Lawrence of Arabia: Lost in the Sand
Peter O'Toole. Photo: Columbia I regret never having seen this film on a big screen, the kind of epic for which the widescreen format was invented. But it is a…
Chariots of Fire: For God and Honor
Photo: Allied Stars I have taken up running recently and discovered that it is easy to get hooked. It’s tough in the beginning but some days it is as if…
Gentleman’s Agreement: Walk in My Shoes
Dorothy McGuire, Gregory Peck and John Garfield. Photo: 20th Century Fox This film caused quite a stir on its arrival, but ended up winning an Oscar for Best Picture. Still,…
No Country for Old Men: Blood in the Sand
Javier Bardem. Photo: Miramax When I started reading Cormac McCarthy’s “The Road”, it took a while before I was hooked, until the author’s way of conjuring a desolate, bleak future…
Amadeus: The Burden of Mediocrity
Tom Hulce. Photo: Orion Pictures Most of us recognize Antonio Salieri’s feelings. He has worked hard to achieve something, got a good education and managed to become court composer to…
Gladiator: Echoing in Eternity
Russell Crowe. Photo: Universal Gladiator is one of those films that opened as early as May, without all that much fanfare, and then kept building until the Oscars many months…
Silence of the Lambs: Quid Pro Quo
Anthony Hopkins and Jodie Foster. Photo: Orion Rumor has it that author Thomas Harris has never seen the film adaptation of his novel “The Silence of the Lambs”. If it’s…
Schindler’s List: A Place of Protection
Liam Neeson and Ben Kingsley. Photo: Universal In 1993, Schindler’s List was a seminal event, one of those things you simply had to experience. I was in school and every…
The Departed: Keeping Your Enemies Closer
Leonardo DiCaprio and Jack Nicholson. Photo: Warner When I went to see this movie with a friend the other night, his expectations were not too high. Martin Scorsese had, in…
Terms of Endearment: Fighting Back the Tears
Shirley MacLaine, Debra Winger and Jack Nicholson. Photo: Paramount It never fails. I’ve seen this film, director-producer James L. Brooks’ first, four or five times and it always leaves me…