KISS Black Flying Disc Frisbee

December 29, 2002: Given the medium to low budget sci-fi stuff Hollywood was producing in 1956, this movie exceeds all expectations. I first viewed it in 1960 and it introduced me to the Universe. With a stronger plot, this overlooked classic may have been a blockbuster. The Stop Motion Ainmation is superb, and weapons like fazers and lazers that effectively disintegrate tanks and troops abound. Bullet proof space suits that enchance the sight and hearing of the invaders along with...

An unlikely mélange of bowling, Budweiser, and some Raymond Chandler -inspired L.A. noir turns out to be a perfect blend in The Big Lebowski, a virtuoso comedy from Joel and Ethan Coen . Jeff Bridges portrays Jeff Lebowski (known to his friends as "the Dude") -- a lazy, unemployed, and eminently likable stoner with a taste for Kahlùa who gets accidentally involved in a convoluted kidnapping case. Bridges is perfect as a textbook fish out of water, blundering his way through the complex plot like...

After directing a string of acclaimed shorts, the young Roman Polanski assembled a small crew and mostly unprofessional cast in his native Poland to shoot this full-length thriller. The spare, tense film remains one of Polanski's most striking efforts, a cool, detached character study with stark, high-contrast black-and-white visuals to match. Polanski may have seen himself in the character of the cunning, disaffected drifter, a possibility bolstered by the fact that he dubbed his own voice over...