Celebrating Roger Ebert’s Great Movies

Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.

Synopsis: Old friends Wallace (Wallace Shawn) and Andre (Andre Gregory) haven't seen each another in five years and agree to meet for dinner. Andre, a once... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Wallace Shawn, Andre Gregory, Jean Lenauer

Directed By: Louis Malle

Critics Consensus: George Cukor's elegant, colorful adaptation of the beloved stage play is elevated to new heights thanks to winning performances by Audrey Hepburn and Rex Harrison.

Synopsis: In this beloved musical, pompous phonetics professor Henry Higgins (Rex Harrison) is so sure of his abilities that he takes it upon himself to transform... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Audrey Hepburn, Rex Harrison, Stanley Holloway, Wilfrid Hyde-White

Directed By: George Cukor

Critics Consensus: Anna Karina's arresting performance provides a humanizing anchor to Jean-Luc Godard's stylistically explosive portrait of a prostitute.

Synopsis: In director Jean-Luc Godard's landmark drama, Nana (Anna Karina), a young Parisian woman who works in a record shop, finds herself disillusioned by poverty and... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Anna Karina, Sady Rebbot, Monique Messine, Guylaine Schlumberger

Directed By: Jean-Luc Godard

Critics Consensus: My Neighbor Totoro is a heartwarming, sentimental masterpiece that captures the simple grace of childhood.

Synopsis: This acclaimed animated tale by director Hayao Miyazaki follows schoolgirl Satsuke and her younger sister, Mei, as they settle into an old country house with... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Elle Fanning, Dakota Fanning, Tim Daly, Lea Salonga

Directed By: Hayao Miyazaki

Critics Consensus: Mystery Train meanders by design, but it never goes off the rails, retaining its deadpan cool throughout.

Synopsis: A seedy hotel in Memphis, Tennessee, provides the backdrop for three separate tales, featuring everything from a kitsch-obsessed Japanese couple (Masatoshi Nagase, Yûki Kudô) to... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Masatoshi Nagase, Nicoletta Braschi, Joe Strummer, Yûki Kudô

Directed By: Jim Jarmusch

Critics Consensus: An enthralling documentary and a visual feat, Nanook of the North fascinates with its dramatic depiction of life in an extremely hostile environment.

Synopsis: This pioneering documentary film depicts the lives of the indigenous Inuit people of Canada's northern Quebec region. Although the production contains some fictional elements, it... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Nanook, Nyla, Cunayou, Allee

Directed By: Robert J. Flaherty

Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.

Synopsis: A 69-year-old Japanese widow (Kinuyo Tanaka) settles her life and then, by custom, climbs a mountain to die.

Starring: Kinuyo Tanaka, Teiji Takahashi, Yûko Mochizuki, Danko Ichikawa

Directed By: Keisuke Kinoshita

Critics Consensus: Robert Altman captures the bravado and cynicism of the American dream in Nashville, a sprawling epic bursting with vivid performances and an unforgettable soundtrack.

Synopsis: In this acclaimed Robert Altman drama, the lives of numerous people in the Tennessee capital intersect in unpredictable ways. Delbert Reese (Ned Beatty) is a... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Keith Carradine, Lily Tomlin, Karen Black, David Arkin

Directed By: Robert Altman

Critics Consensus: Driven by populist fury and elevated by strong direction, powerful acting, and an intelligent script, Network's searing satire of ratings-driven news remains sadly relevant more than four decades later.

Synopsis: In this lauded satire, veteran news anchorman Howard Beale (Peter Finch) discovers that he's being put out to pasture, and he's none too happy about... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Faye Dunaway, Peter Finch, William Holden, Robert Duvall

Directed By: Sidney Lumet

Critics Consensus: A neo-noir that favors rich psychological depth and mood over suspense, Night Moves is elevated by Arthur Penn's introspective direction and Gene Hackman's brooding performance.

Synopsis: Hard-nosed private investigator Harry Moseby (Gene Hackman), to distract himself from a rapidly deteriorating marriage, takes a case from an aging B-movie queen (Janet Ward)... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Gene Hackman, Jennifer Warren, Melanie Griffith, Susan Clark

Directed By: Arthur Penn

Critics Consensus: Featuring Robert Mitchum's formidable performance as a child-hunting preacher, The Night of the Hunter is a disturbing look at good and evil.

Synopsis: The Rev. Harry Powell (Robert Mitchum) is a religious fanatic and serial killer who targets women who use their sexuality to attract men. Serving time... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Robert Mitchum, Shelley Winters, Lillian Gish, Evelyn Varden

Directed By: Charles Laughton

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: One of the silent era's most influential masterpieces, Nosferatu's eerie, gothic feel -- and a chilling performance from Max Schreck as the vampire -- set the template for the horror films that followed.

Synopsis: Vampire Count Orlok expresses interest in a new residence -- and his new real estate agent Hutter's wife.

Starring: Max Schreck, Alexander Granach, Gustav von Wangenheim, Greta Schroeder

Directed By: F.W. Murnau

Critics Consensus: Stunning visuals from Werner Herzog and an intense portrayal of the famed bloodsucker from Klaus Kinski make Nosferatu the Vampyre a horror classic in its own right.

Synopsis: Jonathan Harker is sent away to Count Dracula's castle to sell him a house in Virna, where he lives. But Count Dracula is a vampire,... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Klaus Kinski, Isabelle Adjani, Bruno Ganz, Roland Topor

Directed By: Werner Herzog

Critics Consensus: Sublime direction from Hitchcock, and terrific central performances from Ingrid Bergman and Cary Grant make this a bona-fide classic worthy of a re-visit.

Synopsis: In order to help bring Nazis to justice, U.S. government agent T.R. Devlin recruits Alicia Huberman, the American daughter of a convicted German war criminal,... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Cary Grant, Ingrid Bergman, Claude Rains, Louis Calhern

Directed By: Alfred Hitchcock

Critics Consensus: With his electrifying performance in Elia Kazan's thought-provoking, expertly constructed melodrama, Marlon Brando redefined the possibilities of acting for film and helped permanently alter the cinematic landscape.

Synopsis: Dockworker Terry Malloy (Marlon Brando) had been an up-and-coming boxer until powerful local mob boss Johnny Friendly (Lee J. Cobb) persuaded him to throw a... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Marlon Brando, Eva Marie Saint, Karl Malden, Lee J. Cobb

Directed By: Elia Kazan

Critics Consensus: Jack Nicholson and Louise Fletcher are worthy adversaries in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, with Miloš Forman's more grounded and morally ambiguous approach to Ken Kesey's surrealistic novel yielding a film of outsized power.

Synopsis: When Randle Patrick McMurphy gets transferred for evaluation from a prison farm to a mental institution, he assumes it will be a less restrictive environment.... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Jack Nicholson, Louise Fletcher, Brad Dourif, William Redfield

Directed By: Milos Forman

Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.

Synopsis: In 1923, widow Tsune Nonomiya sacrifices everything, even her home, to send her son Ryosuke to high school. However, in 1936, making her first visit... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Choko Iida, Shinichi Himori, Masao Hayama, Yoshiko Tsubouchi

Directed By: Yasujirô Ozu

Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.

