Kurtz (Marlon Brando). His mission: terminate Kurtz — “with extreme prejudice.” This redux version, reedited with new footage, has also been completely restored, converted to digital and reprinted by dye-transfer, improving color reproduction.
35. 2001: A Space Odyssey
    
    Based on Arthur C. Clarke’s story “The Sentinel,” Stanley Kubrick’s quiet masterpiece probes the mysteries of space and human destiny. In the years between primitive man’s discovery of lethal weapons and the birth of the star child, astronauts David Bowman (Keir Dullea) and Frank Poole (Gary Lockwood) confront HAL-9000, the computer operating their ship. Nominated for four Academy Awards, Kubrick’s epic won for its stunning special effects.
36. The Big One
    
    Another subversive journey from documentarian / provocateur Michael Moore poses this question: At a time when corporations are posting record profits, why are so many Americans still in danger of losing their jobs? Searching America’s heartland, armed only with a camera, tons of sarcasm and a heartfelt sympathy for the American worker, Moore embarks on a one-man campaign to persuade Fortune 500 companies to reconsider their downsizing decisions.
37. The Assassination of Richard Nixon
    
    Based on real-life events, this arresting psychological drama is set in 1974 and centers on Samuel Bicke (Sean Penn), an antisocial, unstable salesman with delusions of grandeur. As his life begins to disintegrate, Bicke decides to take extreme measures to achieve his warped version of the American Dream: assassinating President Richard Nixon. The supporting cast includes Don Cheadle, Naomi Watts and Mykelti Williamson.
38. Everything Is Illuminated
    
    A young American Jewish man begins an exhausting quest — aided by a naïve Ukranian translator — to find the righteous gentile woman who saved his grandfather when his small Ukranian village (along with most of the populace) was obliterated during the Nazi invasion of Russia in 1941. Stars Elijah Wood, Eugene Hutz and Boris Leskin. Liev Schreiber directs. Based on the novel by Jonathan Safran Foer.
39. Rock Star
    
    Head-banging — 1980s style — makes a comeback with Mark Wahlberg as a lead singer wanna-be who gets to live his wildest dream. In a dizzying turn of events, Chris (Wahlberg) is whisked from anonymity to being frontman for Steel Dragon, the enormously popular metal band he worships. Accompanied on tour by his girlfriend, Emily (Jennifer Aniston), Chris soon discovers life in the fast lane is not all it’s cracked up to be.
40. Paycheck
    
    Michael Jennings (Ben Affleck) is a genius who’s hired — and paid handsomely — by high-tech firms to work on highly sensitive projects, after which his short-term memory is erased so he can’t breach security. But at the end of a 3-year job, he’s told he isn’t getting a paycheck and instead receives a mysterious envelope. In it are clues he must piece together to find out why he wasn’t paid and how he’s gotten in hot water. Co-stars Uma Thurman.
41. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead
    
    Director Tom Stoppard turns William Shakespeare’s “Hamlet” topsy-turvy in this witty, existential puzzle box, presenting the play from the view of trivial characters Rosencrantz (Gary Oldman) and Guildenstern (Tim Roth). Beckoned to find the cause of the Danish prince’s malaise, the duo strolls into the midst of the royal intrigue. But with no memory of Hamlet (or anything else), they’re mystified by their mission — and oblivious to their fate.
42. Farewell My Concubine
    
    A seemingly unshakable friendship gets put to the test by war, a communist takeover, the Cultural Revolution and especially by the intrusion of a woman into the lives of two Chinese opera stars. Inseparable since childhood, Duan Xiaolou (Zhang Fengyi) and Cheng Dieyi (Leslie Cheung) find themselves increasingly at odds after Xiaolou weds a lovely courtesan (Gong Li). The film captures 50 years of Chinese history as it spins around the characters.
43. 2 Days in the Valley
    
    The lives of several strange characters intersect in John Herzfeld’s quirky crime comedy. A depressed has-been director (Paul Mazursky), an arrogant art dealer and his long-suffering assistant, a loser hit man (Danny Aiello), a cold assassin (James Spader) and his girlfriend (Charlize Theron), all with several cops (Keith Carradine, Eric Stoltz and Jeff Daniels) in their pursuit, get tangled up in a murderous insurance scam.
44. Ma Vie En Rose
    
    Seven-year-old Ludovic (Georges Du Fresne) is convinced he’s a girl trapped in a boy’s body in this whimsical Belgian film. His expressions of sexual identity, which include wearing dresses and starring in a classroom performance of “Snow White,” put a strain on his family and elicit teasing and intolerance from his schoolmates and neighbors. Ma Vie En Rose was an international film festival smash and received a Best Foreign Film Golden Globe.
45. Happiness
    
    A bittersweet film that belies its title, Happiness draws a dark portrait of a supremely dysfunctional family where each member battles personal demons. Plotlines include a prank telephone caller (Philip Seymour Hoffman) who’s afraid of women and a preternaturally cheerful woman (Jane Adams) who’s unable to make a physical connection. With other stories revolving around pederasts and masturbation, this remarkable movie is not for the squeamish.
46. Wild Things
    
    When guidance counselor Sam Lombardo (Matt Dillon) rejects the advances of teen-socialite Kelly Van Ryan (Denise Richards), she accuses him of rape. In short order Sam’s suspended by the school, rejected by the country club, and fighting to get his life back. Bill Murray plays an unscrupulous lawyer; Theresa Russell plays Kelly’s mom; and Neve Campbell is perfect as a disturbed teen in a tale that leaves viewers guessing until the bitter end.
47. Dead Alive
    
    Although it’s easy to admire the maniacal glee of director Peter Jackson’s bloodfest, Dead Alive is nonetheless intense and profoundly disturbing. When a Sumatran rat-monkey bites Lionel Cosgrove’s mother, she’s transformed into a zombie. She begins killing (and transforming) the entire town while Lionel races to keep things under control. Events culminate at a house party that turns into a blood-drenched zombie buffet.
48. Ed Wood
    
    Heralded as the “worst director of all time,” Ed Wood certainly made the movies to prove it. In one of his best performances, Johnny Depp plays the grinning goof with a sunny disposition who loved to direct epically bad films while dressed in women’s undergarments. As aging horror icon Bela Lugosi, Martin Landau’s Oscar-winning supporting turn almost steals the film. Sarah Jessica Parker and Bill Murray co-star; Tim Burton directs.
49. The Ninth Gate
    
    An all-expenses-paid international search for a rare copy of The Nine Gates of the Shadow Kingdom brings an unscrupulous book dealer (Johnny Depp) deep into a world of murder, double-dealing and satanic worship. Director Roman Polanski (Rosemary’s Baby) creates a richly textured gothic mystery where the hunter becomes the hunted and the devil must be paid his due.
50. Benny and Joon
    
    Benny (Aidan Quinn) is the overprotective caretaker of his mentally ill — but artistically talented — sister, Joon (Mary Stuart Masterson). When the eccentric Sam (Johnny Depp), who looks and acts like a silent-movie comedian, falls for Joon, the siblings’ frail bond is put to the test. Depp’s performance in this offbeat, beautifully acted love story scored a Golden Globe nomination. Julianne Moore and Oliver Platt co-star.
51. Like Water for Chocolate
    
    A feast for the senses, this magical romance from director Alfonso Arau was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award and a Golden Globe. The passionate Tita (Lumi Cavazos) is in love with Pedro (Marco Leonardi), but her controlling mother (Regina Torne) forbids her from marrying him. When Pedro instead marries her sister, Tita throws herself into her cooking — and discovers she can transfer her emotions through the food she prepares.
52. In the Cut
    
