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

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In Turkey, several prisoners are granted furlough. One, Seyit Ali (Tarik Akan) travels to his house and finds that his wife Zine (Serif Sezer) has betrayed him and works as a prostitute. She was caught by her family and held captive for Seyit Ali to end her life in an honor killing.

Though apparently determined at first, he changes his mind when his wife starts to freeze while travelling in the snow. Despite his efforts to keep her alive, he eventually fails. His wife's death relieves Seyit Ali from family pressure. Another prisoner, Mehmet Salih (Halil Ergün) has been arrested for his role in a heist with his brother-in-law, whom he abandoned as he was being shot by police. His in-laws have disowned him, and he is finally forced to tell his wife Emine (Meral Orhonsay) the truth. Emine and Mehmet Salih decide to run away on a train. On the train, they are caught in the washroom having sex. They are saved from an angry mob by the train's officers and held in a cabin before being handed over to officials. There, a young boy from Emine's family who boarded the train shoots both Mehmet Salih and Emine. Ömer (Necmettin Çobanoglu) returns to his village sitting near the border between Turkey and Syria, and arranges to cross the border to escape prison. Ömer finds his village in a battle between Kurdish smugglers and Turkish soldiers. Though Ömer is clearly determined, he gives up after his brother, who took part in the battle, is shot dead. Through his brother's death, Ömer has inherited the responsibilities of his brother's wife and children as dictated by tradition.

A little lost alien, three million light years away from home. A lonely ten-year old boy willing to take him home. Two lives changed by a timeless adventure and a friendship that knows no earthly bounds.

"They're Here", playful at first...but not for long. A storm erupts, a tree attacks and little Carol Anne Freeling (Heather O'Rourke) is whisked onto a spectral void. As her family confronts horrors galore, something else is here too: a new benchmark in Hollywood ghost stories.

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Horror-master John Carpenter teams Kurt Russell's outstanding performance with incredible visuals to build this chilling version of the classic 'The Thing'.

In the winter of 1982, a twelve-man research team at a remote Antarctic research station discovers an alien buried in the snow for over 100,000 years. Soon unfrozen, the shape-shifting alien wreaks havoc, creates terror and becomes one of them.

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Rick Deckard (Harrison Ford) prowls the steel-and-microchip jungle of 21st century Los Angeles. He's a "Blade Runner" stalking genetically made criminal replicants. His assignment: kill them. Their crime: wanting to be human.

A visual stunner, remastered for improved home presentation, director Ridley Scott's vision of this sci-fi cinema classic intriguingly differs from what 1982 moviegoers saw. This version omits Deckard's voiceover narration, develops in greater detail the romance between Deckard and Rachael (Sean Young) and removes the "uplifting" finale. Most intriguing of all is a newly included unicorn vision that suggests Deckard may be a humanoid. The result is a heightened emotional impact a great film made greater.

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Fast Times at Ridgemont High, directed by Amy Heckering, is simply a modern cult classic.

First-time screenwriter Cameron Crowe, went undercover as a high school student and came back with the straight dope on sex, drugs, and rock 'n' roll, while capturing some of the most memorable screen characters ever. They're all here, from Stacy (Jennifer Jason Leigh) and Linda's (Pheobe Cates) sexual misadventures to go-getter Brad's (Judge Reinhold) quick career in the world of fast food to the unforgettable Spicoli (Sean Penn) as the ultimate surfer dude. Add appearances by Nicolas Cage. Anthony Edwards, Forest Whitaker and Ray Walston and you have an unbeatable cast. With all this talent behind it, no wonder Fast Times at Ridgemont High is as honest, fresh and funny as it was a generation ago.

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Peter Greenaway became a director of international status with this witty, stylised, erotic country house murder mystery.

In an apparently idyllic 17th century Wiltshire, an ambitious draughtsman is commissioned by the wife of an aristocrat to produce twelve drawings of her husband's estate, in return for which he will receive payment, board and bed - hers. Extravagant costumes, a twisting plot, elegantly barbed dialogue and a score by Michael Nyman make the film a treat for ear, eye and mind.

