The 100% Club: An Ode to Movies With a Perfect Tomatometer Score

Critics Consensus: Leave No Trace takes an effectively low-key approach to a potentially sensationalistic story -- and further benefits from brilliant work by Ben Foster and Thomasin McKenzie.

Synopsis: A father and daughter live a perfect but mysterious existence in Forest Park, a beautiful nature reserve near Portland, Ore., rarely making contact with the... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Ben Foster, Thomasin McKenzie, Jeff Kober, Dale Dickey

Directed By: Debra Granik

Critics Consensus: The rare sequel that arguably improves on its predecessor, Toy Story 2 uses inventive storytelling, gorgeous animation, and a talented cast to deliver another rich moviegoing experience for all ages.

Synopsis: Woody (Tom Hanks) is stolen from his home by toy dealer Al McWhiggin (Wayne Knight), leaving Buzz Lightyear (Tim Allen) and the rest of the... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Joan Cusack, Kelsey Grammer

Directed By: Ash Brannon, John Lasseter, Lee Unkrich

Critics Consensus: Capturing the here and now of modern India with the spontaneity of a candid photograph, All We Imagine as Light is a lustrous achievement that announces Payal Kapadia as an essential filmmaker.

Synopsis: The light, the lives, and the textures of contemporary, working-class Mumbai are explored and celebrated by writer/director Payal Kapadia, who won the Grand Prize at... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Kani Kusruti, Divya Prabha, Chhaya Kadam, Hridhu Haroon

Directed By: Payal Kapadia

Critics Consensus: Comforting as cheese and crackers, with some gentle ribbing of modern technology sprinkled on top, Vengeance Most Fowl revives this lovable pair with all their charm intact.

Synopsis: Aardman's four-time Academy Award®-winning director Nick Park and Emmy Award-nominated Merlin Crossingham return with a brand new epic adventure, Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl.... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Ben Whitehead, Peter Kay, Lauren Patel, Reece Shearsmith

Directed By: Merlin Crossingham, Nick Park

Critics Consensus: Marvelously directed by Sebastian Lelio and beautifully led by a powerful performance from Paulina Garcia, Gloria takes an honest, sweetly poignant look at a type of character that's all too often neglected in Hollywood.

Synopsis: An aging divorcee (Paulina García) embarks on an intense affair with a man (Sergio Hernández) she picked up at a disco.

Starring: Paulina García, Sergio Hernández, Diego Fontecilla, Coca Guazzini

Directed By: Sebastián Lelio

Critics Consensus: Featuring genuine scares through every corridor, His House is a terrifying look at the specters of the refugee experience and a stunning feature debut for Remi Weekes.

Synopsis: A refugee couple makes a harrowing escape from war-torn South Sudan, but then they struggle to adjust to their new life in an English town... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Wunmi Mosaku, Sope Dirisu, Matt Smith, Cornell John

Directed By: Remi Weekes

Critics Consensus: Offering a wonderfully witty script, spotless direction from George Cukor, and typically excellent lead performances, The Philadelphia Story is an unqualified classic.

Synopsis: This classic romantic comedy focuses on Tracy Lord (Katharine Hepburn), a Philadelphia socialite who has split from her husband, C.K. Dexter Haven (Cary Grant), due... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Cary Grant, Katharine Hepburn, James Stewart, Ruth Hussey

Directed By: George Cukor

Critics Consensus: Arguably Akira Kurosawa's masterpiece, The Seven Samurai is an epic adventure classic with an engrossing story, memorable characters, and stunning action sequences that make it one of the most influential films ever made.

Synopsis: A samurai answers a village's request for protection after he falls on hard times. The town needs protection from bandits, so the samurai gathers six... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Toshiro Mifune, Takashi Shimura, Yoshio Inaba, Seiji Miyaguchi

Directed By: Akira Kurosawa

Critics Consensus: Summer 1993 (Estiu 1993) finds writer-director Carla Simón drawing on personal memories to create a thoughtful drama elevated by outstanding work from its young leads.