    A New York writing professor, Franny Thorstin (Meg Ryan), has a highly charged erotic affair with a police detective (Mark Ruffalo) who’s investigating the murder of a beautiful young woman in Franny’s neighborhood. Kevin Bacon and Jennifer Jason Leigh also star in this film directed by Jane Campion, which is based on Susanna Moore’s best-selling novel.
53. Invasion of the Body Snatchers
    
    San Francisco biologist Elizabeth Driscoll (Brooke Adams) turns to health inspector Matthew Bennell (Donald Sutherland) for help when her live-in beau begins acting odd — and distant. Matthew and Elizabeth notice that suddenly almost everyone around them has become impassive. When their friends discover a developing doppelgänger in their commercial mud baths, the foursome realizes an alien invasion is under way. Can they stop it?
54. Freeway
    
    After her parents get arrested, troubled teen Vanessa Lutz (Reese Witherspoon) decides to search for her long-lost grandmother and along the way encounters sympathetic youth counselor Bob Wolverton (Kiefer Sutherland). As Bob charms Vanessa into divulging the seamy details of her childhood, she slowly begins to realize that Wolverton is the deranged “I-5 Killer” who’s been butchering young hookers in the Los Angeles area. …
55. The Graduate
    
    Dustin Hoffman (in his first major film role) turns in a landmark performance as a naïve young man recently graduated from college who is seduced by a middle-aged neighbor (Anne Bancroft). He, in turn, falls in love with her daughter (Katharine Ross). Mike Nichols won a Best Director Oscar, and Simon and Garfunkel achieved immortality with a score that includes “Mrs. Robinson.”
56. Annie Hall
    
    Listen closely and you can actually hear the stress hormones pumping through the bodies of the characters in Annie Hall. Woody Allen’s real, funny ode to love among twitchy city dwellers scooped up Oscars for Best Picture, Best Direction, Best Actress (Diane Keaton) and Best Screenplay. And don’t miss cameos of not-yet-stars Jeff Goldblum, Shelley Duvall and Sigourney Weaver.
57. Repo Man
    
    Lacking role models and a purpose, baby-faced delinquent Otto (Emilio Estevez) finds a code of honor and a higher calling when he hooks up with a band of contemporary “knights”: the repo men. A “seasoned” auto repossessor (Harry Dean Stanton) shows Otto the ropes, and when a big reward is offered for an elusive 1964 Malibu, Otto dodges G-men, cops, religious kooks — you name it — in a frenzied quest for the car. Does his fate lie in its trunk?
58. The House of Yes
    
    In this black comedy, twins Jackie-O (Parker Posey) and Marty (Josh Hamilton), whose father disappeared the night JFK was shot, have an unusually intimate relationship for siblings. When Marty comes home one Thanksgiving with a fiancé (Tori Spelling), the mentally unbalanced Jackie-O — who thinks she’s Jackie Kennedy — suddenly flips into a jealous rage. All her mother can do is hide the kitchen knives and hope for the best. …
59. After Life
    
    At a way station somewhere between heaven and earth, the newly dead are greeted by guides. Over the next three days, they will help the dead sift through their memories to find the one defining moment of their lives. The chosen moment will be re-created on film and taken with them when the dead pass on to heaven. This grave, beautifully crafted film reveals the surprising and ambiguous consequences of human recollection.
60. All the President’s Men
    
    The film that launched a thousand journalism school students, All the President’s Men chronicles how reporters Bob Woodward (Robert Redford) and Carl Bernstein (Dustin Hoffman) brought down Richard M. Nixon. The duo connected a Washington, D.C., hotel break-in with a Nixon “dirty tricks” team assigned to discredit Democratic rivals. Director Alan J. Pakula ratchets up the tension (no small feat, as the outcome is assured).
61. The Secret of NIMH
    
    Based on the children’s book Mrs. Brisby and the Rats of NIMH, director Don Bluth’s animated adventure chronicles the trials of a widowed field mouse (voiced by Elizabeth Hartman) who must move her family– including an ailing son — to escape a farmer’s plough. Aided by a crow (Dom DeLuise) and a colony of superintelligent escaped lab rats, the brave Mrs. Brisby struggles to move her home to firmer ground.
62. The Last Unicorn
    
    Based on the Peter Beagle novel, this animated tale follows a unicorn (Mia Farrow) who believes she’s the last of her species and is searching high and low for someone just like her. All the while, she must avoid the evil Red Bull, who’s believed to be the one who killed off the rest of her kind. Along the way, she’s disregarded and harassed, but finally finds solace in a magician (Alan Arkin) and a knight named Prince Lir (Jeff Bridges).
63. Misery
    
    In this creepy thriller based on Stephen King’s book, Annie Wilkes (Kathy Bates) rescues her idol, romance novelist Paul Sheldon (James Caan), after a horrible car accident. But she morphs from nurturing caregiver to sadistic jailer upon discovering that Sheldon plans to kill off his literary heroine, Misery, in his next volume. Bates’s disturbing performance as the psychotic Annie netted her a Best Actress Oscar.
64. Hotel Rwanda
    
    Amid the holocaust of internecine tribal fighting in Rwanda that sees the savage butchering of hundreds of thousands of men, women and children, one ordinary man (Oscar nominee Don Cheadle) musters the courage to save more than 1,000 helpless refugees by sheltering them in the hotel he manages. Sophie Okonedo, Nick Nolte and Joaquin Phoenix co-star in this powerful film (sort of an African version of Schindler’s List) directed by Terry George.
65. Sylvia
    
    Renowned American poet and novelist Sylvia Plath (Gwyneth Paltrow) and her tempestuous relationship with English poet Ted Hughes (Daniel Craig) are the focus of this romantic drama. Plath met Hughes while on a Fulbright scholarship at Cambridge. Their marriage was rocky, and they eventually separated in 1963 when Hughes broke her heart by taking on another lover. Crushed, Plath committed suicide by sticking her head in her unlit oven.
66. Predator 2
    
    Ten years after a band of mercenaries first battled a vicious alien, the invisible creature from another world has returned to Earth — and this time, it’s drawn to the gang-ruled and ravaged city of Los Angeles. When it starts murdering drug dealers, detective-lieutenant Mike Harrigan (Danny Glover) and his police force set out to capture the creature, ignoring warnings from a mysterious government agent to stay away.
67. Eating Raoul
    
    Paul and Mary Bland (Paul Bartel and Mary Woronov) dream of owning a restaurant but can’t pony up the $20,000 down payment that will make it a reality. But when an intruder is killed after he tries to assault Mary in the Blands’ home, the couple decides to lure sex-seekers to their home via a classified ad, kill them and take their money. Plus, the “tasty” cadavers enliven some of the sauces featured on the menu!
68. The Final Cut
    
    In this futuristic tale, chips inserted into the brain at birth record a person’s entire life; when the person dies, the video is edited and shown at the funeral. Video editor Alan Hackman (Robin Williams) hacks out the worst of a person’s life, depicting sinners as martyrs. Alan’s turned into a cold megalomaniac, but things change when he finds his own scary childhood memory in the databank of a client. Mira Sorvino and Jim Caviezel also star.
69. Tadpole
    
    Sixteen-year-old Oscar Grubman (Aaron Stanford) is sensitive and compassionate, speaks French fluently and can quote Voltaire; females gravitate toward him. In fact, Oscar could probably have any woman he wants … but he’s fallen in love with his stepmother! This hilarious coming-of-age comedy co-stars Sigourney Weaver as Eve (the stepmother), along with John Ritter as Oscar’s father and Bebe Neuwirth as a seductive masseuse.
70. Citizen Kane
    