Synopsis: The three sons of devout Danish farmer Morten (Henrik Malberg) have widely disparate religious beliefs. Youngest son Anders (Cay Kristiansen) shares his father's religion, but... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Henrik Malberg, Emil Hass Christensen, Preben Lerdorff Rye, Cay Kristiansen

Directed By: Carl Theodor Dreyer

Critics Consensus: Heavy with symbolism and deliberately paced, Orpheus may not be for everyone -- but as an example of Jean Cocteau's eccentric genius, it's all but impossible not to recommend.

Synopsis: At the Café des Poètes in Paris, a fight breaks out between the poet Orphée (Jean Marais) and a group of resentful upstarts. A rival... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Jean Marais, María Casares, François Perier, Marie Déa

Directed By: Jean Cocteau

Critics Consensus: Anchored by a wistful Robert Mitchum, Out of the Past is an exemplary noir steeped in doom and sensuality.

Synopsis: The quiet life of small-town gas station owner Jeff Bailey (Robert Mitchum) is interrupted when a figure from his shady past, small-time crook Joe Stephanos... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Robert Mitchum, Jane Greer, Kirk Douglas, Rhonda Fleming

Directed By: Jacques Tourneur

Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.

Synopsis: Japanese gangster Muraki (Ryô Ikebe) is released from jail after a few years and finds both organized crime and the real world have moved on... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Ryô Ikebe, Mariko Kaga, Takashi Fujiki, Chisako Hara

Directed By: Masahiro Shinoda

Critics Consensus: Pan's Labyrinth is Alice in Wonderland for grown-ups, with the horrors of both reality and fantasy blended together into an extraordinary, spellbinding fable.

Synopsis: In 1944 in Spain, Ofelia and her ailing mother arrive at the post of her mother's new husband, a sadistic army officer who is trying... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Sergi López, Maribel Verdú, Ivana Baquero, Álex Angulo

Directed By: Guillermo del Toro

Critics Consensus: Marked by GW Pabst's innovative, atmospheric direction and a surprisingly modern storyline, Pandora's Box ultimately owes its power to Louise Brooks' monumental, iconic performance.

Synopsis: In this acclaimed German silent film, Lulu (Louise Brooks) is a young woman so beautiful and alluring that few can resist her siren charms. The... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Louise Brooks, Fritz Kortner, Francis Lederer, Carl Goetz

Directed By: Georg Wilhelm Pabst

Critics Consensus: A quiet yet deeply moving kind of Western, Paris, Texas captures a place and people like never before (or after).

Synopsis: A disheveled man who wanders out of the desert, Travis Henderson (Harry Dean Stanton) seems to have no idea who he is. When a stranger... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Harry Dean Stanton, Nastassja Kinski, Dean Stockwell, Aurore Clément

Directed By: Wim Wenders

Critics Consensus: The Passion of Joan of Arc is must-see cinema for Renée Maria Falconetti's incredible performance alone -- and an all-time classic for innumerable other reasons.

Synopsis: Spiritual rapture and institutional hypocrisy come to stark, vivid life in one of the most transcendent masterpieces of the silent era. Chronicling the trial of... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Maria Falconetti, Eugene Silvain, André Berley, Maurice Schultz

Directed By: Carl Theodor Dreyer

Critics Consensus: A film that requires and rewards patience in equal measure, Pather Panchali finds director Satyajit Ray delivering a classic with his debut.

Synopsis: Impoverished priest Harihar Ray, dreaming of a better life for himself and his family, leaves his rural Bengal village in search of work. Alone, his... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Kanu Bannerjee, Karuna Bannerjee, Subir Bannerjee, Runki Banerjee

Directed By: Satyajit Ray

Critics Consensus: Paths of Glory is a transcendentally humane war movie from Stanley Kubrick, with impressive, protracted battle sequences and a knock-out ending.

Synopsis: During World War I, commanding officer General Broulard (Adolphe Menjou) orders his subordinate, General Mireau (George Macready), to attack a German trench position, offering a... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Kirk Douglas, Ralph Meeker, Adolphe Menjou, George Macready

Directed By: Stanley Kubrick

Critics Consensus: George C. Scott's sympathetic, unflinching portrayal of the titular general in this sprawling epic is as definitive as any performance in the history of American biopics.

Synopsis: Biography of controversial World War II hero General George S. Patton. The film covers his wartime activities and accomplishments, beginning with his entry into the... View Full Synopsis

Starring: George C. Scott, Karl Malden, David Bauer, Edward Binns

Directed By: Franklin J. Schaffner

Critics Consensus: Peeping Tom is a chilling, methodical look at the psychology of a killer, and a classic work of voyeuristic cinema.

Synopsis: Loner Mark Lewis (Carl Boehm) works at a film studio during the day and, at night, takes racy photographs of women. Also, he's making a... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Karlheinz Böhm, Moira Shearer, Anna Massey, Maxine Audley

Directed By: Michael Powell

Critics Consensus: Arguably Bergman's finest film, Persona explores the human condition with intense curiosity, immense technical skill, and beguiling warmth.

Synopsis: Famed stage actress Elisabeth Vogler (Liv Ullmann) suffers a moment of blankness during a performance and the next day lapses into total silence. Advised by... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Bibi Andersson, Liv Ullmann, Gunnar Björnstrand, Margareta Krook

Directed By: Ingmar Bergman

Critics Consensus: Decades later, it still retains its ability to scare -- and Lon Chaney's performance remains one of the benchmarks of the horror genre.

Synopsis: Aspiring young opera singer Christine Daaé discovers that she has a mysterious admirer intent on helping her become a lead performer. This masked presence is... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Lon Chaney, Mary Philbin, Norman Kerry, Arthur Edmund Carewe

Directed By: Rupert Julian

Critics Consensus: Narratively spare and told with clockwork precision, Pickpocket is a carefully observed character study that packs an emotional wallop.

Synopsis: Michel (Martin La Salle) takes up pickpocketing on a lark and is arrested soon after. His mother dies shortly after his release, and despite the... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Martin LaSalle, Marika Green, Pierre Leymarie, Jean Pélégri

Directed By: Robert Bresson

Critics Consensus: Visually mesmerizing, Picnic at Hanging Rock is moody, unsettling, and enigmatic -- a masterpiece of Australian cinema and a major early triumph for director Peter Weir.

Synopsis: In the early 1900s, Miranda (Anne Lambert) attends a girls boarding school in Australia. One Valentine's Day, the school's typically strict headmistress (Rachel Roberts) treats... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Rachel Roberts, Dominic Guard, Helen Morse, Jacki Weaver

Directed By: Peter Weir

Critics Consensus: Pink Floyd's expression of generational angst is given striking visual form The Wall, although this ambitious feature's narrative struggles to marry its provocative images and psychedelic soundtrack into a compelling whole.

Synopsis: In this visual riff on Pink Floyd's album "The Wall," successful but drugged-out musician Pink (Bob Geldof) is looking back on his isolated childhood from... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Bob Geldof, Christine Hargreaves, James Laurenson, Eleanor David

Directed By: Alan Parker

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: No consensus yet.

Synopsis: Homeless adolescent Pixote (Fernando Ramos da Silva) finds himself thrown into a juvenile prison in a roundup of São Paulo's street children. The prison is... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Fernando Ramos da Silva, Marília Pêra, Gilberto Moura, Jorge Julião

Directed By: Hector Babenco

Critics Consensus: Thanks to the impeccable chemistry between Steve Martin and John Candy, as well as a deft mix of humor and heart, Planes, Trains and Automobiles is a hilarious, heartfelt holiday classic.

