Best Movies

Over a forty-plus year career, it's astonishing that this brilliant director was Oscar-nominated only once. As I've often said, sometimes the Academy gets it wrong. This was one of those times.

It does not seem quite possible that Jack Nicholson could be turning 75 today. He seems ageless, particularly when you revisit his best films. And that's just what we should all do to mark the occasion.

I've always appreciated how movies set on liners recreate a bygone era when travel could be calm and civilized. The following dozen movies remain sea worthy -- cinematically speaking, of course.

After screening Criterion's new DVD set, "David Lean Directs Noel Coward," I resolved to compile my own top ten, "desert island" list of British films across the decades.

This year the IRAs voted on both the best films of 2011 and the best films of all time, a laborious and fun process that involved catching up with classic movies, debating and arguing them and multiple rounds of voting.

For those wanting a respite from today's low, "in-your-face" brand of comedy, here are a few tried-and-true classics featuring these top screen comediennes. These special ladies made us laugh -- and feel smart -- at the same time.

DVD releases keep coming fast and furious, with this week's batch including some of the best movies put out in 2011... and some of the worst. Ain't that always the way?

As we kick off Oscar month tomorrow, we also honor the birthday of Clark Gable, who picked up a statuette at the seventh Academy Awards ceremony in 1935.

Duvall can look back with pride on a rich and colorful life, and his contributions to film should never be underestimated, as the following ten titles demonstrate.

I just know many of you out there are scrambling to catch up on your holiday gift giving. This article's for you.

Just when you start believing there's no hope for anything daring and original coming out of Movieland, something gets released that surprises you. The Artist is one such movie -- and what's new about it is that it's old.

Believe it or not, in a pop culture filled with mindless reality shows and slick formula franchises, there are still a few players out there whose work offers a glimmer of hope that originality and intelligence can prevail. Tilda Swinton is one such player.

In the final analysis, religion is what we humans have made of it, good and bad. Perhaps that's what makes it such a fascinating subject for film. Here then are my candidates for the top ten films dealing with faith and spirituality.

Reading subtitles is a lot like riding a bicycle. Practice not only makes perfect, soon enough it's second nature so you don't even notice you're doing it. This particularly holds true when you're watching something great.

Almost fifteen years after Titanic, with six Oscar nods and one win to her credit, Kate Winslet is an actress at the peak of her powers -- no longer a precocious ingénue, but a professional who's conscientiously developed her craft.

This 63-year-old feature looked almost as if it had been shot last week. I was intensely aware of Moira Shearer's heavy make-up and could literally see Anton Walbrook's pores. It was fascinating, hypnotic, but also more than a little distracting.

I saw no mention of Robert Redford's birthday amongst all the pop dreck that seems to capture people's attention these days. I am going to attempt a tribute of sorts, as I can think of few people in the entertainment field more deserving.

Great artists of all types and stripes confront the same challenge: once they've created something truly brilliant, how do they ever equal it, much less surpass it?

I continue to be nostalgic for comedy that doesn't require constant profanity or a surfeit of fart gags to succeed, that relies instead on subtle, clever scripts and witty dialogue; movies that in the end give their audiences some credit for brains and taste.

I googled "best summer-themed movies" but I think what I got was "any summer-themed movie."For those who want a little extra quality in their summer fare, here comes a varied but more rewarding list.