Amadeus 1984  PG, 158 min.
Genre: Drama / Musical
Director: Milos Forman
Cast: Tom Hulce, F. Murray Abraham, Elizabeth Berridge, Simon Callow, Roy Dotrice, Christine Ebersole, Jeffrey Jones, Cynthia Nixon, Kenny(2) Baker, Vincent Schiavelli, Charles Kay, Kenneth McMillan
This Oscar-winning Best Picture tells the story of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (Tom Hulce) from the voice of Salieri (F. Murray Abraham), a fellow composer who is awed by Mozart's effortless genius but who is also jealous of it. Meanwhile, the madcap Mozart remains forever the child who delights in his wonderful gift. Oscars also went to Abraham (Best Actor) and Director Milos Forman; Hulce was nominated for a Best Actor Oscar.
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Black Peter 1964  N/R, 82 min.
Genre: Foreign / Drama
aka: Peter and Pavla
Director: Milos Forman
Cast: Ladislav Jakim, Pavla Martinkova, Pavel Sedlacek, Bozena Matuskova, Jan Vostrcil, Vladimir Pucholt, Zdenek Kulhanek, Frantisek Kosina, Josef Koza, Antonin Pokorny
Seventeen-year-old Peter (Ladislav Jakim) is lectured routinely by his father about how useless a boy he is. It is true that Peter was a failure at security guard duties and at a dancehall, but things look up for him when he meets and falls in love with Pavla (Pavla Martinkova) in this good coming-of-age story.
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The Firemen's Ball 1967 N/R, 73 min.
Genre: Foreign / Comedy
Director: Milos Forman
Cast: Vaclav Stockel, Josef Svet, Jan Vostrcil, Josef Kolb, Frantisek Debelka, Josef Sebanek, Marie Jezkova, Josef Valnoha, Karel Valnoha
Current issues in Czechoslovakia were brought out in this Milos Forman farce, his last film in his native country. An award ceremony is being held for an old, retired Fire Brigade commander in a small town. The ceremony includes a beauty contest, and everything goes wrong as the old man sits and takes it all in. A Best Foreign Film Oscar nomination was received.
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Goya's Ghosts 2006  R, 114 min.
Genre: Drama
Director: Milos Forman
Cast: Javier Bardem, Natalie Portman, Stellan Skarsgard, Randy Quaid, Blanca Portillo, Michael Lonsdale, Jose Luis Gomez, Mabel Rivera, Craig Stevenson, Julian Wadham, Simon Andreu, Jack Taylor, David Calder
In 18th-century Spain during the Inquisition, painter Francisco Goya (Stellan Skarsgard) is working on a portrait of the archconservative Brother Lorenzo and, at the same time, is painting a portrait of one of his favorite models, Ines (Natalie Portman). After Ines is arrested on suspicion of being a Jew, she is thrown into prison where she is tortured and then raped by Lorenzo. Her father Tomas (Jose Luis Gomez) begs Goya to intercede. But Goya, who is terrified of the Church, will only stand on the sidelines unwilling to help. Fifteen years later, Napoleon (Craig Stevenson) and his army "liberate" Spain, and Lorenzo is now Napoleon's prosecutor. Ines is set free from prison and tells Lorenzo that they have a daughter. Lorenzo declares Ines insane, institutionalizes her, and sets out to find the daughter. Once again, Goya watches helplessly from the sidelines.
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 Hair 1979  PG, 121 min.
Genre: Musical
Director: Milos Forman
Cast: John Savage, Treat Williams, Beverly D'Angelo, Annie Golden, Richard Bright, Nicholas Ray, Charlotte Rae, Miles Chapin, Antonia Rey, Michael Jeter
In this rock musical, a draft inductee (John Savage) visits NYC where he is befriended by a group of hippies...just before he must leave for Vietnam. The impact of this film is not the same today, but it does reflect the unrest in the country during the turbulent 1960s and 1970s.
