The story of a teenage girl who joins an Austin Roller Derby team to escape from the oppressive genteelities of her mother’s southern beauty pageant culture, Whip It borrows from about every underdog-sports/coming-of-age formula there is, which would make the movie seem like little more than a checklist of cliches, if there wasn’t something more to it than that. The movie has a self-aware quality that is more than a little charming and plays like The Mighty Ducks meets Ghost World (a shame that the film’s ensemble cast had no room for the great Emilio Estevez and Steve Buscemi).

Also appearing in the movie is Daniel Stern as a lovable goof father that should be familiar to anyone who’s lived in the suburbs. You’ll also see a few familiar SNL cast members, the singer Eve, and the always uncontainable Juliette Lewis who plays the token arch-rival/bully in a performance that is comically, self-deprecatingly bitchy. All in all, Drew Barrymore’s film will be a delight for young female audiences, and even a few of us emotionally-dead older people may recall a time when movies were fun for the sake of fun.

When the French cafes are bombed and destroyed, there is so much realism that the scene looks like it was caught on the nine o’clock news hour. These scenes are what heightened the story for me because they seemed very authentic and it helped create a tense moment. These tense moments between the realistic bombing sequences and the militia that France forces into the ghettos of Algiers were terribly captivating. All in all, this movie is a very intense and sweeping drama about the conflict and betrayals during a revolutionary time.

On the Waterfront shows why Brando is so great. Kazan allows him to act without any restrictions. Because of this, most movie critics believe that Brando delivers perhaps the greatest performance as an actor ever. I’m not one to boast, but Brando is almost pitch-perfect as Terry Malloy. The way he moves like a caged guerilla with a tender heart exemplifies the way he’s able to transform himself.  And Terry Malloy is one of those rare characters that people identify with, even though he is a bit naïve. The rest of the cast is rounded out perfectly, even Rod Steiger as Brando’s money driven brother.

This movie has stood the test of time, and because it has, remaking this movie would probably result in a complete failure. Each scene from the film feels dirty and black and white look is perfect for the industrial time. Look out for the Taxi scene; it is one of the greatest acted scenes in the history of Hollywood.

Very surreal, dark and almost organic, this movie and Lynch’s style of directing have gone on to inspire a slew of copycats (Richard Kelly’s ‘Donnie Darko’ to name a few).  This movie has also created a cult following for more of Lynch’s movies. Fortunately this movie was made because it almost wasn’t. And unfortunately if this movie were released in our current American cinema, it wouldn’t have the same impact that it had back in the 70’s.  Thank god for the midnight theaters, and thank god for David Lynch! Sometimes we need to look beyond ourselves and dig deeper into our inner conscience. If you can sit through Eraserhead, it will be a great discussion with your friends and it will haunt your dreams.

It is rumored that this is the only story where Gene Hackman actually researched his part. The movie won several awards and Hackman went on to win his first Oscar. However, that’s beside the point. The movie has one of the greatest car chases in Hollywood history, it has a realistic story based on true events and it has one of the greatest characters in Hollywood history, Jimmy Doyle. In fact, the obsessive nature of Hackman’s character Doyle helps keep the movie interesting and enthralling. He is able to keep people on the edge of their seats. Doyle’s partner, Det. Buddy Russo (aka Roy Scheider) helps display the type of humanity that a detective might portray in a narcotics situation. The director William Friedkin gives the movie an authentic feeling by filming in the urban areas of New York City and by capturing the type of people that you would normally see in their native habitat.   This film is a must for those who are into CSI and it is a must for those who love crime sagas.