The drop-dead gorgeous (pre–Planet of the Apes) Kim Hunter

A Matter of Life and Death (England, 1946, Universal) is a beautiful fairy tale starring David Niven and the drop-dead gorgeous (pre–Planet of the Apes) Kim Hunter. Niven, a doomed RAF pilot, falls in love with a Yank girl as he makes his final radio transmission…but the angel of death somehow misses him, causing all hell to break loose upstairs. Great romance and drama (including a trial in Heaven!). And amazing photography — Heaven is sepia while Earth is in glorious Technicolor. Available on YouTube and Amazon.

Stephen Chow co-wrote, directed, and starred in what is quite possibly the greatest non-comic-book comic-book movie ever made. Kung Fu Hustle (Hong Kong, 2004, Sony Pictures) starts out as something akin to a hyper-kinetic Road Runner cartoon (with ridiculously cool wire-fu effects) and slowly builds into something deeper. By the last act it’s become a story of redemption, one with intense heart and emotion, but without losing any of its crazed energy. Available on iTunes and Amazon.

• Scott Dunbier
• Director, special projects, IDW Publishing