The Importance of Being Earnest
Produced and distributed by Miramax Films
Directed by Oliver Parker
Screenplay by Oliver Parker from Oscar Wilde’s play
The Sum of All Fears
Produced and distributed by Paramount Pictures
Directed by Phil Alden Robinson
Screenplay
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Spider-Man
Produced and distributed by Columbia Pictures
Directed by Sam Raimi
Screenplay by David Koepp
Y Tu Mamá También
Produced by Besame Mucho Productions
Directed by Alfonso Cuarón
Screenplay by Alfonso and Carlos Cuarón
Released by Twentieth Century Fox
Where
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The Rookie
Produced by Walt Disney Pictures and 98 MPH Productions
Directed by John Lee Hancock
Screenplay by Mike Rich
Released by Buena Vista and Walt Disney Pictures
Clockstoppers
Produced by Nickelodeon Movies
Directed by Jonathan Frakes
Screenplay by Rob
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The Time Machine
Produced and distributed by DreamWorks and Warner Bros.
Directed by Simon Wells
Screenplay by John Logan from a novel by H.G. Wells
Monster’s Ball
Produced by Lee Daniels and Mark Urman
Directed by Marc Forster
Screenplay by
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In the Bedroom
Produced by Good Machine and GreeneStreet Films Inc.
Directed by Todd Field
Screenplay by Robert Festinger from a story by Andre Dubus
Released by Good Machine and Miramax Films
Blackhawk Down
Produced by Columbia Pictures Corporation and
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Vanilla Sky
Produced by Cruise-Wagner Productions
Directed by Cameron Crowe
Screenplay by Cameron Crowe, based on Abre Los Ojos
Released by Dreamworks and Paramount Pictures
In Vanilla Sky, director Cameron Crowe and producer/actor Tom Cruise have created an American
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The Man Who Wasn’t There
Produced by Working Title Films
Directed by Joel Coen
Screenplay by Joel and Ethan Coen
Released by USA Films
2001: A Space Odyssey
Produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Directed by Stanley Kubrick
Screenplay by Arthur C. Clarke
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The Last Castle
Produced and distributed by DreamWorks
Directed by Rod Lurie
Screenplay by David Scarpa
Training Day
Produced by Outlaw Productions
Directed by Antoine Fuqua
Screenplay by David Ayer
Released by Warner Bros.
American film would be poorer without
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Doing Hearts in Atlantis
Produced by Castle Rock Entertainment
Directed by Scott Hicks
Screenplay by William Goldman from Stephen King’s novel
Released by Warner Brothers
I went to see director Scott Hicks’ Hearts in Atlantis not having read the Stephen
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Apocalypse Now Redux
Produced by Producer Zoetrope Studios
Directed by Francis Ford Coppola
Screenplay by John Milius and Francis Ford Coppola
Re-released by Miramax Films and United Artists
I was finishing the original draft of this column early on the
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Planet of the Apes
Produced and distributed by 20th Century Fox
Directed by Tim Burton
Screenplay by William Broyles, Jr., from Pierre Boulle’s novel
Ghost World
Produced by Capitol Films, United Artists, and John Malkovich
Directed by Terry Zwigoff
Screenplay
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A.I. Artificial Intelligence
Produced by DreamWorks and Warner Bros.
Directed by Steven Spielberg
Screenplay by Ian Watson, based on a story by Brian Aldiss Released by Warner Bros.
Sexy Beast
Produced by Channel Four Films and Recorded Pictures Company
Directed
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Pearl Harbor
Produced by Jerry Bruckheimer Films and Touchstone Pictures
Directed by Michael Bay
Screenplay by Randall Wallace
Released by Buena Vista Pictures
A Knight’s Tale
Produced by Columbia Pictures Corporation and Escape Artists
Written and Directed by Brian Helgeland
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The Third Man
Produced by Alexander Korda and David O. Selznick
Directed by Carol Reed
Screenplay by Graham Greene
Released by London Films
Re-released by Rialto Pictures
Forget the Dark Side. Darth Sidious? No more convincing than Bela Lugosi flitting
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“The best guesser is the best prophet.”
