CINEMANIA:

Diner (Barry Levinson, USA, 1982)

This talk-heavy comedy, set in 1950s Baltimore, marked Barry Levinson's directorial debut. Filled with excellent dialogue (the screenplay was nominated for an Academy Award) and star-making performances, the largely-unknown-at-the-time cast includes Kevin Bacon, Daniel Stern, Mickey Rourke, Paul Reiser, and Ellen Barkin (it marked the big screen debuts of the latter two performers). 

The rampant immaturity of the male quintet of friends is amusingly lampooned in Levinson's clever and cutting script, a refreshingly honest depiction of an era often bathed in sepia-toned nostalgia.

City Lights (Charlie Chaplin, USA, 1931)

Many critics consider City Lights to be Charles Chaplin's finest film, no small accomplishment considering his long string of great films. 

The film is a Chaplin tour-de-force, as he has his hand in almost every aspect of its production. He co-wrote, produced, directed, scored and edited the film. Unwilling to bend to the winds of change, which saw the introduction of the spoken word in movies three years earlier, Chaplin's is a silent film.

Captain's Courageous (Victor Fleming, USA, 1937)

Rudyard Kipling's well-known novel enjoys an excellent adaptation in Victor Fleming's splendidly directed film. 

There are some well-directed action sequences that get the heart pounding, but the core of the story is in the slowly developing relationship between Harvey and Manuel.

Babette's Feast (Gabriel Axel, Denmark/France, 1987)

The sophisticated and subtle screenplay for Babette's Feast, adapted by director Gabriel Axel, is based on a story written by Isak Dinesen, the writer memorably played by Meryl Streep in the biopic Out of Africa. 

In the film's first half, the emotional detachment of the pious characters is mirrored in the directorial approach, which allows the narrator to explain the matters before us, keeping us at a distance.

Amarcord (Fellini, 1974, Italy)

"Amarcord" is the phonetic translation of the Italian words "Mi Ricordo" (I remember) as pronounced in the dialect of Emilia-Romagna, the birthplace of director Federico Fellini and the setting of this wonderful film. Little surprise, then, that it is a poignant and bawdy semi-autobiographical coming-of-age tale, with an ethereal, dreamlike quality that combines sharply drawn memories with vividly engaging fantasy.