Marathon Man

I think this is the best thriller I've ever seen. If you look at it today, it also proves that audiences were more intelligent in 1976 than they are now. MM was a fairly sizeable hit movie - despite making absolutely NO concessions to the lazy filmgoer who refuses to think. Nowadays you can read actual film critics who call something like "The Matrix" confusing and hard to follow, when in fact Laurence Fishburne just stands there and TELLS YOU what is happening. 25 years of lifeless, same old same old movies and TV have made most people into dimbulbs. If you're not one of them you'll love MM.

Quite apart from the infamous torture scene, which I found extremely difficult to watch without howling in horror (actually that's a lie, I DID howl) this film is FULL of nervous tension that occasionally boils over - the way it's been done is masterful. The bouncing-ball scene in the darkened building should be utterly prosaic, but it really isn't - the way it's choreographed and shot brings such an air of menace and trepidation you'll be biting your nails off. There's much of a similar vein in 'Marathon Man', and although the storyline is sometimes almost buried through the relentless suffocating tension, it's extremely watchable (with a cushion to hide behind at certain points) and one of the greatest non-Hitchcock thrillers I've ever seen. Don't hesitate!

A graduate history student is unwittingly caught in the middle of an international conspiracy involving stolen diamonds, an exiled Nazi war criminal, and a rogue government agent. Political paranoia thrillers from the mid-70s are one of my favorite niche genres, so of course I dig this film. The convoluted plot, unexplained connections, lack of clarity: It all works in combo to create an affect of conspiracy, where nothing can be trusted and the viewer is just as lost as the protagonist the titular Marathon Man played brilliantly by Dustin Hoffman. The rest of the cast is also solid .Laurence Olivier is sensational as the film's villain.