6.8

The Majestic

2000, USA, Australia

• Actors: Jim Carrey, Bob Balaban, Jeffrey DeMunn, Hal Holbrook, Laurie Holden, Martin Landau, Brent Briscoe, Ron Rifkin, Gerry Black, David Ogden Stiers, James Whitmore, Susan Willis, Catherine Dent, Brian Howe, Karl Bury, Chelcie Ross, Amanda Detmer, Allen Garfield, Daniel von Bargen, Shawn Doyle, Mario Roccuzzo, Frank Collison, Bill Gratton, Ginger Williams, Ken Magee, Csilla Horvath, April Ortiz, Larry Cox, Julie Richardson, Scotty Leavenworth
• Genre: Drama, Romance
• Director(s): Frank Darabont
• Available languages:
  • English English.

Peter Appleton is an ambitious young screenwriter working for HHS Studios during Hollywood's Golden Age, 1951 in particular. "Ashes to Ashes" is about to be released, and he's dating the attractive movie star, Sandra Sinclair. Just when everything seems to be going his way, it is discovered he (unwittingly) attended a Communist meeting during college when pulled there by his girlfriend at the time, and thus heavy suspicion settles over him and he'll have to stand before Congress. Afraid of what might happen if they don't, HHS cancels Appleton's contract and aborts the release date of the film. Appleton promptly begins to wallow in self-pity and spends nearly an entire night at a bar, then drives intoxicated through the streets of the California course until plummeting into a stormy river and getting knocked unconscious. Washing up on the beaches of a small town called Lawson. Although the people there are pleasant and likable, the town is depressed and lifeless due to having lost 62 of its sons in World War II. One of them, Luke Trimble, was missing in action; and miraculously, Peter bears a striking resemblance to the black and white photos, close enough to fool even Luke's father, Harry. However, thanks to the blow to the head and the alcohol, Peter has suffered amnesia and decides he must be who they think he is. Besides, it's not a bad life: Luke's beautiful lover, lawyer Adele Stanton, is all over him, the town has suddenly come back to life with excitement, and he and his "father" rebuild a movie palace Harry used to run, the Majestic. Unfortunately, Peter's memory returns in time for G-men to track him down.

  9.2

The Shawshank Redemption

1993, USA

• Actors: Tim Robbins, Morgan Freeman, Bob Gunton, William Sadler, Clancy Brown, Gil Bellows, Mark Rolston, James Whitmore, Jeffrey DeMunn, Larry Brandenburg, Neil Giuntoli, Brian Libby, David Proval, Joseph Ragno, Jude Ciccolella, Paul McCrane, Renee Blaine, Scott Mann, John Horton, Gordon Greene, Alfonso Freeman, V.J. Foster, John E. Summers, Frank Medrano, Mack Miles, Alan R. Kessler, Morgan Lund, Cornell Wallace, Gary Lee Davis, Neil Summers
• Genre: Crime, Drama
• Director(s): Frank Darabont
• Available languages:
  • English English.

Andy Dufresne is a young and successful banker whose life changes drastically when he is convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of his wife and her lover. Set in the 1940's, the film shows how Andy, with the help of his friend Red, the prison entrepreneur, turns out to be a most unconventional prisoner.

  7.5

Tora! Tora! Tora!

1970, USA, Japan

• Actors: Martin Balsam, Sô Yamamura, Joseph Cotten, Tatsuya Mihashi, E.G. Marshall, James Whitmore, Takahiro Tamura, Eijirô Tôno, Jason Robards, Wesley Addy, Shogo Shimada, Frank Aletter, Koreya Senda, Leon Ames, Junya Usami, Richard Anderson, Kazuo Kitamura, Keith Andes, Susumu Fujita, Edward Andrews, Bontarô Miake, Neville Brand, Ichiro Ryuzaki, Leora Dana, Asao Uchida, George Macready, Norman Alden, Kazuko Ichikawa, Walter Brooke, Hank Jones
• Genre: Action, Adventure, Drama, History, War
• Director(s): Richard Fleischer
• Available languages:
  • English English.

In 1941 the Japanese are at odds with the United States on a number of issues which they are attempting to resolve via their Washington embassy. In case this diplomacy fails, the military are hatching plans for a surprise early Sunday morning air attack on the U.S. base at Pearl Harbour. American intelligence is breaking the Japanese diplomatic messages but few high-ups are prepared to believe that an attack is likely, let alone where or how it might come.

  5.3

Guns of the Magnificent Seven

1969, USA

• Actors: George Kennedy, James Whitmore, Monte Markham, Reni Santoni, Bernie Casey, Scott Thomas, Joe Don Baker, Tony Davis, Michael Ansara, Frank Silvera, Wende Wagner, Sancho Gracia, Luis Rivera, George Rigaud, Fernando Rey, Vicente Sangiovanni, Ramón Serrano
• Genre: Action, Western, Adventure, Drama
• Director(s): Paul Wendkos
• Available languages:
  • English English.

A Mexican revolutionary hires an American gunslinger to organize the rescue of their leader from a brutal army prison.

  8.0

Planet of the Apes

1967, USA

• Actors: Charlton Heston, Roddy McDowall, Kim Hunter, Maurice Evans, James Whitmore, James Daly, Linda Harrison, Robert Gunner, Lou Wagner, Woodrow Parfrey, Jeff Burton, Buck Kartalian, Norman Burton, Wright King, Paul Lambert, Gene O'Donnell, Army Archerd, James Bacon, Erlynn Mary Botelho, Priscilla Boyd, Eldon Burke, David Chow, Billy Curtis, Frank Delfino, Buddy Douglas, William Graeff Jr., Irvin 'Zabo' Koszewski, Robert Lombardo, Jerry Maren, Cass Martin
• Genre: Adventure, Mystery, Sci-Fi, Thriller
• Director(s): Franklin J. Schaffner
• Available languages:
  • English English.

Taylor and two other astronauts come out of deep hibernation to find that their ship has crashed. Escaping with little more than clothes they find that they have landed on a planet where men are pre-lingual and uncivilized while apes have learned speech and technology. Taylor is captured and taken to the city of the apes after damaging his throat so that he is silent and cannot communicate with the apes.

  7.9

The Asphalt Jungle

1950, USA

• Actors: Sterling Hayden, Louis Calhern, Jean Hagen, James Whitmore, Sam Jaffe, John McIntire, Marc Lawrence, Barry Kelley, Anthony Caruso, Teresa Celli, Marilyn Monroe, William 'Wee Willie' Davis, Dorothy Tree, Brad Dexter, John Maxwell, Ray Bennett, Benny Burt, Frank Cady, Jean Carter, David Clarke, John Cliff, Henry Corden, Chuck Courtney, Ralph Dunn, Gene Evans, Pat Flaherty, Alex Gerry, Sol Gorss, Fred Graham, William Haade
• Genre: Crime, Film-Noir, Drama
• Director(s): John Huston
• Available languages:
  • English English.

'Doc' Riedenschneider, legendary crime 'brain' just out of prison, has a brilliant plan for a million-dollar burglary. To pull it off, he recruits safecracker Louis, driver Gus, financial backer Emmerich, and strong-arm man Dix Handley. At first the plan goes like clockwork, but little accidents accumulate and each partner proves to have his own fatal weakness. In the background is a pervasive, grimy urban malaise.