Synopsis: Easily excitable Neal Page (Steve Martin) is somewhat of a control freak. Trying to get home to Chicago to spend Thanksgiving with his wife (Laila... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Steve Martin, John Candy, Laila Robins, Michael McKean

Directed By: John Hughes

Critics Consensus: A remarkable achievement, Playtime's packs every scene with sight gags and characters that both celebrates and satirizes the urbanization of modern life.

Synopsis: Clumsy Monsieur Hulot finds himself perplexed by the intimidating complexity of a gadget-filled Paris. He attempts to meet with a business contact but soon becomes... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Jacques Tati, Barbara Dennek, Jacqueline Lecomte, Valérie Camille

Directed By: Jacques Tati

Critics Consensus: Though its subject matter is grim and may make viewers queasy, The Pledge features an excellent, subtle performance by Jack Nicholson.

Synopsis: On the day of his retirement, detective Jerry Black (Jack Nicholson) accepts a gift -- an airline ticket to Mexico. But when the body of... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Jack Nicholson, Robin Wright, Aaron Eckhart, Patricia Clarkson

Directed By: Sean Penn

Critics Consensus: The final film by the great Robert Altman, A Prairie Home Companion, the big screen adaptation of Garrison Keillor's radio broadcast showcases plenty of the director's strengths: it's got a gigantic cast and plenty of quirky acting and dialogue.

Synopsis: A private investigator (Kevin Kline) keeps tabs on the proceedings as guests, cast and crew (Meryl Streep, Lindsay Lohan, Woody Harrelson) of a long-running radio... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Meryl Streep, Lindsay Lohan, Kevin Kline, Woody Harrelson

Directed By: Robert Altman

Critics Consensus: A hilarious satire of the business side of Hollywood, The Producers is one of Mel Brooks' finest, as well as funniest films, featuring standout performances by Gene Wilder and Zero Mostel.

Synopsis: Down-and-out producer Max Bialystock (Zero Mostel), who was once the toast of Broadway, trades sexual favors with old ladies for cash contributions. Max's new accountant... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Zero Mostel, Gene Wilder, Dick Shawn, Kenneth Mars

Directed By: Mel Brooks

Critics Consensus: Infamous for its shower scene, but immortal for its contribution to the horror genre. Because Psycho was filmed with tact, grace, and art, Hitchcock didn't just create modern horror, he validated it.

Synopsis: Phoenix secretary Marion Crane (Janet Leigh), on the lam after stealing $40,000 from her employer in order to run away with her boyfriend, Sam Loomis... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Anthony Perkins, Janet Leigh, Vera Miles, John Gavin

Directed By: Alfred Hitchcock

Critics Consensus: Injecting its compendium of crime tales with the patois of everyday conversation, Pulp Fiction is a cinematic shot of adrenaline that cements writer-director Quentin Tarantino as an audacious purveyor of killer kino.

Synopsis: Vincent Vega (John Travolta) and Jules Winnfield (Samuel L. Jackson) are hitmen with a penchant for philosophical discussions. In this ultra-hip, multi-strand crime movie, their... View Full Synopsis

Starring: John Travolta, Samuel L. Jackson, Uma Thurman, Harvey Keitel

Directed By: Quentin Tarantino

Critics Consensus: Arguably Martin Scorsese's and Robert De Niro's finest film, Raging Bull is often painful to watch, but it's a searing, powerful work about an unsympathetic hero.

Synopsis: The story of a middleweight boxer as he rises through ranks to earn his first shot at the middleweight crown. He falls in love with... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Robert De Niro, Cathy Moriarty, Joe Pesci, Frank Vincent

Directed By: Martin Scorsese

Critics Consensus: Featuring bravura set pieces, sly humor, and white-knuckle action, Raiders of the Lost Ark is one of the most consummately entertaining adventure pictures of all time.

Synopsis: Dr. Indiana Jones, a renowned archeologist and expert in the occult, is hired by the U.S. Government to find the ark of the covenant, which... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Harrison Ford, Karen Allen, Paul Freeman, Wolf Kahler

Directed By: Steven Spielberg

Critics Consensus: Visually thrilling and rich with emotion, Raise the Red Lantern offers an engrossing period drama anchored by an outstanding performance from Gong Li.

Synopsis: Teenage Songlian (Gong Li), whose family has been devastated by the recent death of her father, becomes the third concubine of wealthy Master Chen (Ma... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Gong Li, Jingwu Ma, Saifei He, Cao Cuifeng

Directed By: Yimou Zhang

Critics Consensus: Akira Kurosawa's sprawling, epic take on King Lear should be required viewing for fans of westerns, war movies, or period films in general.

Synopsis: At the age of seventy, after years of consolidating his empire, the Great Lord Hidetora Ichimonji (Tatsuya Nakadai) decides to abdicate and divide his domain... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Tatsuya Nakadai, Mieko Harada, Akira Terao, Jinpachi Nezu

Directed By: Akira Kurosawa

Critics Consensus: One of legendary director Akira Kurosawa's most acclaimed films, Rashomon features an innovative narrative structure, brilliant acting, and a thoughtful exploration of reality versus perception.

Synopsis: Brimming with action while incisively examining the nature of truth, "Rashomon" is perhaps the finest film ever to investigate the philosophy of justice. Through an... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Toshiro Mifune, Machiko Kyō, Takashi Shimura, Masayuki Mori

Directed By: Akira Kurosawa

Critics Consensus: Hitchcock exerted full potential of suspense in this masterpiece.

Synopsis: A newspaper photographer with a broken leg passes time recuperating by observing his neighbors through his window. He sees what he believes to be a... View Full Synopsis

Starring: James Stewart, Grace Kelly, Wendell Corey, Raymond Burr

Directed By: Alfred Hitchcock

Critics Consensus: Rebel Without a Cause is a searing melodrama featuring keen insight into '50s juvenile attitude and James Dean's cool, iconic performance.

Synopsis: After moving to a new town, troublemaking teen Jim Stark (James Dean) is supposed to have a clean slate, although being the new kid in... View Full Synopsis

Starring: James Dean, Natalie Wood, Sal Mineo, Jim Backus

Directed By: Nicholas Ray

Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.

Synopsis: Aspiring to an easy job as personal physician to a wealthy family, Noboru Yasumoto (Yûzô Kayama) is disappointed when his first post after medical school... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Toshiro Mifune, Yûzô Kayama, Yoshio Tsuchiya, Reiko Dan

Directed By: Akira Kurosawa

Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.

Synopsis: Headstrong Thomas Dunson (John Wayne) starts a thriving Texas cattle ranch with the help of his faithful trail hand, Groot (Walter Brennan), and his protégé,... View Full Synopsis

Starring: John Wayne, Montgomery Clift, Walter Brennan, Joanne Dru

Directed By: Howard Hawks

Critics Consensus: The Red Shoes is one of the best-looking movies ever, and blends multiple moods and styles with balletic grace.

