Film Dictionary

Brilliant film noir directed by Lana and Lilly Wachowski, back in the days when they were still known as Andy and Larry. But even in 1996, t...

Adapted from Irvine Welsh's 1993 cult novel, ''Trainspotting'' is one of the best films about drug addiction. Starring a...

Tragic life of the Irish national hero.

Take an idea or two from "The X-Files", add a touch of "Twin Peaks", borrow a motif from "The Terminator" an...

Very entertaining adaptation of Jane Austen's greatest novel. Gwyneth Paltrow plays the charming and intelligent heroine, who also happe...

Black comedy about violence through the ages. Fascinating, clever, pitiless film.

Iranian film about a nomadic tribe.

Superbly crafted spy thriller with impressive action scenes, stellar cast and plenty of surprises.

A young girl (Mara Wilson) is neglected by her terrible parents (Danny DeVito, Rhea Perlman) and abused by a cruel school headmistress. An a...

Visually stunning puppet-animated film about an orphan boy who travels to New York in a giant peach. Songs: "My Name Is James" * ...

Evil aliens invade the Earth, destroy the biggest cities and prepare the total annihilation of the human race. The invasion starts on July 2...

The best adaptation of Victor Hugo's novel. Songs and gags are slightly below Disney's high standards, but action scenes are terrifi...

The best screen adaptation of "Hamlet", superior even to Laurence Olivier's 1948 version. Director Kenneth Branagh gives an ...

A musical film about a successful songwriter (Illeana Douglas). Songs include: "Hey There" * "In Another World" * "...

An acerbic and witty film about the tragic life of Jean Seberg. It raises many interesting points.

A young girl (Anna Paquin) leads a flock of wild geese from Ontario to North Carolina. Considering the subject, the film is remarkable for i...

This Hal Hartley's feature consists of three episodes, each telling the same story in a different city (New York, Berlin and Tokyo). Exc...

With "Drifting Clouds", Aki Kaurismaki, Finland's best known director, has made his most memorable film to date. Like all his ...

Bizarre western starring Johnny Depp. Oddball characters, scatological humor and great b&w cinematography.

Amusing, well-acted comedy about a paranoid junkie.

It's more like a James Bond action movie rather than a Jackie Chan chop socky flick, but there are a few great kung fu sequences (includ...

Superlative film version of the famous Andrew Lloyd Webber rock opera about Eva Peron, the First Lady of Argentina. The last half hour is de...

It's a typical Woody Allen comedy, except it's a musical comedy. Old classic films like "Sunnyside Up" (1929) and "Wh...

Excellent action film starring Arnold Schwarzenegger and Vanessa Williams.

An adaptation of Dorothy Allison's novel about an abused young girl (Jena Malone) growing up in South Carolina in the 1950's.

Funny comedy about family problems. Winner of two awards (Grand Prix Special du Jury and Prix du public) at the Montreal Film Festival.

A hilarious Spanish comedy without any dialogues. This is a real hidden gem, co-directed by Joan Gracia, Paco Mir and Carles Sans (known a...

A marvelous comedy of manners from Japan.

An adaptation of Arthur Miller's play about witch hunts in Salem in 1690's. Winona Ryder plays Abigail Williams, a young girl who ac...

Interesting drama about wild youth in Boston.

Po dwoch bardzo nieudanych filmach, "Nastazja" (1994) i "Wielki tydzien" (1996), Andrzej Wajda wrocil do formy z ta adap...

A young man has to choose between three very attractive girls.

A pregnant drug addict finds herself in the middle of a war between pro-choice feminists and right-wing opponents of abortion.

Provocative documentary about the representation of gays and lesbians in Hollywood films.

John Travolta plays a villain in this terrific action flick that features more explosions and more helicopter crashes than any film in recen...

Directed by Daniel Lee and Yuen Woo-Ping. With Jet Li, Karen Mok and Lau Ching-Wan. A masked avenger (Jet Li) defends Hong Kong from a squad...

Both guys are incredibly dumb, but Beavis is actually even dumber than Butt-head. When thieves break into their house and steal their belov...

Directed by Andrew Lau. With Francis Ng and Simon Yam. Excellent film about Hong Kong triads.

A documentary film that has a dramatic intensity and suspense usually found only in fiction movies. It's the story of the famous boxing ...

A black comedy about a high-school girl who doesn't look like Alicia Silverstone.

Tom Hanks directed this excellent musical about an American rock 'n' roll band, The Wonders. Songs: "Lovin' You Lots An...

Director Billy Bob Thornton gives a terrific performance as Karl, a mentally challenged man, who spend most of his life in an institution fo...

Ed Burns' sequel to "The Brothers McMullen" (1995) is a equally witty comedy about marital infidelities and sibling rivalries.

A young black women discovers that her birth mother was white.

Excellent horror movie directed by Wes Craven, possibly his best film. It's also a self-reflexive critique of the slasher film genre. R...

A solid action film starring Sean Connery, Nicholas Cage and Ed Harris. Plenty of chases, fireworks and nail-bitting suspense scenes.

Nothing is more unbearable than the sight of a 4-year-old girl crying after the death of her mother. Yet even more heartbreaking is her refu...

Directed by Cha Chuen-Yee. With Francis Ng. Very different from the first film. It's not a black comedy, but an exciting drama about gan...

Visually magnificent film by Hou Hsiao-Hsien.

La vie secrete des insectes.

Charming little film about a young woman looking for her missing cat.

World War I as seen by French soldiers fighting in Bulgaria and Romania.

Ingeniously plotted film about a young man searching for a woman of his dreams. It's a neat mixture of romantic comedy and film noir th...

Story of three half-sisters and one half-brother, children of a murderer.

Marie Trintignant's finely nuanced performance earned her a Cesar (i.e. Gallic Oscar) nomination as best actress for playing a young wom...

A divorced businessman (Daniel Auteuil) befriends a mentally-challenged man (Pascal Duquenne). Sentimental, often ridiculous film. Also quit...

Un jeune Francais se fait passer pour un heros de la Resistance.

Often amusing, nice film about the career of Jeanne Moreau.

French film set in an insane asylum.

A bizarre love triangle involving a woman (Fanny Ardant), a straight man (Richard Berry) and a gay man.

Charlotte Gainsbourg, Charles Berling and Yvan Attal star in this rather boring film loosely inspired by "Jules et Jim".

A Claude Lelouch film with a typically far-fetched narrative.

A young man is hired as a tutor.

It might well be the meanest and most disgusting French film ever made.

Belgian film about illegal immigrants and people who exploit them.

Disturbing film about suicide and child abuse.

Un jeune homme s'accuse d'un meurtre dont il n'a pas commit.

Tragic story of Fernando da Silva, a young Brazilian actor, who first played the title role of a delinquant in "Pixote" (1981), bu...

Two Russian soldiers are captured by Chechen rebels.

In Poland under Stalin, a young nun is forced to cooperate with the secret police by spying on a bishop.

Two young boys are kidnapped in this amusing comedy from Taiwan.

Japanese film about a young woman suffering from schizophrenia.

The daughter of a prostitute finds love and happiness.