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It's the summer of 1944, after the fall of Mussolini. As the Germans take control of Italy from the north and the Allies do the same from the south, ordinary Italians face a deadly conflict of loyalties.

Paolo and Vittorio Taviani lived through this as teenagers, and they later turned their memories and those of countless compatriots into this extraordinarily rich and vivid evocation of the most terrifying time in their native Tuscany's history, where even the most respected authority figures can no longer be trusted and seemingly throwaway decisions can prove fatal. The Tavianis' creative masterstroke was to present all this through the eyes of a six-year-old girl, who despite the death and destruction around her is having the most exciting time of her life.

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Gandhi was not a ruler of nations, nor did he have scientific gifts. Yet this small, modest man did what others before him could not. He led an entire country to freedom - he gave his people hope. Gandhi, the man of the century is explored in this breathtaking, unforgettable motion picture.

After 20 years in the making, this masterful epic garnered nine 1982 Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor and Best Original Screenplay. In stirring detail, Gandhi's life, principles and power explode on the screen with vivid scenes such as the horrific massacre at Amritsar, where the British opened fire on 15,000 unarmed men, women and children, and the dramatic march to the sea where Gandhi led thousands of his fellow Indians to prove that sea salt belonged to all and was not just a British commodity.

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"Fanny and Alexander" is Bergman's dreamlike family chronicle. The Ekdahl's are an upper-middle-class theatrical family sheltered by their own theatrics from the deepening chaos of the outside world.

One tumultuous year in the life of the Ekdahl family is viewed through the eyes of ten-year-old Alexander (Bertil Guve), whose imagination fuels the magical goings-on leading up to and following the death of his father. His mother's remarriage to a stern prelate banishes Alexander and his sister Fanny (Pernilla Allwin) from all known joys, and thrusts them and the movie into a kind of gothic horror. The bishop is a Bergmanesque character whose severity has gone awry - he has become sinister - and the film's round rejection of him in favour of "kindness, affection and goodness" may be Bergman's fondest farewell to cinema.

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Dustin Hoffman stars as Dorsey, a dedicated actor with a reputation for being difficult. Having antagonised every producer in New York nobody will hire him. But Michael is desperate for work, so desperate he's willing to pretend to be a woman.

Passing himself off as 'Dorothy Michaels' he lands himself a part on a TV Soap Opera and soon becomes a national phenomenon. But when he falls for the leading lady of the show things get complicated. How can he tell her he loves her when she thinks he's a woman and so does the rest of America....

Desperate to be a star, struggling stand-up comedian Rupert Pupkin (Robert De Niro) enlists the aid of his fanatical friend Masha (Sandra Bernhard) to kidnap talk show host Jerry Langford (Jerry Lewis). The ransom? A guest spot for Pupkin. The results? Outrageous!

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Max Renn (James Woods) is looking for fresh new content for his TV channel when he happens across some illegal S&M-style broadcasts called "Videodrome".

Embroiling his girlfriend Nick (Deborah Harry) in his search for the source, his journey begins to blur the lines between reality and fantasy as he works his way through sadomasochistic games, shady organisations and body transformations stunningly realised by Oscar-winning makeup effects artist Rick Baker.

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Knox Oil and Gas of Houston is far removed from the North Sea oil it desires - and the sleepy Scottish seaside village it wants to buy and replace with a refinery. So Knox sends it ace dealmaker (Peter Riegart) to negotiate.

He finds cheerful future millionaires, awesome northern lights, a lusty innkeeper, a stubborn beachcomber and a mermaid with webbed toes. Forsyth's touch is perfect: whether showing us a tycoon (Burt Lancaster) with his head in the stars or bridging generations at an all-night ceilidh dance.

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During a lecture, controversial novelist Gerard Reve (Jeroen Krabbe) claims that his stories "lie the truth". Without knowing it, this enigmatic pronouncement sets the tone for the bizarre events that will send him to the brink of madness.

The focus of these events is Christine (Renee Soutendijk), a seductive and aloof beautician who lures Gerard into her world. Soon he begins to wonder whether Christine's cool exterior hides a murderous instinct: with three husbands dead, does she intend to make Gerard The Fourth Man?