Synopsis: In this classic drama, Vicky Page (Moira Shearer) is an aspiring ballerina torn between her dedication to dance and her desire to love. While her... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Moira Shearer, Anton Walbrook, Marius Goring, Robert Helpmann

Directed By: Michael Powell, Emeric Pressburger

Critics Consensus: This re-imagining of Shakespeare's Crookback King relocates the story in 1930 and features an indelible star turn for Ian McKellen as the monstrous and magnetic King Richard.

Synopsis: A murderous lust for the British throne sees Richard III (Ian McKellen) descend into madness. Though the setting is transposed to the 1930s, England is... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Ian McKellen, Annette Bening, Jim Broadbent, Robert Downey Jr.

Directed By: Richard Loncraine

Critics Consensus: Rififi depicts the perfect heist in more ways than one, telling its story so effectively that it essentially provided the template for an entire genre to follow.

Synopsis: Out of prison after a five-year stretch, jewel thief Tony (Jean Servais) turns down a quick job his friend Jo (Carl Mohner) offers him, until... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Jean Servais, Carl Mohner, Robert Manuel, Magali Noël

Directed By: Jules Dassin

Critics Consensus: The Right Stuff packs a lot of movie into its hefty running time, spinning a colorful, fact-based story out of consistently engaging characters in the midst of epochal events.

Synopsis: This adaptation of the non-fiction novel by Tom Wolfe chronicles the first 15 years of America's space program. By focusing on the lives of the... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Sam Shepard, Scott Glenn, Ed Harris, Dennis Quaid

Directed By: Philip Kaufman

Critics Consensus: Rio Bravo finds director Howard Hawks -- and his stellar ensemble cast -- working at peak performance, and the end result is a towering classic of the Western genre.

Synopsis: When gunslinger Joe Burdette (Claude Akins) kills a man in a saloon, Sheriff John T. Chance (John Wayne) arrests him with the aid of the... View Full Synopsis

Starring: John Wayne, Dean Martin, Ricky Nelson, Angie Dickinson

Directed By: Howard Hawks

Critics Consensus: Led by a suitably slimy performance from John Malkovich, Ripley's Game brings Patricia Highsmith's bestselling sociopath brilliantly to life.

Synopsis: The third book in Patricia Highsmith's Ripley series, "Ripley's Ball" is set in present day Italy, where art connoisseur, harpsichord aficionado, master of soufflés and... View Full Synopsis

Starring: John Malkovich, Dougray Scott, Ray Winstone, Lena Headey

Directed By: Liliana Cavani

Critics Consensus: Jean Renoir's first film shot in color takes full advantage of its broadened palette, yielding a visually virtuosic coming of age tale filled with moving performances and vibrant hues.

Synopsis: In West Bengal, both Harriet, the daughter of a jute mill owner, and her best friend, Valerie, become captivated by dashing visitor Capt. John, who... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Nora Swinburne, Esmond Knight, Patricia Walters, Arthur Shields

Directed By: Jean Renoir

Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.

Synopsis: Rosaria Parondi (Katina Paxinou), an impoverished Italian mother, moves to Milan with her close-knit family of five sons to find opportunity in the big city.... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Alain Delon, Renato Salvatori, Annie Girardot, Katina Paxinou

Directed By: Luchino Visconti

Critics Consensus: The solid leads and arresting visuals make a case for Zeffirelli's Romeo and Juliet as the definitive cinematic adaptation of the play.

Synopsis: In the Italian city of Verona, the Montague and the Capulet families are perpetually feuding. When Romeo (Leonard Whiting), a handsome young Montague, disregards convention... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Leonard Whiting, Olivia Hussey, Milo O'Shea, Michael York

Directed By: Franco Zeffirelli

Critics Consensus: Its genius escaped many viewers at the time, but in retrospect, The Rules of the Game stands as one of Jean Renoir's -- and cinema's -- finest works.

Synopsis: André is having an affair with Christine, whose husband Robert is himself hiding a mistress. Christine's married maid is romantically entangled with the local poacher.... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Marcel Dalio, Nora Gregor, Mila Parély, Roland Toutain

Directed By: Jean Renoir

Critics Consensus: Persuasive enough to give audiences acrophobia when they aren't laughing at Harold Lloyd's antics, Safety Last! is a marvel of visual effects and slapstick comedy.

Synopsis: A boy (Harold Lloyd) moves to New York City to make enough money to support his loving girlfriend (Mildred Davis), but soon discovers that making... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Harold Lloyd, Mildred Davis, Bill Strother, Noah Young

Directed By: Fred Newmeyer, Sam Taylor

Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.

Synopsis: Samurai Isaburo Sasahara (Toshirô Mifune) faces the wrath of his clan when he exhibits disobedience in favor of what is right. When the ruling lord... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Toshiro Mifune, Tatsuya Nakadai, Yoko Tsukasa, Gô Katô

Directed By: Masaki Kobayashi

Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.

Synopsis: While on a journey to visit their father, a banished governor, Zushio (Yoshiaki Hanayagi) and Anju (Kyoko Kagawa) are attacked, separated from their mother, Tamaki... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Kinuyo Tanaka, Yoshiaki Hanayagi, Kyoko Kagawa, Eitaro Shindo

Directed By: Kenji Mizoguchi

Critics Consensus: Those unfamiliar with Alejandro Jodorowsky's style may find it overwhelming, but Santa Sangre is a provocative psychedelic journey featuring the director's signature touches of violence, vulgarity, and an oddly personal moral center.

Synopsis: In Mexico, the traumatized son (Axel Jodorowsky) of a knife-thrower (Guy Stockwell) and a trapeze artist bonds grotesquely with his now-armless mother (Blanca Guerra).

Starring: Axel Jodorowsky, Blanca Guerra, Guy Stockwell, Sabrina Dennison

Directed By: Alejandro Jodorowsky

Critics Consensus: Boasting a smart, poignant story, a classic soundtrack, and a starmaking performance from John Travolta, Saturday Night Fever ranks among the finest dramas of the 1970s.

Synopsis: Tony Manero doesn't have much going for him during the weekdays. He still lives at home and works as a paint store clerk in his... View Full Synopsis

Starring: John Travolta, Karen Lynn Gorney, Barry Miller, Joseph Cali

Directed By: John Badham

Critics Consensus: One of the definitive Generation X movies, Say Anything... is equally funny and heartfelt -- and it established John Cusack as an icon for left-of-center types everywhere.

Synopsis: In a charming, critically acclaimed tale of first love, Lloyd (John Cusack), an eternal optimist, seeks to capture the heart of Diane (Ione Skye), an... View Full Synopsis

Starring: John Cusack, Ione Skye, John Mahoney, Lili Taylor

Directed By: Cameron Crowe

Critics Consensus: Director Brian De Palma and star Al Pacino take it to the limit in this stylized, ultra-violent and eminently quotable gangster epic that walks a thin white line between moral drama and celebratory excess.

Synopsis: After getting a green card in exchange for assassinating a Cuban government official, Tony Montana (Al Pacino) stakes a claim on the drug trade in... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Al Pacino, Michelle Pfeiffer, Steven Bauer, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio

Directed By: Brian De Palma

Critics Consensus: Complex, visually stunning, and breathtakingly intense, The Scarlet Empress overpowers its flaws with a confident vigor befitting its legendary subject.