Synopsis: Six-year-old Frida looks on in silence as the last objects from her recently deceased mother's apartment in Barcelona are placed in boxes. Although her aunt,... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Laia Artigas, Paula Robles, Bruna Cusí, David Verdaguer

Directed By: Carla Simón

Critics Consensus: Boasting narrative depth, frank honesty, and exquisite visual beauty, The Tale of the Princess Kaguya is a modern animated treasure with timeless appeal.

Synopsis: A tiny nymph found inside a bamboo stalk grows into a beautiful and desirable young woman, who orders her suitors to prove their love by... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Chloë Grace Moretz, James Caan, Mary Steenburgen, Darren Criss

Directed By: Isao Takahata

Critics Consensus: Brainy and bloody in equal measure, One Cut of the Dead reanimates the moribund zombie genre with a refreshing blend of formal daring and clever satire.

Synopsis: Real zombies attack a hack director and a film crew who are shooting a low budget zombie film in an abandoned WWII Japanese facility.

Starring: Takayuki Hamatsu, Yuzuki Akiyama, Harumi Shuhama, Kazuaki Nagaya

Directed By: Shinichiro Ueda

Critics Consensus: Entertaining as it is innovative, Toy Story reinvigorated animation while heralding the arrival of Pixar as a family-friendly force to be reckoned with.

Synopsis: Woody (Tom Hanks), a good-hearted cowboy doll who belongs to a young boy named Andy (John Morris), sees his position as Andy's favorite toy jeopardized... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Don Rickles, Jim Varney

Directed By: John Lasseter

Critics Consensus: Clever, incisive, and funny, Singin' in the Rain is a masterpiece of the classical Hollywood musical.

Synopsis: A spoof of the turmoil that afflicted the movie industry in the late 1920s when movies went from silent to sound. When two silent movie... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Gene Kelly, Debbie Reynolds, Donald O'Connor, Jean Hagen

Directed By: Stanley Donen, Gene Kelly

Critics Consensus: Anchored by Yllka Gashi's outstanding performance, Hive leads viewers on one woman's fact-based quest for self-determination in a patriarchal society.

Synopsis: HIVE is a searing drama based on the true story of Fahrije (Yllka Gashi), who, like many of the other women in her patriarchal village,... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Yllka Gashi, Çun Lajçi, Aurita Agushi, Kumrije Hoxha

Directed By: Blerta Basholli

Critics Consensus: Poetry is an absorbing, poignant drama because it offers no easy answers to its complex central conflict.

Synopsis: Kind-hearted Mija (Yun Jung-hee) is tasked with raising her troubled teenage grandson, Jong-wook, while her daughter works in far-off Busan. In denial that her abilities... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Yoon Jeong-hee, Lee David, Kim Hee-ra, Ahn Nae-sang

Directed By: Lee Chang-dong

Critics Consensus: A psychologically complex portrait of obsession, Laura is also a deliciously well-crafted murder mystery.

Synopsis: In one of the most celebrated 1940s film noirs, Manhattan detective Mark McPherson (Dana Andrews) investigates the murder of Madison Avenue executive Laura Hunt (Gene... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Gene Tierney, Dana Andrews, Clifton Webb, Vincent Price

Directed By: Otto Preminger

Critics Consensus: Hirokazu Kore-eda's film may seem modest at first, but this family drama casts a delicate, entrancing spell.

Synopsis: Twelve years after their beloved eldest son, Junpei, drowned while saving a stranger's life, Kyohei (Yoshio Harada) and Toshiko (Kirin Kiki) welcome their surviving children... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Hiroshi Abe, You, Yoshio Harada, Ryôga Hayashi

Directed By: Hirokazu Koreeda

Critics Consensus: Ambitious, adventurous, and sometimes frightening, Pinocchio arguably represents the pinnacle of Disney's collected works -- it's beautifully crafted and emotionally resonant.

Synopsis: When the woodworker Geppetto (Christian Rub) sees a falling star, he wishes that the puppet he just finished, Pinocchio (Dickie Jones), could become a real... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Don Brodie, Walter Catlett, Frankie Darro, Cliff Edwards

Directed By: Ben Sharpsteen, Hamilton Luske

Critics Consensus: Focusing pragmatically on the ordinary human moments that bind us, Nowhere Special leads us somewhere devastating yet surprisingly uplifting.

