Mr. Malcolm’s List
An adequate romp for those dying to see more regency romances, but not sharp enough to carry the interest of anyone else.
Top Hat
This Astaire and Rogers classic has dancing near or at the level of their other best collaborations, with a story that hangs together better, to boot.
The Gay Divorcee
In a departure from the other Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers pictures I’ve seen, this movie’s strengths were in its script and its weaknesses were in its dancing.
Trial of the Chicago 7
A perfectly fine historical legal drama that could have been so much more.
Hard Boiled
Style over substance, but a treat for any aficionado of gunfights in action films.
Breaking Away
How resonant you find this coming of age sports movie, about growing up working class in the 70s, may be tied more to your personal experiences than the strength of the storytelling.
Love, Guaranteed
My worst fears, that this movie would be disappointingly cliche, proved charitable in the wake of this ninety minutes of wasted potential.
Aliens
This follow-on film is up there with The Godfather Part II as one of the best sequels ever made, despite its many deviations from its equally excellent predecessor.
Alien
One of the best science fiction movies, one of the best horror movies, and for sure the best science fiction horror movie, I have ever seen.
Nine to Five
A good screwball comedy that delivers on everything I like about the genre with plenty of fresh ideas to boot.
Sullivan’s Travels
An extremely funny farce about filmmaking, comedy, and (oddly enough) the great depression, whose only major fault is a slightly uneven tone.
The Best Years of Our Lives
This ambitious anthology film about World War II veterans is not just one of the best films on the topic, but one of the all time greats in general.