Kundun by Martin Scorsese

Martin Scorsese is one of the true masters of American Cinema in his 1997 film, Kundun, he leaves his comfortable New York setting in favor of Tibet and the turmoil of the 1930s and 40s that was felt between China and Tibet. The picture is not one of his "top tier" pictures, but it is incredibly moving and spiritual in a way that Scorsese does not tend to make. Kundun, is, of course, the name of the first Buddha of Compassion who, legend says, has been reincarnated 14 times and is now known as the Dalai Lama, the Tibetan political and spiritual leader, who is currently living in exile in India (since the early 1950's).

Rated PG-13 for Some violent Images

***1/2

The Savages by Tamara Jenkins

Tamara Jenkins' Sophomore film is one the speaks with power. The Savage siblings appropriatley named John (Hoffman) and Wendy (Linney in an Oscar nominated role) (characters in Peter Pan) have never grown up. As they are in their late 40s they are faced with the challenge of dealing with their father, who they view as an abandoner, who is dying and has dimensia. Both performances have these super stars at the top of their career performing an Oscar nominated script in a year of wonderful original and adapted screenplays, this stands out as one of the best three scripts of the year.

Rated R for some Sexuality and Language

****

Top Biopics - 1 - Raging Bull by Martin Scorsese (1980)

Was there any doubt? Scorsese's film is so perfect that it is known world-wide as one of five to ten best American films ever made. It was this film that made him one of the two or three most important directors in modern cinema. While training Robert De Niro for the role Jake LaMatta himself said that if he were not already over 30 years old that De Niro would make an outstanding boxer. And has there ever been a more heartwrenching scene as when an old, fat, washed up LaMatta recite's Marlon Brando's "I couldda been a contender" speech from In the Water Front? I think not

Top Biopics - 2 - Lawrence of Arabia by David Lean (1962)

David Lean. These two words are the answer to how a seemingly impossible film to finance was made. T.L. Lawrence was a fasinating man who fought with the Arabs in World War II to help them gain a more formal sense of indepence. Lawrence of Arabia is also happens to be the debut performance of the legandary Peter O'Toole. The picture comes in at just shy of four hours, nothing happens and I could not take my eyes off of the screen, it is a portrait of greatness and a true triumph in American cinema. Pity Lawrence died in a motorcycle accident after surviving the desert.

Top Biopics - 3 - Schindler's List by Steven Spielberg (1993)

All right, seriously, we all knew it was coming. So, here it is: So what if the real Oskar Schindler was more of a capitalist than humanitarian, he still saved a ton of Jewish people in the worst humanitarian tragedy in the 20th Century. Liam Neeson puts a face onto a struggling business owner who decides that he can make money and have a bonus of saving lives. Again, so what if the part when he breaks down to Kingsley about the desk being two more lives and the telephone, etc was slightly revisionist, it was beautiful. Steven Speilberg's film is a triumph on all fronts and that is why there are only two more pictures left on this list.

Top Biopics - 4 - Patton by Franklin J. Schaffner (1970)

General George Patton was a brilliant and mean military man in the midst of World War II. George C. Scott portrays that with ease in his Oscar winning portrayal in the film named after the general. This film goes beyond a typical war film and allows the audience to see inside the man behind the maddness.

Top Biopics - 5 - Born on the Fourth of July by Oliver Stone (1989)

The incredible story of Ron Kovic is heartwrenching. The story is ment to make you question war and especially the actions of the United States in the Vietnam War but its much more than that. Tom Cruise plays Kovic with such conviction he sadly fell into competition with the great Daniel Day-Lewis and lost his best shot so far at Oscar Gold.