S01E10 – Movies to Change the World The Story of Film examines world cinema in the period of 1969-1979. It looks at the work of filmmakers in Germany (Wim Wenders, R. W. Fassbinder, Margarethe von Trotta, and Werner Herzog), Italy (Pier Paolo Pasolini and Bernardo Bertolucci), Britain (Ken Russell, Donald Cammell, and Nicolas Roeg), Australia (Peter Weir and Gillian Armstrong), and Japan (Noriaki Tsuchimoto and Kazuo Hara). It also looks at the development of Third Cinema which criticizes the commoditization of film and sees film as a way to fight social injustice. It looks at filmmakers from Algeria (Assia Djebar), Senegal (Ousmane Sembene, Djibril Diop Mambety, and Safi Faye), and Ethiopia (Haile Gerima). It also looks at Kurdish filmmaker Yilmaz Guney and Chilean directors Patricio Guzman and Alejandro Jodorowsky. S01E11 – The Arrival of Multiplexes and Asian Mainstream The Story of Film: An Odyssey looks at the development of mainstream film in the 1970s and examines how such films were innovative. It first looks at the mainstream films of Hong Kong produced by Shaw Brothers Studio. It looks at the work of actor Bruce Lee and directors King Hu, John Woo, Yuen Woo-ping, and Tsui Hark. It then looks at the mainstream Bollywood films of India. It looks at the mega-hit Sholay (1975) and examines work of actress Sharmila Tagore, actor Amitabh Bachchan, and directors K. Asif, and Gulzar. It examines film in the Middle East. It discusses Moustapha Akkad's The Message (1976) and talks to Egyptian director Youssef Chahine. Finally, it looks at the blockbusters that transformed movie-making in the United States like Steven Spielberg's Jaws (1975), William Friedkin's The Exorcist (1973), and George Lucas's Star Wars (1977). S01E12 – Fight the Power: Protest in Film The Story of Film looks at cinema of the 1980s and examines how directors used movies to protest and speak truth to those in power. It first looks at film-makers in Communist China (Tian Zhuangzhuang, Chen Kaige, and Zhang Yimou) and examines Eastern European directors in Georgia (Tengiz Abuladze), the Soviet Union (Elem Klimov, Kira Muratova), and Poland (Krzysztof Kieslowski). It, then, discusses Africa cinema in Burkina Faso (Gaston Kabore) and Mali (Souleymane Cisse). In the United States, films are influenced by music video and the Cold War. It looks at the films of David Lynch, Spike Lee, John Sayles, and Maggie Renzi. In European protest filmmakers thrive in France (Luc Besson and Leos Carax), Spain (Pedro Almodovar and Víctor Erice), England (Stephen Frears, Terence Davies, Peter Greenaway, and Derek Jarman), Scotland (Bill Douglas and Bill Forsyth), Wales (Peter Greenaway), and Canada (David Cronenberg, Norman McLaren, and Denys Arcand). S01E13 – New Boundaries: World Cinema in Africa, Asia & Latin America The Story of Film looks at world cinema in the period of 1990-1998 the waning days of the celluloid era and the birth of the digital age. It first looks at the cinema of Asia and filmmakers in Iran (Samira Makhmalbaf, Mohsen Makhmalbaf, and Abbas Kiarostami), China (Wong Kar-wai), Taiwan (Tsai Ming-liang and Hou Hsiao-Hsien), Japan (Shinya Tsukamoto, Hideo Nakata, and Takashi Miike), Denmark (Lars von Trier), France (Mathieu Kassovitz, Bruno Dumont, and Claire Denis), Belgium (Jean-Pierre Dardenne and Luc Dardenne), Poland (Dorota Kedzierzawska), Russia (Viktor Kossakovsky), and Austria (Michael Haneke).