Synopsis: During the 18th century, German noblewoman Sophia Frederica (Marlene Dietrich), who would later become Catherine the Great, travels to Moscow to marry the dimwitted Grand... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Marlene Dietrich, John Lodge, Sam Jaffe, Philip Sleeman

Directed By: Josef von Sternberg

Critics Consensus: Schindler's List blends the abject horror of the Holocaust with Steven Spielberg's signature tender humanism to create the director's dramatic masterpiece.

Synopsis: Businessman Oskar Schindler arrives in Kraków in 1939, ready to make his fortune from World War II, which has just started. After joining the Nazi... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Liam Neeson, Ben Kingsley, Ralph Fiennes, Caroline Goodall

Directed By: Steven Spielberg

Critics Consensus: The Searchers is an epic John Wayne Western that introduces dark ambivalence to the genre that remains fashionable today.

Synopsis: In this revered Western, Ethan Edwards (John Wayne) returns home to Texas after the Civil War. When members of his brother's family are killed or... View Full Synopsis

Starring: John Wayne, Jeffrey Hunter, Natalie Wood, Vera Miles

Directed By: John Ford

Critics Consensus: Secrets & Lies delves into social issues with delicate aplomb and across-the-board incredible acting, and stands as one of writer-director Mike Leigh's most powerful works.

Synopsis: After her adoptive mother dies, Hortense (Marianne Jean-Baptiste), a successful black eye doctor, seeks out her birth mother. She's shocked when her research leads her... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Timothy Spall, Brenda Blethyn, Phyllis Logan, Marianne Jean-Baptiste

Directed By: Mike Leigh

Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.

Synopsis: A wanton contessa (Alida Valli) loves and betrays an unscrupulous Austrian officer (Farley Granger) in 1860s Venice.

Starring: Alida Valli, Farley Granger, Heinz Moog, Massimo Girotti

Directed By: Luchino Visconti

Critics Consensus: A brutal, relentlessly grimy shocker with taut performances, slick gore effects, and a haunting finale.

Synopsis: When retiring police Detective William Somerset (Morgan Freeman) tackles a final case with the aid of newly transferred David Mills (Brad Pitt), they discover a... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Brad Pitt, Morgan Freeman, Gwyneth Paltrow, R. Lee Ermey

Directed By: David Fincher

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: Narratively bold and visually striking, The Seventh Seal brought Ingmar Bergman to the world stage -- and remains every bit as compelling today.

Synopsis: When disillusioned Swedish knight Antonius Block returns home from the Crusades to find his country in the grips of the Black Death, he challenges Death... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Max von Sydow, Gunnar Björnstrand, Nils Poppe, Bibi Andersson

Directed By: Ingmar Bergman

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: No consensus yet.

Synopsis: Enigmatic gunslinger Shane rides into a small Wyoming town with hopes of quietly settling down as a farmhand. Taking a job on homesteader Joe Starrett's... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Alan Ladd, Jean Arthur, Van Heflin, Brandon De Wilde

Directed By: George Stevens

Critics Consensus: Steeped in old-fashioned storytelling and given evergreen humanity by Morgan Freeman and Tim Robbins, The Shawshank Redemption chronicles the hardship of incarceration patiently enough to come by its uplift honestly.

Synopsis: Andy Dufresne (Tim Robbins) is sentenced to two consecutive life terms in prison for the murders of his wife and her lover and is sentenced... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Tim Robbins, Morgan Freeman, Bob Gunton, William Sadler

Directed By: Frank Darabont

Critics Consensus: Though it deviates from Stephen King's novel, Stanley Kubrick's The Shining is a chilling, often baroque journey into madness -- exemplified by an unforgettable turn from Jack Nicholson.

Synopsis: Jack Torrance (Jack Nicholson) becomes winter caretaker at the isolated Overlook Hotel in Colorado, hoping to cure his writer's block. He settles in along with... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Jack Nicholson, Shelley Duvall, Danny Lloyd, Scatman Crothers

Directed By: Stanley Kubrick

Critics Consensus: Expansive in its beauty as well as its mind-numbing horror, Shoah is a towering -- and utterly singular -- achievement in cinema.

Synopsis: Director Claude Lanzmann spent 11 years on this sprawling documentary about the Holocaust, conducting his own interviews and refusing to use a single frame of... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Simon Srebnik, Mordechaï Podchlebnik, Richard Glazar, Rudolf Vrba

Directed By: Claude Lanzmann

Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.

Synopsis: Traveling through an unnamed European country on the brink of war, sickly, intellectual Ester (Ingrid Thulin), her sister Anna (Gunnel Lindblom) and Anna's young son,... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Ingrid Thulin, Gunnel Lindblom, Jörgen Lindström, Birger Malmsten

Directed By: Ingmar Bergman

Critics Consensus: Director Jonathan Demme's smart, taut thriller teeters on the edge between psychological study and all-out horror, and benefits greatly from stellar performances by Anthony Hopkins and Jodie Foster.

Synopsis: Jodie Foster stars as Clarice Starling, a top student at the FBI's training academy. Jack Crawford (Scott Glenn) wants Clarice to interview Dr. Hannibal Lecter... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Jodie Foster, Anthony Hopkins, Scott Glenn, Ted Levine

Directed By: Jonathan Demme

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: No consensus yet.

Synopsis: Early in the 20th century, middle-aged lawyer Fredrik Egerman (Gunnar Björnstrand) and his young wife, Anne (Ulla Jacobsson), have still not consummated their marriage, while... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Ulla Jacobsson, Eva Dahlbeck, Harriet Andersson, Margit Carlqvist

Directed By: Ingmar Bergman

Critics Consensus: With its involving story and characters, vibrant art, and memorable songs, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs set the animation standard for decades to come.

Synopsis: The Grimm fairy tale gets a Technicolor treatment in Disney's first animated feature. Jealous of Snow White's beauty, the wicked queen orders the murder of... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Adriana Caselotti, Harry Stockwell, Lucille La Verne, Moroni Olsen

Directed By: David Hand

Critics Consensus: Solaris is a haunting, meditative film that uses sci-fi to raise complex questions about humanity and existence.

Synopsis: A psychologist is sent to a space station orbiting a planet called Solaris to investigate the death of a doctor and the mental problems of... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Natalya Bondarchuk, Donatas Banionis, Jüri Järvet, Vladislav Dvorzhetskiy

Directed By: Andrei Tarkovsky

Critics Consensus: Some Like It Hot: A spry, quick-witted farce that never drags.

Synopsis: After witnessing a Mafia murder, slick saxophone player Joe (Tony Curtis) and his long-suffering buddy, Jerry (Jack Lemmon), improvise a quick plan to escape from... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Tony Curtis, Jack Lemmon, Marilyn Monroe, George Raft

Directed By: Billy Wilder

Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.

Synopsis: Preacher's daughter Remember "Mem" Steddon (Eleanor Boardman) marries charming Owen Scudder (Lew Cody), unaware he's a serial killer, and the newlyweds board the next train... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Eleanor Boardman, Mae Busch, Barbara La Marr, Richard Dix

Directed By: Rupert Hughes

Critics Consensus: El Espíritu de la Colmena uses a classic horror story's legacy as the thread for a singularly absorbing childhood fable woven with uncommon grace.

