Bonnie and Clyde / Platoon

BONNIE AND CLYDE, 1967, Warner Bros., 111 min. Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway are lovers on the run in director Arthur Penn’s gritty yet lyrical 1930s gangster saga. The mixture of brash style, pan-sexual eroticism and blood-soaked violence helped kick-start the entire New Hollywood movement – and boosted producer-actor Beatty to prominence as one of the key figures of the next decade. Written by David Newman and Robert Benton, with dazzling supporting performances by Gene Hackman, Michael J. Pollard and Estelle Parsons.

PLATOON, 1986, MGM Repertory, 120 min. Oliver Stone brings his own Vietnam War experiences to the big screen embodied in Pvt. Taylor (Charlie Sheen) in what stands as one of the definitive portraits of men at war. Decent Willem Dafoe and demonic Tom Berenger are flipsides of the same coin, two feuding sergeants and elder brother role models who will take Sheen through his nightmarish trial by fire. Forest Whitaker is also among the ranks.