The Jedi Knights have been exterminated and the Empire rules the galaxy with an iron fist. A small group of Rebels have dared to fight back by stealing the secret plansito the Empire's mightiest weapon, the Death Star battle station. The Emperor's most trusted servant, Darth Vader, must find the plans, and locate the hidden Rebel base. Princess Leia, a captive Rebel leader, sends out a distress signal that is intercepted by a simply farm boy, Luke Skywalker.
Written by Herman Raucher, Summer of '42 is one of the screen's most haunting romances. A nation is caught up in a war that will forever change it. At a New England beach colony, 15-year-old Hermie (Gary Grimes) is caught up in a passion that will forever change him: he's infatuated with 22-year-old Dorothy (Jennifer O'Neill), whose soldier/husband is away at war.
The director and stars of 1998's You've Got Mail scored a breakthrough hit with this hugely popular romantic comedy from 1993, about a recently engaged woman (Meg Ryan) who hears the sad story of a grieving widower (Tom Hanks) on the radio and believes that they're destined to be together. She's single in New York, he lives in Seattle with a young son, but the cross-country attraction proves irresistible, and pretty soon Meg's on a westbound flight. What happens from there is ...
For those who consider Bulworth to be a savage and unprecedented political send-up, it's worth revisiting Warren Beatty's first, and best, attempt at outrageous social criticism. Mercilessly exposing the essential vacuity of both the sexual revolution and conservative alarmism over cultural permissiveness, Shampoo remains the best movie ever made about Nixon's America, and one of the very best about the tragic and disappointing conclusion to the 1960s.
When Steven Spielberg was an adolescent, his first home movie was a backyard war film. When he toured Europe with Duel in his 20s, he saw old men crumble in front of headstones at Omaha Beach. That image became the opening scene of Saving Private Ryan, his film of a mission following the D-day invasion that many have called the most realistic--and maybe the best--war film ever. With 1998 production standards, Spielberg has been able to create a stunning, unparalleled view of war as hell. We are at Omaha Beach as troops are slaughtered by Germans yet overcome the almost insurmountable odds.
Confined to his small courtyard apartment by a broken leg, photojournalist L.B. Jeffries (James Stewart) passes the time between visits from his nurse (Thelma Ritter) and his girlfriend Lisa (Grace Kelly) by watching his neighbors with his binoculars through the rear window of his room. When Jeffries thinks he sees one of his neighbors murder his invalid wife and dispose of her body, he convinces Lisa to investigate. One of Alfred Hitchcock's greatest masterpieces of suspense.
Private Benjamin's immovable object is pampered Judy Benjamin, a wedding night widow. The irresistible force is a three-year, expense-paid hitch in the U.S. Army. What's Judy doing in combat boots and fatigues? A recruiter seductively describes today's "new Army" and gullible Judy takes the bait. Goldie Hawn is a private first class in her Oscar-nominated role of Judy, a fish-out-of-water coming of age via the rigors of basic training and a European assignment.
The only remaining evidence that Sylvester Stallone might have had a respectable career, this 1976 Oscar winner (for Best Picture, Director, and Editing) is still the quintessential ode to an underdog and one of the best boxing movies ever made. After writing the script about a two-bit boxer who gets a "million-to-one shot" against the world heavyweight champion, Stallone insisted that he star in the title role, and his equally unknown status helped to catapult him (and this rousing film) to overnight success.
Platoon put writer-turned-director Oliver Stone on the Hollywood map; it is still his most acclaimed and effective film, probably because it is based on Stone's firsthand experience as an American soldier in Vietnam. Chris (Charlie Sheen) is an infantryman whose loyalty is tested by two superior officers: Sergeant Elias (Willem Dafoe), a former hippie humanist who really cares about his men (this was a few years before he played Jesus in Martin Scorsese's The Last Temptation of Christ), and Sergeant Barnes (Tom Berenger), a moody, macho soldier who may have gone over to the dark side.
Once in a great while a movie comes along that truly grips and uplifts its audiences. Such a movie is An Officer And A Gentleman, a timeless tale of romance, friendship and growth. Loner Zack Mayo (Rcihard Gere) enters Officer Candidate School to become a Navy Pilot and in thirteen torturous weeks he learns the importance of discipline, love and friendship. Louis Gossett, Jr. won an Academy Award for his brilliant portrayal of the tough drill instructor who teaches Zack that no man can make it alone.
