|
|
92%
|
Mister Roberts (1955) |
"
Henry Fonda stars, as brilliant as ever."
—
Chicago Reader
Posted Feb 10, 2012
|
|
|
97%
|
The Thin Man (1934) |
"
One of the most popular comedies ever made."
—
Chicago Reader
Posted Feb 10, 2012
|
|
|
100%
|
I Am a Fugitive From a Chain Gang (1932) |
"
Based on a true story, its style is simple, direct, forceful -- even after more than six decades."
—
Chicago Reader
Posted Feb 10, 2012
|
|
|
95%
|
Stage Door (1937) |
"
While it sometimes lapses into pure corn, it nevertheless manages to capture the manic-depressive dormitory atmosphere of young actresses trying to make it in New York."
—
Chicago Reader
Posted Feb 10, 2012
|
|
|
100%
|
Captain Blood (1935) |
"
Michael Curtiz, the most polished of Warner's studio technicians, starts Flynn off royally."
—
Chicago Reader
Posted Feb 10, 2012
|
|
|
77%
|
The Towering Inferno (1974) |
"
Irwin Allen, the Busby Berkeley of natural disasters and other people's troubles, teams up with John Guillermin, a competent if undistinguished action director."
—
Chicago Reader
Posted Feb 3, 2012
|
|
|
86%
|
Wanda (1971) |
"
A brilliantly atmospheric film with a superb performance by Loden."
—
Chicago Reader
Posted Sep 22, 2011
|
|
|
88%
|
Thieves Like Us (1974) |
"
At times unbearably objective."
—
Chicago Reader
Posted May 23, 2011
|
|
—
|
——
|
Hong se niang zi jun (The Red Detachment of Women) (1971) |
—
Chicago Reader
Posted Apr 4, 2011
|
|
—
|
——
|
Menilmontant () |
—
Chicago Reader
Posted Apr 4, 2011
|
|
|
100%
|
National Velvet (1944) |
"
A good movie for kids and armchair Freudians."
—
Chicago Reader
Posted Mar 23, 2011
|
|
|
——
|
Bank Shot (1974) |
"
The best thing about the film is Harry Stradling Jr.'s super photography - but that's scarcely enticement to see a really minor Scott vehicle."
—
Chicago Reader
Posted Mar 23, 2010
|
|
|
100%
|
Ikiru (Doomed) (Living) (To Live) (1956) |
"
Akira Kurosawa's greatest film."
—
Chicago Reader
Posted Apr 27, 2009
|
|
|
100%
|
The Dark Corner (1946) |
"
A pretty good thriller."
—
Chicago Reader
Posted Apr 3, 2009
|
|
|
100%
|
Chinatown (1974) |
"
Polanski's film suggests that the rules of the game are written in some strange, untranslatable language, and that everyone's an alien and, ultimately, a victim."
—
Chicago Reader
Posted Mar 27, 2009
|
|
—
|
100%
|
There Was a Father (1942) |
—
Chicago Reader
Posted Oct 18, 2008
|
|
|
82%
|
On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969) |
"
Director Peter Hunt manages to inject some life into this 1969 exercise with a wonderful ski chase, but otherwise the film is a bore."
—
Chicago Reader
Posted Oct 13, 2008
|
|
|
90%
|
The Women (1939) |
"
[Cukor is] at his best with a cast that includes Rosalind Russell, Norma Shearer, Joan Crawford, Hedda Hopper, Ruth Hussey, Paulette Goddard, and Joan Fontaine."
—
Chicago Reader
Posted Sep 11, 2008
|
|
|
75%
|
Charlotte's Web (1973) |
"
It preserves some of the form and language of White's original but fattens and sweetens his lean and pungent prose with songs by Richard and Robert Sherman."
—
Chicago Reader
Posted Sep 9, 2008
|
|
|
88%
|
La Plančte Sauvage (The Savage Planet) (The Fantastic Planet) (Planet of Incredible Creatures) (1973) |
"
The film has a flat quality that cannot entirely be overcome by the sensational animation and the obvious good intentions of its creators."
—
Chicago Reader
Posted Sep 9, 2008
|
|
|
90%
|
Pat and Mike (1952) |
"
The best of the Spencer Tracy-Katharine Hepburn cycle."
—
Chicago Reader
Posted Aug 4, 2008
|
|
|
94%
|
Der Blaue Engel (The Blue Angel) (1930) |
"
The first film collaboration between Josef von Sternberg and Marlene Dietrich, this reeks with decay and sexuality."
—
Chicago Reader
Posted Jul 28, 2008
|
|
|
79%
|
Richard III (1956) |
"
Laurence Olivier's classic rendition (1956) of Shakespeare's total villain contains one of his most engaging performances and reveals some of his best spatial manipulation of action."
—
Chicago Reader
Posted Jul 9, 2008
|
|
|
63%
|
The Way We Were (1973) |
"
A for effort; C for execution."
—
Chicago Reader
Posted May 26, 2008
|
|
|
90%
|
Monty Python's And Now for Something Completely Different (1972) |
"
Fans will have most of it memorized by now."
