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Continuing Entertainment Weekly's 100 films from the past 25 years that will stand with the all-time greats over time. Numbers 50-26 are below.

50. THE PIANO (1993)
49. CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON (2000)
48. SCARFACE (1983)
47. MEN IN BLACK (1997)
<------46. CHILDREN OF MEN (2006)
45. RAIN MAN (1988)
44. THE PLAYER (1992)
43. GLADIATOR (2000)
42. CLUELESS (1995)
41. DAZED AND CONFUSED (1993)
40. SPEED (1994)
39. THE SIXTH SENSE (1999)
38. ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND (2004)
37. PRETTY WOMAN (1990)----->
36. SPIDER-MAN 2 (2004)
35. THE INCREDIBLES (2004)
34. FARGO (1996)
33. THE BREAKFAST CLUB (1985)
32. FIGHT CLUB (1999)
31. BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN (2005)
30. WHEN HARRY MET SALLY... (1989)
29. THE BOURNE SUPREMACY (2004)
28. WINGS OF DESIRE (1988)
27. ALIENS (1986)
26. HOOP DREAMS (1994)
 

More to be revealed tomorrow... —Ellen

Another fun list from Entertainment Weekly: They're counting down the 100 films from the past 25 years that will stand with the all-time greats over time. Nos. 100-76 are revealed today, with the rest coming over the next few days. (It's also fun to see a list that doesn't include the same stuff over and over again.)

100. SOUTH PARK: BIGGER LONGER & UNCUT (1999)
99. THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT (1999)
98. THE TALENTED MR. RIPLEY (1999)
97. GLORY (1989)
<------96. FAR FROM HEAVEN (2002)
95. IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE (2001)
94. FULL METAL JACKET (1987)
93. ED WOOD (1994)
92. MENACE II SOCIETY (1993)
91. BACK TO THE FUTURE (1985)
90. NAPOLEON DYNAMITE (2004)
89. BREAKING THE WAVES (1996)
88. AUSTIN POWERS: INTERNATIONAL MAN OF MYSTERY (1997)
87. SWINGERS (1996)
86. Y TU MAMA TAMBIEN (2002)
85. THE 40 YEAR-OLD VIRGIN (2005)------->
84. SIDEWAYS (2004)
83. EVIL DEAD 2 (1987)
82. LOST IN TRANSLATION (2003)
81. MOONSTRUCK (1987)
80. MICHAEL CLAYTON (2007)
79. WAITING FOR GUFFMAN (1996)
78. TERMINATOR 2: JUDGMENT DAY (1991)
77. SID AND NANCY (1986)
76. THE DEPARTED (2006)

don't see your favorite on this list? Don't worry, there are still 75 left to go. -- Ellen

Michelangelo Antonioni, the Italian director known for Blow Up, The Passenger, and L'Avventura, among other films, has died at the age of 94, on the same day as Ingmar Bergman.  They say these things happen in threes--does that include cinematographer Laszlo Kovacs, or perhaps football mastermind Bill Walsh? Or is there more sad news ahead? --David

This morning's big movie news is the passing of Ingmar Bergman, the acclaimed Swedish director who inspired and influenced a generation of filmmakers around the world, including Woody Allen. He died at his home in Sweden on Monday at the age of 89.  To read more, watch his movies, or share your memories, go to the links below.  --David

Today we say farewell to my longtime Amazon buddy, Doug Thomas. Doug joined Amazon back in 1998 to help launch its video store, bringing a wealth of movie knowledge along with real-world retail experience that always reminded him to think about what you, the customer, wanted. Through the transitions from VHS to DVD to D-VHS to UMD to HD DVD and Blu-ray and Unbox, Doug has done more than anyone else to build the home-video store at Amazon.com. I remember way back in November 2000 after Fox had made the unprecedented step of releasing a full season of The X-Files on DVD, Doug prognosticated:

I had some mixed emotions over the weekend after reading a NY Times article (subscription required) about the state of small DVD companies that release  independent, cult, art house, and foreign language films. With the bankruptcy of Tower Records, and the decline of Sam Goody, Musicland, and other media stores, companies like Synapse Films, Subversive, Blue Underground, and Panik House Entertainment are feeling the squeeze. Wearing my corporate hat, the loss of these outlets means more customers coming to Amazon's art house and international page to seek out DVDs they can't find at the big box retailers. On the other hand, it's concerning that these small studios might pare back their releases. It's not often that I know someone mentioned in the newspaper, but I have crossed paths with four of the small studio representatives quoted, and know them as a passionate bunch of film fans who are driven by introducing little-known films to a bigger public. Here are a few of the best releases by some of the companies mentioned in the article. --Ryan, Amazon Screening Room