—Greek Proverb
George Orwell was born Eric Arthur Blair in 1903 in Motihari, India, where his father worked for the Indian Civil Service as a sub-deputy opium agent in charge of manufacturing the
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The Tailor of Panama
Produced by John le Carré, John Boorman, and Kevan Barker with Columbia Pictures
Directed by John Boorman
Screenplay by John le Carré, John Boorman, and Andrew Davies
Released by Columbia Pictures
One of my favorite films
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Hannibal
Produced and Distributed by Dino De Laurentiis and MGM Studios
Directed by Ridley Scott
Screenplay by David Mamet and Steven Zaillian from the novel by Thomas Harris
Last Resort
Produced by the British Broadcasting Corporation
Directed by Paul Pavlikovsky
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Snatch
Produced by Columbia Pictures
Directed and Written by Guy Ritchie
Released by Sony Pictures
Shadow of the Vampire
Produced by Saturn Films
Directed by E. Elias Merhige
Screenplay by Steven Katz
Released by Lion Gate Films
Thirteen Days
Produced
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O Brother, Where Art Thou?
Produced by Buena Vista Pictures and Touchstone Pictures
Directed by Joel Coen
Screenplay by Ethan Coen with help from Homer
Released by Buena Vista Pictures
All the Pretty Horses
Produced by Columbia Pictures and Miramax
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Unbreakable
Produced by Touchstone and Blinding Edge Pictures
Written and directed by M. Night Shyamalan
Released by Buena Vista Pictures
You Can Count on Me
Produced by Cappa Production and The Shooting Gallery
Written and Directed by Ken Lonergan
Released
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Dancer in the Dark
Produced by AV-Fund Norway, Arte France Cinéma,
and the Danish Film Institute
Directed and written by Lars von Frier
Distributed by Fine Line Features
The Contender
Produced by Battleground Productions
Directed and written by Rod Lurie
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Nurse Betty
Produced by Gramercy Pictures and Propaganda Films
Directed by Neil LaBute
Screenplay by John C. Richards and James Flamberg
Distributed by USA Films
Almost Famous
Produced by DreamWorks and Vinyl Films
Directed and written by Cameron Crowe
Distributed
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The Girl on the Bridge (La Fille sur le pont)
Produced by Films Christian Fechner and France 2 Cinéma
Directed by Patrice Leconte
Screenplay by Serge Frydman
Released by Paramount Pictures
Saving Grace
Produced by Homerun Productions and
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“Monstrum horrendum, informe ingens.”
—Vergil, Aeneid
In 1974, I first encountered one of the creatures E. Michael Jones writes about in Monsters From the Id. It appeared in the guise of one of my graduate-school classmates. She was a
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The Perfect Storm
Produced by Baltimore Spring Creek and Warner Bros.
Directed by Wolfgang Petersen
Screenplay by William D. Wittliff, based on Sebastian Junger’s book
Released by Warner Bros.