Synopsis: When single father John is given only a few months left to live, he tries to find the perfect family for his young son while... View Full Synopsis

Starring: James Norton, Daniel Lamont, Carol Moore, Valerie O'Connor

Directed By: Uberto Pasolini

Critics Consensus: A landmark psychological thriller with arresting images, deep thoughts on modern society, and Peter Lorre in his finest performance.

Synopsis: In this classic German thriller, Hans Beckert, a serial killer who preys on children, becomes the focus of a massive Berlin police manhunt. Beckert's heinous... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Peter Lorre, Ellen Widmann, Inge Landgut, Otto Wernicke

Directed By: Fritz Lang

Critics Consensus: As honest as it is empathetic, Playground presents a sensitive yet hard-hitting child's-eye view of life in elementary school.

Synopsis: In this debut feature by writer-director Laura Wandel, the everyday reality of grade school is seen from a child's-eye-view as an obstacle course of degradation... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Maya Vanderbeque, Günter Duret, Karim Leklou, Laura Verlinden

Directed By: Laura Wandel

Critics Consensus: A complex, stirring, and beautifully realized portrait of interconnected lives, Red is the captivating conclusion to a remarkable trilogy.

Synopsis: Part-time model Valentine (Irène Jacob) meets a retired judge (Jean-Louis Trintignant) who lives in her neighborhood after she runs over his dog. At first the... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Irène Jacob, Jean-Louis Trintignant, Jean-Pierre Lorit, Frédérique Feder

Directed By: Krzysztof Kieslowski

Critics Consensus: Only Yesterday's long-delayed U.S. debut fills a frustrating gap for American Ghibli fans while offering further proof of the studio's incredibly consistent commitment to quality.

Synopsis: A put-upon 27-year-old Japanese office worker travels to the countryside and reminisces about her childhood in Tokyo and what life could have been.

Starring: Daisy Ridley, Dev Patel, Ashley Eckstein, Alison Fernandez

Directed By: Isao Takahata

Critics Consensus: Led by Noée Abita's outstanding central performance, Slalom offers a moving account of oppression and abuse in the guise of mentorship.

Synopsis: This riveting, Cannes-selected #MeToo drama from debut filmmaker Charlène Favier follows the relationship between a teenage ski prodigy and her predatory instructor, played by frequent... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Noée Abita, Jérémie Renier, Marie Denarnaud, Muriel Combeau

Directed By: Charlène Favier

Critics Consensus: Sidney Lumet's feature debut is a superbly written, dramatically effective courtroom thriller that rightfully stands as a modern classic.

Synopsis: Following the closing arguments in a murder trial, the 12 members of the jury must deliberate, with a guilty verdict meaning death for the accused,... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Henry Fonda, Lee J. Cobb, Ed Begley, E.G. Marshall

Directed By: Sidney Lumet

Critics Consensus: With a never-better Douglas Fairbanks leading the dashing action, The Black Pirate sets the standard for action and adventure on the high seas.

Synopsis: Pirates loot a ship of its riches before blowing it up. Father-and-son survivors of noble birth wash ashore of an island, and the injured father... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Douglas Fairbanks, Billie Dove, Anders Randolf, Donald Crisp

Directed By: Albert Parker

Critics Consensus: A deeply felt coming of age tale that gleans insightful societal commentary from its intimate details, Girls Will Be Girls announces writer-director Shuchi Talati as a talent to watch.

Synopsis: In a strict boarding school nestled in the Himalayas, 16-year-old Mira discovers desire and romance; but her sexual, rebellious awakening is disrupted by her mother... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Preeti Panigrahi, Kani Kusruti, Kesav Binoy Kiron, Kajol Chugh

Directed By: Shuchi Talati

Critics Consensus: Thanks to director Juzo Itami's offbeat humor and sharp satirical edge, Tampopo is a funny, sexy, affectionate celebration of food and its broad influence on Japanese culture.

Synopsis: Two Japanese milk-truck drivers (Tsutomu Yamazaki, Ken Watanabe) help a restaurant owner (Nobuko Miyamoto) learn how to cook great noodles.

