NEW YORK:
MELVIN AND HOWARD
Among the most memorable films about Howard Hughes, this 1980 release starred Jason Robards as the mysterious billionaire and Paul le Mat as Melvin Dummar, the struggling everyman who encounters Hughes in the Nevada desert. Mary Steenburgen won an Oscar for playing Lynda, Melvin’s first wife.
STOP MAKING SENSE
One of the most acclaimed and innovative rock documentaries, this 1984 film drew upon state of the art digital technology as it drew upon a series of Talking Heads concerts at the Pantages Theatre in Los Angeles. Highlights included classic performances of Burning Down the House, Psycho Killer and Take Me to the River, among others.
SOMETHING WILD
A joyous screwball comedy from 1986 and another story of strangers bonding. Melanie Griffith and Jeff Daniels starred in a road adventure featuring shifting identities, unpaid checks and a breakthrough, terrifying performance by a pre-Goodfellas Ray Liotta as Griffith’s ex-convict husband.
THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS
Once again, strangers meet and the results are unforgettable. The Oscar-winning adaptation of Thomas Harris’ grisly novel stars Jodie Foster as FBI trainee Clarice Starling and, in one of the all-time roles, Anthony Hopkins as the flesh-eating Dr. Hannibal Lecter. The film swept all five major Academy Awards at the 1992 ceremony: film, director, screenplay, actor and actress.
PHILADELPHIA
Released in 1993 and one of the first major productions about AIDS, Philadelphia stars Oscar-winner Tom Hanks as a corporate lawyer and closeted gay who becomes fatally ill and contends with the fears and phobias that follow. The soundtrack was almost as notable as the story, featuring Neil Young’s Oscar-nominated title song and Bruce Springsteen’s brooding, Oscar-winning Streets of Philadelphia.
