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Dog Day Afternoon (1975)

Sonny Wortzik and his friend Sal rob a Brooklyn bank one hot summer afternoon to pay for Sonny’s boyfriend Leon’s sex change operation. But before he can get the money and leave, he gets an unexpected phone call from Police Captain Moretti, who tells him the place is surrounded by the city’s entire police force. So having few options under the circumstances, Sonny demands an escort to the airport and a plane so he and Sal can go out of the country. In exchange, he will release hostages.
One of the best 70’s films, and one of Pacino’s greatest performances.
Starring Al Pacino, John Cazale, Charles Durning, Chris Sarandon 9/10

Keeping the Faith (2000)

The story of two friends, Jake (Stiller) and Brian (Norton); who grew up together and hung out as young boys. They meet a young girl named Anna whom they also hang out with. But she moves away. When the young boys are adults, Jake becomes a rabbi, and Brian a priest. Years later, Anna visits New York on business and reunites with them. Soon the two men find themselves both falling for her. But because of their religious beliefs they are not allowed to pursue her; the priest cannot break his vow of celibacy and the rabbi cannot marry her since she is not Jewish.
A wonderful romantic comedy, with religious humor and quick-witted dialogue.
Starring Edward Norton, Ben Stiller, Jenna Elfman, Anne Bancroft, Eli Wallach, Ron Rifkin, Milos Forman, Holland Taylor, Lisa Edelstein, Rena Sofer 7/10

Night of the Living Dead (1968)

Johnny and Barbara, brother and sister travel by car to a rural cemetery to visit their father’s grave. There they are confronted by a pale-faced man man who staggers toward them and attacks Barbara. Johnny fights with him, but is knocked unconscious when his head is hit on a gravestone. Barbara runs back to the car, but Johnny has the keys so she puts it out of gear but it crashes into a tree. So she takes off running away from the man until she finds a farmhouse nearby and takes refuge. There she is met by a man named Ben who arrives in a pick up truck who protects her and barricades the doors and windows to prevent the creatures from coming in. Later on they discover people hiding in the basement, a young man and woman, and a husband and wife with a sick young girl who was bitten. The news broadcast being televised explains that the dead are coming back to life and eating the flesh of their victims. Running out of time because of the growing masses of zombies outside, they devise a plan to get fuel from the gas pump outback for the truck so they can get out of there.
A terrifying and bone-chilling horror classic.
Starring Duane Jones, Judith O’Dea, Karl Hardman, Marilyn Eastman, Keith Wayne, Judith Ridley, Kyra Schon 8/10

Dawn of the Dead (2004)

A young nurse named Ana returns home from her day shift. She spends her time with her husband Louis. The next morning one of the neighbor kids bites him on the neck. He dies but comes back to life, trying to bite her. Ana runs out of the house and finds it’s chaos in her neighborhood, people are being eaten by flesh eating zombies. She gets in her car and drives away from town but she loses control and crashes it into a tree. When she comes to, a black police officer rescues her and they run into three more people who tell them the same thing is going on where they came from. So they all take shelter in a closed mall while they wait for help to arrive. But they’re running out of food, ammunition and time as the zombies are multiplying in great numbers outside. So they come up with a plan to reinforce two shuttle buses with weapons and a battering ram to get through the massive crowd of zombies. They drive to the boat docks where one of them has a boat so they can take it to one of the islands.
A gory and bloody but exciting remake of the original 1978 version. Starring Sarah Polley, Ving Rhames, Jake Weber, Mekhi Phifer, Ty Burrell, Michael Kelly, Kevin Zegers Matt Frewer, Michael Barry 7/10

Young Frankenstein (1974)