Synopsis: In an allegory of life after Gen. Franco's victory in the Spanish Civil War, life in a remote village in the 1940s is calm and... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Fernando Fernán Gómez, Teresa Gimpera, Ana Torrent, Isabel Tellería

Directed By: Víctor Erice

Critics Consensus: Spirited Away is a dazzling, enchanting, and gorgeously drawn fairy tale that will leave viewers a little more curious and fascinated by the world around them.

Synopsis: 10-year-old Chihiro (Daveigh Chase) moves with her parents to a new home in the Japanese countryside. After taking a wrong turn down a wooded path,... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Daveigh Chase, Suzanne Pleshette, Jason Marsden, Susan Egan

Directed By: Hayao Miyazaki

Critics Consensus: A visually stunning and contemplative piece of work.

Synopsis: A young Buddhist apprentice is mentored by an aging monk (Oh Yeong-su) at a secluded monastery in the Korean wilderness. As a teenager, the apprentice... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Kim Ki-duk, Ha Yeo-jin, Ji Dae-han, Oh Yeong-su

Directed By: Kim Ki-duk

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: A legendarily expansive and ambitious start to the sci-fi saga, George Lucas opened our eyes to the possibilities of blockbuster filmmaking and things have never been the same.

Synopsis: The Imperial Forces -- under orders from cruel Darth Vader (David Prowse) -- hold Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher) hostage, in their efforts to quell the... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Alec Guinness

Directed By: George Lucas

Critics Consensus: A provocative premise and inventive set design lights the way for Hitchcock diabolically entertaining masterpiece.

Synopsis: In Alfred Hitchcock's adaptation of Patricia Highsmith's thriller, tennis star Guy Haines (Farley Granger) is enraged by his trampy wife's refusal to finalize their divorce... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Robert Walker, Farley Granger, Ruth Roman, Leo G. Carroll

Directed By: Alfred Hitchcock

Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.

Synopsis: Bruno Stroszek (Bruno S.), a hapless busker in Berlin, falls for a prostitute (Eva Mattes) who's in trouble with local thugs. With nothing to lose,... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Bruno S., Eva Mattes, Clemens Scheitz

Directed By: Werner Herzog

Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.

Synopsis: This celebrated French film explores family dynamics in a clan on the eve of World War I. Monsieur Ladmiral (Louis Ducreux) is an elderly, widowed... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Louis Ducreux, Sabine Azéma, Michel Aumont, Monique Chaumette

Directed By: Bertrand Tavernier

Critics Consensus: Boasting masterful cinematography to match its well-acted, wonderfully romantic storyline, Sunrise is perhaps the final -- and arguably definitive -- statement of the silent era.

Synopsis: Bored with his wife (Janet Gaynor), their baby and the dull routine of farm life, a farmer (George O'Brien) falls under the spell of a... View Full Synopsis

Starring: George O'Brien, Janet Gaynor, Margaret Livingston, Bodil Rosing

Directed By: F.W. Murnau

Critics Consensus: Arguably the greatest movie about Hollywood, Billy Wilder's masterpiece Sunset Boulevard is a tremendously entertaining combination of noir, black comedy, and character study.

Synopsis: An aging silent film queen refuses to accept that her stardom has ended. She hires a young screenwriter to help set up her movie comeback.... View Full Synopsis

Starring: William Holden, Gloria Swanson, Erich von Stroheim, Nancy Olson

Directed By: Billy Wilder

Critics Consensus: Superman: The Movie deftly blends humor and gravitas, taking advantage of the perfectly cast Christopher Reeve to craft a loving, nostalgic tribute to an American pop culture icon.

Synopsis: Just before the destruction of the planet Krypton, scientist Jor-El (Marlon Brando) sends his infant son Kal-El on a spaceship to Earth. Raised by kindly... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Christopher Reeve, Gene Hackman, Marlon Brando, Margot Kidder

Directed By: Richard Donner

Critics Consensus: Sweet Smell of Success boasts a top-notch cast, sharp direction, atmospheric cinematography, and an appropriately jazzy score, making it one of the best noir crime thrillers ever made.

Synopsis: New York City newspaper writer J.J. Hunsecker (Burt Lancaster) holds considerable sway over public opinion with his Broadway column, but one thing that he can't... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Burt Lancaster, Tony Curtis, Martin Milner, Barbara Nichols

Directed By: Alexander Mackendrick

Critics Consensus: Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire are brilliant in Swing Time, one of the duo's most charming and wonderfully choreographed films.

Synopsis: Dexterous and risk-taking Lucky Garnett (Fred Astaire) pursues dancing and gambling with equal verve. Engaged to the pretty Margaret Watson (Betty Furness), Lucky gets pre-wedding... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers, Victor Moore, Helen Broderick

Directed By: George Stevens

Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.

Synopsis: A woman (Charlotte Véry) has an affair with her boss (Michel Voletti) and a librarian but longs for the man (Frédéric van den Driessche) she... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Charlotte Véry, Frédéric van den Driessche, Michel Voletti, Hervé Furic

Directed By: Éric Rohmer

Critics Consensus: A must-see film for movie lovers, this Martin Scorsese masterpiece is as hard-hitting as it is compelling, with Robert De Niro at his best.

Synopsis: Suffering from insomnia, disturbed loner Travis Bickle (Robert De Niro) takes a job as a New York City cabbie, haunting the streets nightly, growing increasingly... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Robert De Niro, Jodie Foster, Cybill Shepherd, Harvey Keitel

Directed By: Martin Scorsese

Critics Consensus: Anchored by a deftly understated performance from Robert Duvall, Tender Mercies is a quiet character study that leaves a lasting emotional impact.

Synopsis: Down-on-his-luck country singer Mac Sledge (Robert Duvall) has nowhere to turn when he wakes up in a motel, short on cash. So he takes a... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Robert Duvall, Tess Harper, Betty Buckley, Wilford Brimley

Directed By: Bruce Beresford

Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.

Synopsis: Malli (Ayesha Dharkar) has spent most of her nineteen years in revolutionary training. A hardened killer, she interviews for and wins the coveted bomber position.... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Ayesha Dharkar, Vishnuvardhan, Bhanu Prakash, K. Krishna

Directed By: Santosh Sivan

Critics Consensus: Dashing, dazzling, and altogether magical, The Thief of Bagdad is an enchanting fantasy for children of all ages.

Synopsis: Deceived and deposed by his sinister adviser, Jaffar (Conrad Veidt), Ahmad (John Justin), the King of Bagdad, must find a way to reclaim his throne.... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Sabu, John Justin, Conrad Veidt, June Duprez

Directed By: Ludwig Berger, Michael Powell, Tim Whelan

Critics Consensus: Featuring an involving mystery and sparkling repartee between William Powell and Myrna Loy, The Thin Man is an endlessly charming romp.

Synopsis: The recently divorced Clyde Wynant discovers that his new girlfriend has stolen $50,000 and is carrying on with other men. Not long afterward, he disappears.... View Full Synopsis

Starring: William Powell, Myrna Loy, Maureen O'Sullivan, Nat Pendleton

Directed By: W. S. Van Dyke II

Critics Consensus: This atmospheric thriller is one of the undisputed masterpieces of cinema, and boasts iconic performances from Joseph Cotten and Orson Welles.

