We May Be Through With the Past...

List creator: SteelyCrain Created on: May 4, 2004 - 10:21 AM PDT Description: ...but the past ain't through with us. These are the immortal words spoken by three different characters in P.T. Anderson's "Magnolia," quite possibly the greatest film to deal with how our past catches up to us no matter how far we run.

show images/hide images

	movie title	related list	average rating	MPAA rating	watch	rent	buy
	Magnolia (1999)
The biggest and baddest of these types of films as it deals with a litany of characters who have to face the sins of their past and the people they devistated along the way.
	Chinatown (1974)
A geographical place can carry as much pain as a person.
	The Two Jakes (1990)
The last line of the film sums it all up. A fun sequel.
	Once Upon a Time in the West (1968)
Leone's tale of the dying old west is one of his very best.
	Once Upon a Time in America (Disc 1 of 2) (1984)
An epic tale of a life misspent. Profoundly sad and brilliant.
	Once Upon a Time in America (Disc 2 of 2) (1984)
See above...
	Sex, Lies and Videotape (1989)
Leave it to our past in the form of our old friends to screw up a good thing. Riveting.
	Carlito's Way (1993)
Gangster gets out of prison, wants to go straight but his past won't let him. Standard story. Dazzling direction by Brian DePalma with three killer perfomances by Pacino, Penn and Penelope Ann Miller.
	The Limey (1999)
Looks like a jazz piece.
	Solaris (2002)
Better than Tarkovsky's version which meanders itself into mush before it could peak my interest. Most people would hate me for that statement.
	One False Move (1991)
Bill Paxton knows more than he lets on in Carl Franklin's brilliant noir film.
	Johnny Handsome (1989)
Genre master Walter Hill serves us a simple tale of revenge with a great performance by Mickey Rourke.
	Casablanca (Special Edition) (1942)
There may be nothing quite as painful as running into the one that got away.
	The Fog (1980)
Antionio Bay's birthday is about to get franced up due to the actions of the greedheads that founded the town.
	Hard Eight (1996)
"I know what happened in Atlantic City." P.T. Anderson's first film is a stunner.
	Vertigo (Special Edition) (1958)
Hitch said that this was a movie about a guy desperately trying to sleep with a dead woman. Sounds about right.
	The Indian Runner (1991)
"Men come strong and they come weak and you aren't strong." Sean Penn's brilliant debut film as writer and director.
	The Crossing Guard (1995)
Penn's second directorial feature isn't as good as his debut but the strong performances by Nicholson, Huston and Morse make this one compelling. The coffeehouse scene is something else.
	The Pledge (2001)
Sean Penn's most visually striking film.
	Five Easy Pieces (Criterion) (1970)
Watching Jack Nicholson caught between a bland past and an uncertain future and between the highbrow and lowbrow is amazing.
	The Color of Money (1986)
"Are you a hustler? F*@k you, kid."
	Cape Fear (1991)
The past as made flesh by an impossibly cut Robert DeNiro with a ton of jailhouse ink on him. I dig the way he pronounces "macho" and the way he bellows "That's even funnier!"
	Bringing Out the Dead (1999)
A tale of someone who has to learn to let go of the past in order for him to have a sane future. Nicholas Cage is excellent in this underrated Scorsese film.
	Halloween (25th Anniversary Edition) (1978)
When the past is a homicidal force to be reckoned with.
	Lone Star (1996)
When your past really catches up with you it can be kind of gross.
	Buffalo '66 (1998)
Sometimes your suck past can lead to a bright future