Ace in the Hole - MatthewHunt

Godard seems influenced in equal measure by Brecht and Zola in this stylish but grim study
of a young woman (Anna Karina) forced into prostitution. For all the self-reflexive devices (the
way the story is told in tableaux, the references to Carl Dreyer etc.), the film is as compelling
as any 19th Century melodrama about a doomed heroine.
Voyage to Italy
(Roberto Rossellini, 1954)
One of cinema's strangest and most uncanny love stories, made just as Rossellini's own
marriage to Ingrid Bergman was beginning to crack. It captures brilliantly the boredom,
contempt and irritation clouding the relationship between husband and wife, Alex (George
Sanders) and Katherine Joyce (Bergman) as they reluctantly spend time together in the
hothouse atmosphere of Naples. What is startling and very moving, though, is their
reconciliation.
The Wages of Fear
(Henri Georges Clouzot, 1953)
Four down-and-outs must drive a convoy of nitro-glycerine through the South American
jungle. The slightest bump on the treacherous roads could mean death, but Clouzot's gripping
thriller favours psychological portraits over action, exploring the desperate rivalry, greed and
ironic fates of his tough-guy characters.
Wall Street
(Oliver Stone, 1987)
The dependably oily Michael Douglas offers up a time-capsule 80s role as corporate raider
Gordon "Greed" Gekko. Stone displays that unnerving talent to have his cake and eat it, filling
Gekko's mouth with delectably Mephistophelian patter, while just remembering to fashion Wall
Street into a "morality tale". No one quotes Charlie Sheen, of course.
The War Game
(Peter Watkins, 1965)
A nightmare scenario nobody wanted to think about: a nuclear attack on Britain. But Watkins'
"documentary" made it too compelling and too horrific to ignore, with its scenes of firestorms,
mass panic, police crackdowns, wounded children, all accompanied by impassive
commentary.
Wargames
(John Badham, 1983)
Ultimate cold war hacker fantasy disguised as a teen movie. Computer whiz kid hacks into the
US military's nuclear arsenal control site and decides that a showdown with Russia would be
enormous fun. Matthew Broderick and Ally Sheedy lend Brat Pack credibility.
The Warriors
(Walter Hill, 1979)
Hill's vision of New York youth gangs may not be especially realistic - clown-faced baseball
freaks, etc - but he packs enough of a punch to have you rooting for the heroes no matter
how silly their enemies may look. The decaying Big Apple of the 1970s has never looked so
dark or oppressive.
Way Down East
(DW Griffith, 1920)
A fantastic, sprawling melodrama that is among most barnstorming achievements of silent
cinema. Lilian Gish is almost preternaturally realistic as the betrayed wife doing her
damnedest to make her way in the world; that climactic scene where she really looks like
she's going over the waterfall is still a killer.
Wayne's World
(Penelope Spheeris, 1992)
Two metal slackers host a cult cable show until they sell out to network TV with dire