    Orson Welles reinvented movies at the age of 26 with this audacious biography of newspaper baron Charles Foster Kane (in essence, a thinly veiled portrait of publishing magnate William Randolph Hearst), who rises from poverty to become one of America’s most influential men. A complex and technically stunning film, Citizen Kane is considered one of the best movies ever made.
71. Chinatown
    
    Private eye J.J. Gittes (Jack Nicholson) uncovers intricate dirty dealings in the Los Angeles waterworks and gets his nose slashed for his grief. Suspicious, porcelain-skinned femme fatale Faye Dunaway (who harbors a nasty family secret) finances Gittes’s snooping. Director Roman Polanski reimagines 1930s Los Angeles in this brilliant detective thriller. And Robert Towne’s onion-like script reveals itself one complex layer at a time.
72. Vera Drake
    
    Vera Drake (Imelda Staunton, who earned an Oscar nomination for her portrayal) spends her days doting on her working-class family. But Vera also has a secret side: Her family and friends don’t know that she visits women and helps them induce miscarriages for their unwanted pregnancies — an illegal practice in 1950s England. When her crime is discovered by authorities, Vera’s world quickly falls apart, deeply affecting both her and her family.
73. Being Julia
    
    Estranged from her son and willfully ignorant of her husband’s philandering, aging actress Julia (Annette Bening, who earned an Oscar nomination for her spirited performance), seeing her youth and beauty fading, is adrift and in search of some way to regain the spark of passion. And that passion may lie in the smoldering attentions of a much-younger admirer, Tom (Shaun Evans). Costars Jeremy Irons, Michael Gambon and Bruce Greenwood.
74. Stage Beauty
    
    Edward “Ned” Kynaston (Billy Crudup) is England’s most celebrated leading “lady” (circa 1660), using his beauty and skill to make the great female roles his own. But when Charles II tires of seeing the same old performers, the ruler allows women to tread the boards and decrees that men may no longer play women’s parts. Overnight, Ned becomes a nonentity — that is, until his ex-dresser, Maria (Claire Danes), helps him become a real man again.
75. Head in the Clouds
    
    John Duigan helmed this sexy film starring Academy Award-winning actress Charlize Theron as Gilda, a flighty-but-charming socialite who finds her true match in Guy (Stuart Townsend), an intellectual Irishman who wants to battle in the Spanish Civil War — and who convinces Mia (Penelope Cruz), Gilda’s confidante, to do the same. But Gilda has other plans that may, in the end, endanger her life more than supporting the war.
76. Alfie
    
    Jude Law reprises the title role made famous by Michael Caine (who got an Oscar nod for his portrayal) and makes it his own in this stylish remake. Alfie (Law), a self-aware British cad living in New York, falls in lust too easily and can’t commit to one woman, leaving a string of heartache in his wake. When one of his many lovers gets pregnant and it appears he’s finally smitten with a woman for good, Alfie begins to question his existence.
77. Wilde
    
    Stephen Fry stars in this lush, historical drama, based on the late Richard Ellmann’s definitive biography of Oscar Wilde. The story traces his rise to fame as one of London’s most prolific writers and orators, to his marriage with Constance (Jennifer Ehle), to his sweeping, torrid affair with a young Oxford graduate, Lord Alfred Douglas (Jude Law), that brought about his imprisonment and downfall.
78. Total Eclipse
    
    Leonardo DiCaprio plays the prodigious 19th-century French poet Arthur Rimbaud in this captivating historical drama. When Paul Verlaine (David Thewlis), an older and more traditional writer, finds himself infatuated with the young Rimbaud, he’s unable to keep the peace with his wife (Romane Bohringer). A love/hate relationship develops between the two men as they forge the rough waters of creative expression.
79. Bent
    
    In this drama based on the play by Martin Sherman (who also wrote the screenplay), a Berlin homosexual is caught up in the Nazi hysteria during World War II. After being forced to kill his lover, he’s placed in a concentration camp and lies to get himself classified as Jewish rather than gay. But several rule-breaking incidents and his love for a fellow male prisoner bring him to admit his true nature. Mick Jagger appears briefly as a drag queen.
80. Nashville
    
    Director Robert Altman’s sprawling masterpiece about politics and country music astonishes. A huge cast of characters (including Shelley Duvall, Keith Carradine, Ned Beatty and Karen Black) gets caught up in a political rally that takes over the home of country music. The many fine performances include Lily Tomlin’s bored housewife and Henry Gibson’s pompous, patriotic country singer. The actors wrote and performed their own songs.
81. Badlands
    
    Young garbageman Kit Carruthers (Martin Sheen) and his girlfriend, Holly (Sissy Spacek), kill Holly’s father in South Dakota and hit the road on the run from the law. Writer-director Terrence Malick’s script (for his feature film debut), based on real murders committed by a couple in 1958, does not judge its characters as they make their way to the Badlands of Montana, leaving a trail of senseless and random murders in their wake.
82. Derrida
    
    The master of deconstruction — French philosopher Jacques Derrida — is himself deconstructed in this documentary directed by Kirby Dick and Amy Ziering Kofman. Witty and knowing, Derrida is just as fascinating a film subject as he is an intellectual. The world never got to watch great minds such as Plato and Socrates in action, but thanks to modern technology, this film captures one of the brilliant thinkers of the 20th century.
83. The Triplets of Belleville
    
    In this innovative animated tale, Champion is a lonely boy who’s adopted by his grandmother, Madame Souza. Seeing how happy Champion is on his bicycle, she decides to train him to compete. Years later, he enters the Tour de France but is kidnapped during the race. With Champion’s dog Bruno, Madame Souza sets out to save him and meets three odd women called “The Triplets of Belleville.” Can her new friends and Bruno’s nose help her find Champion?
84. The Sea Inside
    
    Based on a true story, this moving film centers on a Spaniard, Ramon Sampedro (Javier Bardem), who’s condemned to life as a quadriplegic. Determined to die with dignity, Sampedro leads a 30-year campaign to win the right to end his life. An extraordinary man, Sampedro inspires his lawyer, Julia (Belen Rueda), and a local woman (Lola Duenas) to reach for the stars, and through his inspiration, the women achieve far beyond their wildest dreams.
85. The Motorcycle Diaries
    
    This film tells the incredible true story of a 23-year-old medical student from Argentina, Che Guevara (Gael Garcia Bernal), who motorcycled across South America with his friend Alberto Granado (Rodrigo de la Serna) in 1951-52. The trek became a personal odyssey that ultimately crystallized the young man’s budding revolutionary beliefs. Walter Salles’s film is based on Che’s own diaries of the trip.
86. Great Expectations
    
    In this Americanized version of Charles Dickens’s classic novel, set in modern-day New York, young Finn (Ethan Hawke) develops a lifelong crush on Estella (Gwyneth Paltrow), the niece of the eccentric Ms. Dinsmoor (Anne Bancroft). A mysterious benefactor makes it possible for Finn to attend art school in the city, where he runs into his now-engaged love. But when she agrees to pose for him, it unlocks the hope — and fear — in his heart.
87. The Scarlet Letter
    
    In this adaptation of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s novel, Puritan settler Hester Prynne (Demi Moore) is accused of adultery in a Massachusetts settlement in the 1660s. Although she’s attracted to the town’s pastor (Gary Oldman), the two resist temptation … but only a whiff of scandal is enough for the town’s morality police to sentence Prynne to live as an outcast and wear a shameful scarlet A for adultery.
88. La Femme Nikita
    