S01E14 – New American Independents & the Digital Revolution The Story of Film looks at American and Australia cinema in the 1990s and examines the rise of digital film-making which allows for the crafting of scenes that would otherwise be impossible. It looks at the innovative effects work of Ridley Scott, James Cameron, and Steven Spielberg and discusses the popular CGI animated film Toy Story (1995). It also looks at the low-budget The Blair Witch Project (1999) which was primarily shot on video. It looks at the rise of post-Modernism in American film and examines the work of Martin Scorsese, Quentin Tarantino, Oliver Stone, Joel and Ethan Coen, Gus Van Sant, Matthew Barney, and Paul Verhoeven. It also looks at directors in New Zealand and Australia including Jane Campion and Baz Luhrmann. S01E15 – Cinema Today and the Future The Story of Film looks at film in the 2000's and considers innovations that will drive film forward to the future. It looks at the work of documentary filmmakers like Michael Moore, Nicolas Philibert, Douglas Gordon, and Philippe Parreno. It also looks at filmmakers inspired by documentaries and realism including Paul Greengrass and Andrew Dominik. It also looks at contemporary film around the world including Turkey (Nuri Bilge Ceylan), Romania (Cristi Puiu), Argentina (Lucrecia Martel), Mexico (Carlos Reygadas), Korea (Lee Chang-Dong, Bong Joon-ho, Park Chan- wook), the United States (David Lynch, Darren Aronofsky, James Cameron), Sweden (Roy Andersson), Canada (Roger Avary), Thailand (Apichatpong Weerasethakul), and Russia (Alexander Sokurov). An epilogue considers the future of film-making and discusses Christopher Nolan's Inception (2010) and Michel Gondry's Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004).
Films A Perfect Getaway - Unrated Directors Cut (2009) A newly-wed couple, Cliff and Cydney, travels to Hawaii for their honeymoon. Their trip takes a terrifying turn when they learn that tourists are getting killed on the island by psychopaths. (63% Rotten Tomatoes)
Amelie [Le Fabuleux Destin d'Amélie Poulain] (2001) \"Amélie\" is a fanciful comedy about a young woman who discretely orchestrates the lives of the people around her, creating a world exclusively of her own making. Shot in over 80 Parisian locations, acclaimed director Jean- Pierre Jeunet (\"Delicatessen\"; \"The City of Lost Children\") invokes his incomparable visionary style to capture the exquisite charm and mystery of modern-day Paris through the eyes of a beautiful ingenue. (88% Rotten Tomatoes)
Bad Education (2019) Anchored by an outstanding Hugh Jackman, Bad Education finds absurd laughs -- and a worthy message -- in the aftermath of a real-life scandal. (94% Rotten Tomatoes)
Citizen Kane (1941) The investigation of a publishing tycoon's dying words reveals conflicting stories about his scandalous life. Citizen Kane is a 1941 American drama film by Orson Welles, its producer, co-screenwriter, director and star. The picture was Welles's first feature film. Nominated for Academy Awards in nine categories, it won an Academy Award for Best Writing (Original Screenplay) by Herman J. Mankiewicz and Welles. Considered by many critics, filmmakers, and fans to be the greatest film ever made, Citizen Kane was voted as such in five consecutive British Film Institute Sight & Sound polls of critics, and it topped the American Film Institute's 100 Years ... 100 Movies list in 1998, as well as its 2007 update. Citizen Kane is particularly praised for Gregg Toland's cinematography, Robert Wise's editing, Bernard Herrmann's music, and its narrative structure, all of which have been considered innovative and precedent-setting. (100% Rotten Tomatoes)
Donnie Brasco (1997) True story of FBI agent who infiltrates the mob as Donnie Brasco. He befriends underling Lefty who vouches for him and the two form a deep friendship. Donnie gradually loses himself in his new identity and his real life is turned inside out. Powerhouse performances from both Depp and Pacino with a gritty, true-to-life feel. (88% Rotten Tomatoes)
Easy Rider (1969) Wyatt (Peter Fonda) and Billy (Dennis Hopper), two Harley-riding hippies, complete a drug deal in Southern California and decide to travel cross-country in search of spiritual truth. On their journey, they experience bigotry and hatred from the inhabitants of small-town America and also meet with other travellers seeking alternative lifestyles. After a terrifying drug experience in New Orleans, the two travellers wonder if they will ever find a way to live peacefully in America. (88% Rotten Tomatoes)
Excalibur (1981) Merlin the magician helps Arthur Pendragon unite the Britons around the Round Table of Camelot; even as dark forces conspire to tear it apart. John Boorman's operatic, opulent take on the legend of King Arthur is visually remarkable, and features strong performances from an all-star line-up of British thespians. (80% Rotten Tomatoes)
