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

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The Christmas spirit isn't served up with more heartfelt warmth or observant hilarity than it is beloved adaptation of Jean Shepherd's holiday story. In 1940s Indiana, nine-year-old Ralphie (Peter Billingsley) dreams of his ideal Christmas gift: a genuine Red Ryder 200-shot Carbine Action Air Rifle.

But when gruff dad (Darren McGavin) and doting mom (Melinda Dillon) regularly respond with "You'll shoot your eye out!" Ralphie mounts a full-scale, hint-dropping, Santa-begging campaign. He also endures all kinds of childhood calamities from snowsuit paralysis to the yellow-eyed Scotty Farkus affair to the dreaded tongue-on-a-frozen-flagpole gambit.

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Brother and sister Enrique (David Villalpando) and Rosa (Zaide Silvia Gutiérrez) flee persecution at home in Guatemala and journey north, through Mexico and on to the United States, with the dream of starting a new life.

It's a story that happens every day, but until Gregory Nava's groundbreaking El Norte (The North), the personal travails of immigrants crossing the border to America had never been shown in the movies with such urgent humanism. A work of social realism imbued with dreamlike imagery, 'El Norte' is a lovingly rendered, heartbreaking story of hope and survival, which critic Roger Ebert called a 'Grapes of Wrath' for our time.

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Max Renn (James Woods) is looking for fresh new content for his TV channel when he happens across some illegal S&M-style broadcasts called "Videodrome".

Embroiling his girlfriend Nick (Deborah Harry) in his search for the source, his journey begins to blur the lines between reality and fantasy as he works his way through sadomasochistic games, shady organisations and body transformations stunningly realised by Oscar-winning makeup effects artist Rick Baker.

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In the spectacular final chapter of the Star Wars saga, Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) and Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher) must travel to Tatooine to free Han Solo (Harrison Ford) by infiltrating the wretched stronghold of Jabba the Hutt, the galaxy's most loathsome gangster.

Reunited, the Rebels team up with tribes of Ewoks to combat the Imperial forces on the forest moon of Endor. Meanwhile the Emperor and Darth Vader (James Earl Jones) conspire to turn Luke to the dark side, and young Skywalker is determined to rekindle the spirit of the Jedi within his father. The Galactic Civil War culminates in the ultimate showdown, as the Rebel forces gather to attack the seemingly defenseless and incomplete second Death Star in the battle that will determine the fate of the galaxy.

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Join Kevin Kline, Glenn Close, William Hurt, Jeff Goldblum, Tom Berenger, Mary Kay Place, Jobeth Williams and Meg Tilly as they reunite for the funeral of a college pal. During the weekend that follows, these friends compare their sixties ideals with the harsh reality of their lives in the eighties.

Old friendships, shared experiences and a soundtrack featuring Marvin Gaye, Aretha Franklin, Creedance Clearwater Revival, Procal Harum and Smokey Robinson made 'The Big Chill' an irresistible trip down memory lane. In a cold world, you need your friends to keep you warm.

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The sky is raining fish. Skyscrapers sit in mountains of sand. Bandits sleep in trunks of used cars. It's a world of the future. A world called Planet Earth. And he's one man just trying to survive.

In Besson's haunting, beautifully realised vision of a post-apocalyptic world, few have held onto life, and fewer still to humanity. An unknown trauma has robbed mankind of their ability to speak, and they remain, mute, in the unexplained wreckage of what once was. The Man (Pierre Jolivet) is an isolated survivor wandering the hostile streets of a collapsed civilization. He lives in a long-abandoned office building, fighting off attacks from nearby thugs and gathering together disused car parts for a makeshift airplane, hoping to fly away from his sombre prison. Escape, however, offers little respite, as he leaves one dead city for another. In the midst of this new wasteland, "The Man" encounters his nemesis, "The Brute" (Jean Reno); a violent aggressor who becomes determined to destroy him. By chance he stumbles into a derelict hospital, and finds there an old doctor who is hiding from The Brute. Together, the two seek sanctuary from The Brute, and gradually, in the grey and sterile world, a friendship begins to grow.

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Bresson's classic film, adapted from a story by Tolstoy, tells of the tragic chain of events which ensue when two schoolboys pass a forged banknote in a photography shop. The note is transferred to the unwitting Yvon (Christian Patey), a delivery driver, who is arrested for possessing it.

Despite being cleared by the court, Yvon loses his job and becomes trapped in a disastrous spiral of theft, imprisonment and murder. Considered to be the last masterpiece of his

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In New Zealand in the 1860's the native Maori people fought the British colonials to keep the land guaranteed to them by treaty. The warrior Te Wheke fights for the British until betrayal leads him to seek utu (revenge).

The settler Williamson in turn seeks revenge after Te Wheke attacks his homestead. Meanwhile Wiremu, an officer for the British, seems to think that resistance is futile.

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"Terms of Endearment" dazzled critics and audiences alike with its believable, insightful story of two captivating people, mother and daughter, unforgettably played Shirley MacLaine and Debra Winger.

Jack Nicholson turns in a great comic performance as MacLaine's neighbour, a boozy, womanizing former astronaut.

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During a lecture, controversial novelist Gerard Reve (Jeroen Krabbe) claims that his stories "lie the truth". Without knowing it, this enigmatic pronouncement sets the tone for the bizarre events that will send him to the brink of madness.

The focus of these events is Christine (Renee Soutendijk), a seductive and aloof beautician who lures Gerard into her world. Soon he begins to wonder whether Christine's cool exterior hides a murderous instinct: with three husbands dead, does she intend to make Gerard The Fourth Man?

Desperate to be a star, struggling stand-up comedian Rupert Pupkin (Robert De Niro) enlists the aid of his fanatical friend Masha (Sandra Bernhard) to kidnap talk show host Jerry Langford (Jerry Lewis). The ransom? A guest spot for Pupkin. The results? Outrageous!

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Based on Tom Wolfe's best-selling book, 'The Right Stuff' tells the heroic tale of America's early Journeys into space.

It begins with Chuck Yeager - the first person to fly faster than the speed of sound - and continues with the Flying Fraternity and the Mercury Astronauts, the first Americans in space. The bravery and daring exploits of these men captured the imagination of mid-century Americans. In 'The Right Stuff', director and screenwriter Philip Kaufman brings these breathtaking events to life in emotionally riveting and suspenseful detail.

Koyaanisqatsi

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Ten years in planning, Sergio Leone's epic 'Once Upon a Time in America' portrays 50 years of riveting underworld history and offers rich roles to a remarkable cast. Robert De Niro and James Woods play lifelong Lower East Side pals whose wary partnership unravels in death and mystery.

Strong support comes from 'Tuesday Weld', Joe Pesci, Jennifer Connelly, Elizabeth McGovern and the young actors playing the central characters as ghetto kids.

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In the spring of 1980, the port at Mariel Harbor was opened, and thousands set sail for the United States. They came in search of the American Dream. One of them found it on the sun-washed avenues of Miami…wealth, power and passion beyond his wildest dreams. He was Tony Montana (Al Pacino).

The world will remember him by another name…Scarface.