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Heartburn 1986 R, 109 min.
Genre: Comedy / Drama / Romance
Director: Mike Nichols
Cast: Meryl Streep, Jack Nicholson, Stockard Channing, Maureen Stapleton, Jeff Daniels, Kevin Spacey, Richard Masur, Catherine O'Hara, Steven Hill, Milos Forman, Mamie Gummer, Anna Maria Horsford, Kenneth Welsh, Mercedes Ruehl, Joanna Gleason
This film is based on Nora Ephron's autobiographical novel about her marriage and divorce from Washington Post columnist Carl Bernstein. Rachel (Meryl Streep) is a New York food editor, and Mark (Jack Nicholson) is a Washington, D.C. political columnist who she meets at a wedding. They marry, and Rachel quits her job in New York to move to Washington. Soon, they have a baby, and then another is on the way. Life is good–until pregnant Rachel learns that Mark is having an affair, and the marriage ends in divorce.
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 Keeping the Faith 2000 PG-13, 129 min.
Genre: Comedy
Director: Edward Norton
Cast: Ben Stiller, Edward Norton, Jenna Elfman, Anne Bancroft, Eli Wallach, Milos Forman, Ron Rifkin, Holland Taylor, Lisa Edelstein, Rena Sofer
Father Brian Finn (Edward Norton) and Rabbi Jacob Schram (Ben Stiller) have been friends since childhood. Now, Anna Reilly (Jenna Elfman), a sexy businesswoman, returns to NYC and renews her friendship with the two. But this time around that old friendship evolves into a love triangle in this story about good people handling a situation intelligently. Good acting and a highly amusing script add to the enjoyment of this comedy.
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Loves of a Blonde 1965 N/R, 88 min.
Genre: Foreign / Comedy
aka: A Blonde in Love
Director: Milos Forman
Cast: Hana Brejchova, Vladimir Pucholt, Vladimir Mensik, Ivan Kheil, Jiri Hruby, Milada Jezkova, Josef Sebanek, Josef Kolb, Marie Salacova, Jana Novakova
Andula (Hana Brejchova) works in a shoe factory and dreams of finding her true love. She finally sets her sights on piano player Milda (Vladimir Pucholt) and falls in love with him, not realizing that he is a womanizer. When he takes her to his family home, things go awry in this pleasing, romantic comedy. An Oscar nomination was received for Best Foreign Film.
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Man on the Moon 1999 R, 118 min.
Genre: Drama / Comedy
Director: Milos Forman
Cast: Jim Carrey, Danny DeVito, Courtney Love, Paul Giamatti, George Shapiro, Vincent Schiavelli, Peter Bonerz, Jerry Lawler, Gerry Becker, Leslie Lyles, George Shapiro, Budd Friedman, Pamela Abdy, Cash Oshman, Matt Price
Jim Carrey plays the late comedian Andy Kaufman in this biography, which follows Kaufman from his days on the standup circuit, through his popular stint on "Taxi," and into the wrestling world where his feud with Jerry Lawler culminated in a fight on the Letterman show.
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One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest 1975  R, 129 min.
Genre: Drama
Director: Milos Forman
Cast: Jack Nicholson, Louise Fletcher, William Redfield, Brad Dourif, Michael Berryman, Scatman Crothers, Danny DeVito, Christopher Lloyd, Peter Brocco, William Duell, Dean R. Brooks, Alonzo Brown, Nathan George, Sydney Lassick, Ted Markland
Jack Nicholson's performance is great as Randle Patrick McMurphy, a convict who feigns mental problems to get himself out of prison. He is admitted to a psychiatric ward, realizes that jail was not so bad, and fights the system of drugging patients to keep them "quiet." In the process, he helps the other patients to gain a sense of self-worth. All this is done under the disapproving eye of insensitive Nurse Ratched (Louise Fledcher). The picture won five Academy awards: Best Picture, Actor (Nicholson), Actress (Fletcher), Director (Milos Forman), and Writing and was nominated for four others, including Best Supporting Actor (Brad Dourif).