Fargo (1996) Fargo is a 1996 black comedy thriller film written, produced and directed by Joel and Ethan Coen. Frances McDormand stars as Marge Gunderson, a pregnant Minnesota police chief investigating roadside homicides that ensue after a desperate car salesman (William H. Macy) hires two criminals (Steve Buscemi and Peter Stormare) to kidnap his wife in order to extort a hefty ransom from his wealthy father-in-law (Harve Presnell). The film was an international co-production between the United States and United Kingdom. (93% Rotten Tomatoes)
Flash Gordon (1980) Heroic earthling Flash Gordon saves the world from the nefarious Ming the Merciless in this lavish, intentionally campy adaptation of the famous sci-fi comic strip. The story is as basic as space operas get: Ming (Max von Sydow) has developed a plan to destroy the Earth, and Flash (Sam J. Jones) and his attractive companion, Dale Arden (Melody Anderson), are called upon to stop him. Along the way, Flash must battle Ming's goons and the temptations of a luscious space princess. Previously the basis for a more straight-faced 1930s adventure serial, Flash's story is mined here for exaggerated, cartoon humour by screenwriter Lorenzo Semple Jr., a central figure in the similarly campy '60s Batman television series. The simplistic plot mainly serves as an excuse for spectacular sets and cartoonish action sequences, all set to an appropriately over-the-top rock score by Queen. Certainly not a film to turn to for serious excitement, fine performances, or character development, Flash Gordon has nevertheless developed an appreciative cult of fans who admire the film's humorous approach and the detailed, colourful production design. (80% Rotten Tomatoes)
Hard Boiled (1992) Yun-Fat portrays a maverick, clarinet-playing cop nicknamed \"Tequila\" whose partner is killed in the dizzying chaos of a restaurant gunfight with a small army of gangsters. It is soon revealed that one of the mob's high- ranking assassins is Tony (Tony Leung), an undercover cop who, despite his badge, is dangerously close to the edge. Tequila and Tony must team up in a tense partnership, and their common pursuit of a vicious crime lord results in a brilliantly elaborate climax in a hospital, where the heroes must rescue new-born babies from the maternity ward while fighting off dozens of mob soldiers. (94% Rotten Tomatoes)
Io Non Ho Paura [I'm Not Scared] (2003) In a small town in Italy in 1978, 9-year-old Michele (Giuseppe Cristiano) finds Fillipo (Mattia Di Perro), seemingly dead in a deep hole in the ground, while on a bike ride with friends. Terrified of what he has seen, Michele decides not to tell his father. After returning to the scene, Michele discovers that Fillipo is still alive and bound by a chain. Michele continues to keep his secret as he makes several visits to Fillipo, who has no memory of the events leading up to his captivity. (90% Rotten Tomatoes)
Julius Caesar (1953) A sterling cast gives Shakespeare's tale of betrayal and reprisals body and fine form, with Marlon Brando displaying a galvanizing command over the Bard's language. (95% Rotten Tomatoes)
Kill List (2011) From director Ben Wheatley, Kill List is a mind-blowing genre concoction being called the \"#1 Horror Film of the Year\" (Bloody-Disgusting). A brilliant blend of family drama, hitman action-thriller and terrifying psychological horror film, Kill List tells the story of an ex-soldier turned contract killer who is plunged into the heart of human darkness. Eight months after a disastrous hit job in Kiev left him physically and mentally scarred, Jay (Neil Maskell) is pressured by his partner Gal (Michael Smiley), into taking a new assignment. As they descend into the bizarre, disturbing world of the contract, Jay's world begins to unravel until fear and paranoia sending him reeling towards a horrifying point of no return. (78% Rotten Tomatoes)
Last Tango in Paris (1972) In Bernardo Bertolucci's art-house classic, Marlon Brando delivers one of his characteristically idiosyncratic performances as Paul, a middle-aged American in \"emotional exile\" who comes to Paris when his estranged wife commits suicide. Chancing to meet young Frenchwoman Jeanne (Maria Schneider), Paul enters into a sadomasochistic, carnal relationship with her, indirectly attacking the hypocrisy all around him through his raw, outrageous sexual behaviour. Paul also hopes to purge himself of his own feelings of guilt, brilliantly (and profanely) articulated in a largely ad-libbed monologue at his wife's coffin. If the sexual content in Last Tango is uncomfortably explicit (once seen, the infamous \"butter scene\" is never forgotten), the combination of Brando's acting, Bertolucci's direction, Vittorio Storaro's cinematography, and Gato Barbieri's music is unbeatable, creating one of the classic European art movies of the 1970s, albeit one that is not for all viewers. (84% Rotten Tomatoes)
