The Changeling, 300, Tell No One

Neal Hallford
Director, Witch Creek,
witchcreekmovie.com

The Changeling (not to be confused with Angelina Jolie’s Changeling) is a very suspenseful old-school horror movie that relied on atmosphere over gory theatrics. Stellar performance by George C. Scott as a grief-wracked father moving into a haunted house. Without providing a spoiler, there’s an important plot point that I sincerely believe must have directly influenced part of The Ring. An old, old favorite, and very influential.

Despite its made-for-television origins, Gargoyles used to scare the hell out of me as a kid, and it still delivers the chills. Features remarkably good makeup effects by Stan Winston and a very early film appearance of Hollywood staple Scott Glenn. Just don’t plan any trips into the desert in a station wagon after watching this.

• The Changeling (Canada) 1980, HBO
• List price: $5.98

• Gargoyles (USA) 1972, VCI Video
• List price: $35.98

Clint August
Rock 105.3 midday DJ

I love the fighting in 300; it’s a total guy-meets-fantasy movie. King Leonidas (Gerard Butler) leads 300 Spartans into battle against the Persian god-king Xerxes and his million-man army. Meanwhile, Queen Gorgo attempts to rally support in Sparta for her husband. Fantastical creatures are introduced, and the dudes are just plain badass.

The Heartbreak Kid is about a guy (Ben Stiller) with a ton of baggage when it comes to relationships with women. After many break-ups, he meets a woman (Malin Akerman) that he decides to settle down with but then realizes she’s not the right one while on their honeymoon. But while celebrating his nuptials, he meets the perfect woman (Michelle Monaghan) and comedy ensues. The Farrelly Brothers direct, so it’s extremely inappropriate. I laugh every time I watch it. I also love Jerry Stiller’s performance.

• 300 (USA) 2007, Warner Brothers
• List price: $14.98

• The Heartbreak Kid (USA) 2007, Dreamworks
• List price: $12.98

Michael C. Burgess
Cinephile

Funeral in Berlin is the world’s most underrated movie, probably because it’s the second in Michael Caine’s series of Harry Palmer films. I take every opportunity to recommend it to friends, and they always tell me they’re thankful. It’s an intelligent spy movie with heart. It gives a stylish, whimsical, and very cool glimpse of the ’60s, and all of the historical and political details hold up very well in the light of subsequent revelations. The metaphors never hamper the action. “Roses are out. Weeds are in.” Evan Jones’s script makes a witty soufflé out of Len Deighton’s rambling spy novel to give us the seedy antithesis to the James Bond nonsense, long before Austin Powers tried to shag it.

Tell No One is a first-rate action thriller that loses none of its pace, even if you have to read subtitles.

• Funeral in Berlin (USA) 1966, Paramount
• List price: $28.99

• Tell No One (France) 2006, Music Box Films
• List price: $27.98