Wilder plays Doctor Frankenstein (that’s Fronkensteen) a young neurosurgeon who lectures at an American medical school. He inherits the castle of his grandfather, the famous Dr. Victor von Frankenstein and despite thinking that his grandfather was a sick man and his work was “doo-doo” he decides to go. Leaving his fiancee Elizabeth behind, he travels by train to the castle in Transylvania where he is meets a funny hunchback named Igor, a pretty assistant named Inga, and Frau Blücher, an old housekeeper. When one night he discovers the book where the mad doctor describes his reanimation experiment, he changes his mind and tries it out himself. Frederick and Igor steal a body but unfortunately, when Igor is told to get a brain he takes an abnormal one, and the creature becomes an out of control monster, wreaking havoc on the town and its people.
One of Mel Brook’s greatest comedies; Gene Wilder is amazing, Marty Feldman is hilarious and Peter Boyle is perfect as the Frankenstein monster. Starring Gene Wilder, Peter Boyle, Marty Feldman, Cloris Leachman, Teri Garr, Kenneth Mars, Gene Hackman 10/10

Harsh Times (2005)

Bale stars as Jim Luther Davis, an ex-Army ranger who is suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder and finds himself going back to his old life of crime, booze and drugs when his LAPD application is rejected. His plan was to join the police department so he can marry his Mexican girlfriend Marta. His best friend Miguel ‘Mike’ Alonzo is also being pressured by his girl Sylvia to find a job as well. Jim is eventually offered a job from Homeland Security, assigned to go to Colombia while Mike lands a dream job. They celebrate by inviting their friend Toussant to spend the weekend in Mexico, and he agrees to go with them. Jim introduces them to Marta and her family and they go to a party to dance and drink. But when Jim finds out that Marta is pregnant, he can’t deal with it and goes on a violent rampage that leads to a tragic end.
Bale gives a compelling and strong performance in this captivating drama.
Starring Christian Bale, Freddy Rodriguez, Eva Longoria Parker 7/10

Lolita (1962)

Humbert Humbert is middle-aged college professor of French poetry who arrives in Ramsdale, New Hampshire looking for a place to stay for the summer until he starts his teaching in the fall. He agrees to stay at the house of Charlotte Haze, a lonely widow but only so he can be around her fourteen-year-old flirtatious daughter, Lolita, whom he is entranced by at first sight.
When Charlotte tells him that she’s going to send Lolita to an all girl’s camp for the summer, he decides that the only way to be around Lolita permanently is to marry Charlotte. But when a tragic accident occurs one rainy day, for Humbert it is heaven sent because he can have Lolita all to himself. They travel together to Beardsley College where he has a teaching position but their lives are interrupted by a scheming con artist named Clare Quilty.
Mason is amazing, Sellers is fantastic and Lyon is terrific in her film debut.
Starring James Mason, Shelley Winters, Sue Lyon, Peter Sellers 9/10

Rebel Without a Cause (1955)

Jim Stark is a rebellious young man who is the new kid in town. He got in trouble in his previous town when he got into a fight with a kid who called him chicken, which was the reason why his family had to move.
On his first day in a new school, he meets Judy and John (nicknamed Plato). Judy has issues at home as well, with a father who doesn’t give her love and affection, and Plato because his mother is never around and his father is dead. Jim’s first day isn’t easy when Buzz, the leader of a gang takes the air out of Jim’s car tires and forces him to a knife fight to test him. He challenges him to race cars known as a “chickie run” at the bluff. After the race ends in a tragic accident, Judy, Jim and Plato go to an abandoned mansion to escape their tough home lives, finding friendship and belonging that they so desperately want.
One of the greatest movies ever made, James Dean gives a powerful and emotional performance in his most famous role.
Starring James Dean, Natalie Wood, Sal Mineo, Jim Backus, Ann Doran, Corey Allen, Edward Platt, Dennis Hopper 10/10

Airplane! (1980)

Ted Striker is an ex-Navy pilot, still traumatized after an incident during the war while trying to quit his drinking problem. He follows his long-time girlfriend Elaine onto a plane that she is the flight attendant for, as he tries to get her back. But while in the air, the passengers start getting sick, even the pilot and co-pilot because of a deadly virus. They try to find someone who can fly the plane and the only person who can do it is Ted. Despite his fear of flying because of his bad memories, he realizes that the fate of the passengers depends on him to land the plane safely.
The best spoof of the airport disaster movies. Starring Lloyd Bridges, Peter Graves, Julie Hagerty, Robert Hays, Leslie Nielsen, Robert Stack, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 8/10