    Internationally acclaimed director Luc Besson delivers the action-packed story of Nikita (Anne Parillaud), a ruthless street junkie whose killer instincts could make her the perfect weapon. Recruited against her will into a secret government organization, Nikita is broken and transformed into a sexy, sophisticated “lethal weapon.” Later remade in the United States as Point of No Return, starring Bridget Fonda.
89. The Andromeda Strain
    
    When a satellite crashes in New Mexico, scientists race against the clock to stop a deadly virus from spreading in this Oscar-nominated sci-fi classic based on Michael Crichton’s novel. The probe carried an alien virus that’s already killed all but two of the residents in the town where it landed, and it’s up to a team of scientists to isolate and stop the virus. Note: Contains graphic scenes that may be unsuitable for young children.
90. An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge
    
    A Confederate sympathizer condemned to die by hanging gets a lucky break — literally — when the executioner experiences technical difficulties. French director Robert Enrico helms this award-winning live-action short that claimed top honors at the Oscars and Cannes, a film based on a well-known Civil War story by Ambrose Bierce. The piece would later air on American television as a special episode of “The Twilight Zone.”
91. A Very Long Engagement
    
    Amelie’s Audrey Tautou stars as Mathilde, a young Frenchwoman who vows to find out what happened to her missing fiance (Gaspard Ulliel) during World War I. He appears to have died after a court-martial, but she needs to know for sure. As she looks for the truth, she discovers unexpected things about herself and the people she meets along the way. Jean-Pierre Jeunet directs this adaptation of Sebastien Japrisot’s novel.
92. Under One Roof
    
    Daniel Chang is a closeted Chinese-American boy living in San Francisco with his traditional mother. Eager for a grandchild, Mrs. Chang desperately wants to see Daniel married and devotes much of her time to finding a suitable Chinese girl for him. But when she recruits a new tenant, Robert, for the downstairs flat, Daniel finds himself falling for the hot Southern boy. Not the kind of match his mother was hoping for!
93. The Wedding Banquet
    
    This lyrical film by Ang Lee dares to expand the definition of love. Wei Tong (Winston Chao) is a successful Manhattan businessman enjoying a thriving relationship with his live-in lover, Simon (Mitchell Lichtenstein). Life is perfect, except his parents don’t know he’s gay. So, when they decide to visit from Taiwan, he asks his tenant, Wei Wei (May Chin), for help. She agrees to pose as his fiancée — a plan that goes a little too far.
94. Swordsman 2
    
    Action and fantasy combine in the sequel to the 1990s film The Swordsman, featuring a new cast headed by Jet Li as Blademaster Ling Wu Chang. Chang and his fellow martial arts students engage in battle with the Highlander clan, led by the supernatural Invincible Asia. Co-directed by genre masters Stanley Tong and Ching Siu Tung, this film’s original Chinese title is Xiao Ao Jiang Hu Zhi Dong Fang Bu Bai.
95. The Tomorrow People: Set 1: Disc 1
    
    This disc includes the episodes “Slaves of Jedikiah (Parts 1-5).”
96. The Tomorrow People: Set 1: Disc 2
    
    This disc includes the following episodes: “The Medusa Strain (Parts 1-4)” and “The Vanishing Earth (Parts 1-4).”
97. The Tomorrow People: Set 1: Disc 3
    
    This disc includes the episodes “The Blue and the Green (Parts 1-5).”
98. The Tomorrow People: Set 1: Disc 4
    
    This disc includes the following episodes: “A Rift in Time (Parts 1-4)” and “The Doomsday Men (Parts 1-4).”
99. Beautiful Boxer
    
    Asanee Suwan portrays kickboxer Parinya Charoenphol, who’s harboring an unusual secret: He’s a transvestite. Inspired by a famous Thai pugilist who lived two drastically different lives, this moving film written and directed by Ekachai Uekrongtham recounts Parinya’s painful attempts to exist in paradoxical worlds. To fund the sex change he longs for, Parinya earns money in the ring, participating day after day in the ultimate male sport.
100. Blue
     
     The first installment of Polish cinematic genius Krzysztof Kieslowski’s Three Colors trilogy, Blue stands for liberty (in the French national motto) and is the first color of the French flag. A young Frenchwoman (Juliette Binoche) tries to uncover her famous composer husband’s secret life after he dies mysteriously. Each step takes her both closer to and further from the truth as she journeys on a path ultimately leading to self-discovery.
101. Dodsworth
     
     To escape an empty nest, an automobile tycoon (Walter Huston) and his forty-something wife (Ruth Chatterton) plan a luxurious vacation in Europe. But as Mrs. Dodsworth embarks on a series of indiscretions — including a romance with a gigolo — it becomes apparent that the couple’s plans for their golden years don’t mesh. From director William Wyler, the film is based on the best-selling novel by Sinclair Lewis and an acclaimed stage play.
102. Ikiru
     
     When a stoic government official (Takashi Shimura, with a BAFTA nomination for Best Foreign Actor) in post-war Japan learns he has terminal cancer, he realizes he has squandered his life on meaningless red tape and has no close family or friendships to lean on. He resolves to use his remaining time to usher an insignificant but popular civic project, a children’s playground, through the bureaucracy he knows so well. The acclaimed Akira Kurosawa directs.
103. Persona
     
     To achieve more effective treatment, a nurse (Bibi Andersson) and her patient (Liv Ullmann), an actress who’s lost the power of speech, check into a private cottage by the sea. Isolated from most of the rest of society, the two women become co-dependent and insanely jealous of each other. It’s a case of the cure being worse than the affliction in this classic directed by Swedish master Ingmar Bergman.
104. The Five Obstructions
     
     Danish filmmaker Lars von Trier, a leader in the Dogme 95 movement (which eschewed artificial lighting and props and promoted digital video), is legendary for his one-of-a-kind approach to moviemaking and the memorable fruits of his labors. In this collaboration with fellow director Jorgen Leth, von Trier challenges Leth to remake his 1967 movie The Perfect Human and documents the entire process, allowing viewers to see two geniuses at work.
105. Coffee and Cigarettes
     
     Jim Jarmusch’s ensemble comedy collects a series of strange encounters Jarmusch has been capturing in short films since the mid-1980s, presenting them as a series of vignettes that all revolve around discussions held over coffee and cigarettes. A diverse cast including Bill Murray, Steve Buscemi, Tom Waits, Cate Blanchett and Roberto Benigni address such topics as Nicola Tesla, alternative medicine, Paris, the movie industry and more.
106. Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory
     
     Eccentric candy man Willy Wonka (Gene Wilder) prompts a frenzy when he announces that five golden tickets hidden inside his candy bars will get their holders into his top-secret factory. Amidst a world of Oompa Loompas and chocolate rivers, young Charlie Bucket (Peter Ostrum) and Grandpa Joe (Jack Albertson) get caught in the middle of Wonka’s secret agenda in director Mel Stuart’s Oscar-nominated fantasy based on Roald Dahl’s award-winning book.
107. Female Trouble
     
     Directed by midnight-movie legend John Waters, this campy, twisted follow-up to Pink Flamingos isn’t for the squeamish. Cult icon Divine stars as spoiled teen Dawn Davenport, who leaves home when her parents refuse to buy her the one Christmas gift she covets: cha-cha heels. After a sexual encounter with a sleazy derelict (also played by Divine), Dawn turns up pregnant and soon becomes a career criminal with a taste for murder.
108. Cry-Baby
     
     Helmed by John Waters — the king of kitsch — this campy comedy set in 1950s Baltimore stars Johnny Depp as Wade “Cry-Baby” Walker, a leather-clad street tough who leads a gang dubbed the Drapes. When Wade falls for goody-two-shoes Allison Vernon-Williams (Amy Locane) and steals her from her mossback beau (Stephen Mailer), the romance sparks a battle between rival factions. Troy Donahue, Joey Heatherton and Patty Hearst appear in cameo roles.
109. Strictly Ballroom
     
