American movies – Page 19

BEN-HUR (1959)

The biggest hit of its day has a supreme technical achievement slung over a story that feels to me like middling Bible fanfic.

A surprisingly funny take on World War II from the point of view of Polish actors, that came out only 3 months after Pearl Harbor.

James Dean’s most famous role, in the movie that kind of invented being a teenager.

A classic of all-encompassing paranoia, with some of the best practical effects you’ll ever see.

A meditation on… things, by the godmother of Avant Garde filmmaking.

My favorite romantic comedy of all time, it uses new tricks in every scene to get inside the neurotic heads of its characters.

Scorsese’s “masterpiece” about a boxer whose life falls apart because of his toxic masculinity.

This is a drama with an all-Black cast, set deep in Louisiana. I wanted to like it more than I actually did.

The car chase is justly famous, but these days its cops with a “shoot first ask questions later” attitude are extremely hard to root for.

The definitive neo-noir, a movie I love, now inextricably linked with the crimes of its director.