Dick Ebert

Goodfellas (1990)

A young man grows up in the mob and works very hard to advance himself through the ranks. He enjoys his life of money and luxury but is oblivious to the horror that he causes. A drug addiction and a few mistakes ultimately unravel his climb to the top. Based on the book “Wiseguy” by Nicholas Pileggi.

The Sure Thing (1985)

Gib (John Cusack), a college freshman, keeps striking out with women. When he learns that a beautiful Californian (Nicollette Sheridan) wants to have a tryst with him, he decides to carpool all the way to the West Coast to meet her. Unfortunately, one of the other passengers on the trip is Alison (Daphne Zuniga), an attractive but domineering girl who has rejected Gib once before. The journey is a nightmare until a funny thing happens – Gib and Alison start to fall in love.

Scream (1996)

Wes Craven re-invented and revitalized the slasher-horror genre with this modern horror classic, which manages to be funny, clever, and scary, as a fright-masked knife maniac stalks high-school students in middle-class suburbia. Craven is happy to provide both tension and self-parody as the body count mounts – but the victims aren’t always the ones you’d expect.

Rushmore (1998)

When a beautiful first-grade teacher (Olivia Williams) arrives at a prep school, she soon attracts the attention of an ambitious teenager named Max (Jason Schwartzman), who quickly falls in love with her. Max turns to the father (Bill Murray) of two of his schoolmates for advice on how to woo the teacher. However, the situation soon gets complicated when Max’s new friend becomes involved with her, setting the two pals against one another in a war for her attention.

Risky Business (1983)

Ecstatic when his parents leave on vacation for a few days, high school senior Joel Goodsen (Tom Cruise) cuts loose with his best friend Miles. After an attempt at securing the services of a prostitute goes slightly awry, Joel hires gorgeous Lana (Rebecca De Mornay) for a night of delight. Stunned by the amount of Lana’s “bill” the next morning, Joel grows frantic after he crashes his father’s Porsche. In an effort to raise lots of money fast, a desperate Joel turns the house into a brothel.

Little Giants (1994)

Ever since childhood, nerdy Danny O’Shea (Rick Moranis) has felt inferior to his brother, Kevin (Ed O’Neill), a former college football star. Danny runs a gas station, while Kevin coaches the local youth football team. When Kevin’s team rejects Danny’s daughter, Becky (Shawna Waldron), because she’s a girl, Becky convinces her dad to start a rival team, though the city can support only one. To prove himself against his brother, Danny begins coaching his team of misfits for a playoff game.

Kids (1995)

Amoral teen Telly (Leo Fitzpatrick) has made it his goal to sleep with as many virgin girls as possible — but he doesn’t tell them that he’s HIV positive. While on the hunt for his latest conquest, Telly and his best friend, Casper (Justin Pierce), smoke pot and steal from shops around New York. Meanwhile, Jenny (Chloë Sevigny), one of Telly’s early victims, makes it her mission to save other girls from him. But before she has a chance to confront him at a party, everything goes horribly wrong.

Brewster’s Millions (1985)

After losing his position as a minor-league pitcher, Montgomery Brewster (Richard Pryor) learns his great-uncle has left him $300 million. To inherit it, Brewster must spend $30 million in 30 days under a complicated set of rules that forbid him from donating too much to charity or retaining any new assets when the period is up. Unable to share details about the will’s odd conditions with anyone, Brewster sets out to spend his money under the stern eye of paralegal Angela Drake (Lonette McKee).