Coming soon (maybe later) -  Star index cross-referenced with reviews as soon as I get time to complete it.  The first pages are up - click here!  Also, a batch of classic Hitchcock movies - will post all at once in special section when I've had a chance to view the entire series.

Punch-Drunk Love - Adam Sandler, Emily Watson - Too strange for words, this was really an odd flick.  If it went anywhere, I missed it!  (Rating=*1/2)

Shanghai Knights - Jackie Chan, Owen Wilson - Sequel to Shanghai Noon, with the unlikely duo of Chan and Wilson off to London to recover The Emperial Jewel and avenge the murder of Chan's father, from whom the jewel was stolen.  Sneaky allusions to historical characters before their time make for some fun mind games.  As Usual, the outtakes at the closing credits are almost funnier than the movie.
Entertaining if you aren't expecting much.  (Rating=**1/2)

The Lord Of The Rings: Fellowship of the Ring - Huge cast including Elijah Wood, Ian McKellen, Sean Astin, Liv Tyler, and Christopher Lee - Great special effects, good casting, and excellent direction pay off in this epic adventure.  Filmed with its two sequels all at once, it pretty much had to be successful.  Carries over to the second film very well.  (Rating=***3/4)

The Lord Of The Rings: The Two Towers - Great pick-up from the first film - scenes replay with continuation of action before the first film ended.  Waiting for the third and final installment.
(Rating=***3/4)
 

Semi-Classics (as far as I'm concerned):

Steel Magnolias - Julia Roberts, Sally Field, Shirley MacLaine, Dolly Parton, and Tom Skerritt, as well as a host of other big names - (1989) - The ultimate tear jerker, "date" movie with enough laughs for the comedy lover and great banter between Skerritt and MacLaine.  I've seen this at least a half dozen times and it still puts a lump in my throat at the end.  (Rating=****)

Fried Green Tomatoes - Kathy Bates, Jessica Tandy, Mary Stuart Masterson, and Mary-Louise Parker - (1991) - Hard to classify this one - it's a funny, sad, adventure human interest story.  Tandy narrates events of the past to Bates, with Masterson and Parker as the main characters in the story.  (Rating =***)

In The Line of Fire - Clint Eastwood, John Malkovich, and Rene Russo - (1993) - Eastwood plays a secret service agent against Malkovich's potential presidential assassin.  Complicating matters:  Eastwood's character was present when JFK was shot and Malkovich (A CIA operative gone sour) exploits it.  Taught, well directed suspense. (Rating ***1/2)

A League of Their Own - Geena Davis, Tom Hanks, many others - (1992) - Hanks is a washed up ex-major league player given a chance to manage a team in the Women's Baseball League during WWII.  Some great banter between Hanks and Davis, as well as some gems from Rosie O'Donnell and Madonna.  (Rating=***1/2)

Note - These films are too obvious to review - if you haven't seen them, you should!
Top Gun; Twister; An Officer and a Gentleman; Pretty Woman; Star Wars Trilogy (yes, all three of 'em!); Close Encounters of the Third Kind; Indiana Jones series (all three of them, too!); Romancing the Stone; Good Morning, Vietnam; The Blues Brothers; Animal House; Trains, Plains, and Automobiles;
Home Alone; M*A*S*H; Terms of Endearment; Pulp Fiction; Tootsie; Apollo XIII; Mrs. Doubtfire
(If I have left out one you think should be included, let me know)

Classics:

The Awful Truth - Cary Grant and Irene Dunne - (1937)  Oops!  I made a slight mistake with my earlier review.  While this is a very funny movie, I was thinking of the one listed below when I said it was one of the funniest movies ever made.  I just watched this one and it wasn't the story I was expecting.  Further research revealed the correct title for my previous review to be "My Favorite Wife" - same stars, different story.  (Rating=***1/2)

My Favorite Wife - Cary Grant and Irene Dunne - (1940) One of the funniest movies ever made.  Dunne's character is declared dead after being missing for seven years.  Husband, Grant, is about to be remarried when Dunne reappears.  Pay very close attention to the dialogue to get all the gags.  Unfortunately, this seems to be out of circulation.  If you can find it, get it!  (Rating=****)

Arsenic and Old Lace - Cary Grant and Peter Lorre - (1944)  Serial murder with a comic twist.  This one will leave your sides hurting from the laughter.  (Rating=****)

The Philadelphia Story - Cary Grant, James Stewart, and Katherine Hepburn - (1940) Prenuptual chaos at its finest.  Stewart got an Oscar, as did the screenplay, while Hepburn got a nomination.  This is another side-splitter.  (Rating=****)