The Patriot
Produced by Centropolis Entertainment and Mutual Film Company
Directed
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Mission: Impossible 2
Produced by Cruise-Wagner Productions and Paramount Pictures
Directed by John Woo
Screenplay by Robert Towne
Released by Paramount Pictures
Hamlet
Produced by Double A Films
Directed by Michael Almereyda
Screenplay by Michael Almereyda, from Shakespeare’s Hamlet
Released
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Gladiator
Produced by DreamWorks
Directed by Ridley Scott
Screenplay by David H. Franzoni and John Logan
Released by MCA/Universal Pictures
Frequency
Produced by New Line Cinema
Directed by Gregory Hoblit
Screenplay by Toby Emmerich
Released by New Line Cinema
Despite
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Joe Gould’s Secret
Produced by First Cold Press and October Films
Directed by Stanley Tucci
Screenplay by Howard A. Rodman, from an article by Joseph Mitchell
Released by October Films
American Psycho
Produced by Single Cell Pictures
Directed by Mary
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Mission to Mars
Produced by Walt Disney Productions
Directed by Brian De Palma
Screenplay by Lowell Cannon, Jim Thomas, and Graham Yost
Released by Buena Vista Pictures
Instead of insulting our intelligence, as so much third-rate science fiction does, director
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The Talented Mr. Ripley
Produced by Paramount Pictures and Miramax Films
Directed by Anthony Minghella
Screenplay by Anthony Minghella, from the novel by Patricia Highsmith
Released by Paramount Pictures
Anthony Minghella’s screen version of Patricia Highsmith’s The Talented Mr. Ripley
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The World Is Not Enough
Produced by MGM-UA
Directed by Michael Apted
Screenplay by Neal Purvis and Robert Wade
Released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
The World Is Not Enough (hereafter TWINE, as its promoters have dubbed the film) is the 19th official
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The Limey
Produced by Artisan Entertainment
Directed by Steven Soderbergh
Screenplay by Lem Dobbs Released by Artisan Entertainment
The Insider
Produced by Touchstone Pictures
Directed by Michael Mann
Screenplay by Eric Roth from a Vanity Fair article
by Marie Brenner
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“A shriller note could now be heard rising from Sir Alastair’s rooms; any who have heard that sound will shrink at the recollection of it; it is the sound of the English county families baying for broken glass.”—Evelyn Waugh, Decline
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Three Kings
Produced by Village Roadshow Productions,
Atlas Entertainment, and Warner Bros.
Directed by David O. Russell
Screenplay by John Ridley and David O. Russell
Released by Warner Bros.
American Beauty
Produced by DreamWorks and Jinks/Cohen
Directed by Sam Mendes
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Stir of Echoes
Produced by Gavin Polone, Judy Hofflund, and Michelle Weisler
Directed by David Koepp
Screenplay by David Koepp, based on the novel by Richard Matheson
Released by An Artisan Entertainment
The Sixth Sense
Produced by Spyglass Entertainment and
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The Thomas Crown Affair
Produced by Irish Dream Time and United Artists
Directed by John McTiernan
Screenplay by Leslie Dixon and Kurt Wimmer,
original story by Alan Trustman
Released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
The Blair Witch Project
Produced by Haxan Films
Directed
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American Pie
Produced by Universal Pictures
Directed by Paul Weitz
Screenplay by Adam Herz
Released by Universal Pictures
Summer of Sam
Produced by 40 Acres & a Mule Filmworks and Touchstone Pictures
Directed by Spike Lee
Screenplay by Victor Colicchio
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Instinct
Produced by Spyglass Entertainment
and Touchstone Pictures
Directed by Jon Turteltaub
Screenplay by Gerald Di Pego and Daniel Quinn
Released by Buena Vista Pictures
Pushing Tin
Produced by Art Linson Productions,
3 Miles Apart Productions Ltd., et al.
Directed
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The Third Man
Produced by Alexander Korda and David O. Selznick
Directed by Carol Reed
Screenplay by Graham Greene
Released by London Films
Re-released by Rialto Pictures
Forget the Dark Side. Darth Sidious? No more convincing than Bela Lugosi flitting
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True Crime
Produced by Malpaso Productions
Directed by Clint Eastwood
Screenplay by Andrew Klavan and Larry Gross
Released by Warner Bros.
The Matrix
Produced by Groucho II Film Partnership
and Silver Pictures
Directed by Andy Wachowski and Larry Wachowski
Screenplay
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Eight Millimeter
Produced by Columbia Pictures and Hofflund/Polone
Directed by Joel Schumacher
Screenplay by Andrew Kevin Walker
Released by Columbia Pictures
October Sky
Produced by Charles Gordon and Larry Franco
Directed by Joe Johnston
Screenplay by Lewis Colick and Homer
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During a BBC interview in 1984, Martin Amis (son of Kingsley) casually mentioned that he wished he could believe in God. “Do you really mean that?” his chat host asked, tossing his well-coifed locks in a show of secular amazement.
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Reading Charlotte Allen’s study, The Human Christ: The Search for the Historical Jesus, I was reminded of King of Kings, the Technicolor treatment of the New Testament I saw with some friends when it opened in 1961. On
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