Synopsis: Set in postwar Vienna, Austria, "The Third Man" stars Joseph Cotten as Holly Martins, a writer of pulp Westerns, who arrives penniless as a guest... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Orson Welles, Joseph Cotten, Trevor Howard, Alida Valli

Directed By: Carol Reed

Critics Consensus: Smartly directed, brilliantly acted, and packed with endlessly quotable moments, This Is Spinal Tap is an all-time comedy classic.

Synopsis: "This Is Spinal Tap" shines a light on the self-contained universe of a metal band struggling to get back on the charts, including everything from... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Rob Reiner, Michael McKean, Christopher Guest, Harry Shearer

Directed By: Rob Reiner

Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.

Synopsis: Karin (Harriet Andersson) hopes to recover from her recent stay at a mental hospital by spending the summer at her family's cottage on a tiny... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Harriet Andersson, Gunnar Björnstrand, Max von Sydow, Lars Passgård

Directed By: Ingmar Bergman

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: 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: Artistically innovative and emotionally gripping, Orson Welles' classic noir is a visual treat, as well as a dark, sinister thriller.

Synopsis: When a car bomb explodes on the American side of the U.S./Mexico border, Mexican drug enforcement agent Miguel Vargas (Charlton Heston) begins his investigation, along... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Charlton Heston, Orson Welles, Janet Leigh, Joseph Calleia

Directed By: Orson Welles

Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.

Synopsis: Gentleman gangster Max (Jean Gabin) and his partner, Riton (René Dary), pull off their last, most successful heist and find themselves comfortable enough to retire... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Jean Gabin, René Dary, Jeanne Moreau, Dora Doll

Directed By: Jacques Becker

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: Triumph of the Will is impossible to separate from its repugnant political context -- and impossible to deny as a powerfully made piece of cinematic propaganda.

Synopsis: Filmmaker Leni Riefenstahl's controversial masterwork is an artful work of propaganda showcasing German chancellor and Nazi Party leader Adolf Hitler at the 1934 Nuremberg Rally.... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Adolf Hitler, Max Amann, Martin Bormann, Walter Buch

Directed By: Leni Riefenstahl

Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.

Synopsis: Thief Gaston Monescu (Herbert Marshall) and pickpocket Lily (Miriam Hopkins) are partners in crime and love. Working for perfume company executive Mariette Colet (Kay Francis),... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Miriam Hopkins, Kay Francis, Herbert Marshall, Charlie Ruggles

Directed By: Ernst Lubitsch

Critics Consensus: With its thought-provoking themes, rich atmosphere, and brilliant direction, Kenji Mizoguchi's Ugetsu monogatari is a towering classic of world cinema.

Synopsis: In 16th century Japan, peasants Genjuro (Masayuki Mori) and Tobei (Sakae Ozawa) sell their earthenware pots to a group of soldiers in a nearby village,... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Machiko Kyō, Masayuki Mori, Kinuyo Tanaka, Sakae Ozawa

Directed By: Kenji Mizoguchi

Critics Consensus: Anchored by Carlo Battisti's moving performance as Umberto D, Vittorio de Sica's deeply empathetic character study is a bracing glimpse into the lives of the downtrodden.

Synopsis: When elderly pensioner Umberto Domenico Ferrari (Carlo Battisti) returns to his boarding house from a protest calling for a hike in old-age pensions, his landlady... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Carlo Battisti, Maria-Pia Casilio, Lina Gennari, Alberto Albani Barbieri

Directed By: Vittorio De Sica

Critics Consensus: A hugely influential masterpiece stuffed with iconic sequences, Un Chien Andalou has lost none of its power to enthrall - or unsettle.

Synopsis: A collection of shocking and surreal images.

Starring: Pierre Batcheff, Simone Mareuil, Luis Buñuel, Salvador Dalí

Directed By: Luis Buñuel

Critics Consensus: As both director and star, Clint Eastwood strips away decades of Hollywood varnish applied to the Wild West, and emerges with a series of harshly eloquent statements about the nature of violence.

Synopsis: When prostitute Delilah Fitzgerald (Anna Thomson) is disfigured by a pair of cowboys in Big Whiskey, Wyoming, her fellow brothel workers post a reward for... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Clint Eastwood, Gene Hackman, Morgan Freeman, Richard Harris

Directed By: Clint Eastwood

Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.

Synopsis: While he seems ordinary at first glance, Iwao Enokizu (Ken Ogata) is actually a violent murderer running from police. Leaving behind his wife (Mitsuko Baishô),... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Ken Ogata, Rentarô Mikuni, Chôchô Miyako, Mitsuko Baishô

Directed By: Shôhei Imamura

Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.

Synopsis: In Munich 1955, German film star Veronika Voss (Rosel Zech) becomes a drug addict at the mercy of corrupt Dr. Marianne Katz (Annemarie Düringer), who... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Rosel Zech, Hilmar Thate, Annemarie Düringer, Cornelia Froboess

Directed By: Rainer Werner Fassbinder

Critics Consensus: An unpredictable scary thriller that doubles as a mournful meditation on love, loss, and human comfort.

Synopsis: Hitchcock's romantic story of obsession, manipulation and fear. A detective is forced to retire after his fear of heights causes the death of a fellow... View Full Synopsis

Starring: James Stewart, Kim Novak, Barbara Bel Geddes, Tom Helmore

Directed By: Alfred Hitchcock

Critics Consensus: Further elevated by a strong central performance from Dirk Bogarde, Victim offers an eloquent and emotionally affecting argument against prejudice.

Synopsis: In early 1960s London, barrister Melville Farr (Dirk Bogarde) is on the path to success. With his practice winning cases and a loving marriage to... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Dirk Bogarde, Sylvia Syms, Dennis Price, Nigel Stock

Directed By: Basil Dearden

Critics Consensus: Viridiana is quintessential Bunuel: a masterpiece against the grain, designed to shock and awe.

Synopsis: Virginia is preparing to start her life as a nun when she is sent, somewhat unwillingly, to visit her aging uncle, Don Jaime. He supports... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Silvia Pinal, Francisco Rabal, Fernando Rey, Margarita Lozano

Directed By: Luis Buñuel

Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.

Synopsis: A passionate encounter between a Yugoslav beautician and a champion Russian skater demonstrates the theories of psychoanalyst Wilhelm Reich.

Starring: Milena Dravic, Jagoda Kaloper, Ivica Vidovic, Zoran Radmilovic

Directed By: Dusan Makavejev

Critics Consensus: Waking Life's inventive animated aesthetic adds a distinctive visual component to a film that could easily have rested on its smart screenplay and talented ensemble cast.

Synopsis: Transcending the boundaries of technology and imagination, "Waking Life" is a revolutionary breakthrough in film animation. In "Waking Life," Wiley Wiggins ("Dazed and Confused") travels... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Wiley Wiggins, Trevor Jack Brooks, Lorelei Linklater, Glover Gill

Directed By: Richard Linklater

Critics Consensus: With its harrowingly beautiful depiction of the Australian Outback and spare narrative of culture clash, Walkabout is a peculiar survival epic.

Synopsis: Under the pretense of having a picnic, a geologist (John Meillon) takes his teenage daughter (Jenny Agutter) and 6-year-old son (Lucien John) into the Australian... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Jenny Agutter, Luc Roeg, David Gulpilil, John Meillon

Directed By: Nicolas Roeg

Critics Consensus: Mesmerizingly lovely and thematically thought-provoking, Werckmeister Harmonies adds another indelible achievement to Bela Tarr's fascinating filmography.