Starring: Tsutomu Yamazaki, Nobuko Miyamoto, Ken Watanabe, Kôji Yakusho

Directed By: Juzo Itami

Critics Consensus: Though hampered by Stuart Rosenberg's direction, Cool Hand Luke is held aloft by a stellar script and one of Paul Newman's most indelible performances.

Synopsis: When petty criminal Luke Jackson (Paul Newman) is sentenced to two years in a Florida prison farm, he doesn't play by the rules of either... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Paul Newman, George Kennedy, J.D. Cannon, Lou Antonio

Directed By: Stuart Rosenberg

Critics Consensus: Remade but never duplicated, this darkly humorous morality tale represents John Huston at his finest.

Synopsis: In this classic adventure film, two rough-and-tumble wanderers, Dobbs (Humphrey Bogart) and Curtin (Tim Holt), meet up with a veteran prospector, Howard (Walter Huston), in... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Humphrey Bogart, Walter Huston, Tim Holt, Bruce Bennett

Directed By: John Huston

Critics Consensus: Alfred Hitchcock's earliest classic -- and his own personal favorite -- deals its flesh-crawling thrills as deftly as its finely shaded characters.

Synopsis: Uncle Charlie visits his relatives in Santa Rosa. He is a very charming man, but his niece slowly realizes that he is wanted for murder,... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Teresa Wright, Joseph Cotten, Macdonald Carey, Hume Cronyn

Directed By: Alfred Hitchcock

Critics Consensus: One of cinema's greatest courtroom dramas, Anatomy of a Murder is tense, thought-provoking, and brilliantly acted, with great performances from James Stewart and George C. Scott.

Synopsis: Semi-retired Michigan lawyer Paul Biegler (James Stewart) takes the case of Army Lt. Manion (Ben Gazzara), who murdered a local innkeeper after his wife (Lee... View Full Synopsis

Starring: James Stewart, Lee Remick, Ben Gazzara, Arthur O'Connell

Directed By: Otto Preminger

Critics Consensus: Darkly funny and impressively ambitious, Chained for Life is as unpredictable as it is original.

Synopsis: An actress bonds with a young man who has a severe facial deformity.

Starring: Jess Weixler, Adam Pearson, Stephen Plunkett, Charlie Korsmo

Directed By: Aaron Schimberg

Critics Consensus: Tokyo Story is a Yasujiro Ozu masterpiece whose rewarding complexity has lost none of its power more than half a century on.

Synopsis: The elderly Shukishi (Chishu Ryu) and his wife, Tomi (Chieko Higashiyama), take the long journey from their small seaside village to visit their adult children... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Chishu Ryu, Chieko Higashiyama, Setsuko Hara, Haruko Sugimura

Directed By: Yasujirô Ozu

Critics Consensus: An existential suspense classic, The Wages of Fear blends nonstop suspense with biting satire; its influence is still being felt on today's thrillers.

Synopsis: In the South American jungle, supplies of nitroglycerine are needed at a remote oil field. The oil company pays four men to deliver the supplies... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Yves Montand, Charles Vanel, Peter van Eyck, Véra Clouzot

Directed By: Henri-Georges Clouzot

Critics Consensus: A potent drama that is as socially important today as when it was made, The Grapes of Wrath is affecting, moving, and deservedly considered an American classic.

Synopsis: The Joad clan, introduced to the world in John Steinbeck's iconic novel, is looking for a better life in California. After their drought-ridden farm is... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Henry Fonda, Jane Darwell, John Carradine, Charley Grapewin

Directed By: John Ford

Critics Consensus: Errol Flynn thrills as the legendary title character, and the film embodies the type of imaginative family adventure tailor-made for the silver screen.

Synopsis: When King Richard the Lionheart is captured, his scheming brother Prince John (Claude Rains) plots to reach the throne, to the outrage of Sir Robin... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Errol Flynn, Olivia de Havilland, Basil Rathbone, Claude Rains

Directed By: Michael Curtiz, William Keighley

Critics Consensus: Performed with chameleonic brio by Alec Guinness, Kind Hearts and Coronets is a triumphant farce.

