Directed by Sam Raimi and starring Tobey Maguire in the title
role, the eagerly awaited comic book adaptation Spider-Man
was released on Friday, May 3, 2002, and quickly became
the fastest movie ever to earn more than $100 million at the
box office, raking in a staggering $114.8 million by Sunday,
May 5.
Tobey Maguire will be 51 on June 27.
Citizen Kane was released in 1941, premiering in New York
on May 1, 1941 and having a wider U.S. release on September
5, 1941.
Directed by and starring Orson Welles, this film is frequently
ranked as one of the greatest ever made for its innovative cinematography and storytelling.
The movie was produced by RKO Radio Pictures and was
loosely based on the life of publisher William Randolph Hearst.
Welles threatened to sue Hearst for trying to suppress the
film and also to sue RKO if the company did not release
the film.
It had originally been intended to open at Manhattan’s Radio
City Music Hall. But months before its release, Orson Welles’
landmark film began generating such controversy that the
venue eventually refused to show it.
George Orson Welles (May 6, 1915 – October 10, 1985)
The Passion of the Christ, Mel Gibson’s controversial film
about the last 44 hours of Jesus of Nazareth’s life, opened
in theaters across the United States on February 25, 2004.
Not coincidentally, the day was Ash Wednesday, the start
of Lent for many Christian denominations.
The film stars Jim Caviezel as Jesus, Maia Morgenstern as
his mother Mary, and Monica Bellucci as Mary Magdalene.
Gibson’s original intention was to show The Passion of the
Christ without subtitles, in an attempt to “transcend the
language barriers with visual storytelling,” as he later
explained.
With dialogue entirely in Latin, Hebrew and Aramaic, the
film was eventually released with subtitles.
Jim Caviezel with director Mel Gibson.
Patrons stand in line for tickets for a morning showing of
"The Passion of the Christ," at Regal Cinemas in Buford, Georgia, February 25, 2004.
![Amazon.com: The Misfits [Blu-ray] : Various: Movies & TV](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/81hA8cK9oNL._AC_UF1000,1000_QL80_.jpg)
The Misfits, a flawed but moving meditation on the vanishing
spirit of western independence, opened in theaters on
February 1, 1961.
The Misfits had all the right ingredients to become a truly
great western. The director, John Huston, was one of the
most talented in Hollywood. The screenwriter, Arthur
Miller, was a celebrated playwright.
The three stars—Marilyn Monroe, Clark Gable and
Montgomery Clift—were among America’s brightest,
yet when the film opened in early 1961, the reviews
were mixed, and the public largely ignored the film.
Audiences disliked the film in part because it failed to
offer a clear-cut hero with whom they could identify.
The Misfits was the last completed film for both Gable
(who died three months before the premiere) and
Monroe (who died a year after its release).
Stanley Kubrick’s black comic masterpiece, Dr. Strangelove or:
How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb opened in
theaters to both critical and popular acclaim.
The movie’s popularity was evidence of changing attitudes
toward atomic weapons and the concept of nuclear deterrence.
Stanley Kubrick in the directing chair.
