griggs's - 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die List

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Camille falls out of love with her husband Paul while he is rewriting the screenplay Odyssey by American producer Jeremiah Prokosch.

Just as the director of Prokosch's film, Fritz Lang, says that The Odyssey is the story of individuals confronting their situations in a real world, Le Mepris itself is an examination of the position of the filmmaker in the commercial cinema industry.

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Stanley Kubrick's classic black comedy about a group of war-eager military men who plan a nuclear apocalypse is both funny and frightening - and seems as relevant today as ever. Through a series of military and political accidents, two psychotic generals - U.S. Air Force Commander Jack D.

Ripper (Sterling Hayden) and Joint Chief of Staff "Buck" Turgidson (George C. Scott) - trigger an ingenious, irrevocable scheme to attack Russia's strategic targets with nuclear bombs. The brains behind the scheme belong to Dr Strangelove (Peter Sellers), a wheelchair-bound nuclear scientist who has bizarre ideas about man's future. The President (also Sellers) is helpless to stop the bombers, as is Captain Mandrake (Sellers once again). Dr. Sstrangelove is truly a classic film.

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Guy Foucher (Nino Castelnuovo), a 20-year-old French auto mechanic, has fallen in love with 17-year-old Genevieve Emery (Catherine Deneuve), an employee in her widowed mother's chic but financially embattled umbrella shop.

On the evening before Guy is to leave for a two-year tour of combat in Algeria, the pair share a passionate night. Genevieve becomes pregnant and then must choose between waiting for Guy's return or accepting an attractive offer of marriage from a wealthy diamond merchant (Marc Michel).

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When teacher Junpei Niki misses his last bus home after a day out collecting insects on a remote stretch of coast, he is invited by a local villager to take shelter in a young widow's ramshackle hut.

Ignoring the fact that her home is at the bottom of a sandpit accessible only by rope ladder, he accepts this hospitality without realising he is the victim of a cruel trick. Trapped, he is forced into an uneasy life with this woman, sharing with her the Sisyphean task of shoveling the sand that threatens to engulf them.

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Shot on the Brazilian Sertao, the bleak parched lands of northern Brazil, a poverty striken cowhand called Manuel (Geraldo Del Rey) kills his abusive boss.

Fleeing with his wife, Rosa (Yona Magalhaes) as outlaws, Manuel joins up with a self-proclaimed saint (Joao Gama) who condones violence and preaches disturbing doctrines. The movie then follows Manuel's journey into a life of crime, joining Antonio's gang (Mauricio do Vale) and eventually meeting Corisco (Othon Bastos) a hired assassin who is paid to kill both the priest and Antonio. Folk songs combine with the music of Villa Lobos and Bach to create a stirring backdrop.

Young, middle-class and idealistic, Fabrizio struggles to break away from his bourgeois background.

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Vincent Price stars as the evil Prospero, a Prince who has sold his soul and who counts on the promises of the Devil for protection.

He hosts incredible, opulent parties for the privileged while toe poor die in hovels, starving victims of the Red Death, a devastating plague that is sweeping his lands. Prospero takes a perverse pleasure in the pain and suffering of his supplicants and his friends alike. When Prospero decides to hold a masked ball all seems ready for a night of unheard of indulgence and decadence, until he notices the entry of a mysterious hooded stranger dressed all in red. Believing toe figure to be his master, Satan, Prospero determines to seek him out...Based on Edgar Allan Poe's short stories,

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In 1964 the biggest band on the planet made their big screen debut with 'A Hard Day's Night', a groundbreaking film that presented a 'typical' day in the life of The Fab Four as they tried to outrun screaming fans, find Paul's mischievous grandfather, deal with a stressed TV producer and make it to

the show on time. Directed with unrelenting verve by Richard Lester, whose innovative techniques paved the way for generations of music videos, the film's frenetic mix of comic escapades, legendary one-liners and pop perfection captured a moment in time that defined a generation. The most iconic band in music history had arrived.

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The Master of Suspense, Alfred Hitchcock creates a spellbinding portrait of a disturbed woman, and the man who tries to save her, in this unrelenting psychological thriller.

'Tippi' Hedren is Marnie, a compulsive thief and liar who goes to work for Mark Rutland (Sean Connery), then attempts to rob him. Mark impulsively marries the troubled beauty and attempts to discover the reasons for her obsessive behaviour. When a terrible accident pushes his wife to the edge, Mark forces Marnie to confront her terrors and her past in a shattering, inescapable conclusion.

Join the "practically perfect" Mary Poppins (Julie Andrews) as she magically turns every chore into a game and every day into a whimsical adventure. Along the way, you'll be enchanted by unforgettable characters such as the multitalented chimney sweep Bert (Dick Van Dyke).

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'The Gospel of Matthew', in this powerful and entertaining film features a cast of thousands as it faithfully brings to life the Biblical text. 'The Gospel of Matthew' accurately re-tells the story of Jesus beginning with his birth through his ministry, crucifixion and resurrection.

Starring and narrated by Richard Kiley as Matthew, and co-starring Bruce Marchiano as Jesus this multimillion dollar production appeals to all ages, and it offers educational, spiritual and entertainment value. 'The Gospel of Matthew' has been adapted for the screen, 'word for word', based on the New International Version of the Bible.

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"Red Desert" (Il Deserto Rosso) once more combines the considerable talents of director Michelangelo Antonioni and star Monica Vitti. Cast as Giuliana, an unhappy wife, Vitti suffers from an unnamed form of depression and malaise.

Her quicksilver emotional shifts disturb everyone around her, but they, like she, pretend that nothing is truly wrong. British engineer Corrado Zeller (Richard Harris) seems to understand what Giuliana is really after in life, and he acts upon it by entering into an affair with the troubled woman. Giuliana eventually comes to terms with her physical and mental pain, but this hardly means that she's "cured" in the conventional sense.

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From the opening bomb blast outside a steamy nightclub to a last-minute escape from the President's personal jet, James Bond's third screen adventure is an exhilarating, pulse-pounding thrill-ride! Sean Connery returns as Agent 007 and faces off with a maniacal villain bent on destroying all the

gold in Fort Knox - and obliterating the world economy!

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Rex Harrison reprises his signature role of Henry Higgins, the supremely assured phoneticist who wagers that under his tutelage, cockney flower girl Eliza Doolittle can pass for a duchess at the Embassy Ball. In one of her best-loved roles, Audrey Hepburn plays Eliza.

If ever there were a face that the professor could grow accustomed to, it's hers. In Hartford, Heresford and Hampshire (and elsewhere) no one's fairer than 'My Fair Lady' on of the most irresistible musicals ever.

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Onibaba is set during a brutal period in history, a Japan ravaged by civil war between rival shogunates.

Weary from combat, samurai are drawn towards the seven-foot-high susuku grass fields to hide and rest themselves, only to be ambushed and murdered by a ruthless team of mother (Nobuko Otowa) and daughter-in-law (Jitsuko Yoshimura). When Hachi (Kei Sato), a neighbour returning from the wars, brings bad news, he threatens the women's partnership.