     This quirky, tenderly hilarious romantic comedy is sure to leave you tapping your toes. Directed by Baz Luhrmann, Strictly Ballroom is the off-beat story of a championship ballroom dancer (Paul Mercurio) who breaks all the rules by choosing an ugly duckling dancing partner (Tara Morice). Sweet, funny and original, this is one you won’t forget quickly.
110. Breaking the Waves
     
     The revolutionary Dogma 95 school of filmmaking washed up on American shores with this intense European drama starring Emily Watson as Bess, a naïve Scotswoman who’s convinced that God will heal her paralyzed husband (Stellan Skarsgård) if she has sex with other men. Director Lars von Trier shot the film using only available light, handheld cameras and no musical score; the result is a stunning, nakedly emotional film.
111. Lords of Dogtown
     
     A group of outcasts from California’s Venice Beach change the face of skateboarding forever in this 1970s tale written by “Skateboard Godfather” Stacy Peralta. The Z-Boys (a group of radical riders who scout the neighborhoods for empty swimming pools) invent a brazen style of skating, become legends and deal with heartache when the sport they live for turns into big business. Heath Ledger, Rebecca De Mornay and Johnny Knoxville star.
112. Empire Records: Remix! Special Fan Edition
     
     Director Allan Moyle’s dramatic comedy captures a day in the life of a record store that doubles as the meeting place for a group of young slackers, dreamers and doers. When a clerk (Rory Cochrane) gambles away the store’s proceeds, the boss (Anthony LaPaglia) tries to recoup enough losses to buy the place. Promiscuous Gina (Renee Zellweger) provides a counterpoint to love-struck Corey (Liv Tyler), who’s hiding her feelings for a co-worker.
113. Red
     
     Krzysztof Kieslowski strikes again with Red, the final film in his “three colors” trilogy. In this meditation on the need for passion and human connection, an accident brings together two very different people — Valentine (Irene Jacob), a model, and Joseph (Jean-Louis Trintignant), a retired judge. Since love chooses to pair people at random, theirs becomes a fated, deeply improbable, but true romance.
114. Constantine
     
     John Constantine (Keanu Reeves) is a private investigator who believes in things that go bump in the night — which makes him somewhat of an eccentric in a world ruled primarily by logic. So, it comes as a surprise to him when a female cop (Rachel Weisz) seeks his counsel after her twin sister dies in what first appears to be a suicide. She wants definitive proof of the cause of death … but the answers may only come with blind faith on her part.
115. SLC Punk
     
     Recent college grads Stevo (Matthew Lillard) and Heroin Bob (Michael Goorjian) sport blue Mohawks, listen to hard-core punk and live according to their own rules. Not a problem in many places, but in Salt Lake City they’re total outcasts. Add to the mix Stevo’s father (Christopher McDonald), who wants his son to study law at Harvard (just as he did). Stevo must decide whether to stay true to his own ideals or start planning for his future.
116. The Alien Saga
     
     John Hurt narrates this documentary charting the success of Ridley Scott’s film franchise that began with the 1979 hit Alien. Melding science fiction and horror film brilliance, Alien and its sequels became cult hits, launching the career of its strong-but-feminine-hero Sigourney Weaver. Features interviews with writers Joss Whedon and Dan O’Bannon (both of whom continued to conquer Hollywood) and co-stars Tom Skerritt and Michael Biehn.
117. Dangerous Liaisons
     
     In this Academy Award-winning adaptation of the acclaimed stage play and novel, 18th century French aristocrats Marquise de Merteuil (Glenn Close) and Vicomte de Valmont (John Malkovich) enjoy lives of privilege and boredom. To entertain themselves, the cynical ex-lovers make a bet focusing on the virginal Cécile de Volanges (Uma Thurman) and the virtuous Madame de Tourvel (Michelle Pfeiffer). Swoosie Kurtz and Keanu Reeves also appear.
118. Life as a House
     
     Faced with a diagnosis of terminal cancer, George (Kevin Kline) decides to construct a beautiful new house on his land overlooking the Pacific ocean, while at the same time trying to connect with his estranged son (Hayden Christensen). Kristin Scott Thomas and Mary Steenburgen co-star in a dramedy that speaks eloquent volumes about the fragility — and resilience — of the human condition.
119. Last Days
     
     A rock ‘n’ roll star seeks solace in the woods in Gus Van Sant’s drama centered on a Kurt Cobain-type character. Tired of all the pressures of his career and constantly being in the public eye, Blake (Michael Pitt) retreats to his remote home and embarks on an introspective journey. As he sequesters himself from his fans, his manager, a private eye and others, Blake ultimately finds release from his troubled life. Asia Argento co-stars.
120. Heaven
     
     Philippa Paccard (Cate Blanchett), deeply disappointed by the police’s lax investigation following her husband’s drug death, takes the law into her own hands and ends up imprisoned. Filippo (Giovanni Ribisi), a young police officer involved with Philippa’s questioning, begins to fall in love with her and decides to help her escape. The unequal lovers end up as fugitives from justice — but how long can they keep hiding?
121. Gozu
     
     Minami (Hideki Sone) mistakenly kills a gangster associate of his named Brother. Almost as soon as the murder takes place, the body of the deceased man is gone, prompting Minami to conduct a search. While looking, he finds a mysterious isolated hotel where he decides to take a rest. Not only are the front desk clerks a bit strange, but even the ambiance feels unusual. Minami soon realizes he may have gotten more than he bargained for. …
122. Mommie Dearest
     
     Based on Christina Crawford’s slanderous, tell-all biography, Mommie Dearest paints a portrait of a Joan Crawford the public never knew. The film portrays Crawford (Faye Dunaway, in an over-the-top performance) as a wicked, abusive mother who lives as though she’s perpetually onscreen. In the movie’s most memorable scene, Crawford berates her daughter, Christina (Mara Hobel), for improperly hanging her clothes, screaming, “No more wire hangers!”
123. Ong-Bak: The Thai Warrior
     
     When a sacred Buddha statuette called Ong-bak is stolen from Ting’s (Tony Jaa) village by a shady businessman intent on realizing a profit from his ill-gotten gain, Ting takes it upon himself to reclaim the pilfered religious treasure by following the trail of clues to Bangkok. And Ting’s the right man for the job, as he possesses an impressive array of Muay Thai fighting skills that can lay out all his adversaries.
124. Head-On
     
     Cahit Tomruk (Birol Unel) and Sibel Guner (Sibel Kekilli) are immigrant Germans who live and work in the port town of Hamburg. In a bid to help Sibel break free of her family (which strictly adheres to Turkish customs, religious and otherwise), the couple decides to marry. But straitlaced families are just part of the problem; Cahit and Sibel must also counterbalance ancestral roots with their new life in a western democracy. Fatih Akin directs.
125. End of the Century: The Story of the Ramones
     
     Variously dubbed “A punk Last Waltz” and “One headbangin’ helluva good time,” this incisive documentary about the Ramones by Michael Gramaglia and Jim Fields traces the seminal punk band’s trajectory from obscurity to fame to induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. It’s an insider look at the rockers — blemishes and all — that will probably make your head spin. Includes interviews with Joe Strummer, Debbie Harry, Nicolas Cage and others.
126. Three Dancing Slaves
     
     After the untimely death of their mother, three brothers fight a stifling sense of ennui as inescapable as the small French provincial town in which they’re slowly growing to manhood. A beautifully rendered slice-of-life film imbued with a universality that transcends borders and nationalities, Three Dancing Slaves stars Nicolas Cazalé, Stéphane Rideau, Thomas Dumerchaz, Salim Keichiouche and Bruno Lochet. Gael Morel directs.
127. Guerrilla: The Taking of Patty Hearst
     