The Thin Man - William Powell and Myrna Loy - (1934)  There were several sequels, but the original was the best.  Husband and wife solve murder mystery with a considrable amount of banter along the way.  Inspired the TV series with Peter Lawford (1950's). (Rating=****)

The Bachelor and the Bobby Soxer - Cary Grant, Myrna Loy, and Shirley Temple - (1947)  Judge (Loy) sentences man (Grant) to "babysit" impetuous teen (Temple).  Result?  Man eventually wins judge's heart (reluctantly).  Hilarious, well directed, and VERY dated, but still a lot of fun. (Rating=****)

Note:  Just about ANY film with Grant, Stewart, Loy, Dunne, Hepburn, or Powell from the 30's thru the 50's is likely to be worth watching.

The Hepburn & Tracy Films:

Katherine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy did several films together that were absolutely superb.  I recently started to view each of them to much delight.  My favorites are as follows. (All rated ****)

Woman of the Year - 1942 - Opposites attract story - they get together, split up, get back together.

State of the Union - 1948 - This one is a bit more serious than the rest, but laced with some great wit throughout anyway.  A story of politics and corruption (was that redundant?), good vs. evil, Mom and apple pie, and just plain truth.  See if you recognize the wicked witch of the north in the beginning. (She's the maid.)  Also stars Angela Lansbury and Van Johnson.

Adam's Rib - 1949 - Husband and wife lawyers, he's a DA, she's a defense attorney.  They both get the case of a woman accused of trying to kill her husband and his mistress.

Pat and Mike - 1952 - He's a sports promoter, she's a golf and tennis player.  Another opposites attract story with a slow brew.  Check out the thug played by Charles Buchinski (aka Charles Bronson).

Desk Set - 1957 - Dated, but hilarious, story about the advent of the "computer age".  Hepburn is the head of a network reference department, while Tracy is a consultant preparing for installation of an IBM "electronic brain" in the department.  IBM is listed in credits and is referenced several times in dialogue and with visuals.  Staff members fear losing jobs while Hepburn and Tracy match wits.  A computer the size of a Mack truck and punch cards make it all the funnier for me.

Another couple of Hepburn classic comedies:

Bringing Up Baby - with Cary Grant - Grant is the perfect foil to Hepburn's madcap heiress.  The comedic timing is superb and some of the funniest "lines" are said without uttering a word! The title really doesn't have a thing to do with the story, but you really won't care.  This is a "laugh out loud" flick, see it with someone who can provide resuscitation if needed.  (Rating=****)

Holiday - also with Cary Grant - This one is extremely wordy, but the words are delivered with such classic timing it shines.  More of a social statement than a comedy, although there are plenty of laughs.  Available as a restored classic, so the quality is pretty good.  (Rating=****)

The "Other" Hepburn (Audrey):

Roman Holiday - With Gregory Peck and Eddie Albert (1953) - Princess plays "hookie" and takes refuge with American newsman (Peck) in Rome.  Very dated, but still fun.  (Rating=****)

Wait Until Dark - With Alan Arkin, Richard Crenna (1967) - The definition of suspense!  Hepburn is a blind woman who has inadvertantly gained possession of a doll filled with heroin, which Arkin wants back.  This one will put you on the edge of your seat.  (Rating=****)

Charade - With Cary Grant, Walter Matthau, James Coburn, and George Kennedy (1963) - Widow (Hepburn) unknowingly has something of great value left by deceased husband, which is sought by a gang of very insensitive thugs.  You never are really quite sure who the good guy is until the end.  Suspense with a comic edge, with Grant being believable as a totally unbelievable character.  (Rating=****)

Breakfast at Tiffany's - With George Peppard - (1961) The movie that gave us "Moon River" and Holly Golightly.  What else needs to be said?  (Rating=****)

Alfred Hitchcock Films:

Except for "Family Plot", Hitchcock's last movie, all his films can be considered classics.  (I didn't care for the last one, myself.)  Here is a list of the best of the best for the whodunnit fan.

The Man Who Knew Too Much - James Stewart, Doris Day - (1956)  Remake of Hitchcock's original British version (1934) that also gave the world a hit song in Day's "Que Sera Sera".

The Thirty Nine Steps - (1935) - If you can find it, get it!  Will probably be grainy and hard to understand some of the dialogue (it's a British production), but it still works.

North By Northwest - Cary Grant, Eva Marie Saint - Still one of my all-time favorites.

Note:  Hitchcock did a cameo in all of his movies - can you find him?  This is a little stunt "borrowed" by Steven Spielberg, who admits Hitchcock had a big influence on his style.