Synopsis: When his mother eloped with an Italian opera singer, Louis Mazzini (Dennis Price) was cut off from her aristocratic family. After the family refuses to... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Alec Guinness, Dennis Price, Valerie Hobson, Joan Greenwood

Directed By: Robert Hamer

Critics Consensus: A technical masterpiece, Battleship Potemkin is Soviet cinema at its finest, and its montage editing techniques remain influential to this day.

Synopsis: When they are fed rancid meat, the sailors on the Potemkin revolt against their harsh conditions. Led by Vakulinchuk, the sailors kill the officers of... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Aleksandr Antonov, Vladimir Barskiy, Grigoriy Aleksandrov, Mikhail Gomorov

Directed By: Sergei M. Eisenstein

Critics Consensus: Thought-provoking and beautifully filmed, Before Sunrise is an intelligent, unabashedly romantic look at modern love, led by marvelously natural performances from Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy.

Synopsis: On his way to Vienna, American Jesse meets Celine, a student returning to Paris. After long conversations forge a surprising connection between them, Jesse convinces... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Ethan Hawke, Julie Delpy, Erni Mangold, Hanno Poeschl

Directed By: Richard Linklater

Critics Consensus: Charles Chaplin' irascible Tramp is given able support from Jackie Coogan as The Kid in this slapstick masterpiece, balancing the guffaws with moments of disarming poignancy.

Synopsis: Chaplin's first full-length feature is a silent masterpiece about a little tramp who discovers a little orphan and brings him up but is left desolate... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Charlie Chaplin, Jackie Coogan, Edna Purviance, Carl Miller

Directed By: Charlie Chaplin

Critics Consensus: The Age of Shadows justifies its imposing length with a richly detailed period drama whose sprawling size is matched by strong acting, impressive craft, and narrative depth.

Synopsis: Korean resistance fighters smuggle explosives to destroy facilities controlled by Japanese forces.

Starring: Song Kang-ho, Gong Yoo, Han Ji-min, Uhm Tae-goo

Directed By: Kim Jee-woon

Critics Consensus: Typifying the best that the Western genre has to offer, Stagecoach is a rip-roaring adventure given dramatic heft by John Ford's dynamic direction and John Wayne's mesmerizing star turn.

Synopsis: John Ford's landmark Western revolves around an assorted group of colorful passengers aboard the Overland stagecoach bound for Lordsburg, New Mexico, in the 1880s. An... View Full Synopsis

Starring: John Wayne, Claire Trevor, Andy Devine, John Carradine

Directed By: John Ford

Critics Consensus: Open City fills in the familiar contours of its storyline with three-dimensional characters and a narrative depth that add up to a towering -- and still powerfully resonant -- cinematic achievement.

Synopsis: Rome, 1944. Giorgio Manfredi, one of the leaders of the Resistance is tracked down by the Nazis. He goes to his friend Francesco's, and asks... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Aldo Fabrizi, Anna Magnani, Marcello Pagliero, Maria Michi

Directed By: Roberto Rossellini

Critics Consensus: A vibrant exploration of family and social mores, On Becoming a Guineau Fowl marks another superb effort from writer-director Rungano Nyoni.

Synopsis: On an empty road in the middle of the night, Shula stumbles across the body of her uncle. As funeral proceedings begin around them, she... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Susan Chardy, Roy Chisha, Blessings Bhamjee, Chungu Bwalya

Directed By: Rungano Nyoni

Critics Consensus: Ingmar Bergman conveys the sweep of childhood with a fastidious attention to detail and sumptuous insight into human frailty in Fanny & Alexander, a masterwork that crystalizes many of the directors' preoccupations into a familial epic.

Synopsis: As children in the loving Ekdahl family, Fanny and Alexander enjoy a happy life with their parents, who run a theater company. After their father... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Pernilla Allwin, Bertil Guve, Erland Josephson, Gunn Wållgren

Directed By: Ingmar Bergman

Critics Consensus: Quietly compassionate and rich in detail, Ilo Ilo is a strikingly mature debut from writer-director Anthony Chen.