Synopsis: A mysterious circus excites a small Hungarian town into a rebellion when a promised act doesn't perform.

Starring: Lars Rudolph, Peter Fitz, Hanna Schygulla, Janos Derzi

Directed By: Béla Tarr

Critics Consensus: Buoyed by Robert Wise's dazzling direction, Leonard Bernstein's score, and Stephen Sondheim's lyrics, West Side Story remains perhaps the most iconic of all the Shakespeare adaptations to visit the big screen.

Synopsis: A musical in which a modern day Romeo and Juliet are involved in New York street gangs. On the harsh streets of the upper west... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Natalie Wood, Richard Beymer, Russ Tamblyn, George Chakiris

Directed By: Jerome Robbins, Robert Wise

Critics Consensus: What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? combines powerhouse acting, rich atmosphere, and absorbing melodrama in service of a taut thriller with thought-provoking subtext.

Synopsis: Jane Hudson (Bette Davis) is an aging child star left to care for her wheelchair-bound sister Blanche (Joan Crawford), also a former child actress. Stuck... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Bette Davis, Joan Crawford, Victor Buono, Marjorie Bennett

Directed By: Robert Aldrich

Critics Consensus: The Wild Bunch is Sam Peckinpah's shocking, violent ballad to an old world and a dying genre.

Synopsis: In this gritty Western classic, aging outlaw Pike Bishop (William Holden) prepares to retire after one final robbery. Joined by his gang, which includes Dutch... View Full Synopsis

Starring: William Holden, Ernest Borgnine, Robert Ryan, Edmond O'Brien

Directed By: Sam Peckinpah

Critics Consensus: Beyond ravishing, Wings of Desire is Wim Wenders' is aching and heartbreaking exploration of how love makes us human.

Synopsis: Two angels, Damiel (Bruno Ganz) and Cassiel (Otto Sander), glide through the streets of Berlin, observing the bustling population, providing invisible rays of hope to... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Bruno Ganz, Solveig Dommartin, Otto Sander, Curt Bois

Directed By: Wim Wenders

Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.

Synopsis: A Swedish pastor (Gunnar Björnstrand) fails a loving woman (Ingrid Thulin), a suicidal fisherman (Gunnel Lindblom) and God.

Starring: Ingrid Thulin, Gunnar Björnstrand, Gunnel Lindblom, Max von Sydow

Directed By: Ingmar Bergman

Critics Consensus: Richard E. Grant and Paul McGann prove irresistibly hilarious as two misanthropic slackers in Withnail and I, a biting examination of artists living on the fringes of prosperity and good taste.

Synopsis: Two out-of-work actors -- the anxious, luckless Marwood (Paul McGann) and his acerbic, alcoholic friend, Withnail (Richard E. Grant) -- spend their days drifting between... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Richard E. Grant, Paul McGann, Richard Griffiths, Ralph Brown

Directed By: Bruce Robinson

Critics Consensus: An absolute masterpiece whose groundbreaking visuals and deft storytelling are still every bit as resonant, The Wizard of Oz is a must-see film for young and old.

Synopsis: When a tornado rips through Kansas, Dorothy (Judy Garland) and her dog, Toto, are whisked away in their house to the magical land of Oz.... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Judy Garland, Frank Morgan, Ray Bolger, Bert Lahr

Directed By: Victor Fleming

Critics Consensus: Electrified by searing performances from Gena Rowlands and Peter Falk, A Woman Under the Influence finds pioneering independent filmmaker John Cassavetes working at his artistic peak.

Synopsis: Mabel Longhetti (Gena Rowlands), desperate and lonely, is married to a Los Angeles municipal construction worker, Nick (Peter Falk). Increasingly unstable, especially in the company... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Gena Rowlands, Peter Falk, Katherine Cassavetes, Lady Rowlands

Directed By: John Cassavetes

Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.

Synopsis: Entomologist Niki Jumpei (Eiji Okada) misses the last bus home when exploring for insects in a series of sand dunes, and is persuaded by local... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Eiji Okada, Kyôko Kishida, Kôji Mitsui, Hiroko Ito

Directed By: Hiroshi Teshigahara

Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.

Synopsis: This poignant Australian drama focuses on Martha (Sheila Florance), an elderly woman living on her own and dealing with terminal cancer. Despite her age and... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Sheila Florance, Gosia Dobrowolska, Norman Kaye, Chris Haywood

Directed By: Paul Cox

Critics Consensus: By documenting arguably the most renowned music festival in history, Woodstock: 3 Days of Peace & Music achieves the rare feat of capturing the unique spirit of its time.

Synopsis: In 1969, 500,000 people descended on a small patch of field in a little-known town in upstate New York called Woodstock. In this documentary, the... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Richie Havens, Joan Baez, Roger Daltrey, John Entwistle

Directed By: Michael Wadleigh

Critics Consensus: Achingly poignant, beautifully shot, and evocatively atmospheric, The World of Apu closes out Satyajit Ray's classic trilogy on a high note.

Synopsis: This lauded Indian drama, the third part of a trilogy, finds Apu Roy (Alok Chakravarty), now a young unemployed man, living in poverty and attempting... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Alok Chakravarty, Soumitra Chatterjee, Sharmila Tagore, Swapan Mukherjee

Directed By: Satyajit Ray

Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.

Synopsis: Mitch Wayne (Rock Hudson) is a geologist working for the Hadleys, an oil-rich Texas family. While the patriarch, Jared (Robert Keith), works hard to establish... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Rock Hudson, Lauren Bacall, Robert Stack, Dorothy Malone

Directed By: Douglas Sirk

Critics Consensus: James Cagney deploys his musical gifts to galvanizing effect in Yankee Doodle Dandy, a celebration of patriotic fervor as much as it is a biopic of George M. Cohan.

Synopsis: Brought to the White House to receive a Congressional Gold Medal from President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Broadway legend George M. Cohan (James Cagney) reflects on... View Full Synopsis

Starring: James Cagney, Joan Leslie, Walter Huston, Richard Whorf

Directed By: Michael Curtiz

Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.

Synopsis: In post--World War II Poland, American soldier Norman (Scott Wilson) serves as a driver for a United Nations war-crimes commission examining Nazi mass graves. Norman... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Maja Komorowska, Scott Wilson, Hanna Skarżanka

Directed By: Krzysztof Zanussi

Critics Consensus: A joyful, phantasmagoric blend of colorful animation and the music of the Beatles, Yellow Submarine is delightful (and occasionally melancholy) family fare.

Synopsis: The music-loving inhabitants of Pepperland are under siege by the Blue Meanies, a nasty group of music-hating creatures. The Lord Mayor of Pepperland (Dick Emery)... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Paul Angelis, Peter Batten, John Clive, Dick Emery

Directed By: George Dunning

Critics Consensus: As effortlessly engaging as it is widely influential, Yojimbo represents Kurosawa at the peak of his powers -- and lays the groundwork for the modern American western.

Synopsis: A nameless ronin, or samurai with no master (Toshirô Mifune), enters a small village in feudal Japan where two rival businessmen are struggling for control... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Toshiro Mifune, Tatsuya Nakadai, Eijiro Tono, Takashi Shimura

Directed By: Akira Kurosawa