1. "Los Olvidados." Luis Buñuel's film is a searing indictment of urban conditions—but also a dark fable.
2. "The Bride of Frankenstein." Moving graveyard poetry. Its esthetic legacy can be traced through Edward Gorey, Tim Burton and every neo-Goth in town.
3. "Greed." A brutal 1924 fable about the rotten state of modern man's soul
4. "The Gold Rush." Has at least a third of Charlie Chaplin's iconic moments
5. "La Chienne." Renoir's film about passion and murder urges us to accept that morality is a burden.
A film you revisited with disappointment: "Crime and Punishment." My memory of it was far grander.
Films parents should share with kids: If you allow me, two. "A Little Princess" is a visual feast. Delicate, inspirational. And "The Iron Giant." A brilliant film about choosing who you are. Eminently spiritual, but never preachy.
Uncommon Knowledge
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