The Grifters
(1990, dir. Stephen Frears)
Some might say this is a good movie for those who want to learn how not to be taken advantage of by con artists, but they'd be lying. No, this is a great movie to learn how to be a grifter. With detailed examples of petty cons, like fooling a bartender into thinking you gave him a $20 bill or ways to get more change from less money (tip: be sure to maintain eye contact), this is a good introduction to a life of crime that anyone can partake in. Of course it shows the downside, too, but there can be no gain without risk. Based on a novel by Jim Thompson, who knew and wrote about the seedier side of life, this is a better instruction manual than David Mamet (House of Games, The Spanish Prisoner) ever made. ANDY SPLETZER
Land of the Pharaohs
(1955, dir. Howard Hawks)
No one would ever claim this as one of Hawks' best works; however, it is perhaps the finest expression of the Hawksian Hero, that man who, in Andrew Sarris' words, "knows how to do what he is doing even if he doesn't know why." In this case it's an entire country that falls back on professionalism when meaning has vanished: the nation of Egypt, building a pyramid for Jack Hawkins' avaricious ruler. True to form, Hawks meticulously displays every detail of this engineering marvel, from the use of sand to seal the tomb shut (the final scene could work as a moving blueprint on how to set an ingenious trap) to the best method of insuring workers' blindfolds are sealed tight (jab a knife toward their eyes, of course). BRUCE REID
The Hot Rock
(1972, dir. Peter Yates)
The rock in question is a gemstone, and it's hot because this is a caper movie. Script by William Goldman at his best; score by Quincy Jones; with cute little Robert Redford; George Segal, doing testy perplexity; Moses Gunn, so fastidious, so brainy; Zero Mostel; and the great Ron Leibman, playing the wheelman. In a crucial scene, Leibman instructs us, out of the side of his mouth: "Instead of going all the way around the Belt, [you go] up Rockaway Park-a-way and over Eastern Park-a-way to Grand Army Plaza, then right on Flatbush Avenue to the Manhattan Bridge and up Third Avenue, pqussst through the Park 79th street"--and you know, I've found that he's right. Almost always, that's the best way to get from anywhere to anywhere else. BARLEY BLAIR
Andrei Rublev
(1969, dir. Andrei Tarkovsky)
Tarkovsky's cinema could, I'm quite sure, teach an ape how to remove a brain tumor-- provided the ape had the patience to sit through it. The majestic final chapter of his masterpiece Andrei Rublev concerns an ambitious young bell-maker who, under threat of death, agrees to cast a bell for the local warlord. Tarkovsky details every facet of the operation with a fundamentalist's glee: see the molten silver and lead surge through the sluice channels; watch the workers chip away at the clay forms around the cooling iron; marvel at the overhead shot of the bell tower, streams, horses, and villagers painted into the corners of the frame as in a Brueghel. But most of all, try to stay in your seat as the clapper is slowly swung toward the wall of the massive creation, the bell-maker quivering in the background with a combination of dread and ecstasy. I have never quite been able to do it. JAMIE HOOK
Lifeboat
(1944, dir. Alfred Hitchcock)
When trapped on a hopelessly drifting lifeboat with eight people, it will be easy for you to tell who's going to need an amputation. One of your boatmates, in this case William Bendix, will speak of a passion for swing dancing. He'll make it clear that his chance of keeping his sluttish girlfriend back home is solely based on his ability to hoof. This, combined with his gaping leg wound, will make amputation inevitable. Luckily, broads like Tallulah Bankhead always have brandy, and brandy is a perfectly acceptable substitute for an operating room and an anesthetic. When the patient is good and loaded and finally questions his commitment to the merchant marines, it's time for the knife. When the cutting is complete, go ahead and toss the shoe aside. However, be smarter than Lifeboat's passengers: Use the leg as bait. MELYSA LIEBERMAN