Mad Dog and Glory (1993) John McNaughton directed this Richard Price-scripted comedy about a cop who learns to love an unwanted gift from a gangster. Robert De Niro plays Wayne Dobie, a shy and reclusive Chicago cop who has never fired a gun. Dobie is an evidence technician who takes photographs at crime scenes, earning the moniker of \"Mad Dog\" for his diffident attitude. One day Dobie walks in on a convenience store holdup and saves the life of Chicago mob boss Frank Milo (Bill Murray). Frank is impressed by the way Dobie handled the holdup and wants to pay him back for saving his life. In thrall to Frank is Glory (Uma Thurman), who is working off her brother's gambling debts by living with the mobster. One day, Glory turns up at Dobie's house, explaining that Frank is giving her to him for one week as a gift. Initially Dobie wants nothing to do with Glory, but as the week goes on, he realizes he is becoming intensely attracted to her. (77% Rotten Tomatoes)
Man Bites Dog (1992) The activities of rampaging, indiscriminate serial killer Ben (Benoît Poelvoorde) are recorded by a willingly complicit documentary team, who eventually become his accomplices and active participants. Ben provides casual commentary on the nature of his work and arbitrary musings on topics of interest to him, such as music or the conditions of low-income housing, and even goes so far as to introduce the documentary crew to his family. But their reckless indulgences soon get the better of them. (74% Rotten Tomatoes)
Memories of Murder (2003) Memories of Murder blends the familiar crime genre with social satire and comedy, capturing the all-too human desperation of its key characters. 1986 Gyunggi Province. The body of a young woman is found brutally raped and murdered. Two months later, a series of rapes and murders commences under similar circumstances. And in a country that had never known such crimes, the dark whispers about a serial murderer grow louder. A special task force is set up in the area, with two local detectives Park Doo-Man and Jo Young-Goo joined by a detective from Seoul who requested to be assigned to the case. (90% Rotten Tomatoes)
Miller’s Crossing (1990) Joel and Ethan Coen's third collaboration, the gangster film Miller's Crossing, stars Gabriel Byrne as Tom Reagan, the right-hand man of big-city Irish mob boss Leo (Albert Finney). The film opens with Italian mobster Johnny Caspar (Jon Polito) and his second in command Eddie Dane (J.E. Freeman) informing Leo and Tom that they are going to kill bookie Bernie Bernbaum (John Turturro) because he has been revealing Caspar's fixed fights to other gamblers. Leo informs Caspar that Bernie pays for protection and is not to be touched. After the Italians leave in a huff, Tom informs Leo that he should give up Bernie. Tom and Leo are both involved with Verna (Marcia Gay Harden), Bernie's sister. After a failed hit on Leo starts a full-scale mob war, Tom reveals to Leo the truth about his relationship with Verna. This leads to a falling-out between the pair. Tom goes to work for Caspar, but in truth, he is still loyal to Leo. Tom figures out how to manipulate all of the situations so that Leo survives, but this may cost Tom his relationship with Verna. (91% Rotten Tomatoes)
Moonrise Kingdom (2012) An island off the New England coast, summer of 1965. Two twelve-year-olds, Sam and Suzy, fall in love, make a secret pact, and run away together into the wilderness. As local authorities try to hunt them down, a violent storm is brewing offshore . . . Wes Anderson’s Moonrise Kingdom stars Jared Gilman and Kara Hayward as the young couple on the run, Bruce Willis as Island Police Captain Sharp, Edward Norton as Khaki Scout troop leader Scout Master Ward, and Bill Murray and Frances McDormand as Suzy’s attorney parents, Walt and Laura Bishop. The cast also includes Tilda Swinton, Jason Schwartzman, and Bob Balaban. The magical soundtrack features the music of Benjamin Britten. (93% Rotten Tomatoes)
Naked Lunch (1991) David Cronenberg and William S. Burroughs: a potent, disgusting combination. This is not actually a film version of the infamous novel, but a fusion of Burroughs' biography and his literary style (like Steven Soderberg's underappreciated Kafka). Peter Weller plays exterminator Bill Lee, whose wife (Judy Davis) gets hooked on the bug powder and drags Bill along for the hallucinatory ride. He starts to receive secret messages from giant mutant beetles and kills his wife in a misguided game of William Tell. Under orders from the bugs, Bill becomes a writer and gets advice and orders from his own insectoid typewriter. Eventually, he goes to the mysterious city of Interzone, where he meets more creepy writer types and is introduced to more and more exotic mind-altering chemicals. Not for insectophobes. (69% Rotten Tomatoes)
