griggs's - Roger Ebert's Great Movies List

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Experience the excitement and the terror felt by movie-going audiences when R.K.O. released the original monster classic.

Behold the discovery of the giant ape King Kong on Skull Island, his terrifying battle against the prehistoric creatures that live there, and his brutal murder of the ship's sailors that follow him. See King Kong's voyage to New York and his fatal attraction to the beautiful Fay Wray, leading to death and destruction as Kong pursues her through New York City. Witness the awe-inspiring finale as Kong ascends the Empire State Building, only to be shot down by fighter pilots in a breathtaking display of 1930's aerial photography.

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Dita Parlo stars as a young bride who begins married life aboard her husband's barge on the Seine. But within the boat's cramped confines, shared with a small crew (including the eccentric Pere Jules, memorably played by Michel Simon) and an abundance of cats, the relationship begins to founder.

Vigo imbues this simple tale, beautifully shot by Boris Kaufman, with social realism, lyrical romance and sensual eroticism to create a unique and enduring classic.

L'Atalante (1934)
This intoxicatingly inventive masterpiece is one of the world's great films. A simple and engaging plot is transformed into a kaleidoscope of dazzling digressions and offbeat characterizations complete with tour-de-force scenes that still seem fresh and startling.
À Propos de Nice (1930)
What starts off as a conventional travelogue turns into a satirical portrait of the town of Nice on the French Cote d'Azur, especially its wealthy inhabitants.
Taris (1931)
An Inventive short portrait of a swimming champion.
Zero de Conduite (1933)
A radical, delightful tale of boarding-school rebellion that has influenced countless film-makers.

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The plot concerns a yachting trip by a small group of jaded socialites, including Sandro (Gabriele Ferzetti), an aging architect who sold out for easy money long ago, his mistress Anna (Lea Massari), and her friend Claudia (Monica Vitti), who doesn't fit in with the wealthy jet-setters' dissolute

ethics. When Anna disappears during a tour of a volcanic island, Claudia initially blames Sandro's emotionally barren behavior toward her. As they search the island, however, Claudia and Sandro grow closer and - when it is apparent that Anna is gone forever - become lovers. Unfortunately, Sandro cannot find anything decent inside himself and betrays Claudia with a local prostitute. Caught in the act, Sandro has a heartrending breakdown on a desolate beach, but Claudia silently forgives him.

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Director Curtis Hanson and a terrific cast serve up a 'ravishing, thrilling tale of police corruption and Hollywood glamour' (Marshall Fine, Gannett Newspapers) in this film version of James Ellroy's novel.

Three cops (Kevin Spacey, Russell Crowe, Guy Pearce), a call girl (Kim Basinger), a mysterious millionaire (David Strathairn), a tabloid journalist (Danny DeVito), and the Chief of Detectives (James Cromwell) fuel a labyrinthine plot rife with mystery, ambition, romance and humor.

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Perhaps his most famous film, La Dolce Vita slices into the decadent amoral core of Roman society with Fellini's trademark attention to detail and spectacular photography.

Marcello Mastroianni plays a gossip columnist (the term 'paparazzi' derives from the in a film) who aspires to be a more serious writer but knows he never will be, because like society, he is fascinated by the decadent hedonist pursuits which are seemingly everywhere. The Vatican was appalled by the film, but the public adored it, relishing the images Fellini fed them, most notably the now infamous scene of Mastroianni and Anita Ekberg frolicking in the Trevi Fountain.

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Barbara Stanwyck sizzles, Henry Fonda bumbles, and Preston Sturges runs riot in one of the all-time great screwballs, a pitch-perfect blend of comic zing and swoonworthy romance.

Aboard a cruise liner sailing up the coast of South America, Stanwyck's conniving card sharp sets her sights on Fonda's nerdy snake researcher, who happens to be the heir to a brewery fortune. But when the con artist falls for her mark, her grift becomes a game of hearts - and she is determined to win it all. One in a string of matchless comedic marvels that Sturges wrote and directed as part of a dazzling 1940s run, this gender-flipped battle-of-wits farce is perhaps his most emotionally satisfying work, tempering its sparkling humor with a streak of tender poignancy supplied by the sensational Stanwyck at her peak.

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A landmark work in the history of the cinema, Der letzte Mann represents a breakthrough on a number of fronts.

