frankie's - 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die List

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Made under the Franco regime, Victor Erice's astonishing 1973 feature debut is quite simply one of the most remarkable, influential and purely poignant films to emerge from the 1970's. A bona-fide classic of European cinema, the film brought Erice instant and widespread acclaim.

An audacious critique of the disastrous legacy of the Spanish Civil War, The Spirit of the Beehive is set in a rural 1940's Spanish village haunted by betrayal and regret. Following a travelling cinema's screening of James Whale's Frankenstein, seven year-old Ana (the mesmerising Ana Torrent, later to grow into an international star of some standing) becomes fascinated with Boris Karloff's monster. Obsessed with meeting the initially gentle creation, she transfers her entrancement to tending a wounded army deserter. Atmospherically rendered by legendary Director of Photography Luis Cuadrado, it's impeccably performed by both Torrent and veteran actor Fernando Fernan Gomez in the role of her emotionally scarred, bee-keeping father. Existing in a highly evocative dreamlike state, it's a powerfully symbolic, richly allegorical tale that is as unique as it is beautiful.

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Fantastic Planet tells the story of "Oms", human-like creatures, kept as domesticated pets by an alien race of blue giants called "Draags". The story takes place on the Draags' planet Ygam, where we follow our narrator, an Om called Terr, from infancy to adulthood.

He manages to escape enslavement from a Draag learning device used to educate the savage Oms - and begins to organise an Om revolt.

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A proud woman in red draws leers and admiration. A bosomy tobacconist sparks the fantasies of adolescent boys. A mentally challenged uncle takes refuge in a tree and announces: "I want a woman!" They are among moments and events knit by memory...and a legendary filmmaker in peak form.

'Amarcord', which means "I Remember", is Federico Fellini's lusty, often funny look at growing-up perhaps not unlike his own. The setting is a village in 1930's Italy. Teen hormones are surging. Family, church and friendship are proving grounds of love and loyalty. Fascism's rise is just down the street. Sex is around any corner. And life viewed in the local cinema is a touchstone for life lived. The memories, big and small, endure.

This is the gritty, groundbreaking and truly legendary film that tells the story of Ivan Martin, an aspiring young singer-turned-outlaw, at war with Jamaica's music industry, police, and his rivals in the ganja trade. His dreams of stardom become reality as he rises to the top of the pop charts... and the most wanted list.

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They are fast friends and worse foes. One is Billy the Kid (Kris Kristofferson), a law unto himself. The other is the law: Sheriff Pat Garrett (James Coburn), who once rode with Billy.

Set to a bristling score by Bob Dylan (who also plays Billy's sidekick Alias) and with a Who's Who of iconic Western players, Sam Peckinpah's saga of one of the West's great legends is now restored to its intended glory. For the first time since it left the cutting room, the film has the balance of action and character development Peckinpah wanted, a mix of fury and elegy based on the director's notes and the insights of colleagues. The difference is profound, as different as an untouched target and a bull's-eye.

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Kurosawa's remarkable film - his only produced and financed and survival, based on the memoirs of Russian explorer Vladimir Arseniev (Yuriy Solomin).

In the harsh environs of the Siberian frontier, an expedition led by Arseniev encounters the momadic Goldi tribesman Dersu Uzala (Maksim Munzuk), who agrees to guide the men through the vast uncharted wilderness. Although initially considered but the group as little more that a savage, Dersu's skill, courage and spiritual wisdom soon earn their respect and admiration, as well as instilling in them a new-found compassion for the natural world.

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Harry Caul (Gene Hackman) is a respected but less-than-perfect surveillance expert who is wracked with self-doubt and carrying a heavy conscience since his work led to the death of two of his subjects.

So when he comes to believe that his latest assignment - eavesdropping on a pair of young lovers - may end in murder, Harry can no longer avoid confronting the moral consequences of his chosen profession.

Five friends travelling through rural Texas stumble across what appears to be a deserted house, only to discover something sinister within. The group soon find themselves picked off, one by one, by a masked madman with a chain saw.

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From the celebrated Russian director Andrei Tarkovsky comes his most autobiographical work and one that is regarded by many as his magnum opus.

Reflecting upon his own childhood and the destiny of the Russian people, 'Mirror' is a sublime expression of memory, imagination, thoughts and dreams intertwined with real life and family relationships. A transcendent, inspired and multilayered masterpiece that continues to grow in stature, 'Mirror' has an exceptional resonance and rewards countless viewings.

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Cassavetes' most commercially successful feature and a benchmark of American independent cinema, 'A Woman Under the Influence' is a devastating drama starring Gena Rowlands as Mabel Longhetti, a mother of three whose blue collar husband Nick (Peter Falk) toils as a construction worker.

Their simmering differences lead to a series of domestic dramas that eventually culminate in Mabel's nervous breakdown and six-month stay in a psychiatric hospital. Once released, Mabel and Nick must confront their uncertain futures.

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Summoned by a will to his late grandfather's castle in Transylvania, young Dr. Frankenstein (Gene Wilder) soon discovers the scientist's step-by-step manual explaining how to bring a corpse to life.

Assisted by the hunchback Igor (Marty Feldman) and the curvaceous Inga (Teri Garr), he creates a monster (Peter Boyle) who only wants to be loved.

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A landmark movie in the film noir tradition, Roman Polanski's 'Chinatown' stands as a true screen classic. Jack Nicholson is private eye Jake Gittes, living off the murky moral climate of sunbaked, pre-war Southern California.

Hired by a beautiful socialite (Faye Dunaway) to investigate her husband's extra-marital affair, Gittes is swept into a maelstrom of double dealings and deadly deceits, uncovering a web of personal and political scandals that come crashing together for one, unforgettable night in...Chinatown.

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Celine (Juliet Berto), a magician, and Julie (Dominique Labourier), a librarian, meet in Montmartre and wind up sharing the same flat, bed, finance, clothes, identity and imagination.

Soon, thanks to a magic sweet, they find themselves spectators, then participants, in a Henry James-inspired 'film-within-the-film' - a melodrama unfolding in a mysterious suburban house with the 'Phantom Ladies Over Paris' (Bulle Ogier and Marie-France Pisier), a sinister man (Barbet Schroeder) and his child.

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"My name is Jim, but most people call me...Jim". And most people call Blazing Saddles deliriously funny.

Filmmaker, star and paddle-ball whiz Mel Brooks goes way out West and way out of his mind with a spiffy spoof set in an 1874 Old West where 1974 Hollywood is just one soundstage away-and where nonstop fun blasts prejudices to the high comedy heavens. Cleavon Little, Gene Wilder, Slim Pickens, Harvey Korman, Madeline Kahn and more join for horseplay and horselaughs, making Blazing Saddles the # 6 choice among the American Film Institute's Top-100 Comedies. Give these out to the boys in Lieu of pay. And enjoy

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Al Pacino heads the star cast as Michael Corleone, heir to the criminal empire established by his Mafioso father, the late Don Corleone.

The time is mid-1940's: Michael is now in charge of all gambling activities in Nevada, making certain that any and all political or mob enemies are quickly bought off, compromised, or disposed of. Throughout the film, Michael's travels are paralleled with the early experiences of his father, played in flashbacks by Robert DeNiro.