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I've always loved France, and most everything French. One key reason is the French people's enviable reputation for knowing how to live well. They seem to possess the perspective and confidence to savor all the good things of life: food, wine, romance, and leisure.

Film scholars may differ on the top Bogart-Bacall outing, but for me it’s their second film, “The Big Sleep” (1946), directed by the inimitable Howard Hawks. It is, first and foremost, the quintessential private eye picture, along with the earlier Bogart classic, “The Maltese Falcon” (1941). The film succeeds in spite of the fact that its dense, twisty plot leaves most viewers slightly bewildered at the closing credits.

The late Deborah Kerr always represented a rare breed of movie actress: a lady first and foremost, who, even when playing women of dubious virtue, exuded an innate sense of class- even nobility.

A while back, we did a piece isolating some of the best, most biting dialogue from the world of film noir, that dark, often hidden underbelly of society portrayed in movies from the forties and fifties where no one can be trusted and everyone talks wise.

The world’s truly great cities have their own DNA:  their distinct characters and moods, strengths and weaknesses.  They say London is a masculine town, Paris a feminine one. Is it true? Regardless, it’s fun to debate. For those of you like me, who are unnerved by the sound of crickets, and who crave the energy and color of urban life, here’s a batch of capital titles, and the capitals that inspired them.

Here are ten key movies that revive the old-fashioned concept of romantic love — the only thing, as another bard put it, that there’s just too little of...

Whether or not you love to get behind the wheel yourself, the very act of looking at cars in movies is just plain fun. Of course, they always signal the era in which the movie was made (or set). But more than that, the car to modern film is what the horse is to the Western — the all-important means of shifting to a different sequence, and moving the action forward.

The movies' portrayal of women over time reflects the evolving social dynamic of the past century, revealing much about what has and hasn't changed. As certain special movies demonstrate, feminists were staking their territory long before there was a name for them.

When we think of movie heroes, soldiers always rank high, particularly those on the front lines. Bradley Cooper's Oscar-nominated turn in last year's "American Sniper" is just the latest example. These men face the prospect of death most every day, leading or working with other men to accomplish seemingly impossible objectives.