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 The People vs. Larry Flynt 1996 R, 127 min.
Genre: Comedy
Director: Milos Forman
Cast: Woody Harrelson, Courtney Love, Edward Norton, James Cromwell, Crispin Glover, James Carville, Brett Harrelson, Donna Hanover, Vincent Schiavelli, Miles Chapin
This biography of the publisher of "Hustler" magazine, Larry Flynt (Woody Harrelson), focuses on Flynt's many legal battles over public decency. Courtney Love stands out in her role of Flynt's long-time lover, Althea Leasure, who enjoys drugs, group sex, and bisexuality.
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Ragtime 1981 PG, 156 min.
Genre: Drama
Director: Milos Forman
Cast: James Cagney, Brad Dourif, Moses Gunn, Elizabeth McGovern, Howard E. Rollins Jr., Debbie Allen, Kenneth McMillan, Pat O'Brien, Donald O'Connor, Mandy Patinkin, James Olson, Mary Steenburgen, Jeffrey DeMunn, Robert Joy, Norman Mailer
This story about New York, circa 1900, provides historical insights into four families of that era. In one story, millionaire Harry Kendall Thaw (Robert Joy) murders architect Stanford White (Norman Mailer) who is having an affair with Thaw's wife, showgirl Evelyn (Elizabeth McGovern). Another plot involves immigrant artist Tateh (Mandy Patinkin) who becomes a successful, Hollywood director. Howard E. Rollins Jr. stars in another subplot as a Black man, Coalhouse Walker Jr., who is romancing a White, pregnant woman (Debbie Allen) living in the home of a mother and father (Mary Steenburgen and James Olson). Walker turns to rage when a racist fire chief (Kenneth McMillan) destroys his car. And, of course, there is James Cagney, returning to films after a retirement of 20 years in the role of Police Commissioner Waldo. The film received eight Oscar nominations, including Best Supporting Actor (Howard E. Rollins, Jr.) and Supporting Actress (Elizabeth McGovern).
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Taking Off 1971  R, 93 min.
Genre: Comedy
Director: Milos Forman
Cast: Lynn Carlin, Buck Henry, Linnea Heacock, Georgia Engel, Tony Harvey, Audra Lindley, Paul Benedict, Vincent Schiavelli, Kathy Bates, Allen Garfield
While searching for their runaway daughter (Linnea Heacock), parents (Lynn Carlin and Buck Henry) discover a world quite different from suburbia. Watch for bit parts played by Kathy Bates and Carly Simon.
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Valmont 1989 R, 137 min.
Genre: Drama / Romance
Director: Milos Forman
Cast: Colin Firth, Annette Bening, Meg Tilly, Fairuza Balk, Sian Phillips, Jeffrey Jones, Henry Thomas, Fabia Drake, T.P. McKenna, Ian McNeice, Isla Blair, Aleta Mitchell
Chodleros de Laclos' classic, "Les Liaisons Dangereuses," is again brought to the screen following Stephen Frears' popular version a year earlier and Roger Vadim's 1959 film. Set in 18th-century France, it is the story of corrupt lovers (Colin Firth and Annette Bening) who make bets about being able to have sex with others just for the fun of it.
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| Oscars: Best Director for One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest (1975), Best Director for Amadeus (1984) |
1. Amadeus (1984)
2. Black Peter (1964)
aka: Peter and Pavla
3. The Firemen's Ball (1967)
4. Goya's Ghosts (2006)
5. Hair (1979)
6. Heartburn (1986)
7. Keeping the Faith (2000)
8. Loves of a Blonde (1965)
aka: A Blonde in Love
9. Man on the Moon (1999)
10. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975)
11. The People vs. Larry Flynt (1996)
12. Ragtime (1981)
13. Taking Off (1971)
14. Valmont (1989)
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