Synopsis: A hardworking mother (Yann Yann Yeo) becomes jealous of her rambunctious son's (Koh Jia Ler) close bond with his nanny (Angela Bayani).

Starring: Koh Jia Ler, Angela Bayani, Yann Yann Yeo, Chen Tian Wen

Directed By: Anthony Chen

Critics Consensus: Its narration might not be distracting for some, but The Velvet Queen more than makes up for it with some truly striking cinematography.

Synopsis: In the heart of the Tibetan highlands, multi-award-winning nature photographer Vincent Munier guides writer Sylvain Tesson on his quest to document the infamously elusive snow... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Sylvain Tesson, Vincent Munier

Directed By: Marie Amiguet, Vincent Munier

Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.

Synopsis: A teenager (J. Robert Spencer) is charged with the care of his younger sister (Rhoda Chrosite) after an Allied firebombing during World War II destroys... View Full Synopsis

Starring: J. Robert Spencer, Rhoda Chrosite, Amy Jones, Kathleen McInerney

Directed By: Isao Takahata

Critics Consensus: Well-written and powerfully acted, Fireworks Wednesday gives audiences an early, assured glimpse of writer-director Asghar Farhadi's emerging talent.

Synopsis: Upon hearing of the engagement of her housekeeper, Roohi, housewife Mozhde sends the betrothed to enjoy free services at a local salon -- provided that... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Taraneh Alidoosti, Hedye Tehrani, Hamid Farokhnezhad, Pantea Bahram

Directed By: Asghar Farhadi

Critics Consensus: Giulietta Masina is remarkable as a chronically unfortunate wretch with an indomitable spirit in Federico Fellini's unrelentingly bleak -- yet ultimately uplifting -- odyssey through heartbreak.

Synopsis: The magnificent Giulietta Masina (Fellini's wife) plays an eternally optimistic Rome streetwalker with a heart of gold and a head of cotton candy in her... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Giulietta Masina, François Perier, Amedeo Nazzari, Franca Marzi

Directed By: Federico Fellini

Critics Consensus: Au Hasard Balthazar uses one animal's lifelong journey to trace a soberly compelling -- and ultimately heartbreaking -- outline of the human experience.

Synopsis: This thoughtful and unique French film reveals the surprisingly deep connection between Marie, a sensitive farm girl, and her cherished donkey, Balthazar. Though Marie and... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Anne Wiazemsky, François Lafarge, Philippe Asselin, Nathalie Joyaut

Directed By: Robert Bresson

Critics Consensus: A heart-pumping, breathtaking, wonderfully crafted manga adaptation, The First Slam Dunk shoots and scores.

Synopsis: Shohoku's "speedster" and point guard, Ryota Miyagi, always plays with brains and lightning speed, running circles around his opponents while feigning composure. Born and raised... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Shugo Nakamura, Jun Kasama, Shinichiro Kamio, Subaru Kimura

Directed By: Takehiko Inoue

Critics Consensus: Brought to life by a breakout performance by Camila Morrone, Mickey and the Bear finds affecting drama at the crossroads of a young woman's coming-of-age journey.

Synopsis: A Montana teenager navigates a loving but volatile relationship with her single, veteran father. In a desperate search for independence and her own identity, she... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Camila Morrone, James Badge Dale, Calvin Demba, Ben Rosenfield

Directed By: Annabelle Attanasio

Critics Consensus: Beautifully filmed and performed, Mäedchen in Uniform avoids easy melodrama with its sensitive handling of oft-sensationalized subject matter.

Synopsis: After the death of her mother, teenage Manuela (Hertha Thiele) is sent off to a boarding school run by the autocratic Fräulein von Nordeck (Emilia... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Hertha Thiele, Dorothea Wieck, Emilia Unda

Directed By: Leontine Sagan

Critics Consensus: Stalker is a complex, oblique parable that draws unforgettable images and philosophical musings from its sci-fi/thriller setting.

Synopsis: In an unnamed country at an unspecified time, there is a fiercely protected post-apocalyptic wasteland known as The Zone. An illegal guide (Aleksandr Kajdanovsky), whose... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Aleksandr Kajdanovsky, Nikolay Grinko, Anatoliy Solonitsyn, Alisa Freyndlikh

Directed By: Andrei Tarkovsky

Critics Consensus: A Man Escaped is blockbuster Bresson, a well-acted POW drama that builds with subtle, seat-gripping tension.

