The Movies

Life is like a box of chocolates — or a charming script unearthed by chance. Despite casting and budget woes, this humble tale became a '90s classic.

Crunch the numbers, then make way for a chubby T. rex and visual effects bad boys. This box office heavyweight disrupted the way movies are made.

Turning an unknown into a superstar and revamping the rom-com rules amid many rewrites, this megahit's success still leaves insiders pretty shocked.

Vroom or bust: It took a sweet ride and a rising star — or two — to build a blockbuster from a half-baked idea and the ashes of multiple flops.

From the 1930s through the 1950s, Hollywood studios create the most iconic and beloved films of all time, and America falls in love with the movies as stars like Bogie, Brando and Marilyn became icons.

The Sixties are a decade of change off-screen and on. Classic musicals and epics featuring luminaries like Julie Andrews, Audrey Hepburn and Elizabeth Taylor make room for meaningful masterpieces from filmmakers like Kubrick, Hitchcock and Nichols and stars like Redford, Newman and Poitier.

Directors become masters of the medium as Spielberg, Coppola, Scorsese, Lucas and other filmmakers create a New Hollywood that pushes the medium of moviemaking to its apex, just as a new generation of movie stars like Robert DeNiro, Jack Nicholson, and Pam Grier light up the screen.

As the new century begins, beloved books and comic-book crusaders become box-office gold, musicals and cartoons win audiences and Oscars, coarse comedies and epic dramas showcase Hollywood’s biggest stars, and a new generation of filmmakers from diverse backgrounds finds its voice.