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In the realm of feature films today, I think it’s awfully hard to find a good comedy. Of course, everyone has their own tastes, but personally I tire fast of today’s coarse, sophomoric movies that seem to be straining really hard for a laugh.

After screening the chilling “Citizenfour” (2014), which details the stranger-than-fiction story of N.S.A whistleblower Edward Snowden, I started thinking about the rich vein of paranoia that movies have tapped in the past relating to surveillance.

There’s a reason why great lines from movies become part of the culture: they express feelings with a concision and accuracy that rarely, if ever, happens in real life. And nowhere is such eloquence more valuable than in affairs of the heart. Movies say what we would like to say, and in romantic movies they say what we would most love to have said to us.

As luck would have it, my musical consciousness dawned in the sixties, the most fascinating and turbulent decade of the past century, filled with music that reflected the foment, experimentation and intensity of the times.

Great drama, like life, turns on choices. Good choices usually involve a fair amount of luck. Bad choices tend to roll downhill into a ravine of consequences that can’t be seen from above. Without a very bad decision made by someone, many movies simply would not have a narrative engine.

It isn’t Christmas without cookie-making, candy canes and chocolate Santas. But what we forget is that all that sugar puts kids on fast forward. To counter the ill effects of too many frosted things and to captivate spun-out minds, we've put together a list of can’t-miss movies for kids that grownups can enjoy too.

To counteract the sugar crash of too much sentimentality, we have put together a list of movies that offer a little grit and sass, while still making a nod towards the season. These are great movies for any time of year, but are especially appreciated right now. Enjoy these holiday movies that are low on tinsel, and high on the unexpected.

As producer/director Roger Corman once told me, movies are a kind of alchemy, an outcome of many complex elements. Bad movies can be forged from wrongheaded decisions, great ones can often be attributed to … plain dumb luck. The resulting concoction is all that counts. Of course, when you watch an amazing performance in a great film, it’s hard to envision how it could have been done any other way. Casting is crucial because most often we associate movies with the actors that star in them. But consider how differently a movie might have turned out if an alternate choice had been made. Just a tiny shift in the recipe can make a world of difference.  Here then is a list of 9 actual “what might have been” casting choices from some of our favorite films that prove my point. 

The key, of course, is the music; from the splashy upbeat production number to the show-stopping heartfelt ballad. To anyone ready to help a loved one cure the sad affliction of “musical denial,” we offer this list of smart, buoyant and very sophisticated musicals.