1. A Winter's Tale
A group of actors are hired to put on Shakespeare's "A Winter's Tale," only the actors have a few personality problems. Oh, and there's no money for the production. Very funny. Very charming. Created by Kenneth Branagh. (UK)
2. Amelie
To see it is to watch a beautiful, intricate painting come to life. It cannot bear comparison, because there's simply nothing like it. Romantic Comedy. (France)
3. Billy Elliot
To remind yourself how strong a child's spirit can be, press here. In the blue collar world of working England, a son wants to become a ballet dancer. Who could say no to that grin? (UK)
4. Bend it Like Beckham
Comedy, romance and drama layered with great soccer plays and a script that inspires young women to pursue their dreams - what's not to like. (UK)
5. Benny & Joon
Starring Johnny Depp and Mary Stuart Masterson, it's quirky, funny and makes room in the world for insane artists - so it's perfect. (USA) (Directed by Lasse Hallstrom)
6. Best Man in Grass Creek
Romantic Comedy featuring a good plot and some of the best natural acting ever captured on film. A tad slow but worth the wait. (USA)
7. Brassed Off
Like "Billy Elliot," this dramatic comedy gives an accurate picture of a dying economy lived in by extraordinarily strong souls. Set in Scotland, show features Ewan McGregor (Moulin Rouge) and Tara Fitzgerald (The Englishman Who Went Up a Hill and Came Down a Mountain). (UK)
8. Chocolat
For middle-aged women trying to figure out what they want to do now that they've grown up, with enough comic romance to remind them of their youth. Stars Juliette Binoche and Johnny Depp. Seems anything with Depp is a sure bet - the man actually chooses films for their content. (USA) (Directed by Lasse Hallstrom)
9. The Commitments
Irish band members want to start a soul band. They do... and then they don't. Like watching musical fireworks. Unless you're Irish, get a DVD for subtitles. (Comedy/Drama) (UK)
10. Crossing Delancy
An intelligent man who happens to sell pickles falls in love, and things go downhill... and uphill... from there. Stars Peter Riegert (Local Hero) and Amy Irving. (USA)
11. Don't Tell Her It's Me
Romantic Comedy of the highest order: perfectly cast, perfectly written, perfectly filmed. A beauty of a tale. A guy (Steve Guttenburg) recoving from Hodgkins' Disease has a meddling Romance Writer sister (Shelley Long) who teaches him how to win a girl (Jami Gertz) by turning him into one of her romance novel heroes. Based on Sarah Bird's novel, "The Boyfriend School." (USA)
12. Door to Door
A true-to-life comedy about a mentally-challenged door-to-door salesman. Wonderful acting. Wonderful dialogue. Wonderful plot. Based on the life of Bill Porter. (USA)
13. East is East
A rich comedy that shows with painfully funny exactitude the modern "adjustments" made by children of traditional Pakistanis in England. (UK)
14. The Englishman Who Went Up a Hill and Came Down a Mountain
Ah, the hilarious pecadillos of village life - the drunkards, the winkers, the movers, the shakers... only, in this town the movers and shakers are moving dirt to make a mountain so their village won't be considered a molehill. (UK)
Warning: this movie contains Hugh Grant Early-Romantic-Comedy Stutter.
15. Every Time We Say Goodbye
Tom Hanks and Cristina Marsillach star in a World War II "Romeo and Juliet," when a U.S. soldier falls in love with a sephardic Jewess in Jerusalem. Well done. (Directed by Moshe Mizrahi)
16. Finding Forrester
A young man from the streets makes an odd connection with a recluse writer. Wonderfully acted by Sean Connery and Rob Brown, VI (in his first role). (USA)
17. Frida
A life-changing two hours' exploration of how art chooses artists. That "Oscar" ignored this entire film - and Selma Hayek's brilliant portrayal of Frida Kahlo - is unforgiveable. (USA)
18. Hear My Song
Wonderful, quirky romantic comedy with Adrien Dunbar and Tara Fitzgerald - all about the redemption - of love, of souls, of nightclubs... (UK)
19. Local Hero
Hilarious, well-acted, charming, clever plot - pretty much the perfect film. Stars Peter Riegert as an American oil company man sent to Scotland to buy a town. With Burt Lancaster in a brilliant turn as an oil tycoon with an astronomy addiction. (UK)
20. Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels
Grotesquely accurate to the life of stupid English criminals - if we weren't laughing so hard, we'd cry. Warning: wait an hour after eating before stepping into this movie. Writer/Director Guy Ritchie. (UK)
21. Monsoon Wedding
Nicnamed "My Big Fat Sikh Wedding" by the press, Monsoon Wedding is a hilarious exploration of modern life running headlong into Indian tradition, but the mesmerizing poetry of the filmography, the color of Indian life and song, and a serious subplot of childhood sexual abuse make it so much more. (UK)
22. Rappa Nui
An intelligent assumption about what happened to the population of Easter Island. Contains a "Romeo and Juliet"-style romance, but it's really about how a civilization systematically destroys itself. Lumbers a bit but ultimately worthwhile. (USA)
23. St. Ives
A racy romantic comedy set in the Regency period that the guys will love, too (did I mention it was racy?). Based on a novel by Robert Louis Stevenson. (UK)
24. Snatch
Should be seen if only to watch Brad Pitt as a fast-talking Irish thief. Superb plot twist. Don't watch while eating. Writer/Director Guy Ritchie (US)
25. Songcatcher
An Englishwoman at the turn of the last century looks to America's Appalachian mountains to record old English folk tunes still sung there. The lives of the people and the music they sing are achingly painful - achingly beautiful. (USA)
26. The Tall Blonde Man With One Black Shoe
A Pink Panther plot happening to real people... Ah, the subtle humor of the French. (France)
27. Wasabi
Comedy action film starring Jean Reno - similar plot to "The Professional" (also starring Reno) - different in great ways. (France)
28. Welcome to Collinwood
Comedy action film starring a host of incredibly funny actors as gangsters who just can't get it right: stars Luis Guzman, Michael Jeter, Patricia Clarkson, Andrew Davoli, Isaiah Washington, William H. Macy, Sam Rockwell, Gabrielle Union, Jennifer Esposito and George Clooney. A slightly more sane "O Brother Where Art Thou?" (USA)
29. What's Eating Gilbert Grape?
A little slow in the beginning, but worth the wait. Johnny Depp plays a young man trying to hold a more-than-dysfunctional family together. Leonardo DiCaprio takes a turn as his mentally challenged younger brother. Both are brilliant here. (USA)
30. Who Am I This Time?
Based on a short story by Kurt Vonnegut, stars Christopher Walken and Susan Sarandon as painfully shy human beings who come to life when they act in community theatre. Brilliantly well done - and so funny it hurts. (US)
31. Wrong Guy
Comedy/Murder Mystery. Stars Dave Foley (Newsradio, Kids in the Hall). Only released in Canada but available through rental outlets. Too bad an American distributor didn't realize the potential... (Canada)
