Arthur Penn (1) (1922–2010)

Great tall tale telling, great casting, seriously funny in the best way.

One of the landmark films of the 1960s, Bonnie and Clyde changed the course of American cinema. Setting a milestone for screen violence that paved the way for Sam Peckinpah's The Wild Bunch, this exercise in mythologized biography should not be labeled as a bloodbath; as critic Pauline Kael wrote in her rave review, "it's the absence of sadism that throws the audience off balance." The film is more of a poetic ode to the Great Depression, starring the dream team of Warren Beatty and Faye show more Dunaway as the titular antiheroes, who barrel across the South and Midwest robbing banks with Clyde's brother Buck (Gene Hackman), Buck's frantic wife Blanche (Estelle Parsons), and their faithful accomplice C.W. Moss (the inimitable Michael J. Pollard). Bonnie and Clyde is an unforgettable classic that has lost none of its power since the 1967 release. --Jeff Shannon show less

A black-and-white film based on the true story of Helen Keller, who was both deaf and blind due to a serious illness in babyhood. She had become totally wild, prone to horrendous tantrums and increasingly dangerous to herself and others. So a young teacher was employed to try and bring some control to her life, and see if she could help Helen to communicate via felt hand signs.

Excellent acting, particularly by Patty Duke who played Helen. I was sorry it ended so abruptly, however - I'd like show more to have seen more of the story, as I know Helen Keller went on to do amazing things with her life.

We were also disappointed in the sound quality; we had to use switch on subtitles as we found we were missing so much of the conversation. But possibly that was a problem with our DVD, which came as a freebie with a relative's newspaper. show less

2021 movie #131. 1975. Gene Hackman is great it this neo noir story of a PI looking for a runaway 16-yo (Melanie Griffith). The story gets pretty complicated (as noirs often do) and keeps us (and Hackman's character) guessing as to what's really going on right up to the end.