Firstly, it introduced a method of purely visual storytelling in which all intertitles and dialogue were jettisoned, setting the stage for a seamless interaction between film-world and viewer. Secondly, it put to use a panoply of technical innovations that continue to point distinct ways forward for cinematic expression nearly a century later. The lesson in all this? That a film can be anything it wants to be... but only Der letzte Mann (and a few unforgettable others) were lucky enough to issue forth into the world under the brilliant command of master director F. W. Murnau. His film depicts the tale of an elderly hotel doorman (Emil Jannings) whose superiors have come to deem his station as transitory as the revolving doors through which he has ushered guests in and out, day upon day, decade after decade. Reduced to polishing tiles beneath a sink in the gents' lavatory and towelling the hands of Berlin's most vulgar barons, the doorman soon uncovers the ironical underside of old-world hospitality. And then - one day - his fate suddenly changes...

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Released in 1971 to critical acclaim and public controversy, Peter Bogdanovich's 'The Last Picture Show' garnered eight Academy Award nominations (including Best Picture) and was hailed by many as the most important work by a young American director since Citizen Kane.

A surprisingly frank, bittersweet drama of social and sexual mores in small-town Texas, the film features a talented cast led by Jeff Bridges, Cybill Sheperd and Timothy Bottoms.

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He (Brando) is a 45 year old American living in Paris, haunted by his wife's suicide. She (Maria Schneider) is a 20-year-old Parisian beauty engaged to a young filmmaker.

Though nameless to each other, these tortured souls come together to satisfy their sexual cravings in an apartment as bare as their dark, tragic lives. Caught up in the frenzied beat of a carnal dance they cannot seem to stop, these unlikely lovers take their passion to erotic heights - and depths - beyond anything they could ever have imagined.

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Powerful, passionate and thought-provoking, 'The Last Temptation of Christ' is the extraordinary film that follows Jesus Christ's journey as He accepts His divinity and ultimate fate.

Academy Award winner Martin Scorsese directs an all-star cast of Willem Dafoe, Barbara Hershey and Harvey Keitel through this visually breathtaking re-imagining of faith and sacrifice, guilt and redemption, sin and atonement Based on the acclaimed novel by Nikos Kazantzakis, it is a masterpiece of cinematic achievement that has endured as one of the must-see films of all time.

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In a vast and opulent hotel, an unnamed man (Giorgio Albertazzi) attempts to persuade a similarly unnamed married woman (Delphine Seyrig) that they have not only met before, but they were also romantically involved and had planned to escape together.

The woman recalls no such encounter and so begins a sensual and philosophical examination into the uncertainty of truth.

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Yasujiro Ozu's hugely influential award-winning masterpiece, 'Late Spring', is a tender meditation on family politics, sacrifice and the status quo.

Noriko (Setsuko Hara) and her father, Professor Somiya (Chishu Ryu), live together in perfect harmony but old certainties are put at risk when an interfering aunt raises the question of marriage. Introducing Ozu's popular Noriko character, 'Late Spring' poignantly examines the gradual compromise between modernity and tradition.

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Police detective Mark McPherson (Dana Andrews) is drawn into Manhattan high society as he investigates the death of stunning ad exec Laura Hunt (Gene Tierney), apparently shotgunned in her own apartment.

The slithery suspects are numerous, led by effete, snobbish columnist Waldo Lydecker (Clifton Webb), and Laura's philandering fiancee Shelby (Vincent Price), who's also been cavorting with Laura's wealthy aunt (Judith Anderson). McPherson begins to fall in love with Laura through a portrait in her home and the memories relayed by those who knew her...just as it becomes apparent that even the basic facts of the case might not be what they seemed.

This true life story follows the struggles of T.E.Lawrence (Peter O'Toole) in uniting the hostile Arab factions and leading them to victory over the ruling Turkish Empire during the First World War.

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Ben (Nicolas Cage) is an alcoholic whose life is falling apart. He goes to Las Vegas where the bars never close, to drink himself to death. There, he meets Sera (Elisabeth Shue), a hooker, and asks her back to his motel. An extraordinary love affair develops between them.

Ben promises to never ask Sera to give up prostitution and Sera vows never to ask Ben to stop drinking. But as Ben deteriorates, Sera breaks her vow and begs him to see a doctor. Ben leaves. Apart and alone, their lives quickly go downhill. They can no longer live without each other. At a cheap motel, the lovers are re-united as their affair reaches a painful but beautiful climax...