Classics worth an evening

Distinctive films from the 1950s to the 1990s, not just the newest posters.

Seven Samurai posterMOVIE

Seven Samurai (1954)

Japanese original

207 min
Quick look: Seven Samurai

A samurai answers a village's request for protection after he falls on hard times. The town needs protection from bandits, so the samurai gathers six others to help him teach the people how to defend themselves, and the villagers provide the soldiers with food.

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12 Angry Men posterMOVIE

12 Angry Men (1957)

English original

97 min
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The defense and the prosecution have rested and the jury is filing into the jury room to decide if a young Spanish-American is guilty or innocent of murdering his father. What begins as an open and shut case soon becomes a mini-drama of each of the jurors' prejudices and preconceptions about the trial, the accused, and each other.

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The Good, the Bad and the Ugly posterMOVIE
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While the Civil War rages on between the Union and the Confederacy, three men – a quiet loner, a ruthless hitman, and a Mexican bandit – comb the American Southwest in search of a strongbox containing $200,000 in stolen gold.

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The Godfather posterMOVIE

The Godfather (1972)

English original

175 min
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Spanning the years 1945 to 1955, a chronicle of the fictional Italian-American Corleone crime family. When organized crime family patriarch, Vito Corleone barely survives an attempt on his life, his youngest son, Michael steps in to take care of the would-be killers, launching a campaign of bloody revenge.

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Cinema Paradiso posterMOVIE

Cinema Paradiso (1988)

Italian original

124 min
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A filmmaker recalls his childhood, when he fell in love with the movies at his village's theater and formed a deep friendship with the theater's projectionist.

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The Shawshank Redemption posterMOVIE

The Shawshank Redemption (1994)

English original

142 min
Quick look: The Shawshank Redemption

Imprisoned in the 1940s for the double murder of his wife and her lover, upstanding banker Andy Dufresne begins a new life at the Shawshank prison, where he puts his accounting skills to work for an amoral warden. During his long stretch in prison, Dufresne comes to be admired by the other inmates -- including an older prisoner named Red -- for his integrity and unquenchable sense of hope.

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Forrest Gump posterMOVIE

Forrest Gump (1994)

English original

142 min
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A man with a low IQ has accomplished great things in his life and been present during significant historic events—in each case, far exceeding what anyone imagined he could do. But despite all he has achieved, his one true love eludes him.

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The Green Mile posterMOVIE

The Green Mile (1999)

English original

189 min
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A supernatural tale set on death row in a Southern prison, where gentle giant John Coffey possesses the mysterious power to heal people's ailments. When the cell block's head guard, Paul Edgecomb, recognizes Coffey's miraculous gift, he tries desperately to help stave off the condemned man's execution.

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