Silver Screen Fiend: Learning About Life From An Addiction To Film

1963 film by Jean-Luc Godard

The adventures of a blind, gambling masseur and master swordsman. Zatoichi targets a yakuza-controlled village, because war with a neighbouring town's smaller gang is brewing.

A small-town sheriff in the American West enlists the help of a disabled man, a drunk, and a young gunfighter in his efforts to hold in jail the brother of the local bad guy.

Hit man Philip Raven, who's kind to children and cats, kills a blackmailer and is paid off by traitor Willard Gates in "hot" money. Meanwhile, pert entertainer Ellen Graham, girlfriend of police Lieut. Crane (who's after Raven) is enlisted by a Senate committee to help investigate Gates. Raven, seeking Gates for revenge, meets Ellen on the train; their relationship gradually evolves from that of killer and potential victim to an uneasy alliance against a common enemy.

1960 heist film directed by Lewis Milestone

A drop-out from upper-class America picks up work along the way on oil-rigs when his life isn't spent in a squalid succession of bars, motels, and other points of interest.

1971 film by Peter Bogdanovich

A bad day gets worse for young detective Murakami when a pickpocket steals his gun on a hot, crowded bus. Desperate to right the wrong, he goes undercover, scavenging Tokyo’s sweltering streets for the stray dog whose desperation has led him to a life of crime. With each step, cop and criminal’s lives become more intertwined and the investigation becomes an examination of Murakami’s own dark side.

Jackie Chan stars as Asian Hawk, an Indiana Jones-style adventurer looking to make a fortune in exotic antiquities. After Hawk discovers a mysterious sword in Africa, a band of Satan-worshipping monks kidnap his ex-girlfriend Lorelei, demanding the sword as ransom as well as other pieces of the legendary Armour of God - a magical outfit dating back to the Crusades.

Three druggists travel with a Milquetoast inventor, Schuyler, and his girlfriend, Diane, to ancient Greece on a newly invented time machine. There, the evil tyrant, Odius, takes a shine to the woman and has the guys enslaved as galley rowers using the excuse of the three druggists helping a rebel leader, Ulysses, escape. The rigors of the rowing pump Schuyler up into a muscleman with strength comparable to Hercules himself, who is in the employ of Odius. The threesome get the idea of raising money by promoting Schuyler as Hercules for a series of physical contests. Using a combination of his great strength and, a judicious use of a large supply of potent tranquilizers Curly-Joe brought with him, Schuyler is a success. However, this leads to trouble when the real McCoy learns about the imposter.

1967 film by Roman Polanski

At first, Dr. Sidney Schaefer feels honored and thrilled to be offered the job of the President's Analyst. But then the stress of the job and the paranoid spies that come with a sensitive government position get to him, and he runs away. Now spies from all over the world are after him, either to get him for their own side or to kill him and prevent someone else from getting him.

Based on the true story of would-be Brooklyn bank robbers John Wojtowicz and Salvatore Naturile. Sonny and Sal attempt a bank heist which quickly turns sour and escalates into a hostage situation and stand-off with the police. As Sonny's motives for the robbery are slowly revealed and things become more complicated, the heist turns into a media circus.

Frank Serpico is an idealistic New York City cop who refuses to take bribes, unlike the rest of the force. Frank's actions get him shunned by the other officers, and often placed in dangerous situations by his partners. When his superiors ignore his accusations of corruption, Frank decides to go public with the allegations. Although this causes the Knapp Commission to investigate his claims, Frank has also placed a target on himself.

1997 film by David Steinberg

1983 film by Andrei Tarkovsky

Griff Bonnell and his brothers Wes and Chico arrive in an Arizona town. He is a reformed gunslinger, now working for the Attorney General's office, looking to arrest Howard Swain for mail robbery.
Swain is one of landowner Jessica Drummond’s 40 hired guns. She runs the territory with an iron fist, permitting the town to be terrorized and trashed by her brother, Brockie Drummond, and his boys. Brockie is an arrogant drunk and bully, but he goes too far by shooting Marshal Chisolm in cold blood. Griff intervenes and knocks out Brockie with his pistol.
Wes falls in love with Louvenie Spanger, so he decides to settle down and become the town's sheriff. Griff becomes romantically involved with Jessica after she is dragged by a horse during a cyclone.
Two of her guns, Logan and Savage, attempt an ambush of Griff in an alley. He is saved by youngest brother Chico, who was supposed to be leaving for California for a new life on a farm. Chico's shot kills Savage, after which Jessica's brother and hired guns try to turn the town against the Bonnell brothers.
On his wedding day, Wes is gunned down. Brockie is jailed for the murder. He tries to escape by using his sister as a shield, daring Griff to shoot, and is shocked when Griff does exactly that. Griff's expertly placed bullet merely wounds Jessica, and the cowardly Brockie then becomes the first man Griff has had to kill in 10 years.
Chico remains behind to take the sheriff's job. Griff rides out, certain that Jessica hates him for killing her brother, but she runs after his buckboard and together they ride off.

Bob Ford murders his best friend Jesse James in order to obtain a pardon that will free him to marry his girlfriend Cynthy. The guilt-stricken Ford soon finds himself greeted with derision and open mockery throughout town. He travels to Colorado to try his hand at prospecting in hopes that marriage with Cynthy is still in the cards.

The U.S. government recognizes land grants made when the West was under Spanish rule. This inspires James Reavis to forge a chain of historical evidence that makes a foundling girl the Baroness of Arizona. Reavis marries the girl and presses his claim to the entire Arizona territory.

Two business executives--one an avowed misogynist, the other recently emotionally wounded by his love interest--set out to exact revenge on the female gender by seeking out the most innocent, uncorrupted girl they can find and ruining her life.