Some of the Greatest Movies Ever

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By Mike Turner

The Godfather: The story begins as "Don" Vito Corleone, the head of a New York Mafia "family", oversees his daughter's wedding. His beloved son Michael has just come home from the war, but does not intend to become part of his father's business. Through Michael's life the nature of the family business becomes clear. The business of the family is just like the head of the family, kind and benevolent to those who give respect, but given to ruthless violence whenever anything stands against the good of the family. Don Vito lives his life in the way of the old country, but times are changing and some don't want to follow the old ways and look out for community and "family". An up and coming rival of the Corleone family wants to start selling drugs in New York, and needs the Don's influence to further his plan. The clash of the Don's fading old world values and the new ways will demand a terrible price, especially from Michael, all for the sake of the family.

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest: McMurphy, a man with several assault convictions to his name, finds himself in jail once again. This time, the charge is statutory rape when it turns out that his girlfriend had lied about being eighteen, and was, in fact, fifteen (or, as McMurphy puts it, "fifteen going on thirty-five"). Rather than spend his time in jail, he convinces the guards that he's crazy enough to need psychiatric care and is sent to a hospital. He fits in frighteningly well, and his different point of view actually begins to cause some of the patients to progress. Nurse Ratched becomes his personal cross to bear as his resistance to the hospital routine gets on her nerves.

The Dark Knight: Set within a year after the events of Batman Begins, Batman, Lieutenant James Gordon, and new district attorney Harvey Dent successfully begin to round up the criminals that plague Gotham City until a mysterious and sadistic criminal mastermind known only as the Joker appears in Gotham, creating a new wave of chaos. Batman's struggle against the Joker becomes deeply personal, forcing him to "confront everything he believes" and improve his technology to stop him. A love triangle develops between Bruce Wayne, Dent and Rachel Dawes.

Goodfellas: This film views the mob lives of three pivotal figures in the 1960's and 70's New York. Henry Hill is a local boy turned gangster in a neighborhood full of the roughest and toughest. Tommy Devito is a pure bred gangster, who turns out to be Henry's best friend. Jimmy Conway puts the two of them together, and runs some of the biggest hijacks and burglaries the town has ever seen. After an extended jail sentence, Henry must sneak around the back of the local mob boss, Paulie Cicero, to live the life of luxury he has always dreamed of. In the end, the friends end up in a hell of a jam, and must do anything they can to save each other, and stay alive.

Shichinin no samurai: In the Sixteenth Century, in Japan, a poor village is frequently looted by armed bandits losing their crop of rice. Their patriarch Grandpa advises the villagers to hire a Ronin to defend their village. Four farmers head to town to seek out their possible protectors, but they just can offer three meals of rice per day and lodging for the samurai. They succeed in hiring the warming-hearted veteran Kambei Shimada that advises that they need six other samurai to protect their lands. Kambei recruits the necessary five samurai and the brave jester Kikuchiyo and move to the village. After a feared reception, Kambei plots a defense strategy and the samurai start training the farmers how to defend their lands and families for the battle that approaches.

Rear Window: Photagrapher L.B. "Jeff" Jeffries is confined to his small apartment with a broken leg.To pass the time,he watches the goings-on of his motley assortment of neighbors--a frustrated yet fun-loving composer,a middle-aged couple with a small dog,a dancer who seems to enjoy practicing her routines while scantily clad,a pair of reclusive newlyweds,a lonely woman who seems to live in a fantasy world,and a salesman and his invalid wife.One day the wife inexplicably disappears,and the salesman starts doing things that lead Jeff to suspect that he may have murdered her.Unfortunately,he has no proof and no one seems to believe him.Eventually,however,things start falling together in a way that make it look like Jeff might just be right after all.Finally he,his girlfriend Lisa and his nurse Stella come up with a plan to catch the killer red-handed. But doing so could put all of their lives in danger.

The Usual Suspects: Following a truck hijack in New York, five conmen are arrested and brought together for questioning. As none of them is guilty, they plan a revenge operation against the police. The operation goes well, but then the influence of a legendary mastermind criminal called Keyser Sze is felt. It becomes clear that each one of them has wronged Sze at some point and must pay back now. The payback job leaves 27 men dead in a boat explosion, but the real question arises now: Who actually is Keyser Sze?

The Silence of the Lambs: A psychopath known as Buffalo Bill is kidnapping and murdering young women across the Midwest. Believing it takes one to know one, the F.B.I. sends Agent Clarice Starling to interview a demented prisoner who may provide psychological insight and clues to the killer's actions. The prisoner is psychiatrist, Dr. Hannibal Lector, a brilliant, murderous cannibal who will only help Starling if she feeds his morbid curiosity with details about her own complicated life. This twisted relationship forces Starling not only to confront her psychological demons, but leads her to face with a demented, heinous killer, an incarceration of evil so powerful, that she may not have the courage -- or strength -- to stop him!

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