Palm produced the superb Director's Label Series Boxed Set - The Works of Spike Jonze, Chris Cunningham, and Michel Gondry and the follow-up volume,  Director's Label Series Boxed Set (Mark Romanek, Jonathan Glazer, Anton Corbijn, Stephane Sednaoui). They've also released a strong line-up of contemporary Asian cinema, including  Bright Future,  Memories of Murder, and Park Chan-Wook's  J.S.A. - Joint Security Area. One of my favorite Palm releases is  DiG!, a documentary about the divergent careers of two indie rock bands, The Dandy Warhols and The Brian Jonestown Massacre.

Subversive pulled out all the stops for an Australian horror movie called  Dust Devil - The Final Cut.  It's a five-disc set that includes a comic book and loads of documentaries. On the other end of the spectrum, Subversive released a bare-bones new transfer of  Eraserhead that has been praised as a revelation of restoration. They also came out with Werner Herzog's  The Wild Blue Yonder, a sort of science fiction head trip featuring real footage of space shot by NASA.

Panik House owns the market for the Japanese genre known as "pinky violence," a subset of exploitation films featuring often topless young women embroiled in the yakuza underground. The genre provided much of the inspiration for Tarantino's Kill Bill movies. The cornerstone of Panik House's selection is The Pinky Violence Collection - Includes Audio CD (Criminal Woman: Killing Melody/ Terrifying Girls' High School: Lynch Law Classroom/ Girl Boss Guerilla/ Delinquent Girl Boss: Worthless To Confess), which appeared on our list of 2005's best packaged DVDs. In the same vein they released Sex and Fury and Female Yakuza Tale - Inquisition and Torture. On the more intentionally comedic side, Panik House is responsible for  Sex Is Zero, billed as a South Korean version of American Pie.

Founded with the mission of preserving Italian cinematic masterpieces, No Shame can be thanked for releasing  Boccaccio '70 (Remastered Edition), a collection of four films by Federico Fellini, Luchino Visconti, Vittorio De Sica, and Mario Monicelli. They also released the vital Roma Citta Libera and Yesterday, Today And Tomorrow (Remastered Edition), and some worthwhile oddities, including  Uno Bianca,  The Emilio Miraglia Killer Queen Box Set, and (how can you top this title)  The Sensuous Nurse starring Bond girl Ursula Andress.

They used to be called Anchor Bay, but the name is really all that's changed about this company specializing in a lot of classic horror titles. Their The Mario Bava Collection, Volume 1 (Black Sunday / Black Sabbath / The Girl Who Knew Too Much / Kill Baby Kill / Knives of the Avenger) looks really swell, as does their release of  Phantasm. They released the New Zealand last-man-on-earth movie  The Quiet Earth in a cool metal case, and brought out the original version of The Wicker Man, recently remade with Nicolas Cage. They're the masterminds behind the Masters of Horror franchise, which includes the too-scary-for-Showtime  Masters of Horror - Imprint by Takashi Miike.  

 The Criterion Collection recently announced the launch of a new series of DVDs, Eclipse. According to the mission statement on the Criterion homepage, "Eclipse presents a selection of lost, forgotten, or overshadowed films in simple, affordable editions. Each series is a brief cinematheque retrospective for the adventurous home viewer." Now that's what I call a mission statement. "Cinematheque"? Those Criterion dudes know how to drop an adjective. The first release in the series is  Early Bergman (Torment / Crisis / Port of Call / Thirst / To Joy), featuring five discs of young Ingmar. It'll be interesting to see how die-hard Criterion collectors respond to this new series. On one hand, the Eclipse films will be likely new to DVD and unavailable anywhere else, and will be priced at around $15 a disc. On the other hand, the company has made it clear not to expect extras or the pristine transfers we've come to expect from Criterion proper. We'll have to wait 'til March to see the Early Bergman collection, so if you can't wait, check out   Fanny and Alexander (Special Edition Five-Disc Set),  Wild Strawberries,  The Seventh Seal,  The Ingmar Bergman Special Edition DVD Collection (Persona / Shame / Hour of the Wolf / The Passion of Anna / The Serpent's Egg), or  A Film Trilogy by Ingmar Bergman - (Through a Glass Darkly/Winter Light/The Silence) . That should keep you busy. --Ryan Boudinot, Amazon Screening Room