     Still a controversial chapter in American history, this documentary investigates the American domestic terrorist group that gained fame for the 1974 kidnapping of newspaper heiress Patty Hearst. The S.L.A.’s motto was “Death to the fascist insect that preys upon the life of the people!” A riveting account of the rise and fall of an organization with utopian ideals that went tragically wrong.
128. Showgirls
     
     An infamous bomb when first released, Showgirls now vies with Mommie Dearest as a camp classic. Nomi Malone (Elizabeth Berkley) travels to Las Vegas with dreams of becoming a showgirl, but ends up working as a stripper where the patrons couldn’t care less about her time-step (they’re interested in a different kind of time … and rate!). Kyle MacLachlan and Gina Gershon co-star.
129. Flesh + Blood
     
     All’s fair in love and war in this swoony-but-gritty drama from filmmaker Paul Verhoeven. A band of mercenaries led by Martin (Rutger Hauer) abducts Agnes (Jennifer Jason Leigh), the daughter of the feudal lord who cheats them out of their money. In spite of the other mercenaries’ complaints, Martin grows to love Agnes, who’s waiting to be saved by her beloved. Co-stars Tom Burlinson and Jack Thompson.
130. Hollow Man
     
     Cocky researcher Sebastian Caine (Kevin Bacon) is a working on a project to make living creatures invisible. He’s so confident he’s found the right formula that he tests it on himself and begins to vanish. Problem is, no one can figure out how to make him visible again. Soon his invisibility drives Caine mad — with terrifying results. The special effects are a knockout as Caine fades away organ by organ in director Paul Verhoeven’s thriller. This film is Unrated on the Blu-Ray format.
131. The Baxter
     
     Elliot Sherman (writer-director Michael Showalter) is a nice guy who’s tired of finishing last, but he’s at a loss to explain his bad luck with the ladies. His most recent heartbreak at the hands of a pretty magazine editor (Elizabeth Banks) has helped him swear off women forever and declare himself a bona fide “Baxter.” But advice from a plain-talking girl (Michelle Williams) could be just the thing he needs to become a marriageable leading man.
132. Prozac Nation
     
     Based on Elizabeth Wurtzel’s best-selling memoir, Prozac Nation stars Christina Ricci as a woman on the verge of losing her grip on life after she leaves her emotionally fraught home to start college. Quickly, her life takes a turn for the worse: She clashes with her roommate (Michelle Williams) and decides her boyfriend, Rafe (Jason Biggs), is her sole salvation. Her psychiatrist prescribes Prozac … but is that her only choice?
133. Dead Ringers
     
     Jeremy Irons gives a brilliant performance as twin gynecologists — yes, that’s right — Elliot and Beverly Mantle. When they meet a pill-popping actress (Geneviève Bujold) who hopes to have children, both men spiral into madness and addiction. David Cronenberg’s script and direction mix high-tech camera work with old-fashioned suspense to create a tangible sense of lunacy and compulsion.
134. Naked Lunch
     
     Director David Cronenberg brings William S. Burroughs’ hallucinatory, “unfilmable” novel to the screen. Part-time exterminator and full-time drug addict Bill Lee (Peter Weller) plunges into the nightmarish netherworld of the Interzone, pursuing a mysterious project that leads him to confront sinister cabals and giant talking bugs. Special features include an audio commentary by Cronenberg and Weller.
135. Barton Fink
     
     Barton Fink (John Turturro), an idealistic fellow with an Eraserhead-like hairdo, believes that writing should reveal the hopes, dreams and tragedies of the common man. Then Hollywood taps him to write a movie, and Fink comes down with a severe case of writer’s block, unable to combine his deep-seated ethics with Tinsel Town’s desire to make a buck. When the disillusioned Fink finds himself part of a murder investigation, all hell breaks loose.
136. Miller’s Crossing
     
     Gabriel Byrne stars as Tom Reagan in Joel and Ethan Coen’s take on the ’30s gangster film. Adviser to a Prohibition-era crime boss (Albert Finney), Tom gets caught in the literal and figurative crossfire when his loyalties are divided between warring mobs. Mix in an affair with the boss’s dame (Marcia Gay Harden), several double-crosses and backstabs and the Coens’ typical blackly funny dialogue, and you’ve got a bang-up (literally) movie.
137. Junebug
     
     When Madeleine (Embeth Davidtz), a big-city art dealer from Chicago, makes a trip to North Carolina with her new husband, George (Alessandro Nivola), he finally allows her to meet his small-town Southern family — including his bristly mother, Peg (Celia Weston), reticent father Eugene (Scott Wilson), crabby brother Johnny (Ben McKenzie) and immature sister-in-law Ashley (Amy Adams). Looks like a family with more problems than meet the eye!
138. Me and You and Everyone We Know
     
     Today’s world of technology and convenience makes it increasingly difficult to find a real connection with another person. In this compelling look at the everyday human experience, Christine (Miranda July) is a cab driver and artist who leads a solitary life. Richard (John Hawkes) is a recently divorced father who’s waiting for great things to happen in his life. When his path crosses with Christine’s, he’s both entranced and panic-stricken.
139. Nobody Knows
     
     Japanese director Hirokazu Koreeda’s touching film follows the empty lives of 12-year-old Akira (Yûya Yagira) and his three younger siblings (Ayu Kitaura, Hiei Kimura and Momoko Shimizu) after their mother abandons them in a tiny Tokyo apartment. Pragmatic, determined and wise beyond his years, Akira manages the household as best he can — but eventually the money runs out, and the children must find new ways to survive. Based on a true story.
140. Funny Ha Ha
     
     Unsure of what to do next, 23-year-old Marnie (Kate Dollenmayer) tries her best to navigate life after college in this romantic comedy. Still partying like there’s no tomorrow, Marnie drags herself out of bed for her miserable temp job and can’t decide whether she’s wasting her time going after best buddy Alex (Christian Rudder), who doesn’t seem to be interested. Director Andrew Bujalksi co-stars as Mitchell, Marnie’s stammering co-worker.
141. The Skeleton Key
     
     Caroline (Kate Hudson), a 25-year-old hospice worker, is sent to New Orleans to care for an aging stroke victim (John Hurt) who lies bedridden and speechless in a rambling antebellum mansion. Alone in the house with no company aside from the man’s unfriendly wife (Gena Rowlands), Caroline finds a key that opens every door and soon comes across a hidden room. But what she finds inside is a Pandora’s box of voodoo, secrets and lies.
142. Homecoming
     
     After five years working as a nurse in Canada, Abigail (Alessandra De Rossi) travels home to the Philippines, where she’s looking forward to reconnecting with her family. Delighted at her return, the whole town welcomes her as they would a conquering hero. But Abigail’s joy is short-lived when it’s learned that she’s contracted the highly contagious SARS virus. Now, the community must wrestle with the consequences of this unexpected tragedy.
143. Kings and Queen
     
     Director Arnaud Desplechin deftly mixes comedy and tragedy in this tale that traces the intersecting lives of Nora (Emmanuelle Devos), a professionally successful single mom, and her ex-husband, Ismaël (Mathieu Amalric), a neurotic musician who’s mistakenly been committed to a mental hospital. Ismaël’s comic antics in the asylum are juxtaposed against Nora’s anguish upon learning that her father is dying and that her future’s uncertain.
144. Tropical Malady
     
