Cult Movies 3 – Danny Peary, 1988 ★★★

Movies to Shave Your Head For

What is a “cult movie”? Is it merely any film that wins a devoted, substantial fan following? Or does it imply content outside the norm, perhaps transgressive? Does “cult” status preclude mainstream success, or can a box-office smash be a cult movie, too? If I sound confused, it’s because I am, even after multiple readings of this, the third and final installment of a series of books by noted film critic Danny Peary.

Richard III – William Shakespeare, c. 1593 ★★★★½

Best of the Baddies

That Richard III is Shakespeare’s most successful history play is a view not everyone shares; I likely have more company in declaring the title character Shakespeare’s most enjoyable villain. Few in English literature are so good at being bad as Richard Crookback, the Duke of Gloucester.

Henry VI, Part III – William Shakespeare, c. 1591-92 ★★½

It's Not Easy Being King

A crown rests heavy on an unsettled mind, but no easier on one more steely of purpose. While not considered one of Shakespeare’s problem plays, Henry VI, Part III is a play with a problem: ‘Tis better to be just, or strong? It then spends five acts offering no answers.

Henry VI, Part II – William Shakespeare, c. 1591 ★★★½

Predators and Pray

The middle installment of Shakespeare’s first historical trilogy bursts out of the gate on all cylinders and never looks back, serving up a royal soap opera of scheming and backstabbing a la “Game Of Thrones.”

Despite being an early entry in the Bard’s canon, Henry VI, Part II has the polish of a pro job and ample wit to spare.

Henry VI, Part I – William Shakespeare, c. 1591-92 ★½

Days of Whine and Roses

If we can’t call this Shakespeare’s bitchiest play, that’s only because we don’t quite know how much of Henry VI, Part I is his. Otherwise, this is a bitchfest in two ways: A vast array of interchangeable characters bicker with one another from first scene to last; and you have one of Shakespeare’s most reprehensible female villains, Joan of Arc.

The Little War Of Private Post – Charles Johnson Post, 1960 ★★★

Remembering the Maine and More

When it comes to America’s forgotten battles, Vietnam and Korea have nothing on the Spanish-American War. Despite an unprecedented territorial yield, our country’s first multi-ocean conflict receded from memory long before its last acknowledged American veteran died in 1992. Fighting two world wars over the next 50 years can do that.

Brighton Rock – Graham Greene, 1938 ★★★½

Catholicism Made Deadly

Tip for parents: Don’t have sex in front of your kids. You may think they’re too young to register anything, but they aren’t. Consider the protagonist of Brighton Rock, teen crime lord Pinkie Brown.