February 16: Fargo (Joel Coen, U.S., 1996) In their best film, the Coen Brothers’ crime comedy-drama celebrates harsh Midwest winters, Minnesota accents and Jose Feliciano.

February 23: The Endless Summer (Bruce Brown, U.S., 1966) The ultimate surfing documentary follows two friends as they travel the world in search of its best locations for hanging 10.

March 9: Ivan the Terrible, Parts I & II (Sergei Eisenstein, USSR, 1943-46) This highly stylized film presents the biography of Russia’s medieval ruler Ivan IV. The second part was banned in the Soviet Union for twelve years by Stalin for its depiction of a “secret police.”

March 23: Altered States (Ken Russell, U.S., 1980) One of cinema’s most controversial directors makes one of the ultimate psychedelic films in which William. Hurt’s scientist experiments with primal forces. Paddy Chayefsky wrote the screenplay.

April 13: Day of Wrath (Carl Dreyer, Denmark, 1943) Dreyer’s powerful film on the persecution of witches in medieval Europe is at the same time a metaphor for the dangers of fascism.

April 27: The Conformist (Bernardo Bertolucci, Italy, 1971) A man trying to conform to life in fascist Italy is led into a world of intrigue in this masterful combination of politics and character study from the director of Last Tango in Paris.

May 11: The Magnificent Ambersons (Orson Welles, U.S., 1942) Welles’ follow-up to Citizen Kane is nearly as revered and amazing considering it was heavily edited without his cooperation after its completion.