     From experimental Thai director Apichatpong Weerasethakul comes this unconventional romance that incorporates mystical and folkloric elements. While on duty as a forest ranger, soldier Keng (Banlop Lomnoi) meets and falls for a country boy named Tong (Sakda Kaewbuadee). When the young man suddenly disappears, Keng ventures deep into the jungle to find him … amid rumors that the missing Tong may in fact be a menacing, shape-shifting beast.
145. Boys on the Side
     
     Looking to jump-start her career, lesbian night-club singer Jane (Whoopi Goldberg) answers an ad placed by a woman named Robin (Mary-Louise Parker), an AIDS sufferer who wants a companion to drive from the Big Apple to Los Angeles. En route, they pick up Jane’s friend Holly (Drew Barrymore), who’s pregnant and running from her abusive boyfriend. The trio gets as far as Arizona before Robin falls ill, and they must learn to rely on one another.
146. Goodbye Lover
     
     Obsessively cheerful Sandra Dunmore (Patricia Arquette) is married to hard-drinking ad executive Jake (Dermot Mulroney) and having a fling with his brother Ben (Don Johnson) in this stylish noir directed by Roland Joffe. Ben, meanwhile, is also bedding his secretary (Mary-Louise Parker). When all the sex and betrayal lead to a death and a hefty life-insurance payout, cynical detective Rita Pompano (Ellen DeGeneres) tries to unravel the case.
147. The Best of Youth: Disc 1
     
     This disc includes Part 1.
148. The Maltese Falcon
     
     The big bird is the stuff dreams are made of … according to gumshoe Sam Spade (Humphrey Bogart). When his partner gets snuffed, Spade starts digging around for the murderer. But when the trail leads to Sydney Greenstreet, Peter Lorre and Mary Astor, a sinister troika intent on nabbing the titular solid-gold bird, Spade must make some tough decisions.
149. Searching for Debra Winger
     
     Originally airing on Showtime, this documentary directed by actress Rosanna Arquette focuses on the life of somewhat hermetic star Debra Winger, as well as the struggles that actresses over the age of 40 have endured in Hollywood. Through interviews with contemporaries such as Diane Lane, Teri Garr, Holly Hunter, Whoopi Goldberg, Meg Ryan and Sharon Stone, Arquette conveys a problem facing many older actresses: the search for quality roles.
150. Nine Lives
     
     This series of intimate vignettes from writer-director Rodrigo Garcia (Things You Can Tell Just by Looking at Her) peers into the private lives of nine women, each with a different destiny. A star-studded ensemble cast includes Kathy Baker, Amy Brenneman, Glenn Close, Dakota Fanning, Lisa Gay Hamilton, Holly Hunter, Mary Kay Place, Sissy Spacek and Robin Wright Penn — with Joe Mantegna and Aidan Quinn providing the testosterone.
151. William Eggleston in the Real World
     
     By following acclaimed photographer William Eggleston around his home base of Memphis, Tenn. — and on trips to Kentucky, Los Angeles and New York — filmmaker Michael Almereyda presents an intimate portrait of the man who made color cool again. This revealing documentary uncovers the deep connection between Eggleston’s enigmatic personality and his groundbreaking work, which expertly captures the beauty of ordinary objects.
152. Near Dark
     
     In the dusty heart of the American southwest, innocent country boy Caleb (Adrian Pasdar) is seduced by a beautiful girl (Jenny Wright) into joining a pack of vicious drifters. But this is no ordinary band of outlaws, and Caleb is soon trapped in a nightmarish world of soulless evil and hellish mayhem that thrives on blood and absolute horror. This extraordinary shocker is one of the most ferociously original vampire movies of our generation.
153. Wild Palms: Disc 1
     
     This disc includes the beginning of the program.
154. Wild Palms: Disc 2
     
     This disc includes the conclusion of the program.
155. My Neighbor Totoro
     
     Legendary Japanese animator Hayao Miyazaki provides a stunningly realistic portrayal of life in the country. When their mother is hospitalized, two young sisters spend a summer in the Japanese countryside with their father. The strange new environment turns out to be a natural wonderland filled with exotic real-life creatures and a trio of furry woodland sprites who can only be seen by children.
156. The Celebration
     
     Director Thomas Vinterberg’s 1998 winner of the Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival follows a Danish family as they gather for the 60th birthday of the family’s patriarch, Helge (Henning Moritzen). All of Helge’s children — Christian (Ulrich Thomsen), Helene (Paprika Steen) and Michael (Thomas Bo Larsen) — are present at the party, where it will be revealed quite publicly that Christian has an axe to grind with the guest of honor.
157. The Believer
     
     Henry Bean’s film tells the story of Danny Balint (Ryan Gosling), a young Jewish man from New York City struggling with the conflict between his beliefs and his heritage. Balint eventually joins a neo-Nazi organization, rising up the ranks to become a leader in the white supremacy movement. The 2001 Jury Prize winner at Sundance is a psychological examination into the forces of intolerance, both on the individual and society as a whole.
158. Jarhead
     
     Cpl. Anthony “Swoff” Swofford (Jake Gyllenhaal) endures the worst of war in this drama based on ex-Marine Anthony Swofford’s biting memoirs about Operation Desert Storm. Swoff, his mercenary mentor, Troy (Peter Saarsgard), and the rest of the unit resort to cynicism and caustic humor in order to deal with the unbearable heat, dangerous missions and uncertain war. Oscar winner Jamie Foxx co-stars as Sgt. Sykes.
159. Lord of War
     
     Lately, Yuri Orlov (Nicolas Cage) has had some misgivings about his day job. As the world’s leading arms dealer, he’s embraced the glamorous profession so soundly that it’s hard to let it go. The thing is, if he wants to dodge the cunning Interpol agent (Ethan Hawke) on his trail, he’ll have to let go. Writer-director Andrew Niccol helms this taut action-thriller co-starring Jared Leto, Bridget Moynahan and Donald Sutherland.
160. The Chumscrubber
     
     Director Arie Posin transforms his short story into a frightfully honest portrait of suburban dysfunction in this film about Dean (Jamie Bell), a young boy who finds his friend hanging from the rafters during a neighborhood party. Figuring that no one else would care, he doesn’t report his discovery to the adults, and instead embarks on a journey of harrowing isolation and loneliness. Glenn Close, Rita Wilson and Carrie-Anne Moss costar.
161. Addicted: Special Edition
     
     Life is rosy for Eun-su (Mi-yeon Lee), her husband, Ho-jin (Eol Lee), and his younger brother, Dae-jin (Byung-hun Lee). But two separate car accidents radically change that dynamic. Ho-jin dies from his injuries, but in a queer event, Dae-jin awakes from his coma and demonstrates many of his sibling’s personal characteristics. Drawn to Dae-jin, Eun-su begins to ponder if her husband’s soul is, in fact, trapped in the body of her brother-in-law.
162. The New Adventures of Pippi Longstocking
     
     Pigtailed Pippi (Tami Erin) returns for another round of merriment and mischief. After washing overboard during a ferocious storm, the titian-haired troublemaker drifts ashore (along with her talking horse and monkey) to a seaside village, where she proceeds to turn the town upside down with her high jinks and magic powers. But Pippi’s pranks soon put her on a collision course with Miss Bannister (Eileen Brennan), the local social worker. …
163. Smoke
     
     A Brooklyn cigar store anchors the vignettes that make up this lyrical Wayne Wang movie written by famous author Paul Auster. Auggie (Harvey Keitel), the store manager, is surprised by a visit from his ex-wife, who says their daughter is in trouble. Rashid (Harold Perrineau Jr.), a runaway searching for his father (Forest Whittaker), saves Auggie’s customer, Paul (William Hurt), from being hit by a car, and changes his life forever.
164. The Devil’s Backbone
     
