Whole Nine Yards, The (2000)

Comedy Rated R

Another inconsequential comedy from “Friends” star Matthew Perry, this time with Bruce Willis as a hit man who moves next door to Perry’s uptight dentist. Only the boundless enthusiasm of then-newcomer Amanda Peet, as the dentist’s assistant and an aspiring assassin, makes the movie bearable.

Platoon (1986)

Drama Rated R

The first movie to confess the American sins of the Vietnam War, Platoon carried extra weight because it came from someone who was there: writer-director Oliver Stone. Platoon had a purging power when it was released, but years later you can see some of the picture’s flaws more clearly. As it details a rift that

Because I Said So (2007)

Romantic Comedy Rated PG-13

Perhaps it’s because I have two sisters and two daughters and my wife comes from a family of five girls that I was able to overlook the romantic-comedy contrivances of Because I Said So and instead appreciate the few moments of female, familial authenticity. Diane Keaton plays a meddling mother who tries to engineer the

Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner (1967)

Drama Rated NR

It feels a bit dated and preachy now, but Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner‘s racial politics were radical for its time. Paired for the final time with her on- and off-screen partner Spencer Tracy, Katharine Hepburn plays the wealthy, liberal mother of a woman (Katharine Houghton) who surprises her parents by announcing her sudden plans

Women, The (1939)

Drama Rated NR

“…the original Mean Girls.”

Guns of Navarone, The (1961)

Drama Rated PG

Guns dramatizes a British mission to infiltrate a German-occupied Greek island to take out two powerful guns that have been terrorizing Allied ships. The 1961 Best Picture nominee is a bit bloated in the manner of an Oscar-hungry prestige picture, yet it’s a good showcase for Gregory Peck’s charisma. He commands the screen even while

Wonder Boys (2000)

Drama Rated R

Take a self-indulgent English professor (Michael Douglas), a morose but gifted writing student (Tobey Maguire) and a dead dog stuffed in a car trunk, and what do you get? A surprisingly heartfelt and funny comedy that has just enough quirkiness for its own good. From director Curtis Hanson, making a modest follow-up to L.A. Confidential.

The Hidden Fortress (1958)

Action/Adventure Rated NR

“… boasts all of Kurosawa’s signature touches.”

Any Given Sunday (1999)

Drama Rated R

Who better than director Oliver Stone to capture the macho posturing, licensed violence and gaudy excess of professional football? He does that with his usual provocative flair in Any Given Sunday, starring Al Pacino, Cameron Diaz and Jamie Foxx, and the result is a fascinating sports tragedy about the complications (fame, greed, etc.) that have

Jabberwocky (1977)

Action/Adventure Rated PG

Narrative has never been a strong suit of director Terry Gilliam, which may explain why he chose Lewis Carroll’s nonsense poem Jabberwocky, the slightest of source material. Peppered with magical, made-up words, Carroll’s Jabberwocky centers around a terrible monster and the young boy who slays it. Gilliam uses that framework to exercise the sort of