On March 31, 1999, the writing and directing sibling team
of Lana and Lilly Wachowski release their second film,
the mind-blowing science-fiction blockbuster The Matrix.

On March 24, 1972, The Godfather—a three-hour epic
chronicling the lives of the Corleone’s, an Italian-
American crime family led by the powerful Vito
Corleone (Marlon Brando)—was released in theaters
nationwide.

The Sound of Music is a 1965 musical drama film produced
and directed by Robert Wise from a screenplay written by
Ernest Lehman, and starring Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer, with Richard Haydn, Peggy Wood, Charmian Carr,
and Eleanor Parker. The film is an adaptation of the 1959
stage musical, composed by Richard Rodgers, with lyrics
by Oscar Hammerstein II.

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 U.S.on February 25, 2004. Not coincidentally, the day
was Ash Wednesday, the start of the Catholic season of Lent.

Star Jim Caviezel (left) and director Mel Gibson.

Peter Sellers

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.

Peter Sellers

Peter Sellers

George C. Scott

Sterling Hayden

Slim Pickens