     Twelve-year-old Carlos (Fernando Tielve) is the latest arrival at Santa Lucia School, an imposing stone building that shelters orphans of the Republican militia and politicians during the last days of the Spanish Civil War. Carlos gradually uncovers the dark ties that bind the inhabitants of the school: hidden riches, sexual intrigue and the restless ghost of a murdered student, who may be the only one to provide resolution.
165. The 400 Blows
     
     After young Antoine (Jean-Pierre Léaud) runs away, life on the streets of Paris leads to nothing but trouble and guilt in this gritty feature film debut from legendary director François Truffaut. Though he turns to petty crime to survive, Antoine’s remorse often leads him to try to return things he’s stolen — with disastrous results. The film was nominated for a Best Screenplay Oscar and the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival.
166. Interview with the Vampire
     
     Director Neil Jordan’s Oscar-nominated tale of bloodsucking immortals moves from 18th century New Orleans to a Grand Guignol theater in Paris to present-day San Francisco as it explores betrayal, love, loneliness and hunger. The lives of a trio of vampires — cavalier Lestat (Tom Cruise), tormented Louis (Brad Pitt) and childlike Claudia (Kirsten Dunst) — are interconnected for centuries in this adaptation of Anne Rice’s romantic horror tale.
167. The Squid and the Whale
     
     Jeff Daniels makes for a haunting Brooklyn professor who’s well past his prime, and Laura Linney is his writer wife on the brink of stardom in Noah Baumbach’s honest look at the disintegration of a marriage. With their lives headed for distinctly opposite directions, the two can’t help but be acrimonious about their impending separation. Unfortunately, their two children are stuck in the middle of the emotional warfare.
168. A Better Tomorrow
     
     Many fans view this gritty, stripped-down film as director John Woo’s (Mission: Impossible) finest hour. Two brothers (one a neophyte counterfeiter, one a rookie cop) try to balance honor, family and duty. Chow Yun-Fat steals the show with his usual flair, and A Better Tomorrow brilliantly fuses fully drawn characters, thrilling action, family bonds and blistering firepower.
169. The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada
     
     Tommy Lee Jones stars in and directs this dark comedy set on the Texas-Mexico border. After accidentally killing a man, heartless border patrol officer Mike (Barry Pepper) quickly buries the body in an unmarked grave. But ranch foreman Pete Perkins (Jones) learns of his friend’s death, kidnaps Mike and drags him on a harrowing journey to Mexico to bury the man in his hometown. Julio Cesar Cedillo, January Jones and Dwight Yoakam co-star.
170. A Tale of Two Sisters
     
     Terrified sisters try to exorcise their home of two dark forces — their evil stepmother and a vengeful entity — in this ghostly tale. Hospitalized after their mother’s death, young Su-mi (Im Su-jeong) and Su-yeon (Mun Geun-yeong) return home to find a nasty new stepmother (Yeom Jeong-ah). The girls suffer terrifying events, but their father doesn’t care, even though evil lurks around every corner. Can the girls free their home from its demons?
171. Paragraph 175
     
     Actor Rupert Everett provides the narration for this disquieting documentary that shines a light on the Third Reich’s vicious persecution of male homosexuals during World War II. The title comes from an arcane, 1871 German statute making sodomy punishable by incarceration (with the ultimate goal to eradicate gays completely). Only a handful of survivors — now frail and withered — remain to recount their traumatic tales in this poignant film.
172. Cache
     
     Winner of the Cannes Best Director Award, Michael Haneke’s psychological thriller centers on wealthy French couple Georges (Daniel Auteuil) and Anne (Juliette Binoche), who begin receiving threatening videotapes and phone calls. Eventually, Georges realizes who the perpetrator is but refuses to tell Anne, causing a rift. Flashbacks of George’s childhood reveal the mystery, a story that illuminates France’s damaged relations with Algeria.
173. Secret Things
     
     Freshly fired from a strip club by a scummy boss, exotic dancer Nathalie (Coralie Revel) and bartender Sandrine (Sabrina Seyvecou) become roommates. The jobless duo soon pledges to use their sexual powers to invade the corporate world. It’s not long before they find jobs at a bank, where Sandrine seduces the wealthy head of the firm (Roger Mirmont) and Nathalie chases his equally affluent son (Fabrice Deville) in this erotic French thriller.
174. Manji
     
     When a bored wife meets a mysterious, sexy woman in an art class, the two embark on a passionate love affair. Soon, the unhappy wife’s husband and her new girlfriend’s impotent lover also become involved in what turns out to be a strange and violent foursome. Directed by Japanese New Wave director Yasuzo Masumura.
175. Tristan & Isolde
     
     Directed by Kevin Reynolds, this timeless medieval tale follows Tristan (James Franco) and Isolde (Sophia Myles), star-crossed lovers doomed by the forces of imperial politics. When gallant English knight Tristan wins the love of beautiful Isolde — the daughter of the Irish king (David O’Hara) — their liaison threatens to destroy the uneasy truce between their two nations. Rufus Sewell plays English warlord Lord Marke.
176. I Am Sam
     
     Sam (Sean Penn) is a grown man with the mental capacity of a 7-year-old. After fathering a child with a homeless woman, Sam raises the baby himself until an incident at a birthday party finds the Child Protective Services deeming him an unfit guardian. With the help of yuppie lawyer Michelle Pfeiffer, Sam attempts to regain custody of his daughter and prove that, despite his handicap, he’s a truly loving father.
177. Silkwood
     
     While working at an Oklahoma nuclear power plant, Karen Silkwood (Meryl Streep) becomes exposed to radiation. When the official investigation is tampered with, Karen conducts her own inquiry … but she disappears under suspicious circumstances before its completion. Kurt Russell costars in this fact-based drama, which was nominated for multiple Oscars and earned Cher a Best Supporting Actress Golden Globe for her minimalist performance.
178. Proof
     
     A devoted daughter (Gwyneth Paltrow) comes to terms with the death of her father (Anthony Hopkins), a brilliant mathematician whose genius was crippled by mental instability. Along the way, she’s forced to face her own dark fears. But she has help from one of her father’s former students (Jake Gyllenhaal), who searches through the dead man’s notebooks in hopes of discovering the key to his brilliance. John Madden directs.
179. The Human Stain
     
     Dr. Coleman Silk (Anthony Hopkins) is a respected university classics professor who becomes involved in a passionate sexual relationship with a poor cleaning woman (Nicole Kidman) who’s married to a jealous, violent man (Ed Harris). As their affair heats up and the woman’s husband becomes more dangerous, Coleman also faces troubles at work, and his entire life seems ready to unravel … rapidly. Directed by Robert Benton.
180. The Door in the Floor
     
     In this fascinating drama based on John Irving’s novel A Widow for One Year, writer Ted Cole (Jeff Bridges) and his wife, Marion (Kim Basinger), struggle to cope with the deaths of their teenage boys while still caring for their daughter, Ruth (Elle Fanning). But they’re failing, so Ted, desperate to make some kind of change, hatches a plan: He hires an appealing assistant (Jon Foster), and soon, Marion’s having an affair with him.
181. Jesus’ Son
     
     Nominated for an Independent Spirit Award, director Alison Maclean’s reflective drama follows FH (Billy Crudup), a well-meaning drug addict who stumbles backward into redemption. When his longtime love (Samantha Morton) leaves, FH follows her but meets and falls for the older Mira (Holly Hunter) along the way. Amid his life’s wreckage, a near-fatal car crash and a chance to save a child’s life force FH to examine his existence and its meaning.
182. Bram Stoke