—
Chicago Reader
Posted May 14, 2008
|
|
|
100%
|
The Big Heat (2001) |
"
Brutal, atmospheric, and exciting -- highly recommended."
—
Chicago Reader
Posted Apr 9, 2008
|
|
|
100%
|
The Killers (1946) |
"
An example of film noir at its most expressive."
—
Chicago Reader
Posted Apr 8, 2008
|
|
|
89%
|
Blazing Saddles (1974) |
"
One of the funniest awful movies ever made."
—
Chicago Reader
Posted Apr 2, 2008
|
|
|
91%
|
California Split (1974) |
"
Robert Altman's masterful 1974 study of the psychology of the compulsive gambler."
—
Chicago Reader
Posted Mar 25, 2008
|
|
|
57%
|
Jesus Christ Superstar (1973) |
"
The music quickly becomes monotonous, and the operatic dialogue is silly right from the start."
—
Chicago Reader
Posted Mar 19, 2008
|
|
|
92%
|
The Quiet Man (1952) |
"
John Ford's 1952 Oscar winner is a tribute to an Ireland that exists only in the imaginations of songwriters and poets like Ford."
—
Chicago Reader
Posted Mar 11, 2008
|
|
|
60%
|
Toute Une Vie (And Now My Love) (1974) |
"
If Lelouch's sensibilities are too flimsy to substantiate his quasi-epic ambitions, the film nevertheless offers some cozy comforts and more than a few inside filmmaking jokes."
—
Chicago Reader
Posted Jan 15, 2008
|
|
|
75%
|
Un Homme et une Femme (A Man and a Woman) (1966) |
"
It's full of misty romps in the meadows, rain-soaked windshields, assorted puppies and lambs, and a 'bittersweet' theme song that drones incessantly on the sound track."
—
Chicago Reader
Posted Jan 15, 2008
|
|
|
100%
|
Top Hat (1935) |
"
This 1935 musical finds Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers at the top of their form."
—
Chicago Reader
Posted Jan 11, 2008
|
|
|
——
|
Lady Windermere's Fan (1925) |
"
One of Ernst Lubitsch's greatest accomplishments."
—
Chicago Reader
Posted Jan 11, 2008
|
|
|
96%
|
Les Enfants du Paradis (Children of Paradise) (1945) |
"
It runs 187 minutes, and it's worth every one of them."
—
Chicago Reader
Posted Jan 9, 2008
|
|
|
100%
|
A Raisin in the Sun (1961) |
"
It does have enough gritty insights and (for the time) strikingly accurate production details to keep the level of interest up."
—
Chicago Reader
Posted Nov 13, 2007
|
|
|
79%
|
It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963) |
"
Stanley Kramer strikes out again with this elephantine 1963 attempt at uproarious comedy."
—
Chicago Reader
Posted Nov 7, 2007
|
|
|
100%
|
Oliver Twist (1951) |
"
Alec Guinness as the master pickpocket Fagin is the high point of David Lean's 1948 version of the Dickens classic."
—
Chicago Reader
Posted Nov 6, 2007
|
|
|
86%
|
Brief Encounter (1945) |
"
Rarely rises above the level of the old women's magazines."
—
Chicago Reader
Posted Nov 6, 2007
|
|
|
100%
|
Great Expectations (1947) |
"
The graveyard scene is still a shocker, the details are still astonishingly well assembled, and the performances are wonderful."
—
Chicago Reader
Posted Nov 6, 2007
|
|
|
94%
|
Pygmalion (1938) |
"
A marvelous 1938 adaptation of the Shaw classic."
—
Chicago Reader
Posted Nov 6, 2007
|
|
|
90%
|
The Day of the Jackal (1973) |
"
It's a polished and exciting thriller, mercifully unburdened with heavy political/philosophical digressions."
—
Chicago Reader
Posted Nov 1, 2007
|
|
|
92%
|
The Last Detail (1973) |
"
A tough-talking, sparely directed effort by Hal Ashby, with an immaculate performance by Jack Nicholson."
—
Chicago Reader
Posted Oct 31, 2007
|
|
|
100%
|
The Adversary (Pratidwandi) (Siddharta and the City) (2007) |
"
Ray's incredible warmth and superbly understated visual style can charm even those (like me) who don't find his films particularly compelling."
—
Chicago Reader
Posted Oct 24, 2007
|
|
|
93%
|
Il Vangelo Secondo Matteo (The Gospel According to St. Matthew) (1964) |
"
Pasolini uses a complex but seemingly stark and simple visual style, and he evokes wonderful performances from nonprofessionals Enrique Irazoqui, Margherita Caruso, and Marcello Morante."
—
Chicago Reader
Posted Oct 23, 2007
|
|
|
84%
|
Mildred Pierce (1945) |
"
The archetypal Joan Crawford movie."
—
Chicago Reader
Posted Oct 17, 2007
|
|
|
100%
|
The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938) |
"
Movies like this are beyond criticism."
—
Chicago Reader
Posted Oct 16, 2007
|
|
|
91%
|
Cat People () |
"
More a film about unreasoning fear than the supernatural, this work demonstrates what a filmmaker can accomplish when he substitutes taste and intelligence for special effects."
—
Chicago Reader
Posted Sep 26, 2007
|
