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An endearing comedic piece about a single man who decides to pretend to be a father in order to meet women at single parent support groups. Hugh Grant plays Will, a man who is convinced his life is better "as an island" than having any meaningful attachment. He really has no job, living off the success of his father who wrote an obnoxious Christmas jingle. His days consist of dating beautiful women, and watching TV. And he clearly has no interest in becoming a father, until he realizes the potential benefit form being perceived as a lonely single dad.

Eventually, he becomes friends w…

Well deserving of it's countless amounts of praise and the best picture Oscar that came with it, American Beauty is, in my opinion, one of the definitive films of the 1990's and a perfect, if not terrifyingly authentic, portrayal of American suburbia.

Kevin Spacey stars as Lester Burnham. Lester has a problem. He's dead. This is no spoiler, this is revealed in the opening narration by Lester, himself. Lester is going through a midlife crisis. His daughter (Thora Birch) hates him to the point that she's embarrassed to call him "Dad", he loathes his wife (Annette Bening) with a scorching …

Charlie Wilson's War is great American comedy, successful on many levels: belly-laugh funny, serious as a crutch, magnificently produced, charismatically performed. How could it not be? A feel good story about an oh-so-likable Texas Congressman taking it to the Evil Empire when no one else would, Tom Hanks as good as he's ever been, Philip Seymour Hoffman in his most belly laugh funny role yet, and the estimable Mike Nichols directing a script from West Wing major domo Aaron Sorkin: this rich set of ingredients combines with a stylish and assured turn by Julia Roberts to create a movi…

Brilliantly conceived and executed, albeit ultimately annoying, this alien allegory of apartheid is a must see for sci-fi, action, and sociology buffs. Any movie "Presented by Peter Jackson" deserves to be seen, this one exceeding the usual sword and sorcerer shtick due to its clever play on the brutality of "apartheid":http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apartheid.

Both master and subjugated races – er, species – get brutalized: the latter as forced ghetto dwellers, the former as instruments of immoral force. Black and white humans – OTOH – are one united master species in Neill Blomkamp's b…

What would you do if you kept re-living the same day over and over again? This funny Bill Murray cult favorite answers the question in a way that is both hilarious at times and thought provoking at others. Bill's character Phil, with his sarcastic wit starts with mischevious intent to take advantage of the situation. As time goes on, the movie both cranks up the gaffes and gets more serious, with Phil looking inward and using his 'power' to create real changes. If you like comedy, but are bored with the same old formulas – this movie will be a pleasant surprise.

My Cousin Vinny is best thought of today as Marisa Tomei's breakthrough. Perfectly paired with a then peaking Joe Pesci, the 30-something Tomei won the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for a comedy. Damn.

The movie itself is a genial send-up of stereotypes, Italian-American mostly. Delivered with good cheer and consummate performances by Tomei and Pesci, it makes for a very enjoyable time-killer.

Do war movies get any better than this? Puts you right there, in all the graphic realism that comes with war. But not just any war movie, this story spins a great tale that follows Hanks and his crew looking for and saving Ryan (Pitt). If you like war movies, this is a must-see.

A really fun espionage thriller featuring two acting greats: Redford and Pitt. Pitt gets cuffed by the Chinese and the CIA pulls in his old mentor, the just-about-to-retire Robert Redford to help sort things out. As you’d expect, this turns into a one last hurrah for Redford – full of heroic and irreverent measures to try to free his long time buddy. The movie tells the ensuing story, but focuses most of its attention on how the elder recruited and trained his protege. Spy Game is unique among many films of this genre in that it focuses not just on the action and adventure out on the li…

The Graduate, unlike most of the films trumpeted through the ages, is one that lived up to the promise and surpassed it; this quirky and altogether morose comedy/drama is certainly a film that succeeds in aiming to eviscerate adult expectations of young people as well as give the young the idea of rebellion. A must-see relic of the dawn of New Hollywood.

It just cannot get better than this. Ever.

Just as Goodfellas is the ne plus ultra of mob movies, Unforgiven is the apotheosis of Westerns. In classic Western form the movie endorses the ethos of the lone righteous man doing what needs done, while at the same time baldly debunking the glorification of gunfighters in the Wild West. Top Dog Western star Clint Eastwood commands the center of the movie on screen and behind the camera, painting Unforgiven as an elegy for his career in Westerns and for the genre itself.