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

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Also known as... Pick Your Poison and Five Venoms - The dying master of the powerful Poison Clan dispatches his last pupil on a crucial mission.

Worried that the skills he has taught are being used to evil ends, he orders the Yan Tieh to trace a retired colleague and warn him that the fortune he amassed from the clan activities is under threat from five of his former pupils. Each an expert in his own lethal combat style, The Centipede, The Snake, The Scorpion, The Lizard and The Toad comprise a truly invincible force. Yan must discover the whereabouts and true identities of these deadly masked warriors, and decide which, if any, he can trust to join him in his perilous mission. A blindingly choreographed blend of intrigue and violence, Five Deadly Venoms adds a truly original dimension to the kung fu genre.

Focusing on four families working and living on the farm of a landowner in the Bergamo region of northern Italy, Ermanno Olmi presents a year in their lives, charting their daily activities and the natural flow of existence: birth, marriage, death, and the trials and tribulations in between.

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When Michael (Robert De Niro), Steven (John Savage) and Nick (Christopher Walken) are captured by the Vietcong, they are forced to play Russian Roulette by their brutal captors, who make bets on their survival.

The experience of capture leaves them with terrible physical and spiritual wounds, and when Michael returns to Saigon to fulfill an old promise to one of his friends, he makes an unexpected, horrific discovery. Also featuring astonishing performances from Meryl Streep as the woman both Michael and Nick fall in love with, and John Cazale as their unhinged and insecure friend Stan, 'The Deer Hunter' is widely acknowledged as one of cinema's great masterpieces and contains some of the most memorable scenes in film history.

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John Travolta solidified his position as the most versatile and magnetic screen presence of the decade in this film version of the smash hit play Grease. Recording star Olivia Newton-John made her American film debut as Sandy, Travolta's naive love interest.

The impressive supporting cast reads like a "who's who" in this quintessential musical about the fabulous '50's. Grease is not just a nostalgic look at a simpler decade - it's an energetic and exciting musical homage to the age of rock n'roll!

One of the most critically-acclaimed films of all time, 'Days of Heaven' is a moving story about two men who love the same woman. Richard Gere, a fugitive from the slums of Chicago, finds himself pitted against a shy, rich Texan (Sam Shepard) for the love of Abby (Brooke Adams).

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A National Emergency grips the US as the zombie population grows at an alarming rate. Two S.W.A.T. officers, a helicopter pilot and his girlfriend escape the city and take refuge in an abandoned shopping mall after securing it following a series of flesh-shredding confrontations with the undead.

Their survival is threatened when a band of looters leave a door open allowing the zombies access to the mall once more and a final stand-off for survival must play out.

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The anti-Qing patriots, under the guidance of Ho Kuang-han, have secretly set up their base in Canton under cover of being school masters. Liu Yude, one of Ho's pupils, having been inspired by his teacher's patriotism, is determined to join the anti-Qing ranks.

Liu works as an espionage courier for his fellow countrymen until the Manchu General in Canton, Tianda, orders his troops to round up all the anti-Qing patriots. The Manchu soldiers, acting on information, surround the Ho school and kill Ho and many of his students. Later, Liu's father is also murdered by the Qing lackeys; Liu escapes to the Shaolin Temple in hopes of learning martial arts, with which he may avenge his father's death. The Abbot of the Shaolin Temple sympathizes with Liu's plight, accepting him as an inmate and giving him the name "San De". Liu does nothing but sweep the floors for nearly a year before being given permission to learn the Shaolin kung fu techniques, comprising 35 chambers. Of course, as a novice, he has to start from the lowest chamber. One of the 35 chambers concerns the study of Buddhism, and the others are devoted to the martial arts. Each pupil has to endure a stiff test in order to pass through any one chamber before going on to the next. In an incredibly short time, Liu has mastered and passed 10 chambers, specializing in the employment of the fists, feet, palms, swords, sticks, lance, and other weapons. He continues to make tremendous progress in the art of kung fu, and with the approval of the Abbot, he leaves the temple and goes out into the country to not only attack the cruel Manchu henchmen, but also to recruit more patriotic youths for training. Meanwhile, the Qing authorities order Tianda and his troops to catch Liu and his fellow monks. In a fierce encounter, Liu, aided by Hong Xiguan, kills many enemies, including Tianda. Liu and his new fellow fighters then return to the Shaolin Temple, where he immediately develops the "36th Chamber" which is the apex of the art of kung fu. The new blood, including Hong Xiguan, Tong Qianjin, Lu A-Cai and Chung Mi-lu (Miller Six), under the leadership of Liu, become a barb to torment the Qing flesh.