Napoleon Dynamite (2004) Napoleon, a socially awkward teenager, gets caught up in his dysfunctional family's misadventures while trying to help a friend win the class presidency. (71% Rotten Tomatoes)
Ne le dis a` personne [Tell No One] (2006) Margot (Marie-Josée Croze) was murdered by a serial killer eight years ago, and her husband, Alexandre (François Cluzet), continues to mourn her death. One day, the police discover two dead bodies near Alexandre's home, along with a cache of evidence implicating him in the crime. On the same day, Alexandre receives an email with a video showing his wife alive and well, along with a simple message: \"Tell no one.\" With the police breathing down his neck, Alexandre goes on the run. (94% Rotten Tomatoes)
Oldboy (2003) South Korean filmmaker Park Chan-wook directed this violent and offbeat story of punishment and vengeance. Oh Dae-su (Choi Min-sik) is a husband and father whose reputation for womanizing is well known. One day, for reasons he doesn't understand, Oh Dae-su finds himself locked up in a prison cell, with no idea of what his crime was or whom his jailers may be. With a small television as his only link to the outside world and a daily ration of fried dumplings as his only sustenance, Oh Dae-su struggles to keep his mind and body intact, but when he learns through a news report that his wife has been killed, he begins a long and difficult project of digging an escape tunnel with a pair of chopsticks. Before he can finish -- and after 15 years behind bars -- Oh Dae-su is released, with as little explanation as when he was locked up, and he's soon given a wad of money and a cellular phone by a bum on the street. Emotionally stunted but physically strong after 15 years in jail, Oh Dae-su struggles to unravel the secret of who is responsible for locking him up, what happened to his wife and daughter, and how to best get revenge against his captors. Oldeuboi was screened in competition at the 2004 Cannes Film Festival and won the coveted Grand Prix. (84% Rotten Tomatoes)
On the Waterfront (1954) 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. This classic story of Mob informers was based on a number of true stories and filmed on location in and around the docks of New York and New Jersey. Mob-connected union boss Johnny Friendly (Lee J. Cobb) rules the waterfront with an iron fist. The police know that he's been responsible for a number of murders, but witnesses play deaf and dumb (\"plead D & D\"). Washed-up boxer Terry Malloy (Marlon Brando) has had an errand-boy job because of the influence of his brother Charley, a crooked union lawyer (Rod Steiger). Witnessing one of Friendly's rub-outs, Terry is willing to keep his mouth shut until he meets the dead dockworker's sister, Edie (Eva Marie Saint). \"Waterfront priest\" Father Barry (Karl Malden) tells Terry that Edie's brother was killed because he was going to testify against boss Friendly before the crime commission. Because he could have intervened, but didn't, Terry feels somewhat responsible for the death. When Father Barry receives a beating from Friendly's goons, Terry is persuaded to cooperate with the commission. Featuring Brando's famous \"I coulda been a contendah\" speech, On the Waterfront has often been seen as an allegory of \"naming names\" against suspected Communists during the anti-Communist investigations of the 1950s. Director Elia Kazan famously informed on suspected Communists before a government committee -- unlike many of his colleagues, some of whom went to prison for refusing to \"name names\" and many more of whom were blacklisted from working in the film industry for many years to come -- and Budd Schulberg's screenplay has often been read as an elaborate defence of the informer's position. On the Waterfront won Oscars for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Actor for Brando, and Best Supporting Actress for Saint. (99% Rotten Tomatoes)
Primer (2004) The debut feature from filmmaker Shane Carruth -- who wrote, directed, photographed, edited, scored, and stars -- Primer is a psychological sci-fi thriller about a group of four tech entrepreneurs. Toiling away in a garage, the quartet have successfully created error-checking systems for their clients. But their recent work seems to have created an unexpected and seemingly impossible side-effect. Suddenly, two members of the group realize they are in possession of a device that can double, or perhaps even quadruple, the space-time continuum of anything that enters it. What at first seems like a windfall of astronomical proportions eventually proves to be much more than they bargained for, as the duo attempt to manipulate time to their financial -- and emotional -- benefit. Also starring Casey Gooden, Anand Upadhyaya, and Carrie Crawford, Primer premiered at the 2004 Sundance Film Festival, where it won the coveted Grand Jury Prize for dramatic film. (73% Rotten Tomatoes)