Synopsis: In a film based on the writings of French Resistance fighter and POW André Devigny, Fontaine (François Leterrier) is being held by the Nazis at... View Full Synopsis

Starring: François Leterrier, Charles Le Clainche, Maurice Beerblock, Roland Monod

Directed By: Robert Bresson

Critics Consensus: Blending screwball comedy with a socially conscious message, Sullivan's Travels offers delightful proof of writer-director Preston Sturges' ability to provoke serious thought as well as helpless laughter.

Synopsis: Successful movie director John L. Sullivan (Joel McCrea), convinced he won't be able to film his ambitious masterpiece until he has suffered, dons a hobo... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Joel McCrea, Veronica Lake, Robert Warwick, William Demarest

Directed By: Preston Sturges

Critics Consensus: A coming-of-age drama that thoughtfully handles hard-hitting themes, Paper Spiders is anchored by heartbreaking performances from its leads.

Synopsis: Dawn (Lili Taylor) recently lost her husband and experiences growing anxiety as her daughter Melanie (Stefania Owen) plans to move away for college. An argument... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Lili Taylor, Stefania Owen, Peyton List, Ian Nelson

Directed By: Inon Shampanier

Critics Consensus: A glamorous and enthralling Depression-era diversion, Top Hat is nearly flawless, with acrobatics by Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers that make the hardest physical stunts seem light as air.

Synopsis: The story centers on wealthy Dale Tremont (Ginger Rogers), on holiday in London and Venice. She assumes that American entertainer Jerry Travers (Fred Astaire) is... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers, Edward Everett Horton, Helen Broderick

Directed By: Mark Sandrich

Critics Consensus: Regarded as one of the high-water marks in German New Wave cinema of the 1970s, Ali: Fear Eats the Soul is at once an intense portrayal of a relationship and a tribute to one of Rainer Werner Fassbinder's film heroes, Douglas Sirk.

Synopsis: Emmi Kurowski (Brigitte Mira), a cleaning lady, is lonely in her old age. Her husband died years ago, and her grown children offer little companionship.... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Brigitte Mira, El Hedi ben Salem, Barbara Valentin, Irm Hermann

Directed By: Rainer Werner Fassbinder

Critics Consensus: Visually and thematically evocative, Sugar Cane Alley tells a story that's heartbreaking and uplifting in equal measure.

Synopsis: In the French colony of Martinique in the 1930s, rambunctious teenager Jose (Garry Cadenat) lives in a rundown shack in a small farm village with... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Garry Cadenat, Darling Legitimus, Douta Seck

Directed By: Euzhan Palcy

Critics Consensus: A charmingly low-key character study brought to life by a tremendously talented cast, Local Hero is as humorous as it is heartwarming.

Synopsis: Up-and-coming Houston oil executive Mac MacIntyre gets more than he bargained for when a seemingly simple business trip to Scotland changes his outlook on life.... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Burt Lancaster, Peter Riegert, Denis Lawson, Fulton Mackay

Directed By: Bill Forsyth

Critics Consensus: As visually distinctive as it is narratively satisfying, Bait blends a classic aesthetic with timely themes to produce a thrillingly original and uniquely enriching drama.

Synopsis: Tension rises to the breaking point in a Cornwall fishing village when the local citizens are crowded out by tourists.

Starring: Morgan Val Baker, Georgia Ellery, Martin Ellis, Chloe Endean

Directed By: Mark Jenkin

Critics Consensus: A heartfelt glimpse into Temple Grandin's mind, this engrossing biopic reaches its full potential thanks to Claire Danes' unsentimental performance.

Synopsis: Before enrolling in college, famed animal husbandry expert Temple Grandin (Claire Danes) visits a cattle ranch owned by her aunt Ann (Catherine O'Hara) and demonstrates... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Claire Danes, Catherine O'Hara, Julia Ormond, David Strathairn

Directed By: Mick Jackson