Ace in the Hole - MatthewHunt

thrilling moment when Judy Garland, as Dorothy, first steps out of her cyclone-battered black
and white room into the dazzling technicolor of Oz.
Woman of the Dunes
(Hiroshi Teshigahara, 1964)
The sheer macabre strangeness of this erotic Japanese movie pushes it over the line into
demented-genius category. An entomologist wanders the dunes looking for rare specimens;
he is persuaded to spend the night in a beautiful young widow's tumbledown shack at the
bottom of a pit. The next morning the rope-ladder has disappeared, and he must spend the
rest of his life there, baling and shovelling the sand that continually drizzles in - and having
sex with the widow. Dream-like and compelling.
Women in Love
(Ken Russell, 1969)
Despite the then notorious naked wrestling match between Oliver Reed and Alan Bates,
Russell largely reins in his sensationalist instincts for this adaptation of DH Lawrence's novel.
With Oscar-winning Glenda Jackson and Jennie Linden making up the foursome who find
more pain than pleasure in love, it's a beautifully acted, highly evocative work.
Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown
(Pedro Almodóvar, 1988)
Crazed Spanish farce about three tottering women - Carmen Maura's pregnant, spurned
mistress; girl-on-the-run Maria Barranco; and would-be murderess Julieta Serrano - plus an
early appearance by Antonio Banderas: the plot is more convoluted than a drunken
bullfighter's footwork, but this wildly funny movie made Almodóvar's name outside Spain.
The Women
(George Cukor, 1939)
Not a man in sight, it's women going to Reno for divorces. It's also a benefit film for actresses
denied work on Gone with the Wind - Norma Shearer, Joan Crawford, Paulette Goddard,
Joan Fontaine, plus Rosalind Russell. George Cukor directed and the dialogue crackles
along.
Working Girl
(Mike Nichols, 1988)
Feminism with a twist in Mike Nichols' gender politics comedy saw Melanie Griffith embody
the helium-voiced blonde role that would haunt her entire career. That the dumb blonde
should actually have a brain was less impressive than the ruthless deviousness both Griffith
and rival Sigourney Weaver used to rise to the top in a man's world.
X - The Man With The X Ray Eyes
(Roger Corman, 1963)
Sometimes budget limitations can work in a film's favour. Although Corman does provide
brief, effective glimpses at what scientist Ray Milland is viewing after he experiments on his
own eyes with his X-Ray serum, much more effective are his harrowing and poetic
descriptions of seeing far too much.
X-Men
(Bryan Singer, 2000)
The all-singing, all-morphing mutant gang might have made this Marvel superhero adaptation
into a super-confusing mess. Singer managed to extract the core of the introspective comicbook
ethos - in this case, a plea for minority tolerance - and parcel it into a feisty, meaningful
vendetta, captained by uber-thesps Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen.
Y Tu Mama Tambien
(Alfonso Cuaron, 2001)
This superbly made picture re-launched Mexican director Alfonso Cuarón's career, and made
a star of Gael García Bernal. It is thrillingly sexy: not just in that it's about sex, but its whole