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There's nothing straight about this movie. But here's the dope anyway: Cheech and Chong make their film debut in this riotous rock 'n' roll comedy, bringing with them the same madness, lifestyles and sketches that sold over 10 million records in the early '70s.

Cheech and Chong's marijuana-laced humor keeps their spirits high and leads them to an outrageous finale at L.A.'s Roxy Theater, where Cheech performs in a pink tutu and Chong dresses as a large red quaalude. It will make you feel very funny.

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On a black and unholy Halloween night years ago, little Michael Myers (Will Sandin) brutally slaughtered his sister in cold blood. But for the last fifteen years, town residents have rested easy, knowing he was safely locked away in a mental hospital - until tonight.

Tonight, Michael (Tony Moran) returns to the same quiet neighbourhood to relive his grisly murder again...and again...and again. For this is a night of evil. Tonight is Halloween!

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Maria and Hermann Braun marry in Germany close to the end of World War II but are shortly separated.

Just after being sent to the Russian Front, Hermann is reported missing and, although Maria believes he is still alive, her brother in law, just returned from a POW camp in Russia, confirms his death. Alone, Maria uses her beauty and ambition to prosper in Germany's "economic miracle" of the 1950s. 'The Marriage of Maria Braun' is heartbreaking study of a woman picking herself up from the ruins of her own life, as well as a pointed metaphorical attack on a society determined to forget its past.

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A documentary filmmaker (Albert Brooks) enlists a family for a new cinematic and scientific experiment that intends to capture every waking moment of their daily life on film. Out of all the families that are chosen, the ordinary family of the Yeagers of Phoenix, Arizona are chosen.

It is a project Brooks confidently announces to a large gathering in the city, even greeting them with a song. Two other doctors are enlisted in order to evaluate the family through the progression of the project. The concept is for the Yeagers and their two children to go about their business at their Phoenix home, work and school as if nothing is different from a typical day, ignoring the fact that men wearing cameras that look like Star Wars helmets are recording every move they make and every word they say. Brooks promises to be as unobtrusive as possible, taking up a separate residence in the neighbourhood and promising not to interfere. Little by little, though, the stress of everyday life is complicated by the presence of the film crew. Brooks also becomes the unwitting object of Mrs. Yeager's attentions...

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Sybylla Melvyn (Judy Davis) is the eldest daughter of an impoverished New South Wales farming family. Bold and determined, Sybylla dreams of succeeding as an acclaimed writer. But in a time of sexist ignorance and bigotry Sybylla has frequent clashes with procrustean conformists.

Though it is her love for the dashing Harry Beacham (Sam Neill) that will truly test her desire to succeed as a writer. As events twist and turn, Sybylla is painfully forced to realise the emotional cost of putting her career over love. 'My Brilliant Career' is a delicate parable of one woman's fight for independence, and the sacrifices of the heart that must be made along the way.

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In a future world that has been seemingly ravaged by war and poverty there exists a myth of hope among the people - a forbidden place known only as the Zone, the heart of which, if reached, grants one's innermost desires.

Two men, a writer and professor, hire someone known as a Stalker; a guide who can navigate the treacherous and confounding path that leads to the centre of the Zone. 'Stalker' was instantly considered one of the most definitive artistic contemplations of human aspiration and the ambition we employ to achieve it.

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"Alien" is the first movie of one of the most popular sagas in science fiction history, and introduces Sigourney Weaver as Ripley, the iron-willed woman destined to battle the galaxy's ultimate creature.

The terror begin when the crew of the spaceship Nostromo investigates a transmission from a desolate planet and makes a horrifying discovery - a life form that breeds within a human host. Now the crew must fight now only for its survival, but for the survival of all mankind.

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Four friends graduate from high school and find themselves looking at an uncertain future in small-town America. Dave's passion is cycling and his dream is to compete against the best in the sport, the Italians he idolizes.

Despite being disillusioned when he finally races against his heroes, his passion for cycling takes on new meaning when he and his friends face a team from the local college in the town's annual bike race, The Little 500. Looked down on by the students, Dave faces his greatest challenge yet, one that will test his endurance and spirit to the limit.