Raising Arizona (1987) Combining influences from Tex Avery cartoons to Sam Raimi horror movies to 1940s B-movies, Joel Coen and Ethan Coen followed up the stylish film noir of their debut, Blood Simple (1984), with this frantic screwball comedy. H.I. \"Hi\" McDonnough (Nicholas Cage) is a philosophical but slightly dim career criminal who has been arrested so often that he gets to know \"Ed,\" short for Edwina (Holly Hunter), the officer who takes his mug shots. Hi takes a shine to Ed and promises to go straight if she marries him. She accepts, and they move to the Arizona desert, where Hi holds down a factory job and blissfully watches the sunsets with Ed. Their serenity is shattered when the couple decides that they want a child and discover that, as Hi puts it, \"Ed's womb was a rocky place where my seed could find no purchase.\" (One of the film's many delights is Hi's unexpectedly flowery dime-novel narration.) Ed goes into a severe depression until she sees an item in the news. Nathan Arizona (Trey Wilson), owner of a chain of unpainted furniture stores, has become the father of quintuplets, and he and his wife joke that they now have more children than they know what to do with. In what seems like a perfect \"helps you, helps me\" situation, Hi and Ed kidnap one of the Arizona infants, figuring that they'll have a baby and the Arizonas will have less of a burden. (91% Rotten Tomatoes)
Sex, Lies, and Videotape (1989) In his feature directorial debut, Steven Soderbergh demonstrates a mastery of his craft well beyond his years, pulling together an outstanding cast and an intelligent script for a nuanced, mature film about neurosis and human sexuality. (96% Rotten Tomatoes)
Silent Running (1972) Made by Douglas Trumbull, who worked on the effects for 2001: A Space Odyssey, Silent Running is similar only in that both movies take place in outer space. Instead, this is ecological sci-fi, driven by character rather than dizzying spectacle. Granted, while the end result is nowhere near as impressive as 2001 - Mark Kermode will strongly disagree with me - Silent Running is still a sweet, meditative little film, bolstered hugely by the general excellence of Bruce Dern. (67% Rotten Tomatoes)
The assassination of Jessie James by the coward Robert Ford (2007) The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford is a 2007 American epic revisionist Western film written and directed by Andrew Dominik. Adapted from Ron Hansen's 1983 novel of the same name, the film dramatizes the relationship between Jesse James (Brad Pitt) and Robert Ford (Casey Affleck), focusing on the events that led up to the titular killing. (77% Rotten Tomatoes)
The Exorcist - Extended Director’s Cut (1973) Novelist William Peter Blatty based his best-seller on the last known Catholic-sanctioned exorcism in the United States. Blatty transformed the little boy in the 1949 incident into a little girl named Regan, played by 14-year-old Linda Blair. Suddenly prone to fits and bizarre behaviour, Regan proves quite a handful for her actress-mother, Chris MacNeil (played by Ellen Burstyn, although Blatty reportedly based the character on his next-door neighbour Shirley MacLaine). When Regan gets completely out of hand, Chris calls in young priest Father Karras (Jason Miller), who becomes convinced that the girl is possessed by the Devil and that they must call in an exorcist: namely, Father Merrin (Max von Sydow). His foe proves to be no run-of-the-mill demon, and both the priest and the girl suffer numerous horrors during their struggles. The Exorcist received a theatrical rerelease in 2000, in a special edition that added 11 minutes of footage trimmed from the film's original release and digitally enhanced Chris Newman's Oscar-winning sound work. (83% Rotten Tomatoes)
The Exorcist III (1990) Set fifteen years after the original film, The Exorcist III centres around the philosophical Lieutenant William F. Kinderman who is investigating a baffling series of murders around Georgetown that all contain the hallmarks of The Gemini, a deceased serial killer. It eventually leads him to a catatonic patient in a psychiatric hospital who has recently started to speak, claiming he is the The Gemini and detailing the murders, but bears a striking resemblance to Father Damien Karras. (59% Rotten Tomatoes)
