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

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"Amadeus" triumphs as gripping human drama, sumptuous period epic, glorious celebration of the music of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. It's 1781 and Antonio Salieri (F. Murray Abraham) is the competent court composer to Emperor Joseph II.

When Mozart (Tom Hulce) arrives at court, Salieri is horrified to discover that the godlike musical gifts he desires for himself have been bestowed on a bawdy, impish jokester. Mad with envy, he plots to destroy Mozart by any means. Perhaps, even murder.

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In 2029, giant super-computers dominate the planet, hell-bent on exterminating the human race! And to destroy man's future by changing the past, they send an indestructible cyborg - a Terminator - back in time to kill Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton), the woman whose unborn son will become mankind's

only hope. Can Sarah protect herself from this unstoppable menace to save the life of her unborn child? Or will the human race be extinguished by one mean hunk of mutant metal?

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Directed by Roland Joffe and brilliantly scripted by Bruce Robinson, 'The Killing Fields ' is based on the true story of the relationship between Sydney Schanberg (Sam Waterston), a Pulitzer Prize winning New York Times correspondent, and Dith Pran (Haing S.

Ngor), the Cambodian aide who remains behind following the evacuation of Cambodian citizens by the US army.

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"1, 2, Freddy's coming for you". And here he is, phantom fiend Freddy Krueger in all his razor-fingered infamy. Wes Craven directs this trendsetting first in the slash-hit series. The premise is simple: Freddy (Robert Englund) homicidally haunts the sleep of Elm Street teens.

The results are terrifying and mind-blowingly innovative. There's another film debut too: Johnny Depp. He plays the ready steady of the hottie mcsmarty (Heather Langenkamp) who figures a clever way to flambe the fiend. But ever-say-die Freddy will be 3, 4 back for more...even returning to the screen in a killer 2010 remake of this devilish original. Sweet dreams!

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The heat is on in this fast paced action-comedy starring Eddie Murphy as Axel Foley, a street smart Detroit cop tracing down his best friend's killer in Beverly Hills.

Axel quickly learns that his wild style doesn't fit in with the Beverly Hills Police Department, which assigns two officers (Judge Reinhold and John Ashton) to make sure things don't get out of hand. Dragging the stuffy detectives along for the ride, Axel smashes through a huge culture clash in his hilarious, high-speed pursuit of justice.

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Adela (Judy Davis) arrives in India to marry her fiance Ronny Heaslop (Nigel Havers), a provincial magistrate. Chafing under the suburban constraints of British society and anxious to see "the real India", she is delighted to be introduced to a young Indian doctor, Aziz (Victor Banerjee).

Although fascinated by Aziz, Adela fails to understand his motivation or her own feelings and their awkward relationship provokes the tragic enigma of the Marabar caves.

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Lonely Depression-era waitress Cecilia (Mia Farrow) is hopelessly addicted to Hollywood movies. Spellbound by her new favorite, The Purple Rose of Cairo, Cecilia is astonished when the leading man (Jeff Daniels) suddenly walks off the screen to meet her.

Wooed by his charm, Cecilia finds herself falling for him - until she meets the real actor who plays him. Romanced by both a fictional character and a famous star, Cecilia struggles to locate the shifting line between fantasy and reality, only to discover that sometimes it's just a heartbeat away.

They were five students with nothing in common, faced with spending a Saturday detention together in their high school library. At 7 a.m., they had nothing to say, but by 4 p.m. they had bared their souls to each other and become good friends.

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It's only a state of mind. Jonathan Pryce stars as Sam Lowry in this surrealistic spectacle about a daydreaming bureaucrat trapped in a future dystopia where love is forbidden from interfering with efficiency.

But with the help of an underground superhero (Robert De Niro) and a beautiful mystery woman (Kim Greist), Sam learns to soar to freedom on the wings of his untamed imagination, or so he thinks.

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Claude Lanzmann's landmark documentary about the holocaust, Shoah. Lanzmann spent twelve years spanning the globe for surviving camp inmates, SS commandants, and eyewitnesses of the "Final Solution".

Without dramatic re-enactment or archival footage - but with extraordinary testimonies - Shoah renders the step-by-step machinery of extermination, and through haunted landscapes and human voices, makes the past come brilliantly alive. "Shoah", is a work of genius, an heroic endeavour to humanise the inhuman, to tell the untellable, and to explore in unprecedented detail the horrors of the past. It is an immensely disturbing experience, yet in its solemnity and beauty not a morbid or disheartening one. There are few works of art which leave one with such a deep appreciation for the preciousness and meaning of life. For these reasons, Shoah is one of the most powerful and important films of all time.

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Zac Hobson (Bruno Lawrence), a scientist working on a pioneering energy project, wakes up one morning to find that the technology has malfunctioned, leaving him as seemingly the only man left on earth.

As Zac wanders the deserted city of Hamilton, New Zealand, hoping to find some remnant of life besides himself, his mind begins to disintegrate until fantasy and reality blur together in a heady, terrifying cocktail.

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Paul Schrader's visually stunning, collage-like portrait of acclaimed Japanese author and playwright Yukio Mishima (played by Ken Ogata) investigates the inner turmoil and contradictions of a man who attempted an impossible harmony between self, art, and society.

Taking place on Mishima's last day, when he famously committed public seppuku, the film is punctuated by extended flashbacks to the writer's life as well as by gloriously stylized evocations of his fictional works. With its rich cinematography by John Bailey, exquisite sets and costumes by Eiko Ishioka, and unforgettable, highly influential score by Philip Glass, Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters is a tribute to its subject and a bold, investigative work of art in its own right.

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Akira Kurosawa's acclaimed study of power, revenge and retribution is set against the magnificent backdrop of feudal warfare in sixteenth century Japan.

Transposing the events of Shakespeare's King Lear to the blood-thirsty 'Period of Warring States', 'Ran' tells the story of a bitter power struggle within the family of Warlord Hidetora Ichimonji (Tatsuya Nakadai). After fifty years of ruthless slaughter Hidetora divides his kingdom among his sons, seeking peaceful retirement. However, as his life descends into chaos, he is unable to escape the corruption within his family and the torment within his soul.

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Charley Patanna (Jack Nicholson) has been loyal to The Family' since he can remember. If you need someone taken care of, he's your man - ready to kill at the drop of a dollar.

Unknown to Charley, Boss Don Corrado Prizzi's daughter Maerose (Anjelica Huston) has set her sights on him, but Charley has already fallen for sultry hit-woman Irene Walker (Kathleen Turner). However, their unlikely romance hits a problem when each is given a contract neither can go through with - each other!

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The year is 1985 - but not for long. Because teenager Marty McFly (Michael J.Fox) is about to be blasted back to 1955 aboard the plutonium-powered DeLorean created by eccentric genius Doc Emmett Brown (Christopher Lloyd).

But when Marty accidentally keeps his parents-to-be from falling in love, it triggers a time shattering chain reaction that could vaporise his future - and leave him trapped in the past! Now, Marty's last hope is to change history - before the clock runs out in his only chance to get himself Back to the Future!