Hurricane's VHS movies
TITLE FORMAT CATEGORY DESCRIPTION PEOPLE
Adams Rib pan and scan foreign Russian movie about a family with typical problems--too many dads, pregnant teens….
All Over Me p&s drama coming of age, love story Sichel sisters
An Angel at My Table p&s drama autobiography of New Zealand writer Janet Frame Jane Campion directs
Au Revoir Les Enfants p&s foreign jewish child hidden during WW11 Louis Malle directs
Bad Boys p&s action sean penn as the title
Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure p&s comedy 80s classic
Blade Runner LBX SF
Blue Angel p&s classic Marlene Dietrich as a cabaret singer Josef von Sternberg directs
Blue Sky p&s drama dysfunctional 60s family Tommy Lee Jones, Jessica Lange
Bottle Rocket p&s comedy lost gen-xers  Wes Anderson directs
City of Lost Children p&s
Close Encounters of the Third Kind LBX SF
Cold Fever p&s drama japanese guy goes to Iceland to find where his parents die Fridrik Thor Fridrikson directs, perhaps Icelands finest director, certainly their most prolific as far as the average american can tell...
Election p&s comedy high school elections, superbly captured Reese Witherspoon, Matthew Broderick
Europa, Europa p&s foreign disturbing story of a jewish teen passing as a Hitler Youth  Agnieszka Holland directs
Fast Times at Ridgemont High p&s comedy finest depiction of 80s high school ever made, bar none Jennifer Jason Leigh, Sean Penn, Judge Reinhold
Fifth Element LBX SF futuristic action from the director of La Femme Nikita and The Professional Luc Besson directs
Fire p&s foreign Modern Indian love story
Gas, Food, Lodging p&s drama dysfunctional 90s family Allison Anders directs
Ghost in the Shell LBX anime cyborgs and hackers
High Tide p&s drama life in the late 80s in Australia Gillian Armstrong directs
Hud p&s classic difficult son tries to follow his own path Paul Newman stars, James Wong Howe cinematographer
Hustler p&s classic best stick on film Paul Newman
La Femme Nikita p&s foreign druggie turned government asassin--watch the DVD in LBX Luc Besson directs
Maya Deren, Experimental Films p&s experimental 1940s experimental films. great soundtrack
Morocco p&s classic Marlene Dietrich as a cabaret singer, in a tux!
Night Nurse p&s classic Barbara Stanwyck, pre-code
Ninotchka p&s classic Greta Garbo as a Russian bureaucrat Ernst Lubitsch directs
Olivier, Olivier p&s foreign disturbing story of a brother gone missing and later returned Agnieszka Holland directs
Pi p&s SF numerology, drum and bass soundtrack, a guy drilling into his own head, what more do you need? Darren Aronofsky does it all
Prime Suspect Series, 1 - 5 tv drama an awesome BBC series shown on PBS over the years. Helen Mirren plays a British detective. each of the 5 episodes is pretty long--4 or 5 hours, so they can really get into the meat of the story.
The Professional LBX action a hit man and his accidental 12 year old apprentice Luc Besson directs
Run, Lola, Run p&s foreign a woman must get a lot of money to her boyfriend quick. three possible outcomes
Seconds p&s classic getting a second chance at life. some of the best cinematography i've seen in a long time. John Frankenheimer directs, James Wong Howe cinematographer, Rock Hudson stars
Secret of Roan Inish p&s drama irish tale of family with watery ancestors John Sayles directs
Shanghai Express p&s classic Marlene Diterich as a "coaster" Josef von Sternberg directs
Steam p&s foreign Legendary Turkish baths in a sweet love story
Strange Days LBX SF "Millennial" New Year done in the mid 90s Ralph Fiennes stars, Kathryn Bigelow directs
Terminator LBX SF
Terminator 2 LBX SF
This Boys Life p&s drama leo decraprio before we knew him in an autobiographical tale from author Tobias Wolfe. (very) dysfunctional 60s family Robert DeNiro, Ellen Barkin
Three Kings p&s action gulf war with a wild camera Marky Mark, that ER guy
Three on a Match p&s classic pre-code gem about three high school friends Joan Blondell, Ann Dvorak, and Bette Davis
Trainspotting p&s drama heroin, heroin, heroin
12 Monkeys LBX SF futuristic craziness with a bald bruce willis Terry Gilliam directs
Two Friends p&s drama an early film by  Jane Campion directs
Welcome to the Dollhouse p&s comedy Todd Solondz does junior high, painfully well Brendan Sexton III

foreign indicates the movie is in another language with english subtitles.

FORMAT:
35mm film has a different aspect ratio than normal televisions. thus, when a movie is released on video they have a choice of how to deal with this--cut off the sides of the movie so it fits the screen, but losing some of the original shot, or show the full shot. cropping the image results in "pan and scan" where they select the "most important" part of each frame and crop out the rest to fit your screen ("this movie has been modified to fit your screen"). not cropping results in "letterbox" (LBX) or "widescreen" format--when they force the entire width of the original print to fit the screen horizontally, it doesn't fill it vertically, thus there are black bars running across the top and bottom of the screen. soapbox: in certain movies the framing of the shot and the whole cinematography is an important part of the movie, and thus some cineastes cringe to see the directors vision butchered. on the other hand, many people find the black bars annoying. fair warning, at any rate.

CODE:
the "Hays Code" was a set of ethical guidelines movies had to follow starting in 1930. it banned a lot of flesh, but also restricted certain plots--such as the "bad guys" were no longer allowed to win, crime couldn't pay, etc. it was eventually replaced by the current MMPA rating system.