The Godfather Part II (1974) Francis Ford Coppola's legendary continuation and sequel to his landmark 1972 film, The Godfather, parallels the young Vito Corleone's rise with his son Michael's spiritual fall, deepening The Godfather's depiction of the dark side of the American dream. In the early 1900s, the child Vito flees his Sicilian village for America after the local Mafia kills his family. Vito (Robert De Niro) struggles to make a living, legally or illegally, for his wife and growing brood in Little Italy, killing the local Black Hand Fanucci (Gastone Moschin) after he demands his customary cut of the tyro's business. With Fanucci gone, Vito's communal stature grows, but it is his family (past and present) who matters most to him -- a familial legacy then upended by Michael's (Al Pacino) business expansion in the 1950s. Now based in Lake Tahoe, Michael conspires to make inroads in Las Vegas and Havana pleasure industries by any means necessary. As he realizes that allies like Hyman Roth (Lee Strasberg) are trying to kill him, the increasingly paranoid Michael also discovers that his ambition has crippled his marriage to Kay (Diane Keaton) and turned his brother, Fredo (John Cazale), against him. Barely escaping a federal indictment, Michael turns his attention to dealing with his enemies, completing his own corruption. (97% Rotten Tomatoes)
The Godfather Part III (1990) After a break of more than 15 years, director Francis Ford Coppola and writer Mario Puzo returned to the well for this third and final story of the fictional Corleone crime family. Two decades have passed, and crime kingpin Michael Corleone (Al Pacino), now divorced from his wife Kay (Diane Keaton), has nearly succeeded in keeping his promise that his family would one day be \"completely legitimate.\" A philanthropist devoted to public service, Michael is in the news as the recipient of a special award from the Pope for his good works, a controversial move given his checkered past. Determined to buy redemption, Michael and his lawyer B.J. (George Hamilton) are working on a complicated but legal deal to bail the Vatican out of looming financial troubles that will ultimately reap billions and put Michael on the world stage as a major financial player. However, trouble looms in several forms: The press is hostile to his intentions. Michael is in failing health and suffers a mild diabetic stroke. Stylish mob underling Joey Zaza (Joe Mantegna) is muscling into the Corleone turf. \"The Commission\" of Mafia families, represented by patriarch Altobello (Eli Wallach) doesn't want to let their cash cow Corleone out of the Mafia, though he has made a generous financial offer in exchange for his release from la cosa nostra. And then there's Vincent Mancini (Andy Garcia), the illegitimate and equally temperamental son of Michael's long-dead brother Sonny. Vincent desperately wants in to the family (both literally and figuratively), and at the urging of his sister Connie (Talia Shire), Michael welcomes the young man and allows him to adopt the Corleone name. However, a flirtatious attraction between Vincent and his cousin, Michael's naïve daughter Mary (Sofia Coppola) develops, and threatens to develop into a full-fledged romance and undo the godfather's future plans. (68% Rotten Tomatoes)
The Host (2006) When a young girl is snatched away from her father by a horrifying giant monster that emerges from the River Han to wreak havoc on Seoul, her entire family sets out to locate the beast and bring their little girl back home to safety in South Korean director Bong Joon-ho's big-budget creature feature. Hee-bong is a man of modest means who runs a snack bar on the banks of the River Han. Along with his slow-witted eldest son, Gang-du; Gang-du's young daughter, Hyun-seo; archery champion daughter Nam-joo; and unemployed, shirker son, Nam-il, Hee-Bong has managed to maintain a close relationship with his family despite the hardships that come with being a single father. When a rampaging fiend erupts from the Han and throws the city of Seoul into a state of emergency, Gang-du is heartbroken to see his precious little girl scooped up by the scaly creature and spirited away to an unknown destination. This is one family that always sticks together, though, and as the rest of the city denizens scramble to take cover, Hee-bong, Gang-du, Nam-joo, and Nam-il set out to prove that they're not letting their little girl go without a fight. (93% Rotten Tomatoes)
The Royal Tenenbaums (2001) Royal Tenenbaum and his wife Etheline had three children--Chas, Richie, and Margot--they were a family of geniuses and then they separated. Chas started buying real estate in his early teens and seemed to have had a preternatural understanding of international finance. Margot was a playwright and received a Braverman grant of fifty thousand dollars in the ninth grade. Richie was a junior champion tennis player and won the U.S. Nationals three years in a row. Virtually all memory of the brilliance of the young Tenenbaums was subsequently erased by two decades of betrayal, failure and disaster. Most of this was generally considered to be their father's fault. The tale follows the family's sudden and unexpected reunion one recent winter. (80% Rotten Tomatoes)
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