Rocky Horror Picture Show, The (1975)

Musical Rated R

Best known today as the centerpiece of interactive costume parties, this amalgam of science fiction, classic horror and glam rock follows a clean-cut couple (Barry Bostwick and Susan Sarandon) who wander into the castle of the vamping, sexually ambiguous, bustier-favoring alien Dr. Frank-N-Furter (Tim Curry). Partly a sendup of conservative tradition, partly a gay pride

Donnie Darko (2001)

Drama Rated R

“Scattershot and bizarre but ultimately inspired…”

Shaun of the Dead (2004)

Horror Rated R

The impulse to laugh comes naturally during a lot of horror movies, so this British zombie comedy decides to go with the bloody flow. Simon Pegg plays an affable if unmotivated 20-something trudging through life like, you guessed it, a member of the undead. Dumped by his girlfriend just before a zombie outbreak, Shaun finds

Dr. Strangelove (1964)

Comedy Rated PG

Inspired by the Music Box’s Stanley Kubrick retrospective last week, here is a Kubrick review from the archives. More to come…

Syriana (2005)

Drama Rated R

I suppose if I created a flowchart of characters and devoted a few solid hours to it, I could make some sense out of the oil drama Syriana. Unfortunately, I haven’t had the urge to do any political-science homework since college (and even then the urge was faint). As another 2005 Message Movie featuring George

Duel (1971)

Thriller Rated PG

Steven Spielberg’s career hit its creative stride with this television movie. Essentially a 90-minute dissertation on the slight embarrassment of being passed on the open road, Duel follows a milquetoast businessman (Dennis Weaver) on a trip who is harassed and eventually hunted by the mysterious driver of a massive tanker truck. Weaver’s ironically named David

Terminal, The (2004)

Drama Rated PG-13

Steven Spielberg’s penchant for sentimentality and narrative convention hold back The Terminal, yet the movie is far too much a flight of fancy to be kept completely grounded. Heaving a bulky accent but otherwise light on his feet, Tom Hanks plays an Eastern European traveler stranded in an American airport, resulting in a Kafkaesque piece

Easy Rider (1969)

Drama Rated R

A drug-addled drug movie about two bikers (Peter Fonda and Dennis Hopper) who make their way across America – Hopper also directed – Easy Rider is, inevitably, a bit of a mess, with a loopy graveyard climax that feels like one of the first – and worst – music videos. Yet in its own laconic

Unfaithful (2002)

Drama Rated R

From its subtle early images – the sight of a little boy’s bicycle blowing over in the wind nicely foreshadows the upheaval of one family’s life – to its lovely and ambiguous final shot, this is a provocative sex thriller whose best moments are the least explicit ones. When a happy-enough housewife (Diane Lane) embarks

Enter the Dragon (1973)

Action/Adventure Rated R

One of Bruce Lee’s signature kung-fu flicks, Enter the Dragon features the actor/martial-arts expert at the height of his performing powers. Small and sinewy, Lee left the impression he didn’t have a muscle he didn’t need – and that he probably could kill you with any one of them. Much of the movie’s opening is